Introducing the Voigtländer Vitomatic IIIb IIICS

I haven't been here for a while. But happy, that this thread is still alive.

Thank you all for the kind comments and the great pics! :)



Mudman said:
I've got an old Vitomatic as well, the one that doesn't have a built in rangefinder. I'll take a photo because it was used so much that the chrome is completely worn off on the left side. I've been meaning to get it in working order at some point, the advance lever doesn't cock the shutter.
Click to expand...


The advance lever cocks the shutter only, if you have a film inserted. Maybe yours is just working right and you don't know! :rolleyes:

Waiting for the picture of this worn out beauty!

Jan.
 
Stolen Vitomatic IIIb

Stolen Vitomatic IIIb

Hello gentlemen (and ladies),

This is my first post on this great forum, but have registered many moons ago. Sometimes, we are pushed into action by unfortunate events and such is the case now…

Thanks for the excellent photos and presentation of the Vitomatic IIIb, Jan. It is indeed a sweet little camera. I purchased one in even better condition than yours (in like new condition, with crystal clear finder and lens, working meter, with intact black paint and chrome and some accessories too) a few months ago and despite being heavier than your average Japanese-made, fixed lens' r/f from the 70s (I had to familiarise myself with the sheer weight of the camera), used to carry it everywhere and always got top results. Unfortunately, my beloved little Vitomatic IIIb was stolen a couple of days ago, on March 22, in Lisbon.:bang:

I have the s/n of the camera and provided the Portuguese police with all sorts of details, but I see it as an irreplaceable loss. I doubt I will ever be able to locate such a pristine, NOS specimen, working as well as in the day it left the factory, back in the early to mid 60s.:(

What do you guys think? Should I post a specific alert thread? I know this is a (very) long shot, of course. All suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Alex
 
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Alex,

I am so sorry for the stolen Voigtländer. Really I feel your pain. . :(

Maybe an alert thread would be a good idea, but to be honest, I don't want to give you hope.
The problem is, that the serial of this cameras is on the lens filtering.
The thief can make hundreds of photos and sell it on *bay and nobody will ever see the serial....:eek:

Better on Leicas, where the serial is clearly on top.

Maybe search european *bay, especially seller from Portugal/Spain for Vitomatic IIIb.

Really sad story.

Jan.

:)

Want a new one?
scratch2bs1v.gif


 
Jan,

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, you are right about the 'hidden' s/n number... Btw, the camera was fitted with an original Voigtländer UV filter and lens shade (not so common), plus a handy Kood wrist strap w/screw and was in an aboslutely stunning as-new condition.

I think the camera will probably be sold in some flea market for peanuts or maybe in a pawnshop… Maybe someone more knowledgeable about classic cameras will buy it and try to sell it on some auction site, something would improve (just very slightly) my chances of recovering it.

By the way, the camera was stolen inside a nice Lowepro bag... The most annoying thing is that I actually saw the thief just turning around the corner, some 20/30 meters away from the café where I was quietly sipping my espresso... As a martial arts practitioner, I would probably have knocked the SOB down on the spot, hadn't he been so fast! :mad:

Once I got into the street, he had already vanished (probably hidden in some shop – but I only thought of this possibility later). My only solace is to imagine his disappointment by finding a weird old camera instead of a fancy DSLR inside the satchel... ;)


You have quite the Vitomatic IIIb arsenal there! :cool: Don't you like the earlier Vitomatic models?


Alex
 
Yes, I had a few earlier Vitomatics, too. In some way, they are even better build. E.g. eingraved distance and shutter speed scale in comparison to printed ring on the Vitomativ IIIb.

But my earlier Vitomatics had all issues with the film advance. Film broke on the cocking-sprocket. :eek:

So I focused on the newer models. :)
 
I see... It seems you were less lucky with the earlier Vitomatics. I tried a IIa from a friend not long ago and never had any issues with the film advance. Kept shooting till I gave it back to him.


Btw, another friend, who thinks her English language skills aren’t good enough to became a member of this forum (she is just shy…) asked me two questions regarding her IIb, but since I didn’t know the answers, I decided to post them here: 1. Is it possible to disassemble the film compartment back door on the IIb (this is valid for the IIIb and other cameras of the same generation, of course)? If so, can someone explain to me how it can be done? The reason why I am asking is that the back door on my friend’s camera shows a strange damage pattern, with heavy scratches as if it was dragged over an irregular surface. Since I have found a non-working IIb, with dead meter, horrible separation on the v/f block and a horrible lens, but with the back door in great shape, we thought about using it as a donor camera. 2. The shutter release button on my friend’s IIb is quite distorted, as if it had been heated or something like that (and most of the paint is gone, probably due to the same issue). The s/r button on the Ib, IIb and IIIb (and CS models too) has what seems to be a retaining screw on its right face. Is it possible to unscrew it and loose the button? The idea is, as above, to replace it with the intact part from the non-working camera. Any advice will be welcomed!
Thanks.
 
Concerning the shutter release button:

Yes, it's holt by this one screw in place only. Easy to replace, but notice, that this screw is sometimes sealed at the side of the lens tubus. Probably against loosing by it's own.
Something you will destroy, when loosing this screw. Not a big deal, just wanted to mention.


The back door is another story. I can't say, but it looks like as if you have at least to remove the bottom plate. That means to remove the leather of the bottom plate also. But not sure.

Maybe ask in the repair forum?
 
Good heavens, we are talking some involved surgery then (reg. the back door, I mean). I also suspected of something similar - that to remove it, one must first remove somehow the bottom plate... Honestly, I don't think my friend's current IIb is worth the trouble, maybe she'll do better by searching a nicer specimen...
Anyway, I will re-post the questions on the repair forum. And btw, can someone recommend a good repairer familiar with classic Voigtlanders?
 
Cleaning the rangefinder and bringing back the rangefinder image

Cleaning the rangefinder and bringing back the rangefinder image

OK, guy. As promised in the "another Vitomatic thread" , here is my way, how to clean the viewfinder and rangefinder.

This will likely bring back the double image of the rangefinder, which disappears on most (if not all) Vitomatic IIIb with the time.

Here we have a nice IIIb:


There seem to be a yellow dot in the middle of the finder, but no rangefinder image at all:




Here we see the window for the rangefinder. Very dim and hazy, even on the outside glass:


OK, we need to clean this! :)


First remove the top plate. There are three screws. Two small ones on each side of the top plate and one is hidden behind the lever.
These have very thin slots, so use the right tool!!! Or make your screwdriver fitting.

Top plate off:


Next, remove the whole selenium meter part. For this you need to remove the two big screws on the right side. There might be washers also:





Now you can also clean at least one side of the downside window of the meter part also. (Has nothing to do with the rangefinder). But be careful with the one on top! It's glued from behind and if you press it will probably loose.....


This is how the rangefinder mechanism looks like:



Some Vitomatics have an additional plastic glas in front, some others don't. This one has it, others only have a hole here:


This means, we have 5 surfaces here to clean up. With top plate attached we have 7!

The most important thing is the one which is hardest to reach: The surfaces between the moving glass and the white piece, where the image is getting in.
Hard to photograpfh with my bad digital camera:



I leave it to you, how to reach this surfaces. I take off the cotton of a Q-tip. Then I fill this cotton piece with Vodka (yes, this is really good for cleaning, not agressive) then take a toothpick to get it between there.
Be careful, you might misalign the image! Maybe easier access, if camera is set to 500/22 and ASA 25.
If you have the little cotton piece in between there, you may move the distance ring of the camera also.

Dry it up with a dry cotton.

Then don't forget fo clean the 2 surfaces of the viewfinder window!

All this should bring back the rangefinder image. OK, it will never be so bright as in a Leica, but it is there again! :



If you will attach the top plate now, you will probably notice, that it will dim out again.
So I clean the whole top plate.
See, that the front stuff is just bended on the top plate, so do not remove that, if you don't want to risk to break it!


I just wash the whole top plate in warm dishwater soap. The silver (or sometimes black) dot on top of the diffusion window is just glued on there and will probably loose! So be sure, your washbasin is closed! Or you will loose this forever!
Be sure, that it is totally dry before you put it back on. Leave it in the sun, or just store it some days.

Here is the cleaned but not yet totally dried top plate:


Well, that's it!

Good luck! And remember, this is at your own risk. I am not responsible if something goes wrong.

Have a nice weekend!
 
Because the pictures are limited per post, here is a last foto of the surfaces and the moving element.

The surfaces to clean are above the big blue spring in the middle of the photo:


Just for comparison, dim viewfinder, no double image, before cleaning:


Same camera later. Clean and clear and with rangefinder image. OK, it was later the day and therefore darker. So maybe not the best picture, but in reality it is much more obvious:
 
Excellent illustration of how to do this Jan! I know how much time and effort goes into a pictorial instruction like this. I've always admired these cameras from afar (being content to use the somewhat similar, but lesser, Baldas), so thank you very much for letting us know how to clean things up and get that rangefinder patch going again.
 
Thanks a lot Jan! Excellent tutorial on how to clean the guts of the Vitomatic IIIb and get that pesky r/f patch visible again. Btw, watch your pm booth.
 
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