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I recently found a super deal on a Visoflex 020 being sold by Adorama through auction listed as having major defects; the details described as "** Item Notes: Viewfinder does not switch back to LCD screen properly; Likely proximity sensor issue; May have other issues; Cosmetic condition is E ** However, the price was too good to pass up, less than half price of a brand new one. So I took a chance and bought it. When I received and tried it out, to my surprise, it worked, but there were green lines across the display. The lines went away when I angled the viewfinder to the max 90 degrees angle, but only temporarily. Issue returned when I adjusted the angle of the viewfinder again. I spent the latter half of a Friday evening/night before I pinned the problem down to the LCD connection to the main board. I started disassembling the base module where the unit connects to the camera at the hot shoe. There are four screws at the bottom, then the top of that module can be lifted up and out. There is a swinging door with the tiniest spring that attaches to that top piece, very easy to lose. The door can fall off easily. The hot shoe connection can then be disconnected from the metal hinge assembly by removing two silver screws and pushing back the two plastic tabs securing the connector to the hinge plate. To disassemble the main eyepiece module, the rubber eye "hood" or protector had to be removed; it is held in by double-sided adhesive at the top and bottom inside. Behind that, there are two screws left and right flanking the eyepiece that hold the upper and lower housing together. After I removed those, I spent a lot of time working the housing, trying to figure out if there were any other screws, or if adhesive or tabs were holding them together. Turns out, I took a chance and found out there is a tab on each of the three sides. The bottom comes off, and the main assembly is attached to the top housing. The ribbon flex cable connecting the base module to the eyepiece main module had no signs of damage; connection was fine, and removing/reattaching it did not resolve the green-lines issue. There were no breaks on the flex. However, pushing the flex beneath made the green lines disappear temporarily. So I removed the mainboard from the top housing assembly, and found a misaligned connection between eyepiece LCD and the mainboard: see, the connection is crooked It may have dislodged from the connector after a drop, or perhaps maybe it was never properly installed at the factory. Or maybe the continued adjusting/angling of the viewfinder furthered the loose connection? In any case, removing and reinstalling the connection made the green lines disappear and have not reappeared ever since I reassembled everything together. I tested the eyepiece multiple times on my TL before reassembling everything back together. Gotta say, I'm very happy with the viewfinder. Though it seems to pale in comparison to the viewfinder in my recently acquired CL, it is still a very welcome addition. And very fun to use. I'm not a serious photographer, but I'm slowly working my way into a new hobby.. Some background; I have repaired other people's smartphones in the not too distant past, and I collect and repair vintage Macintosh computers. After my experience with the TL, Leica cameras are working their way into becoming a new part of my collection.

I'm wondering if the Visoflex is 'really' worth the cost of them? I use LV a lot on my M10-P when out with my tripod when I'm out shooting woodland and forest stuff. I use a 35mm, 50mm and I'm thinking next year I'd like a 28mm & 75/90, but given the amount of time I'm looking at the back of the screen, I was wondering if the Visoflex would serve a purpose as opposed to constantly looking at the back of the camera and focussing off that.

Hi, Is there really a way to distinguish between MOOSP ("15mm extension collar for TELYT 200cm") and FVOOQ ("Extension ring F, 15mm", for use with ZWTOO-ESUM), when they are unmarked? I'm asking because I have one of them, and it is unmarked, and I guess it could be either. You can see it in the picture below, 1st from the left. Since it was in a mix with a BOOQZ ("Extension ring B, 7mm") and a GVKOO ("Extension ring G, 30mm", not pictured), I'm going to assume that it is a FVOOQ. The 2nd from the left is also unmarked, but it looks (in height and threads (visoflex-to-visoflex)) very similar to the 3rd from the left, which is a BOOQZ (from the "B"). Could it be that? Any other opinion? The 4th from the left is completely unmarked. The male is for visoflex, but the female is too large do be either a visoflex or for the lens head of the Hektor 13.5cm 1:4,5 (the only lens head I have) or, I guess, heads of the same size. I do not know what it could be. Any idea? Thanks, Matteo

I have a rather marvellous 400mm Telyt. It has a male 39mm O.D. thread which is bigger than the standard LTM. The normal way to connect it to an M series camera is to use a 16466 M which provides the matching female thread to a male M bayonet (23mm flange-to-flange), plus a Visoflex I or II which has M-bayonet to M-bayonet to connect to the camera and is 41mm flange-to-flange. The Visoflex houses the reflex mirror plus bits sticking out to set and trigger the mirror. Now that I have an SL, I don't need the Visoflex. It would be nice to replace it with a simple 41mm spacer with M-bayonets on each side. i.e a dummy Visoflex. Does such a thing exist? Alternatively I could replace both the Visoflex and the16466 with a 64mm spacer, 39mm female thread to male M-bayonet. Does such a thing exist? The third alternative is disassemble the Visoflex. I haven't tried that. If I do, what problems might I face?

Today arrived the Visoflex IIa that I bought. On JC's beautiful website and in Laney I read that the Visoflex IIa appears in 1962 in the catalogue of Leitz New York. On the Visoflex IIa itself just the usual name of Leitz Wetzlar appears. So was it indeed produced in Wetzlar, and for the general market? Or primarily for the American market, which could explain the mention in that Leitz New York catalogue? My oldest catalogue is from 1970 and consequently only shows the Visoflex III. Lex

Has anyone else had any problems connecting the GPS to the M10 Monochrom? Most of the time, I see in the rear screen that the GPS icon has an "x" through it...obviously not connected. I have the Visoflex connected to the camera and the GPS turned on in the menu. I realize there are areas that pose a problem for GPS connections, but I have tried various types of environments. Am I missing something? I've only had it connect sporadically over the past few weeks. Thanks.

I've used my Visoflex 1 on my '37 Leica II, fitted with bellows, to take macro shots but I've just put it on my IIIf along with a 200mm Telyt lens to check it over before I take it out for some alpine photography in a few weeks time. The problem is that although I can swing the camera through 90 degrees for portrait and landscape views, the camera is not horizontal or vertical, but off by a few degrees. This means that I can't get horizontal at all (unless I unscrew the Visoflex slightly), and I can achieve vertical but only by moving the camera off one of the Visoflex end-stops (I hope that makes some sense?!). Can I adjust the 'end stops' on the Visoflex so that I can ensure horizontal / vertical setting of the camera? If so, how? Thanks, David.

... mit M-Bajonett-Auflagemaß - oder: Leica M Anwendung als Systemkamera für Visoflexobjektive - oder: Universelle M-Bajonett Zwischenringe, vergleichbar R-Zwischenringe - oder: Überbrückung der Visoflexdistanz (41mm) Mit der Einführung von Systemkameras mit 'Echtzeit-Bilddarstellung' und Elektronischen Sucher kann bei Bedarf auf das bewährte Visoflexgehäuse mit M-Bajonett verzichtet werden. Um einen ergonomischen, ästhetischen sowie praxisgerechten Zwischenadapter zu realisieren, bietet sich die Anwendung von Adapter und Ringen aus der langlebigen Produktpalette von Ernst Leitz Wetzlar an. Wie schon vorgestellt, folgen ein Dutzend Anwendungsvorschläge zur Überbrückung der Visoflexdistanz (41mm) - wie man es auch in einem Sonderdruck des L.-Informationsdienstes erwarten kann. (Frei nach Anregung durch Herr Stefan Daniel: "Dies müsste man ausprobieren." ! - auf die 'Frage: Funktionieren Visoflex-Objektive?' *) Zwischenring Nr. 1 bis 7 Zwischenadapter mit Schnecke Nr. 8 Zwischenring Nr. 9 * aus Protokoll photokina Fragestunde . 1/3