Dial set Compurs are not hard to work on. A small dose of something
like electronic contact cleaner applied with a small brush may be enough.
I thought there was a Compur repair manual on the web but I was
unable to find it just now and have to search through my computer
archives to see if I have it.
Work in a shallow box to avoid loosing small parts. Under the speed
dial you will find a couple of cams, some shutters have only one, they
set the speed and one is a sort of gear shift for speed ranges.
There are a few pictures of the insides on the web, a google search
will find them.
On 9/20/2015 5:38 AM, CarlosMFreaza wrote:
Thank you Richard, may I take courage and try the task. The shutter tries to work at the slow speeds, but it has no success, it sometimes works at 1/10; it looks normal from 1/25. This Compur shutter has the SN 405160, it was made about 1918 according a camera Wiki page (1914/1920 SN 250000 up to SN 450000 ). In the other hand, the Voigtländer lens SN indicates 1929/1930 for its construction. I have no doubt the camera was made about 1929/30 because I have seen the Bergheil versions evolution; I read somewhere that the camera manufacturers kept some fundamental pieces in stock for a long time, it could be the explanation if the manufacture year for the Compur is right.
Carlos
2015-09-20 1:00 GMT-03:00 `Richard Knoppow <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>:
The slow speeds are out because the little gear chain speed
regulator is dirty and jammed. You must open the shutter to get
to it properly but once open a couple of drops of naphtha (lighter
fluid) will clean it. These can run dry but a very modest amount
of fine oil will help. Silicon oil is best. Apply to the bearing
trunions and escapement with a wooden tooth pick or the end of a
small paper clip unfolded. The shutter will work and will
probably be fairly close to being on speed.
On 9/19/2015 3:08 PM, CarlosMFreaza wrote:
I received the Voigtländer Bergheil yesterday. It came into the
original black leather case with the ground glass holder, a
6,5x9cm film holder and a similar size pack holder. The packs are
no longer manufactured from a long time BTW, but the holder could
be adapted to use the regular film sheets, according the seller,
and I think he is right.
The camera is a beauty considering it was made at least 85 years
ago. It was folded and closed and looked like a little box coated
with a textured black leather, a bit bigger than a Rollei 35.
Only a plate with a DOF scale on one of the sides suggests a
photographic camera; the wonders are revealed after the front
cover opening. This front cover becomes the base with the rails
where you slide the Compur shutter and the Heliar 4,5/105mm lens
combo. You can slide the combo along the rails putting two
fingers on two handles below the lens or turning one of the two
buttons on each side of the front cover/base. There is a distance
scale beside one of the rails to calculate the focusing distance
like the Rollei 35 however the shutter-lens combo with the
bellows can be advanced or retreated a lot beyond this distance
scale limits. There also is a sort of "sports finder" with a wire
frame on the shutter-lens combo and a frame reference on the
camera body. A brilliant finder helps to compose the vertical
image. and the Shutter-lens combo have up-down movements and
lateral movements too, allowing to control the image perspective;
however lens or back tilt is not possible and then you can't
increase the DOF.
The camera is light and very easy to carry, but in spite of the
ground glass back, the lack of a reflex system to focus explains
why cameras like the Rolleiflex were replacing these MF models.
You need to replace the ground glass holder with the film
holder,after to focus the frame, it means you need a tripod most
of the times if you use the ground glass. Rapid photography could
be only done guessing the subject distance, like for the Rollei
35., even if you use 120 roll film.
The Compur shutter has speeds from T, B,1,sec and the known old
sequence 1/2;1/5, 1/10; 1/25,1/50; 1/100 and 1/250. Shutter
speeds from 1 to 1/10 are not working, but from 1/25 they seems
to work fine. You needn't to cock the shutter for T and B and T
is the way to use the ground glass. The diaphragm scale is
odd:4,5; 6,3; 9; 12; 18; 25.
An interesting camera to use sometimes:
http://itarphotos.blogspot.com.ar/2015/09/voigtlander-bergheil.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/itarfoto/21359295710/in/dateposted-public/
Carlos
-- Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
WB6KBL
