Graflex.org

[DHenry]

Does anyone know of a competent repair technician that can recalibrate a top-mounted rangefinder on my Crown Graphic. Many years ago I used to shoot hand-held with it and used the rangefinder extensively. The last 25 years it has been used as a view camera.

I have an up-coming project that requires me to use the rangefinder again and I have found it to be out of adjustment.

I don't have the time to fiddle with it and would prefer to have it professionally done.

Any help in directing me to such a firm would be greatly appreciated.

[t.r.sanford]

That seems to be the $64 question around here nowadays, as the only individual known to be both competent and well-equipped is out of action -- temporarily, we hope.

I've noticed that KEH Camera Brokers claims to have expanded its repair department, and they have a sort of dopey online form you can fill out. Working through it seems unhelpful, but they do list "Crown Graphic" as one of the models they recognize. It might be worth your while to give them a call.

If you do, please let us know how it works out!

[Dan Fromm]

[DHenry]

Thanks Dan for the reply. I contacted them and they indicated that they were able to do it at a cost of $125 plus shipping requiring 2-3 weeks to complete.

Dave

[Stilagrrl]

First let me say that I am not an expert or anything close to it, but I have adjusted my Crown Graphic top rangefinder by doing the following:

1) Remove the rangefinder cover (it's held on by two machine screws).
2) Place a sheet of paper with large text on a wall about 8 feet away.
3) Place a tape measure on the floor and line the film plane of your camera up with the 8 foot mark.
4) Using a good loupe, focus the groundglass on the sheet of paper across the room. Because there's text on the paper, it should be fairly easy to get sharp focus.
5) Loosen the two machine screws that hold the focus scale, line it up at the 8 foot mark, then tighten the screws back up.
6) Now, look through the rangefinder and assuming the two images are not lined up, continue following these steps.
7) Looking at the camera from the front, on the right hand side, just under where the rangefinder mirror is, locate the 3/16" bolt head and loosen it.
The mirror should now move freely. Looking through the rangefinder, adjust the mirror until the two images line up on the piece of paper.
9) Tighten the bolt that holds the mirror just so it's snug.
10) Looking through the rangefinder and holding mirror in place so that the two images remain lined up, tighten the bolt completely.
11) Now, using your rangefinder, focus on a more distant object, perhaps 25 feet away.
12) Using your loupe, verify the object is in sharp focus on the groundglass.

If your rangefinder or cam is overly worn, it's possible the rangefinder will only be accurate within a limited range. If that's the case, adjust your rangefinder so that it's accurate for the distances you shoot at most often.

[ This Message was edited by: Stilagrrl on 2004-06-27 08:48 ]