Focusing Knob on TK45S

[John Hennessy]

My bet is the lock or brake is not fully releasing. My TK is not in front of me but very likely the locking lever is a cam which jams a piece of nylon or something against the main rail. Or it could be the knob's shaft is not turning freely in the hole through which it passes. Just guessing, but either of my hypotheses could be the result of someone lubricating some parts that should not have been. If you can't focus easily the camera is not going to be much good. Maybe its time for Marflex if you can't see how to disassemble it yourself.

[John Hennessy]

Curiosity overcame me and I just set my TK.If you look into the main rail from the front with strong enough light through the back of the rail you will see a double-sided cam moving down against the inside of the rail to lock and up about .5mm to open. If you can't see daylight between the cam and the rail when unlocked, then that is the problem. The solution in that case is unclear. If you're daring, take off the little aluminum block inside the main rail at the back and crank the rear standard off the rail .(I'd take the bellows and gg off and put the camera on a tripod.) I doubt that there are any springs in that mechanism which would release and fly down the nearest drain, mouse hole or air vent. But...

Let us know what you decide to do or what you learn.

[Scott Rosenberg]

hey guys... i've played a little more with it and noticed that when the camera is folded for transport, the rear carrier moves very easily. however, when the standards are swung to shoot, it becomes much more difficult to turn the focusing knob. so, i moved the rear carrier back and forth while swinging the rear standard, and when i get to about 20 degrees, the focusing knob get much more difficult to turn.

any ideas here?

i'm going to call marflex in the morning, but thought some of you might have already experienced and solved this your TK45's.

thanks,
scott

[Scott Rosenberg]

from a position behind the camera, rotating the rear standard clockwise results in a steady increase in tension needed to turn the focusing knob. if i go much past the point where the zero detent clicksd into place, it soon becomes as difficult to focus as if the rear carrier were locked into place.

any thoughts fellas?

[Paul Butzi]

No clue, I'm afraid. Sounds like something weird with the locking mechanism, but it's hard to see how the swing can interact with the focus lock.

[John Hennessy]

"rotating the rear standard clockwise results in a steady increase in tension needed to turn the focusing knob"

Never noticed before but mine does that too>

[Scott Rosenberg]

John... mine is nice and loose when in the folded position (rotated all the way counter-clockwise). However, as I begin to un-fold the camera (swing clockwise), the resistance on the focusing knob gets increasingly stronger. When the rear standard snaps into place on the zero detent, it's noticeably more difficult to adjust the focus. Swinging past the zero detent results in yet more resistance, until at about 15 degrees out, the resistance nearly matches that of when I have the focusing knob locked.

Hopefully martin at marflex will have an easy solution for me. I’ll post back after speaking with him.

scott

[Bob Salomon]

"Hopefully martin at marflex will have an easy solution for me. I’ll post back after speaking with him."

Scott,

Unfortunately you appear to have a gray market camera that was not supplied to your dealer directly from the factory authorized distributor. It apparently was sent by the factory to a camera store in Germany and then your dealer purchased it from that German dealer. That means that there is no warranty or service on your camera through the authorized US service center. The only source of service would be through your dealer and he has no factory training on your camera.

That means that Marflex can not help you.

In short the only authorized service that you can receive is in Germany.

Also be aware that the standard 5 year Linhof warranty does not apply to your camera and your camera has a one year factory warranty that is to the original retail purchasor of your camera. As it was bought from a German camera store the warranty holder is your dealer - not you.

[Kirk Keyes]

"That means that Marflex can not help you. "

Bob - you mean that Marflex will not do warranty work. They will still work on the camera if Scott (or someone) paid to have the work done, right? It's not like his camera is "blacklisted" or something like that, is it?

[Huw Evans]

I've just checked my own (recently acquired, but used) TK45s and it too gets stiffer (the focussing mechanism) as the rear standard is swung. However, the change is fairly small, and even swinging it way beyond the calibrated angles it is still comfortable enough to focus easily. All in all, it still has the smoothest, most precise actions of any camera I've ever owned, including two other Linhofs.