DIY project: Zorki 4 framelines

You can get very good surface mirrors from dead (or working) Polaroid cameras. The cameras cost next to nothing on the used market, and the mirrors are excellent.
 
Hi guys,

I finaly found some suitable mirror material, but I have bad news :(

I tried it without the mask behind the middle window (the one I drilled) and the results are:
- the mirror really does reflect light into the VF :)
- the bright spot reflected into the viewfinder has soft edges just like the RF image of an ordinary Zorki 4 :(
- the size of the bright spot is about the coverage of 135 frameline on my Helios finder :(

So, even if I did make a mask with frame - the projected frameline would be at best for 135mm lens and not for 85. And it wouldn't be sharp as it should be - or as it is in fixed-lens RF cameras. To make it sharp would require a more complex optical system to project the framelines...

This seems to be the end of this project... Joe would say this project is "done" :D

Thanks you for looking and thanks to Kestas for the parts.



Mmm... what do I do next... maybe transplant the Z-4 RF/VF into my FED-3 ? ...
 
The size problem is a bother, of course. You could get a larger window by cutting a bigger hole into the top of the body, with illumination from above. You would have to move the accessory shoe a bit or do without one. (No problem, as you're doing all this so that you can do without accessory viewfinders ;))

For getting sharply deliminated framelines, try taking a small condensing lens and drilling a hole in the middle for the rangefinder spot, like the system used for the framelines in the Canonets. You would have to experiment and fiddle a bit for the placement of the lens. For inspiration, take a look at the Argus Markfinder diagram on Rick Oleson's site (http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/looking_forward.htm). I guess this would also affect the size of the framelines.
 
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Spyderman said:
Thanks for new ideas rxmd... BTW: That link is broken :(
Fixed. The forum software automatically included the closing bracket in the link. It should work now.

Philipp
 
I'd like to revive this old thread with a question —*maybe it's rather easier to do this project in a different way, the way SBOOI is made — with a mirror-like framelines on the back side of viewfinder and with mirror parts on the insides of the front part?
 
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