Cleaning a Canon VL rangefinder/viewfinder

[Tim Hicks]

Can anyone advise me which side of the angled semi-silvered mirror in a Canon V - L series viewfinder/rangefinder is silvered (or rather semi-silvered)?

I have recently acquired a nice Canon VL that is in very good general condition but has a hazy viewfinder. The cause is a visible deposit (not fungus) on the outer side of the angled semi-silvered mirror. Looking in from the front of the camera the deposit is on the angled surface nearest to the front of the camera.

The camera is perfectly useable as is but a clear finder would be preferable and I will take it to a couple of good repairers in in the next week or two for a quote. My assumption is that, if the deposit is on the silvered side of the semi-silvered mirror then it will be impossible to clean without damaging the silver coating but if the semi-silvering is on the other side then cleaning the non-silvered will be no problem for a good repair man. Any ideas? I would rather not pay someone to open it up and to only then discover that it cannot be cleaned. These cameras are not common in the UK so few if any repairers will be familiar with VL.

Thanks.

 

[Fixcinater]

It may very well be cleanable. Just about every surface of one of my VTs had that same sort of deposit and they all cleaned up well and I was very surprised at the improvement from start to finish. No damage to the silvering, which was also a surprise given it was one of the first Canons I opened up to do work on.

 

[newt_on_swings]

I'd be more worried about the frame lines, I wiped a set of mine off by accident once when cleaning. I wish I had known they were so fragile, all it took was a q tip with methanol with very light wiping. Most likely when you open it up it the protective glass surfaces will be the ones that are dirty and cleaning those will help out the most.

 

[Fixcinater]

I don't think the VL has framelines, does it? Same with VT and VT Deluxe.

The VI series is when framelines and non-rotating shutter dial came into play, as far as I know.

 

[Mackinaw]

Correct, no frame lines with the VT series (or L-series). Reflected frame lines started with the Canon VI. Projected frame lines started with the Canon 7.

Jim B.

 

[newt_on_swings]

Ah yeap sorry, I had the VI-t that I did that too. Wipe away! If you ever need to know how to get the top plate off I did a write up for the vi-t awhile back on Apug. Maybe it might apply to the vl too.

 

[John Shriver]

I haven't poked with a VL, but many Canon RFs of that vintage have cemented prisms (one half-silvered) for the beam splitter. If the dirt's on the outside, you're home free. If the problem is inside, it probably means the cement is failing. That would require separating the prisms, and re-silvering the correct one, and re-cementing in the correct position.

 

[Tim Hicks]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks belatedly for all the responses. My apologies for not replying sooner but I forgot I had posted this question.....



I eventually worked out from a repair website that the VL has a pair of cemented prisms so it is not a practical repair. However the viewfinder image is useable and I really like the camera. I have now bought a VL2 which is on its way from Japan and as far as I can tell from the other side of the planet, it has a clear viewfinder.