Aires 35 V question

[milosdevino]

I'm hoping somebody with an Aires35V can help me with a question.
I bought one of these cameras from our local version of Craigslist, and did not notice in the photos that the window retaining ring and glass are missing from the rangefinder.:bang: Looking at front of camera, it's the round window on the left hand side (sorry no pics).
I have a retaining ring that will fit from another camera, but don't know if the glass in the window is plain or a lens.
Can anyone out there tell me if it's plain glass or a lens?

 

[Larry Cloetta]

As far as I know, there is no glass in the retaining ring, or directly behind the retaining ring. I'm not sure it is even correctly termed a retaining ring, as it doesn't retain anything.
At least there never has been any glass there in mine, and it works perfectly as near as I can tell.
If you take the ring off, you will see a black circular piece about 1 millimeter behind the ring, which has 4 notches in it, presumably there to allow purchase points for a tool, and behind that is the only glass. I don't think that there was ever any glass directly behind the ring which screws onto the front of the body. If there was, it was just clear glass. Not sure there is even any room for glass there, the way this is laid out.
At any rate, I know from personal experience that there is no necessity for any cover glass directly behind the outer ring (which seems to be there only to allow access to the interior).
Just try the camera and see how it works, as is. The 4.5cm f/1.5 S-Coral lens on these things is somewhat exceptional.

 

[milosdevino]

Thanks for the answer Larry. I'm glad it's not a lens as I have no idea where I'd get another. Have been pretty keen to try it out, but it needs a bit of love and there are a couple in line before it. I have the 50mm lens you mentioned, but the aperture is stuck. A complicated repair apparently, that I'm not really looking forward to. The shutter is slow for the first couple of shots then comes up to speed. Lovely camera though. Very solid, very heavy.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Thanks for the answer Larry. I'm glad it's not a lens as I have no idea where I'd get another. Have been pretty keen to try it out, but it needs a bit of love and there are a couple in line before it. I have the 50mm lens you mentioned, but the aperture is stuck. A complicated repair apparently, that I'm not really looking forward to. The shutter is slow for the first couple of shots then comes up to speed. Lovely camera though. Very solid, very heavy.

You are most welcome, and good luck!