how dark is your GSN viewfinder?

[morgan]

I love my GSN, but the viewfinder is so dark. The patch is very very light, and the ghost image almost lighter. Is that standard for these cameras? In low light, it's almost impossible to see the ghost image. Also, my vertical alignment has gone out slightly, is it easy to adjust?

 

[pesphoto]

Maybe it needs a cleaning? I never noticed mine being dark, but it isnt nearly as bright as say my Bessa R.

 

[OurManInTangier]

Mine is certainly darker than my M6 finder but I'm new to the GSN and am still very much enamoured by its clunky brilliance - the lens is astonishing on something so cheap. At the moment I will forgive it anything!!

 

[Keith]

I have two GSN's and both were pretty gloomy and dull. I cleaned them both fairly easily ... the top comes off the camera very simply and everything is easy to get at. It made a big improvement to both cameras ... especially in low light! 🙂

 

[lilin menyala]

yeah, my viewfinder is quite dim also and compared to my oly RC 35 it and the patch are not as easy to use... but i love the overall handling of the camera.

keith - what do you use to clean your viewfinder? just some air and a brush?

i have yet to get the first roll of film back from the lab, but i noticed that there is a tiny bit of dust on the inside of the lens. can anyone say if this is also easy to get at and clean? or is it best to hand it to a specialist (i myself have never done any repair work on any camera ever 🙁 ). maybe once i get the first roll back it won't have any negative effect on the picture quality, but i just wonder what to do if it does...

 

[Keith]

yeah, my viewfinder is quite dim also and compared to my oly RC 35 it and the patch are not as easy to use... but i love the overall handling of the camera.

keith - what do you use to clean your viewfinder? just some air and a brush?

i have yet to get the first roll of film back from the lab, but i noticed that there is a tiny bit of dust on the inside of the lens. can anyone say if this is also easy to get at and clean? or is it best to hand it to a specialist (i myself have never done any repair work on any camera ever 🙁 ). maybe once i get the first roll back it won't have any negative effect on the picture quality, but i just wonder what to do if it does...

Just some cotton buds and lens cleaner ... aparently it's taboo to touch the rangefinder mirror though ... strictly air for that I'm told! 🙂

 

[owlsplace]

The earlier Electro 35s had brighter finders and weaker rangefinder images 😕. Yashica changed their strategy to keep the camera competitive in the marketplace. As a modern user/collector you can have it both ways!
Some of the older beamsplitters are very delicate and easily damaged 😡. The later ones I have seen are not so easily damaged 😱. A bit of Russian roulette there if you find yourself rubbing the reflecting coating off during cleaning :bang:. You will be hunting up a parts camera :angel:....Roger