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Vertical rangefinder alignment seems to be another one of those common issues among users of Voigtlander Bessa R2A, R2M, R3A, and R3M bodies. I haven’t seen any reports of vertical RF patch misalignment occurring with the original Bessa or the R2. I also haven’t seen any reports of this occurring with the latest generation Bessa R4A and R4M so I’m guessing that it was solved in their design stage. Perhaps the solution was “back designed” into the newly-restyled R2A/R2M/R3A/R3M that were released shortly prior to the R4 series? For the rest of us it may be something we have to face down the line. Apparently, the root cause of this is vibration-related and varies from camera to camera. I’ve used my R2a very heavily over the past couple of years, carry it daily in a non-padded messenger bag, and have experienced no vertical misalignment. Others have faced this problem right out of the box, the rangefinder patch being vertically misaligned simply from the bumps that occur during shipping. Fortunately, it’s not very difficult to fix if you are patient and know the difference between gently and forcefully. Here’s how to adjust your rangefinder patch if it is misaligned vertically.