the unofficial Cosina-Voigtlander User Community

The eyepiece of my R3M split apart. The camera was purchased last winter. I thought for sure that this failure would be covered under the warranty as a defect, but I have been told that this is normal wear and tear, and I must purchase a new eyepiece.

Can anyone confirm that this is an accurate diagnosis? Eyepieces on all other cameras stay intact for years. Understanding CV's efforts in quality control, it seems puzzling that CV's eyepieces would fail from normal wear and tear within six months.

If you're reffering to the rubber ring it's the same one my Nikon FM3a uses. In both the case of my R2a and FM3a the eyepiece has been replaced multiple times either from wear or simply losing it.

Interestingly enough, the rectangular eyepieces on both my Nikon F80 and Bessa R2 kept popping off and getting lost, too. They never wore out, though.

The rubber 'o' ring on my R3A has warn out after 6 months use as well, not split but warn down from rubbing against my body. I believe that the way the strap lugs are positioned on the camera cause the camera to tilt towards the body at the top - hence the viewfinder gets a lot of abrasion when the camera is held with a neck or shoulder strap.

Otherwise, I don't really have any other issues apart from a strange one where sometimes the shutter fires randomly as I am winding the film on to the next frame.

Thank you for the posts everyone. The rubber O ring is the part that failed - it split apart as described by c.poulton.

Today, the two-piece rewind knob came apart without my knowing it -- it wasn't in use. Luckily I found the part, but not the screw to reattach it. Eyeglass screws are too large. I'm departing on a 3 week photography trip tomorrow morning. -- I'll attribute the rewind problem to Murphy's Law. But now I'm more curious -- Is anyone else having similar multiple troubles with the 3M?

Thanks again.

I was really frustrated with my R2A for a couple of months...the take up spool had no torque and the beginning of all my rolls of film would have a dozen overlapped images. Then one day I took the triggerwinder off and everything was fine. I realized the film rewind release button on the triggerwinder was putting a little preassure on the button on the camera and that was causing the issue.

Fixed and I'm a happy camper again

Besides that, no other issues with my R2A.

With my R2 the screw on the rewind crank kept loosening. I tightened it and put a dob of nail enamel over it and it's been okay since.

Happen to me a lot.