Wista 45 90 degree adjustment

[rdeloe]

This relates to the metal field cameras: Wista 45 VX/SP/RF and perhaps N and D.

When you open the camera, the back should be 90 degrees to the bed in the "neutral" position. Mine is not. It's of by a few degrees, so I have to carefully align the back before shooting (assuming I want everything parallel). This is a pain.

Nothing seems to be loose in the hinge mechanism, but something clearly is out of position because the back is supposed to be 90 degrees to the bed in the neutral position. In the attached picture I'm showing the body open to what should be the 90 degree position. The hinge mechanism looks like it permits adjustments but I'd like to know how to do it in advance! Does anyone know how to correct this problem?

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[Jac@stafford.net]

Does the knob shown in the photo rotate to engage the detent/hole in the disc?

[rdeloe]

The knob simply locks and unlocks once you have the back in the desired position. Loosening the knob allows the the base and the back to move around the hinge point within the range allowed. They move with hand pressure. The "tongue" the arrow is pointing at in the picture has a little tip that pops into the two holes as you move over them. The tongue part does not move when you move the back.

It's possible that the hole for 90 degrees is simply in the wrong place on the plate. Or it may be that tongue is out of position by a bit. It's annoying because it's very close. If I open it into the 90 degree position and then pull it forward until the knob in the tongue is almost coming out of the hole, then it's at approximately 90 degrees when I tighten the knobs down.

One thing I tried already was removing the screws that hold the plate down to see if there's any adjustment room; there isn't. If an adjustment is possible I suspect I have to remove the covers on the knobs (which I don't want to do because they'll probably be destroyed in the process).

[Paul Ron]

I just looked at my Wista D, the detent (the hole) is at 90deg.

Something may have slipped out of alignment. Take the leatherette off the knob and follow your intuition as to what is worn or adjustable in there. My guess, the tab may not be keyed on the shaft properly. Other than that I dont see anything that can be adjusted from the outside.

Are both sides out of alignment?

Use the correct size screw driver and noting will get destroyed. I ground down a large flat to thickness, and squared the tip so it fits that type of screw which is common on many cameras. Im not sure but that screw may be a reverse thread so be careful working it, its soft brass.

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[JimL]

The question is, when the back is in the detent, is the ground glass square to the rails and parallel to the front standard? IIRC, front/rear parallelism can be adjusted at the front standard and the adjustment screws are under bent metal covers on either side which are held on by some adhesive.

[rdeloe]

JimL: I have been adjusting it using front tilt, which was do-able and more reliable than using the back tilt (but it's an extra step that I'm sure to forget in the heat of the moment). The ground glass is definitely not perpendicular to the rails or parallel to the front standard when it's in the neutral position. So something is definitely out of alignment.

Paul Ron: I was worried about damaging the leatherette, but you inspired me to try. It's tricky to get off because the leatherette is glued to a very thin brass disk. You have to work a razor blade under the brass; if you can get it underneath it pops right off. Tomorrow I have to grind down a large flat-tipped screwdriver so I can turn the adjustment screws.

Thanks for the leads. I'll post up some pics tomorrow so people in future who run into this can see what's under the covers on the locking knobs.

[Paul Ron]

its possable someone wanted more back tilt n modified the adjustment or forced it?

you can put the discs back with double sided tape.

[rdeloe]

It's fixed. Thanks again for the help from the people who responded.

This is a relatively straightforward repair so I've documented what I did here in case anyone else runs into this problem. I took pictures as I went. I can only attach 4 pictures per message. Instructions are in the pictures.

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[rdeloe]

Next three pictures with instructions...

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** Important: in step (3) in the next image, you'll see I used a crescent wrench to make the adjustment. You should use a different tool. The problem is that the threads around the brass piece extend above the level of the flat surface and can be damaged if you use a wrench and have to apply any pressure. Ideally, you should insert something into the hole of the brass piece and twist that to make the adjustment.

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[Paul Ron]

excelent!

good tip on the tool.

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[rdeloe]

Thanks Paul. I probably would have destroyed the screw had you not told me it was reverse thread. Go LFF!



excelent!

good tip on the tool.

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