squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
I spent about 40 minutes figuring this out yesterday, so I thought I'd share. Both vertical and horizontal adjustment screws are accessible without taking anything apart. They are concealed by decorative exterior screws. The vertical is on the top plate by the shutter speed dial; the horizontal is on the front, beside the viewfinder window (see photo).
Remove the two screws and put them somewhere safe. The vertical adjustment screw cover is the kind with two holes; you will need a medical tweezers or something to get it off. I used a small electronic capacitor with the leads trimmed down to one millimeter, because I'm a DIY nerd.
Set up the camera, with lens, on a tripod outdoors somewhere where there's are very distant very clear horizontal and vertical objects, like a phone pole with lines coming off it. Point the camera at this area, then focus to infinity.
Do the vertical adjustment first. If you peer into the hole, you can see the (rather large) slot for the jeweler's screwdriver to go into--the screwdriver will have to be angled forward a little to hit it right. It is VERY SENSITIVE, so the vertical adjustment will be all out of whack as you work--you can see it bouncing around in the VF as you adjust. So you'll have to use trial and error to get it right.
Once it's right, do the same with the horizontal adjustment. This one is easy, and the RF patch image will be perfectly stable.
Replace the screws, you're done.
Remove the two screws and put them somewhere safe. The vertical adjustment screw cover is the kind with two holes; you will need a medical tweezers or something to get it off. I used a small electronic capacitor with the leads trimmed down to one millimeter, because I'm a DIY nerd.
Set up the camera, with lens, on a tripod outdoors somewhere where there's are very distant very clear horizontal and vertical objects, like a phone pole with lines coming off it. Point the camera at this area, then focus to infinity.
Do the vertical adjustment first. If you peer into the hole, you can see the (rather large) slot for the jeweler's screwdriver to go into--the screwdriver will have to be angled forward a little to hit it right. It is VERY SENSITIVE, so the vertical adjustment will be all out of whack as you work--you can see it bouncing around in the VF as you adjust. So you'll have to use trial and error to get it right.
Once it's right, do the same with the horizontal adjustment. This one is easy, and the RF patch image will be perfectly stable.
Replace the screws, you're done.
Attachments
Mackinaw
Think Different
Also see Karen Nakamuras excellent Canon 7 site for some rangefinder adjustment tips. Page down to find the rangefinder adjustment section.
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Canon7.html~mainFrame
Jim B.
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?Canon7.html~mainFrame
Jim B.
squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
I got the basics from there, but there seemed to be some doubt about whether the top screw was in fact the adjustment screw, or if it was the COVER for the adjustment screw. And I can tell you it is definitely just the cover.
Funny to see THAT Canon 7 on Karen's site. I bought it from her. It's got a Contax adapter on it now, with a post-war Zeiss 50/1.5 Sonnar. Meter is still accurate.
Very fine tweezers can be used to remove the top cover screw. Set the Vertical Alignment from the top first, then horizontal.
Very fine tweezers can be used to remove the top cover screw. Set the Vertical Alignment from the top first, then horizontal.
squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
What is Karen Nakamura shooting with these days? That site has been a favorite resource of mine for some time--I even wrote her to thank her for it--but she doesn't seem to have written anything for a long time. Being a gear nerd, she has probably changed her work methods a dozen times since then...
theoldsmithy
Newbie
Hi everyone, I’ve just received a Canon 7 from Japan. It seems in great condition but the RF needs a tiny bit of vertical adjustment. I’ve got some tweezers that fit the plug as described in this thread but I can’t budge it. What would be a safe way to loosen it? WD40 is my standby for loosening stuff but I’m afraid it would get into the light meter or something equally undesirable. Thanks for any advice!
nukecoke
⚛Yashica
The vertical adjustment cover plug on my Canon 7 just can't be removed, and I tried so much. In the end I had to remove the top plate to have it adjusted.