Extremely faint rangefinder

[joekunin]

Hello to all!

Im the recent proud owner of a Yashica Electro 35 GSN. It is my first rangefinder, and indeed my first real film camera (I learned on digital as it were). Anyway, my problem (or at least i think its a problem) is this. the split yellowish image in the viewfinder which is used to focus is extremely faint, and in certain light not really even visible. the picture in the manual seems to be much more defined. On closer inspection it seems that a strip of what seems like gold foil inside the viewfinder, on the right side, is missing a chunk in the middle. Im not sure if this an illusion, or just a worn out layer of something or other. perhaps the VF needs cleaning?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks


P.S the shutter, at times sticks a wee bit. any way to remedy this?

___________________________

Joe Kunin

http://joeykunin.deviantart.com
http://joekunin.onsolution.com

[tunznath]

heres the link
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html

[charjohncarter]

tunznath's method is good, I have it on three or four RFs, I used the blue masking tape. But be very careful if you try to move the tape (which you will want to do), you can break the glass over the viewfinder. Here is what one of mine looks like:

[Mr_Flibble]

Just tried it on my Kodak Retina (which are apparently notorious when it comes to faded rangefinder mirrors) and it seems to work a treat!

[cmedin]

I don't know if this'll work, but you could try licking the back of the tape piece so you can slide it around a bit and get it positioned right. Hey, it works on light seal foam... :-)

[IK13]

Generally this works, except for the fact that it can't really deal with parallax and size correcting viewfinders...

[joekunin]

Thank you to all.. My that was a quick reply!

[joekunin]

Seems to work well! However, can the actual thing that superimposes the image in the VF be replaced? as mine is no longer a square but a tiny little ragged-edged circle.

[greyhoundman]

Beamsplitters can be replaced. Several places sell it, and you can cut it to size.
You'll want the 50/50 type.