Focusing problem: any advice?

[The Patient]

Hello,

my name is Daniel from the Netherlands. recentley joined this site and have my first question. I hope someone can help me with this.

A little while ago I bought a Fuji TX1 (same as Hasselblad Xpan), which seems to have a problem with close focusing. I didn't see this when I bought it, so it may have just developed this problem, I'm not sure.

What's happening is this: when I.m focusing from infinity to the closest focal point, the rangefinder inside the viewfinder stops moving when the lens reaches roughly 1.2 meter or 4 feet. I have the 45mm and the 90mm lens, which means that for the 45mm lens from 0.7m to 1.2m nothing happens while focusing, for the 90mm nothing happens between 1m and 1.2m. From 1.2m to infinity seems to work fine. Any Idea what could cause this?

I could have asked this in the panorama section, but I think there might be more knowledge about rangefinders in this forum.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,

daniel

[fotch]

Hello daniel, welcome to APUG. Just a guess but if camera is suppose to focus closer and instead stops, perhaps something is dirty inside the rangefinder.

[The Patient]

My technical knowledge of camera's is zero, so I have no idea how to check this. Is it easy to do or do I have to send it to a camerashop or maybe Fuji? And if I have to let it get cleaned, any idea what this will cost? It might than be smart to let it have a complete CLA at the same time. Will that be very expensive?

I will contact the person I bought the camera from tomorrow, camera and lenses had been checked and working perfectly he said. The guy was very friendly and said if I ever had any problems I could contact him and he'd try to help me.

Cheers,

Daniel

[elekm]

With some cameras, the rangefinder decouples at very close distances. And perhaps this is the case with the TX1.

[The Patient]

I tried too find information about this, but so far found nothing. Just downloaded a manual for the Xpan, which is basicly the same camera and this also doesn't mention anything about the rangefinder decoupling at close distances so I assume it's supposed to function properly at all distances.

I don't know if this is relevant to my problem, but I'm going to mention it anyway. While the focusing square in the viewfinder stops functioning at distances under 1.2m or 4 feet, the paralax correction continues to work perfect.

Daniel

[fotch]

Well, Daniel, if its not in the manual, its not looking good. If you could call either Fuji or Hasselblad and speak to tech. you might be able to find out more, email would take longer and easier to get ignored.

If the lens distance scale shows, say, 0.7m, its logical that the RF would focus to this point. Of course, logic may have nothing to do with it, but if the manual doesn't mentioned this, my bet would be a malfunction.

If you do get in contact with a factory rep. they may be able to estimate the cost of possible fixes. The seller may have never notice this.

It would be nice if someone who owns one could shed some light, however, they may be out taking pictures and not reading this forum. Have you tried other forums such as Rangerfinderforum or PhotoNet?

[jbbooks]

Sounds like you have a problem. Both should continue to work for the full range.

This man worked on mine when there was a focusing problem and might be able to help you:

Wilco Jansen

<hassel@zonnet.nl>

That has been some time ago. I do not have his telephone number handy, but, if the email address doe not work, PM me and I will send you the address I have for him in Holland.

[The Patient]

I'm happy to report that a solution is made.

When I bought the camera the actual owner was abroad and I dealt with a friend of his. After I found the problem I've contacted the friend. He was very friendly and brought me in contact with the original owner.

We mailed a couple of times and then spoke on the phone. Turns out he is also a great guy.

We both contacted Wilco Jansen and i'll be sending the camera to him soon. Wilco mentioned what might be the problem, (I'n not sure how to translate this in English, my best try is that it has to do with alignement of the rangefinder). If this is the case the previous owner will take care of the costs. If it turns out there might be other problems we will try to find the best solution together.

Cheers

Daniel

[jbbooks]

Daniel,

Thanks for the follow up. Hopefully, it will be something simple and quick to fix.

[The Patient]

As I mentioned, I've discussed the situation with the previous owner and I wanted to send the camera for repair after the weekend. Because I wanted to finish the film before sending it, I kept on shooting. Somehow, after changing the lenses a couple of times, the problem seemed to get a little better. Because I noticed this, I kept on changing lenses a couple of times. The result: the 90mm seems to function all right and the 45mm also has a little improvement, although a lot slower.Before it wouldn't react under 1.2m, but at the moment it works from 1m, sometimes even between 0.8 and 1m.

Of course I told this to the previous owner and he contacted a friend that used a Hasselblad Xpan professionaly. This guy said it might have something to do with the fact that the camera was not used for some time and that it could improve itself over time.

Does anybody have any experience with this? As I've said, I know nothing about the technical side of things, but there is some improvement.

Thanks,

Daniel