Anyone use those Russian Universal Viewfinder?

M

Max 2.8

Guest
Hi Guys,

Does anyone use Universal Viewfinder, those made in Russia with 28-135 view?

I bought one recently, realised that the frame is slanted towards the left, can it be adjusted? Can anyone tells me how?

Cheers
Max 2.8
 
I encountered the same problem using one of these on my Kiev and Bessa-T. Would be really interesting if there is a nice DIY solution.
 
I own two and I'm fairly happy with them. However, 1 is really dirty inside so I would appreciate any info on DIY repair too.

Wim
 
IIRC the frame is slaned on purpose, to compensate for parallax. The parallax correction should be adjustable somewhere on the finder.
 
Well, on my two samples it is not slanted, and parallax correction is done (really badly, I have to point out), by turning the turret slightly; I guess there should be a way to correct the piece of glass with the frame - just be careful when taking apart the finder: I did for cleaning, and had a hard time fitting it together the right way again - inside ther are two glass prisms and a plastic spacer, and the can go in in a few different ways, but only one of those is correct - it took me about 30 Min. of puzzling to get it right...
I think on the text resources of the BestStuff forum there is a description how to do it the right way.

Roman
 
Mine was slanted. I kept taking pictures thinking they were level and having them come back slanted. I took the bottom off and put a paper shim under the low side. I had the camera on a flat surface (a counter top) and adjusted the paper thickness untill the crosshairs were horizontal to another know horizontal surface (another countertop). My pictures are level now.
 
I have a couple of them and one carries the "Quality Product of the USSR" symbol. Two problems seem to be common. First, unless the camera accessory shoe has some means of applying pressure to the finder base, they don't fit tightly enough which allows them to shift position or even fall out. (I use a sliver of film under mine to secure them.) Secondly, the design doesn't allow precise parallax correction. The adjustments are far too coarse. The Leitz finders are much better in that respect but lack the 28mm capability.

If I intend to use the 28mm Orion lens, I put the FSU finder on the camera. If not, I use one of my Leitz Imarect finders.

Walker
 
There is a chap over at the Russican Camera User's forum who has posted a text document on how to clean the interior of the turret finder. If you're familiar with that forum (over at Best Stuff), look under the Text Documents area and find the document posted by Roberto; it's on the first page. If you have trouble finding it, let me know & I'll post a proper link to it.
 
There are two different FSU turret viewfinders. The most common is for the Zorki and FED. There is another, much scarcer, than leans the opposite direction for The Kiev (Contax II type camera). They show up once in awhile on Ebay. My Zorki/FED finder arrived in almost new condition--no dirt inside. Works great with my J-12 and a 28mm Soligore lens that I mount via an LTM-M42 adapter.
 
Optically they are completely the same, though (I have got one of each) - I think the one leaning to the right is the original one (copied from Contax), they introduced the mirrored version because with the original it was difficult to reach the shutter dial on the FEDs and Zorkis.

Roman
 
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