#prontor

Voigtländer Vitoret DR fixed lens rangefinder camera from germany.

This is a late 1960s rangefinder camera from the German firm of Voigtländer – who were owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung. This camera very much resembles my Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE although it has fewer features. The camera itself has the name Voigtländer on it in a couple of places but the instruction sheet (a large, single piece of folded paper and in no way a booklet) is clearly titled Zeiss…

- Remove focus distance ring

- Mark infinity setting for reference

- Remove focus lens element and middle lens element

- Remove the from cover plate

- Remove the shutter speed setting ring

For #0 shutter, no parts come lose when speed ring is removed. The shutter appears to be in fairy clean shape. However, there are a few problems: 1. The slow speed escapement is sluggish; 2. The timer delay fails to latch and stay armed; 3. The timer delay is also sluggish.

- Bath the shutter in lighter fluid (overnight).

- The sediment from the bath.

- Lubricate pivots with light oils and sliding surfaces with light grease.

- The slow speed escapement still fails to start from time to time. It appears that the surface where shutter release lever hammer slides on is quite rough, creating resistance to the spring of the escapement. Polishing the hammer surface of both the shutter cocking lever and the pallet arm solved the problem.

- The timer delay fails to latch from time to time. The pivot of the lever that latches the timer delay mechanism is a bit sluggish. Adding a tiny bit of thick oil relieved the sluggish lever.