rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired (for
curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.

Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in the
appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.

Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
Thanks
Dave

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

Dave.

The Yashica Guy website has a bit on how to calibrate Yashica rangefinders,
may not be of help, but it seems to be all about setting inifinity to the
correct point.

Here is the link.

* w w w .yashica-guy . com /document/repair.html#six

Good luck, my two Yashica's (circ' 1961 and 1963) are still as accurate as
ever, and great fun to use.

Rob.B


"Dave" <dave@antispam.invalid> wrote in message
news:46dd3f40$0$11436$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
>I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired
>(for curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
> One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>
> Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in the
> appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>
> Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
> camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
> Thanks
> Dave
>

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

Or thinking about this you could ask if anyone knows how this should be done
on "rangefinderforum" I think it's w w w .rangefinderforum . com , try Googling
"rangefinderforum".

Rob.


"Dave" <dave@antispam.invalid> wrote in message
news:46dd3f40$0$11436$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
>I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired
>(for curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
> One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>
> Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in the
> appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>
> Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
> camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
> Thanks
> Dave
>

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"


> "Dave" <dave@antispam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:46dd3f40$0$11436$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
>>I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired
>>(for curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
>> One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>>
>> Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in
>> the appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>>
>> Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
>> camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
>> Thanks
>> Dave
>>
>
>"Rob Bradford" <rob.polymnia@btinternet . com > wrote in message
>news:3tSdncLkr_kHJEDbnZ2dnUVZ8vmdnZ2d@bt . com ...
> Or thinking about this you could ask if anyone knows how this should be
> done on "rangefinderforum" I think it's w w w .rangefinderforum . com , try
> Googling "rangefinderforum".
>
> Rob.

Hi Rob,
Thanks for the tips. Very helpful. The URL you gave for the RF forum is spot
on.
Dave

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

The graflex.org site has instructions on how to calibrate a
couple of different rangefinders that might help in a
non-camera specific sort of way as well.

Dave wrote:
> I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired (for
> curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
> One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>
> Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in the
> appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>
> Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
> camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
> Thanks
> Dave
>
>

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

In article <46F5622C.2090704@cableone . net >,
darkroommike <darkroommike@cableone . net > wrote:

> The graflex.org site has instructions on how to calibrate a
> couple of different rangefinders that might help in a
> non-camera specific sort of way as well.
>
> Dave wrote:
> > I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired
> > (for
> > curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
> > One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
> >
> > Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in the
> > appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
> >
> > Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
> > camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
> > Thanks
> > Dave
> >
What are you trying to calibrate to what? External rangefinders have
distance scales on them as do your cameras. What needs calibration? Are
the rangefinders inaccurate or is the camera focus scale inaccurate? Or
do you need to make index marks on the rangefinders to correspond to the
camera's focus scale? Or did you buy non-photo rangefinders for boating,
golf, artilliary, etc. calibrated in yards rather then feet?

--
To reply no_ HPMarketing Corp.

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"


"Bob Salomon" <bob_salomon@mindspring . com > wrote in message
news:bob_salomon-BF2EEE.16203622092007@news.tellurian . net ...
> In article <46F5622C.2090704@cableone . net >,
> darkroommike <darkroommike@cableone . net > wrote:
>
>> The graflex.org site has instructions on how to calibrate a
>> couple of different rangefinders that might help in a
>> non-camera specific sort of way as well.
>>
>> Dave wrote:
>> > I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly acquired
>> > (for
>> > curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
>> > One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>> >
>> > Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in
>> > the
>> > appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>> >
>> > Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
>> > camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
>> > Thanks
>> > Dave
>> >
> What are you trying to calibrate to what? External rangefinders have
> distance scales on them as do your cameras. What needs calibration? Are
> the rangefinders inaccurate or is the camera focus scale inaccurate? Or
> do you need to make index marks on the rangefinders to correspond to the
> camera's focus scale? Or did you buy non-photo rangefinders for boating,
> golf, artilliary, etc. calibrated in yards rather then feet?
>
> --
> To reply no_ HPMarketing Corp.

Bob,
Let me be more specific to answer your questions.

I want to know how to adjust these 2 "external" rangefinders which seem to
be out of calibration. I believe my cameras are in spec as far as focus is
concerned. The images are not coincident laterally and when I focus with
them on an image at a known (measured) distance to make the images
coincident the readout from the rangefinder scale is not correct.
So I need to know what I need to turn to make the adjustments and what
order of adjustments to make.
And yes these are rangefinders designed for camera use and not boating etc.
No idea if Voigtlander ever made devices for such use.

Thanks

Re: rangefinder adjustment..."vintage question"

Hi Dave,

Somewhere in the back you'll see a little knob or screw like thing with
a slot in it. The slot is for a thin flat head screwdriver to turn the
screw and calibrate the RF. Focus on your measured distances and turn
the screw until it is in focus; try at 10 feet/3meters, 50 feet/20
meters and then infinity.

Cheers,
Bogdan

darkroommike wrote:

> The graflex.org site has instructions on how to calibrate a couple of
> different rangefinders that might help in a non-camera specific sort of
> way as well.
>
> Dave wrote:
>
>> I have just bought 2 external rangefinders to use with a newly
>> acquired (for curiosity and fun) 6x9 format Bessa 1.
>> One's a Voigtlander and the other a Watameter.
>>
>> Anyone know how I can adjust/calibrate either of these, or point me in
>> the appropriate direction for information, even another newsgroup.
>>
>> Thought I would try with you guys first (I will be using them on a MF
>> camera) as on this occasion Google hasn't been my friend.
>> Thanks
>> Dave
>>

--

Bogdan Karasek
Montréal, Québec bogdan at bogdanphoto . com
Canada w w w .bogdanphoto . com

"I photograph my reality"