Quote:
Originally Posted by buzzardkid
Peter,
that is real cool! My finder is almost frosted glass from dust and I'd like to clean it up, also one internal element is rattling.
Can you supply a written description on how to go about with getting the elements and spacers out, to accompany the photos? Would be much appreciated!
EDIT: Never mind, the screws in my finder are stripped, they won't budge... 
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The screws only hold on the flash shoe so it's not absolutely necessary to remove them.
To remove the internals you have to remove the front element first and then the others come out one by one.
The front element is held in with glue so using a small cutting knife you can gently scrape away the glue and then separate the element from the alloy body with the knife.
You can use my photo as a guide but make sure you note how the two glass elements go in. (from the left, items 3 and 4)
Again from the left, items 8 and 9 are removed by gentle twisting each one in turn. Item 10 is a rubber ring that comes off very easily.
The hardest part is cleaning all of the elements and then reassembling the view finder without trapping any dust inside.
I used a silicone craft glue to install the first element once I was happy with the view finder.
I did consider using an epoxy glue but that would make it very difficult to disassemble the view finder if I ever needed to again.
Please be careful when doing anything like this. As you know a 21mm view finder is very expensive new or second hand.
A good camera tech should have a Clean Cabinet for work on lenses or view finders.
This cabinet draws air through a Heppa filter in the top and pushes filtered air down into the cabinet so the inside of this cabinet is dust free.
This is a picture is from a Google search.
