Bessa I: dirty viewfinder, how to clean?

[Dagfinn]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]I recently purchased a Voigtländer Bessa I folder. It is in good shape except for the viewfinder, which is dirty enough to be a nuisance, as it is only partly translucent. Any advice on how to get it clean without damaging the camera in any way? Thanks![/FONT]

 

[Ernst Dinkla]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]I recently purchased a Voigtländer Bessa I folder. It is in good shape except for the viewfinder, which is dirty enough to be a nuisance, as it is only partly translucent. Any advice on how to get it clean without damaging the camera in any way? Thanks![/FONT]

You have to take the top plate off, no other way.
Not that difficult either.

Whether you will like the viewfinder after cleaning is another matter. I bought an Acall 35mm viewfinder for a 35 mm camera and put that on top. Covers the 56x88 frame size of the Bessa adequately. A circular piece of an old eyeglass is fitted at the rear of that finder as a diopter adjustment. A cam with distances engraved corrects the parallax partly.

Ernst Dinkla

 

[Dagfinn]

Thanks, any specific precautions when removing the top?

 

[FallisPhoto]

Thanks, any specific precautions when removing the top?

Don't use a crowbar? Just unscrew the bolts on the knobs and take it off. It's very straightforward. Only things I can think of that would qualify as precautions would be to use precision screwdrivers, so you don't mess up the screws, and don't do it over a hard surface, since dropped screws bounce really nicely on pretty much anything hard, and if they hit carpet, they tend to disappear. Clean the whole inside of the top and the grime won't come back, if you take care of it.

 

[Dagfinn]

Thanks! Wish me luck. 🙂