Re: Technical question

[andrew fildes <afildes@netlink.com.au>]

I do not know if it is normal for a Leica but I own a new Voigtlander 
(Cosina) 21mm Color-Skopar screw mount which does exactly that - the 
rangefinder does not couple for the last meter or so of close-up 
range. I suspect it was a manufacturing compromise based on the fact 
that one does not use close up much on a wide angle lens (esp. 21mm!) 
and they simply couldn't design enough reach into the barrel - 
bothered me when I first discovered the problem though, thinking I 
had a faulty example.
AndrewF


> 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