Bessa L and a wobbly viewfinder

[savuti]

Hi all,

I just recently got a Bessa L and a 15mm cv. Mostly use it with my 25mm Snapshot skopar, though, and absolutely love it. Just one problem, and I know it`s a known one, but can`t find any old posts when I search. So here it is; the viewfinder holder seems not to be tight enough, so the viewfinder keeps going "backwards", and I think I might lose it some day. Solutions, anyone? Glue and file, maybe?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Hi all,

I just recently got a Bessa L and a 15mm cv. Mostly use it with my 25mm Snapshot skopar, though, and absolutely love it. Just one problem, and I know it`s a known one, but can`t find any old posts when I search. So here it is; the viewfinder holder seems not to be tight enough, so the viewfinder keeps going "backwards", and I think I might lose it some day. Solutions, anyone? Glue and file, maybe?

Glue a thin shim (brass is ideal) to the side of the finder, above the foot that slides into the shoe. This acts as a brake to stop the finder falling out. I used this approach to fit a Soviet turret finder to a Bessa-T. Yes, you can pull it out; but you have to work quite hard to do so.

Trying to tighten the shoe is more work than modifying several finders...

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Robin P]

"I used this approach to fit a Soviet turret finder to a Bessa-T."
A quick question Roger, obviously the turret finder was convenient, but did you find it really "usable" or was it too much of a compromise for regular use?
Asking because I'm wondering about the practicality of a Bessa T without any other LTM or M body.

Cheers, Robin

Cheers, Robin

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Robin,

Hard to say. It's my wife's camera. She's perfectly happy with it, and uses it a lot. But she also has an R2 and access to Leicas (2x M2, M4-P, MP, M8) and at present a Zeiss Ikon SW.

Personally, no, I don't think I'd have been keen, but after nearly 40 years of Leicas and over 30 years of M-series Leicas, I'm biased. She says yes, she could cheerfully live with it as her only RF camera. She prefers it to the R2, but would cheerfully swap it for a Zeiss Ikon (or another MP...)

Sorry I can't be more help.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[drewbarb]

Put a piece of gaffers tape on either the finder foot or in the shoe. (Don't put tape on the shoe of a camera with a hot-shoe!) It'll snug up just fine. Like the brass shim Roger suggests, it'll make it trickier to remove the finder- but that's the point, isn't it?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Put a piece of gaffers tape on either the finder foot or in the shoe. (Don't put tape on the shoe of a camera with a hot-shoe!) It'll snug up just fine. Like the brass shim Roger suggests, it'll make it trickier to remove the finder- but that's the point, isn't it?

Dear Drew,

The big advantages of the glued-on shim are first, no sticky goo, and second, it doesn't chew up as fast.

If you don't need to change the finder very often, a good trick is to jam in a wedge-shaped toothpick REALLY TIGHTLY between the bottom of the finder and the shoe, and snap it off. Carry a few spare toothpicks for when you want to change. But I've found tape-based solutions unsatisfactory.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Robin P]

Sorry I can't be more help.
rRoger

That is helpful Roger, thanks.
If Frances is happy to use the Bessa T regularly when there are so many (more traditional) alternatives "in the family" then that is a great recommendation.

Cheers, Robin

 

[pvdhaar]

Hi all,

I just recently got a Bessa L and a 15mm cv. Mostly use it with my 25mm Snapshot skopar, though, and absolutely love it. Just one problem, and I know it`s a known one, but can`t find any old posts when I search. So here it is; the viewfinder holder seems not to be tight enough, so the viewfinder keeps going "backwards", and I think I might lose it some day. Solutions, anyone? Glue and file, maybe?

I use a small piece of thin card board that I put in the shoe before sliding in one of my (zoom) finders that wobbles to much otherwise. No permanent harm to the shoe, so that the finders that sit good aren't affected.

..happy to use the Bessa T regularly when there are so many (more traditional) alternatives ..

Not surprising in the least.. I've had a Leica M4 and a Bessa-T side by side for two years. The T was the workhorse, so the M4 got sold. Rationally speaking, the M4 beats the T hands down: it's shutter is silent, it's built like a brick, the combined VF/RF is absolutely stunning. But all despite that, and even with having to manage external viewfinders, the camera that I always took and still take along is the T.

 

[payasam]

Like Peter, a piece of thin card. Sometimes a bit of paper is enough. The toothpick idea seems good too.

 

[dan denmark]

toothpick is good but i have used a wooden matchstick for the very same purpose...they are soft and when snapped in the middle usually break to a wedge. when pushed in it tends to sponge in and out of the metal crannies.
-dd

 

[Roger Hicks]

toothpick is good but i have used a wooden matchstick for the very same purpose...they are soft and when snapped in the middle usually break to a wedge. when pushed in it tends to sponge in and out of the metal crannies.
-dd

Dear Dan,

Absolutely. I should have said that the best toothpicks I've found for this purpose have been Interdens, made of balsa wood. What you DON'T want is oak (I've tried whittling them with my Leatherman). Too hard.

Cheers,

R.