I have a top rangefinder Crown Graphic with it's original Schneider Xenar 135mm and the matching cam. The RF is dead on but sometimes when I focus up close the RF will cease to line up at closer distances. It just kind of sticks. Example if I focus on a object 6 feet away the images won't align, a slight tap on the body just below the RF housing will free it up and then I can move the focusing rack in and focus. If I give a slight and I mean really slight tap on the side of the body just below the RF housing will cause everything to work again. Then after several sequences of racking the bellows in and out it will stick again.

It only seems to do this if I attempt to focus closer than about 8 feet. I don't think it has anything to do with the tube that runs from the bed to the RF because the plunger is moving freely. It seems to me as if something in the RF itself is sticking from time to time. Possibly the cam? Has anyone run into this issue before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks, Kyle.

Go to http://www.southbristolviews.com/pics/Graphic/manual-pdf/servicemanual.pdf and download this pdf version of the factory service manual.

90%+ of the time its the tube and its 40 to 45 balls and spacers that need to be cleaned. The only lubrication that can be used on the balls and spacers is extra fine powdered graphite or dry film teflon. The cap at the bed has a tendency to come off, there a a few posts in the past about it.

Thanks I may look into that eventually. I mainly use the camera like a view camera and with other lenses, though there are times I'd like to shoot it handheld just to say I did. My main camera is my Pre-Anniversary Speed Graphic which had the VF and RF removed by a previous owner.

This may not solve your problem, but I just fixed a sticky rangefinder that was behaving similar to yours. Mine would stick, and thunking the side of the camera would get it to pop back and work until you racked the camera out and back. The problem with mine was that the light bulb in the range finder had burned out, and I had replaced it with a similar but slightly larger bulb. The new bulb was pressing on the parallax mechanism, and causing the return spring to not have enough force to return the rangefinder mirror. I removed the light bulb, and all seems good now.

If this doesn't help, there is also a spring inside the camera under the parallax mechanism that could have come off. It applies force to the cam follower, and if the spring pops off then the cam just kinda floats.

Hope this helps.