Graflex.org

[Thorney]

I recently bought a very mint Crown 4x5 w/o lens on eBay and was told by the vendor it was fully operational. I did not plan to use the rangefinder at all so I didn't play with it much at first. I now find that it is not working. I've read all the repair manual pages (which can be a bit wanting - parts have the wrong numbers in places etc)and I am pretty sure that the camera has no plunger. All the tubing is there but nothing is sticking out of the end. I am not sure if the spacers and/or bearings are even in the tubing. I suspect that I should have a look at the cam area - this is where I am having to ask for some kind advice:

It looks like I have to remove the back of the camera to access the cam area - is this so? I removed the five screws and tried to see if the back would come free from the body. It made a sound like adhesive being ripped up (a small sound) - so I didn't want to compromise what I took to be a light seal. I put the screws back and to be safe I racked out the bellows, closed the lens, and exposed the heck out of some fast polaroid b&w film by taking the camera for a walk out in the sun for a few minutes - nice jet black image, so no harm done! (I also know the bellows are good)
So at the end of the day, I am just not sure how to access the cam area - this should show me if there is a cam and if there are balls and spacers? Or am I dead wrong? As the camera had no lens with it, it may not have a cam right? I use newer rodenstocks and focus on the groundglass. The reason I'm asking all this is that I'm thinking of selling the camera. It is truly mint but the perfectionist in me would like to at least assess the problem with the rangefinder before selling. Could it be that there is no cam and this is stopping the plunger end from sticking out? That kind of makes some sense... The rangefinder images don't come close together and the mirror doesn't move when I focus - shouldn't this happen? And (finally) the bulb inside the finder may be burned out - any suggestion on where to get a replacement? The bulb is marked Graflex.

I know this is long and rambling - sorry about that. I appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[alecj]

Lots of issues here. I assume we're talking about a top rangefinder camera here, right?

First, you do NOT get access to the cam through the back! Again, I'll remind folks there is a lot of good info on the main board if they will just read it.

Here's info about the cam:

http://graflex.org/articles/oakes/

Are you trying your rangefinder tests with the lens standard pulled out to its normal position?

I think the bulb can be replaced with a normal flashlight bulb having that same base - 6 volt.

[Les]

No the access to the cam area is from the front.
Open the camera up and look above the bellows on the under side of the top. There's a sheetmetal cover there behind the the bed latch. The cover is spring loaded, no screws, so you lower the cover with your finger. Once in there you'll see the other end of the tube with a slot, the cam will be located in the slot and a blackened arm will rest on the curved part of the cam.

Now for the bottom end. Open the camera and rack the rails out as far as it can go. look at the end of the tube. There should be a black plastic cap covering the end of the tube and from that the chrome plunger sticks out. Sometimes the plunger gets bent then stuck inside the tube. The plastic cover is just pressed on, so if you remove it be sure to have the camera inside a shallow pan, like a developing tray or your wife's best baking pan to catch the buggers has they tumble out.

If there there's no cap or plunger, then there's no balls and cylinders.

[Thorney]

Thanks for the help guys! Took me about 2 minutes to easily determine that there is no cam and no plunger or balls in my camera which was sold to me as 100% operational.

This explains why the rangefinder images don't even move together as there is no connection between the focusing rail and the (top) rangefinder.

Everything else in there looks to be in good shape though.

Once again thanks.

[alecj]

Sorry to hear that, Thorney. Keep in mind Fred Lustig can fix all that if you want to restore rangefinder operation. Worth it, especially if the mirrors are bright.

[ This Message was edited by: alecj on 2003-06-11 07:11 ]