Topic: Rangefinder brightness fix

[Nigel]

I've been bemoaning the fact that my Olympus 35RC rangefinder, a camera that I love, is difficult to focus even in quite bright light. I just couldn't see the rangefinder image properly. I've thought a number of times about taking the top off and having a look inside, but as we all know that's something that can quickly turn into something you regret.

So last night I was doing some googling on the subject and I found two tips:

1. The first is clean the rangefinder window - maybe this is obvious but mine was quite caked with fluff and it did make a noticeable difference.

2. And this my friends is 100% gold plated genius. 

http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html

I found this article which explains - and it makes sense now I think about it - the the rangefinder works by using the difference in brightness between the two images. So reducing the brightness in the viewfinder - by sticking a tiny square of black tape over the rangefinder 'spot' you increase the contrast. Suddenly it's much easier to focus.

The most difficult thing is cutting the square of tape small enough. On my 35RC that is about 2 x 3mm. If the piece of tape is too large it's distracting, but if you get it about the same size as the rangefinder spot then you don't notice it after a while.

[Paul Mitchell]

If only everything in life could be that simple and make such a difference! If only we had enough black tape to cover up the Euro... 

[stefancoisson]

Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I was having this issue with my Mamiya Universal and this little trick fixed it so I can see the focus ten fold.


I love you. 

[Nigel]

Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I was having this issue with my Mamiya Universal and this little trick fixed it so I can see the focus ten fold.


I love you. 

Pleased to be of service! 

[Lund]

Speaking of the Mamiya Universal I think I might try this on mine. Still bright and nice but any help to get this monster in perfect focus would be marvelous.

[ludoo]

90% of the time a good inside cleaning of the viewfinder glass and the rf mirrors (all but the side facing you of the translucent one) makes a world of difference, not only in the rf spot contrast but in overall viewfinder brightness. It's pretty easy, but you need the right screwdrivers or you'll probably strip some screws, and you need to take pictures as you progress in case it's not obvious later on how to put things together.

Sometimes though, especially on older rangefinders which used a delicate coating on the semitransparent mirror, there isn't uch you can do apart from cutting a new mirror from the 50/50 one sold by Edmund Optics. I did it on a Walz rangefinder and the difference in brightness and contrast was huge.

And of course, the best way to use a rangefinder spot is not to concentrate eg on a straight vertical line that goes from separate to a single image, but on the overal contrast "pop" of what is in the central patch.

[Rafael Morales]

I did something like this on a Fed5c I used a put a black circle of not permanent marker. This fix looks a bit more elegant.

[Ordinal]

Bumping this a little, but I'd just like to say that I just tried it with my Olympus XA, which I was finding a little hard to focus in low light, and it works fantastically. The only trouble is that the spot for the XA has to be very small indeed, and it's quite hard not to go over the edge a bit and end up with a black smudge - also in daylight you lose sharpness in the centre of the viewfinder. But indoors it's terrific.

[SLVR]

how big was the piece you put on your XA? mine is devilishly hard to focus.

[Nigel]

I've kept the tape on mine and I don't notice it anymore. It really has transformed a camera that was very difficult to focus into one that is quite easy to use.

[Ordinal]

how big was the piece you put on your XA? mine is devilishly hard to focus.

I didn't actually use tape - I used a fine-tipped pen. It took a lot of iterations to get it right. It's a really small blob, maybe 1.5 x 2.5mm, and it should really be smaller.

[Ordinal]

Spot on viewfinder....

[jojonas~]

on the XA -ofcourse!! dimmest rangefinder I've ever seen. I think I'll do this to mine too

[tani.P]

What a genius and simple fix! I'm going to do this on my Minolta 7s immediately, it's not so dim, but this is too good to pass up. Also, it's completely reversible, which is my favorite kind of "mod." Thank you!