IIf rangfinder help

[aes65]

Hi everyone,
I have a Canon IIf that got dropped and although it survived the fall, the rangefinder got a little out-of-whack. I can and have opened up the top cover to re-adjust it but still does not seem right. I was wondering if there was a specific procedure for doing this adjustment or maybe someone could point me in the right direction. Also, was wondering if there are any user manuals online out there.

I bought this camera at a garage sale for $125 with a 35 2.8, 50 1.8, and an 85 1.9 and every conceivable accessory that was made for this camera it seems like. It's a beautiful machine, takes wonderful photos and would love to get another 50 years out of it! Even so, I am planning on getting an R2A or R3A...........

Thanks everyone,
Alex

 

[rover]

Sounds like you got a great deal.

I can't help you with the repair, but why not consider a professional CLA to get it up to spec?

 

[jlw]

If the drop caused the back to get bent or the lens flange to be pushed out of alignment, adjusting the rangefinder won't help -- you'll still get unsharp pictures because the lens won't be correctly aligned to the film plane, no matter what the rangefinder says.

Inspecting this visually is tough because of the IIf's non-removable back, but you can check the basic alignment if you've got a depth micrometer; IIRC, flange-to-film distance should be ~28.8mm at any location. There's a slight tolerance for this to allow for different film thicknesses, but the key is that it should be about the same distance no matter where you measure. If the distance is notably different in one corner or along one side, that's a strong indication that something got bent.

 

[aes65]

Thanks jlw,
I checked for that 28.8mm measure and that looks just fine. The camera is in great shape (visualy anyways). The 50mm took the brunt of the fall +- 3ft. Dented the bottom filter thread about 2mm or so. also broke the parralax indexing pin for the slider on a Nikon? varifocal viewer. kinda bummed about that. Measuring with a tape, focus on the lens seems off on the + side maybe 10-15 %. That may well be normal. But I don't see a perfect rangfinder image when focused @ infinity at a distant object. Looks as though the two images could come together a very slight bit more. Again, that could be quite normal.

I'm going to have to just throw some film through it and see.........
CLA is probably not a bad idea too.

Thank you for the responce,
Alex

 

[aes65]

Hi Brian,
The distance on the lens seems to be off about 10-15 % of a measured distance on the + side. That may well be normal and that's not a big deal. But when focused at infinity and viewing a distant object, it seems like the 2 images could come together ever so slightly. Again, that could be quite normal too. I'm going to put some film through it and do some tests.

Thank you for your reply,
Alex

 

[aes65]

Thanks everyone for your help! and yes, I should look into getting a CLA done on the camera.
Any recomendations on where to go?

Alex