Help with Rolleiflex 3.5f focus issue

[fredforse]

[fredforse]

[DPurdy]

Yes it is possible that the lenses are out of agreement. If you wrack the focus all the way in it should be in focus at infinity. It should be pretty sharp at wide open on distant objects. If you check the view finder with the magnifier and it looks sharp on distant objects at infinity then the taking lens needs adjustment. It takes a brave soul to try that adjustment at home and I am not sure how it is done. Your taking lens needs to be moved back in the barrel a tiny bit. It is a common adjustment done on a collimator by a repairman.

[JanBoettcher]

"I took the camera to a [b]repair shop[/b] (Aperture UK in London) and they assured me the [b]camera[/b] was[b] in perfect working order[/b]. ...
N.B. [b]the ground glass is not upside down[/b] in the viewfinder. The [b]pressure plate is set correctly[/b]. The readings on the [b]focus knob appear to be accurate[/b]."
Now this is making it a tough one.

If I hat this kind of trouble ... I'd recheck my eyes
check the camera for obvious damage (set to a short distance and see if the lens/shutter cover to camera body distance/gap is the same top left right bottom),
try to turn ("screw in") the taking lens's front element (where the writing is).

Later on, I'd take a ground glass and put it where the film usually goes,
set f 3,5, open shutter at "B", lock it open,
put an 8x or 10x magnifier on the ground glass in the film plane and recheck in the viewfinder.
Check at "infinity" (something 200m away or more),
OK or "off"?

"off"? Go back to Aperture UK in London and tell them to do their job properly (make sure, lens plane is parallal to film plane, make sure, taking lens will reach "infinity" and focus knob is adjusted accordingly, make sure, finder lens is properly collimated (and focusing screen is put in the right way and all the way etc.)).

"OK"? A lot of head scratching ...

[Eddie Vaughan]

My bet is that the front element of the taking lens needs screwing in tightly, as Jan suggested. I had a similar problem with a good quality enlarger lens that I bought second hand. I could not print evenly sharp photos with it. I found the problem to be a very slightly loose front element, which is easily fixed.

Eddie Vaughan

[Eddie Vaughan]

Did you solve the focus problem with your Rolleiflex, Fred? It would be useful to know what the problem was and if you were able to fix it easily and cheaply. My bet had been that the taking lens was not screwed in tightly. I am nearly always wrong about these things, in fact, about most things, but am really hoping that this is going to be an exception.

Eddie