Canon LTM Canon IVSB2 yellow tint in viewfinder

[Daimon]

Hi. Got myself Canon IVSB2 in very good condition. Everything looks to work but there's yellow tint when looking through viewfinder. I don't mean rangefinder patch - entire viewfinder is slightly yellow. It's clearly visible when comparing to Zorki 1, Leotax F and Canon P.

I opened camera and gently cleaned all glass surfaces which were accessible. It helped to remove slight haze but yellow tint remains.

I did not remove main prism which would be required to clean surfaces which are hidden in mechanism.

Can anyone confirm if it's a "standard" feature of this camera or my copy has some problem?

Photo just for the looks

 

[wlewisiii]

You'd probably notice if this were the case, but is there a yellow filter over the round RF window? Sometimes they were added to increase contrast of the RF patch.

 

[Daimon]

Nope. I removed window during disassembly, glass is clear there

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Is it the same shade of yellow for all magnification settings? Canada Balsam can yellow for cemented elements.

 

[Daimon]

Yes all magnifications look same. I checked rotating lenses and they looked fine.

So probably main prism unit has some cemented elements and that got yellow tint? Doesn't sound like DIY fix there

 

[Daimon]

Would UV treatment help here in similar way it can be used to remove yellow tint from lenses?

i.e. removing prism, shining UV light through it?

I can just try it but could uv light degradate other characteristics like negatively affecting rangefinder patch?

 

[wlewisiii]

My understanding is that balsam can only be fixed by removal and recementing. That may be wrong so I would suggest asking your preferred repair person. For Canon LTM gear, I personally prefer DAG Camera.

 

[santino]

Isn’t it the radioactive glass that can be treated by UV light? If it is balsam seperation, UV light shouldn’t help much.

 

[lukx]

As an aside, that 50mm 1.5 looks absolutely pristine!

 

[Daimon]

Isn’t it the radioactive glass that can be treated by UV light? If it is balsam seperation, UV light shouldn’t help much.

I'm not sure about that's why I'm asking. UV is definitely recommended for "radioactive" yellowed lenses but not sure if it's for the balsam in those lenses or glass itself.

Anyway I could just try that. Main question here is if UV can affect beam splitting capability of this camera - if yes I might turn slightly yellow viewfinder into unusable rangefinder and it's not worth it

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I would just live with it- slightly yellow should not be an issue.

 

[dexdog]

I have a IVSB2, and mine has a slightly yellow finder, too. However, the viewfinder is clear and crisp, and agree with Sonnar B that i would not consider it to be an issue. As an aside, the IVSB2 is much better than the rangefinder patch on my years younger Nikon SP.

 

[Mackinaw]

The viewfinder of my IVSB2 is also a bit warm. Canon did use gold coatings in their viewfinders of some of their rangefinders which may be a reason for the yellow tint. In the VI-series cameras, they changed to a silver-coating which was much "cooler" looking to the eye. Personally, I prefer the warmish look.

Jim B.