Voigtlander Vitomatic II dismantle

[Ben Jennings]

Hi everyone,

I bought a Voigtlander Vitomatic II off ebay after getting a IIa with a faulty rangefinder, it arrived and the rangefinder worked, great. But then I realised to my dismay the shutter was jammed. I tried the usual trick of advancing the cog inside that is driven by the film being advanced, no luck. I tried lighter fluid on the shutter to clean it, no luck. So I decided, to hell with it, ill just take it apart and have a nosey.

I've taken photo's along the way and these can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenkorama/sets/72157627557121637/

Look in the description for what I did at each stage.

The guide is not complete yet and I'm not even sure I will be able to get the thing working or even back together. But it is quite interesting to see what the engineering is like on these old camera's, truly amazing.

The first half of the guide is removing the top section and the second half is removing the lens section. Well up until the point that I got stuck.

Hope you enjoy.

Ben

 

[Hamish Gill]

Awesome mate!
I've had a really busy afternoon and me an Hannah are going out for the first time since Connie tonight
I'll have a proper look tomorrow!
Im thinking we should look at making some sort of comprehensive "how to" article out of this lot when your done ... What do you think?

 

[Pete Askew]

It reminds me a bit of a story a friend told me once many years ago. He said, "My wrist watch packed up the other day so I decided to try to fix it. I got some jewelers screwdrivers and opened the case and then carefully dismantled the whole watch." Well, I was impressed. "How did it go? I asked. "Excellently." he replied. I nodded in appreciation and then he followed up with, "So, if you want any small gears, just let me know!".

Good luck any way Ben. Look forward to seeing the first shots.

 

[Brian Moore]

Looking forward to seeing your pictures, Ben. (Can't open that link here at work due to the infernal firewalls.)

Pete,...Great story!

 

[Ben Jennings]

Hamish - I think a how to article is a great idea, haven't had time for any more exploration with it this week end but i am hoping to have a bit more of a tinker tonight. Will let you know how I get on.

Pete - Ha ha that's a funny story, i think I might be saying something like "If anyone wants any tiny screws or rings, let me know"

 

[Hamish Gill]

Blimey... just had a proper look through...
Blimey
If you get that back together, and it works, and it focuses right etc, im going to be VERY VERY impressed

 

[Pete Askew]

And with no bits left over!!

 

[Ben Jennings]

Yeah I'll be pretty impress with myself too. Should be quite a task, still got to find a way to the shutter mechanism, bit trumped at the mo.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I want to see 1 screw left over! just because it would be funny really
Are you normally pretty good with this sort of theing then Ben?

 

[Ben Jennings]

I've always been a tinkerer when it comes to stuff like this, a habit I inherited from my dad. I've been taking things apart for years trying to fix things, or sometimes just to see how they work. Whether or not I am any good is another question tho, we will have to judge that from whether or not I can get this camera back together and working. Ha ha

 

[Hamish Gill]

If you can get it to work, i might send you my ifba flex to look at
and my nikon fm
and my nikon fa
and my nikon fe
and ... ... ...

 

[Ben Jennings]

We'll see how I get on with this one and if all goes well I'll be more than happy to take a look.

 

[Ben Jennings]

Hi everyone,

Just so you know I have got a little further on my dismantle, I have now managed to reach the shutter mechanism of the camera (I think) and I now have the task of understanding what all the little cogs and levers do so 1. I don't break it and 2. so I can work out what is causing it not to fire.

I'll add more after I have drawn a lot of diagrams and figured this thing out.

Ben