Graflex.org

[sgreene]

I checked the calibration procedure on the main site, on my camera, I can't get the rangefinder patch to line up at infinity (or even close) by turning the eccentric screw near the focus rails. I'm wondering if the actuator arm is mis-installed? It looks like the cam the arm mounts to has two flat surfaces, but the little lock screw isn't lined up to a flat side of the cam. BTW, the Kalart looks like it isn't properly mounted and isn't flush to the camera on the side facing to the camera back. This was a KEH "as-is" camera, and after I got a lens and a focusing back, I can focus on the GG just fine. I would like to get the rangefinder set-up, though.

TIA for your advice.

Steve
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To every complex problem there is a solution, simple, plausible and wrong.

[troublemaker]

When installed on the Graphics, the flat on the shaft isn't used, the set screw is ussually located on the round anyway, and some Kalarts don't even have the flats.
Sounds like sombody slapped it on there anddidn't know what they were doing etc...
Anyway you can find a camera that is properly set up and make some comparisons?
Can you post some images somewhere so we can have a look see at what you have there?
Another suggestion is to read up on proper instalation of the coupling arm. Which means you need to find a service manual, and you might find one at South Bristol Views. Search the site here for Bristol or South Bristol and go to that site and click Graflex Manuals. You will probably find something helpful for more than just your RF. I don't think the Graflex.org Kalart adjustment info helps any with the coupling arm, and requires that it is already properly installed. Kalarts can be time consuming and are a good test of patience.

[45PSS]

The Kalart Rangefinder may be of some help. Try Google>advanced search>exact phrase>kalart rangefinder for more links.
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The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[bertsaunders]

The Kalart swings a total of (approx) 15 Deg....when attached to the post, when the arm is forced back against an internal spring, it normally alligns the straight portion of the upper arm parallel to the inside back, this allows full swing, this >must< be your starting positon for the arm, and the kalart is then adjusted from that point! An internal spring (typ in all Kalart side mounted models) forces the arm to move forward, to engage the ecc (or couplers on the older models)!
Some of the older swing arms have odd shapes, but the arm must swing the full 15 deg from the compressed position, to get the Kalart to function properly!
Have a nice day..........Bert

[ladyrio]

[troublemaker]

Where does one sign up for the class?


A couple things might be happening when a Kalart wont make inifinity.
The coupling arm could be off, may have slipped, or been improperly installed. The eccentric can be off, but this is a slight adjustment, and since the kalart should go just a little beyond infinity when rails are run all the way back I tend to lean more towards the arm or other things. One check that can be made is to simply see if you can push the arm all the way back and then do it while looking through the Kalart and see if it will then make infinity (preferably just a little beyond. Don't force it. Run the rails out and see if you can manipulate the arm and that it opperates smoothly and returns to the same position everytime in the finder. I've seen few that do not, and some are worn out, and some can be serviced.
Next, remove the side cover fasteners and check the lower prism mount. The spring steel metal that the prism is mounted in can become brittle and crack. If it is almost broken the Kalart will register all over the place, and can thus not be calibrated. Also, the spring can slip off to the side; the one that should sit just under the pivot plate under the prism. You'll know imediately if the prism mounting is weak by simply trying to move it with light pressure. It should not move, and the spring metal holds it down firmly on the fine adjustment screw underneath it. This can all be done without removing the Kalart or changing any settings.
If everything seems OK, and it were me, upstart masochist that I am, I then remove the thing from the camera, and recheck everything off camera, first refitting the coupling arm so I can manipulate it and make sure if the unit will make infinfity or not. If it will, I then take everything apart, clean and reassemble and so forth through calibration..., which means having to re-install the coupling arm, set the eccentric at a neutral position, and so on. I have come across a couple Kalarts that are just worn out and landed in the parts bin, but most can be serviced and should work reasonably well.