Canon 7s Rangefinder fail - what happened here??

[ChipShorter]

and how much is it going to cost to fix 🙁 :bang:

I recently acquired a canon 7s w/ a 50/f.95. Out of the box it worked great. I've put 5 rolls through the combo without a problem. (meter doesn't work, but when do they ever) Then, today, I turned the camera up towards me to clean the rangefinder/viewfinder windows and heard a kind of clunk sound. When I looked through the viewfinder again, it was blocked in the middle, and turning the selector now does nothing. I've attached pics to hopefully make the problem clear.. is this repairable?

What in the world could have caused this? I have not been rough with the camera at all. Any insight at all would be appreciated.

 

[Mackinaw]

Looks like something in the viewfinder/rangefinder came loose. Hard to say what really happened until you (or somebody) opens it up and takes a look. The rangefinder prisms may have separated or perhaps they become detached from their housing.

Yeah, it can probably be fixed though I have no idea what it may cost. I have a 7s repair manual around here someplace. I'll see if I can post a pic of the rangefinder/viewfinder assembly later on today. Maybe that can help you better diagnose the problem.

Jim B.

 

[raid]

I would ask Youxin Ye to repair it.

 

[ChipShorter]

Looks like something in the viewfinder/rangefinder came loose. Hard to say what really happened until you (or somebody) opens it up and takes a look. The rangefinder prisms may have separated or perhaps they become detached from their housing.

Yeah, it can probably be fixed though I have no idea what it may cost. I have a 7s repair manual around here someplace. I'll see if I can post a pic of the rangefinder/viewfinder assembly later on today. Maybe that can help you better diagnose the problem.

Jim B.

Thanks for your responses guys.

Jim, If you could find the 7s manual that would be great. I was able to locate the 7 manual online, but haven't seen hide nor hair of the 7s.

Raid, Thanks for the suggestion. I tried Youxin.. unfortunately he doesn't work on the 7s, and he said he didn't know offhand of anyone who does.

 

[CameraQuest]

look at the messed up condition of the screw heads on the lens mount

no pro would have done that

some amateur opened up your camera

no telling what damage was done.

Stephen

 

[zauhar]

Mark Hama repairs canon RFs, he worked on mine . He also repaired a VF problem on a yashica RF for me (not as serious an issue as yours)

Randy

 

[Ranchu]

Extracts from the 7 repair manual thanks to Kim Coxon. http://www.pentax-manuals.com/repairs.htm The top isn't hard to get off if you've worked on cameras before, I would use a rubber pad to remove the wind lever cap if you can. Just loosen the screws in the shutter speed dial, rather than removing them. edit: oops you have this one!

 

[Mackinaw]

Here's a page on the 7s viewfinder/rangefinder from the 7s repair manual. Maybe it will help shed some light on the problem.

Jim B.

 

[Platinum RF]

To me, it is prism separation. Same like Leica M3

 

[ChipShorter]

Sent it out to DAG for evaluation... this is clearly way above my pay grade 🙂

 

[riise]

ChipShorter, was DAG able to repair your 7s? Did he CLA it also? If you don't mind me asking what was the cost of the repair?

 

[rfaspen]

I found that Don (DAG) charges a little more to work on Canon 7 series cameras. Not sure why. Having said that, his work is impeccable and probably worth it. He can fix issues with the frameline selector (which is probably what happened to the OP), but if the camera was opened by a hack, as suggested by Stephen, who knows what kind of damage was done. Don has lots of parts, and much skill, but a previous entry by an unskilled person can make Don's challenge much greater, and more costly.

About a year ago, Don suggested about $260-280 to CLA my Canon 7 and tighten up an issue with the frameline selector mechanism. Don has seen all my Leicas and other screwmount Canon's but I decided not to do this one. The cost-benefit ratio just didn't make my threshold. Maybe eventually. Especially if I ever come across a 50/0.95.

 

[Frontman]

It looks like the main prism has broken loose from it's mount. I have never seen that happen before, and I have worked on many Canon 7 cameras. The prism is glued to a metal bracket which is attached to the camera body with screws.

Disassembling the Canon 7 is not so difficult, the only tricky parts are remembering to set the ASA dial to 400, and set the shutter speed to 1/15, this allows access to the screws which hold on the shutter speed dial. The screws should not be removed, just loosened enough to lift off the dial. The other difficult part is removing the flash synch plug, on the 7S there is nothing for a tool to grip. The center of the synch plug must be threaded out, counter-clockwise.

Then remove the winding lever, rewind lever, the collar around the shutter button, the infinity focus cover screw on the front of the top cover, and the small screw on the right side near the strap lug. The cover should lift off.

If you need help or parts let me know, I have a lot of spares for the 7S and 7Sz.