I suppose you´ve already figured this out, but just for the record: What you call "the part of the lens that actuates the rangefinder" is the end of a brass cylinder. When you hold the (unmounted) lens and turn the focussing ring towards close distance, this cylinder recedes gradually into the lens. The chrome wheel on the rangefinder arm in the camera body should roll on the cylinder end. In some cases, the rf arm is damaged or abused so the wheel touches the back of the lens mount and stops prematurely. (Leica M bayonet mounts have a special "indent" to prevent this, but the thread mount lenses don´t).
Now, to try to find the problem, sit down around 1 m from something vertical (bookshelf end or door edge) with the camera body in hand (no lens). Look through the rf window at this vertical line, and VERY CAREFULLY actuate the rangefinder arm, first pushing it in and then gradually letting it move forward. Does it move far enough for the two images to coincide at 1 m, or does it stop before that? In the latter case, the problem is with the body itself.
If the body does seem OK, mount the lens and turn focus to the infinity stop. Look through the rf at a distant object: do the two images coincide reasonably closely (ideally, they should do so exactly). If the error is large, the lens was probably dismantled and put together in the wrong way.
The final test is, of course, to shoot a roll of film with the lens wide open and see if the focus is at the points you thought you put it. Do you own other lenses (or can borrow somewhere); if so it would help to decide if the problem is with the lens or the camera body.
Good luck with your German Stradivarius!
Per
fredagen den 30 maj 2003 kl 15.35 skrev Gregory Fraser:
I've been playing with a Leica IIIf recently and I noticed that the focusing scale on the 35mm Summaron goes down to 1 meter but the rangefinder doesn't seem to operate at distances closer than approximately 2 meters. I removed the lens and sure enough, the part of the lens that actuates the rangefinder doesn't extend far enough into the camera body at close distances to activate the rangefinder.
I have almost no experience using rangefinder cameras and I'm wondering if this is normal for a Leica? Is it normal for all rangefinders with removable lenses? Is something really out of whack with my little slice of German heaven?
Greg Fraser
