Increasing Viewfinder Brightness

[paniolo]

Hello Photographers,
is there a way to increase the CL's viewfinder brightness?
I imagine to lift the top plate and remove the innerds. Especialy the Prisms and Glass between the back- and frontglass.

Of course the rangefinder is out of order after it, but I just want a very clean view without any colour tints and extra glasses that dim it.

Is that possible?

Regards
Paniolo

 

[Hsg]

Use an auxiliary VF or get another camera.

 

[x-ray]

Make a wire sports finder like the ones on a speed graphic. You might even find one for the FL you use.

 

[De_Corday]

when I got my CL, the finder was actually filthy. It might be worth taking the top off to clean, carefully.

 

[paniolo]

Guys, I did not ask for external viewfinders.
My finder looks clean compared to other CL's.

I just want to get rid of these prisms and mirrors inside, to brighten it up. Is it possible to remove them or would it make the entire viewfinder useless?

 

[skibeerr]

The prisms and mirrors do not sit between the front and rear glass of the actual viewfinder.
You would only lose the ability to focus and gain nothing in viewfinder brightness.

Have a look at a diagram of a rangefinder in this thread:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137673

 

[WJJ3]

I don't understand what you mean when you ask if removing the prism from your rangefinder would make it useless. Maybe look into a Rollei 35 or a Leica M1?

 

[maddoc]

The CL has also light-meter needle and frame-lines visible in the VF so simply removing the prism block might not be a that easy. Best to ask Sherry Krauter about this.

 

[paniolo]

Yay, the meter needle can be a problem. Actualy I'm not sure where it sits exactly. The frame for the framelines sits behind the frostglass, so it can stay where it is.

I've found this.

It's a bit small but you can see this 45° mirror inside the main viewfinder that makes it dim, if I'm correct.

 

[sevo]

It's a bit small but you can see this 45° mirror inside the main viewfinder that makes it dim, if I'm correct.

No. It merges the rangefinder spot and framelines with the main image. The light loss is fairly small - one stop even if it should be oriented the wrong way around (where the rangefinder and framelines would be misplaced), much less for a properly assembled one.

There is not really anything to be done to the CL viewfinder, unless you are prepared to spend money that would buy you a M6 or M7 - finder brightness primarily is a result of size and magnification, and you cannot alter the former, and would have to have someone design and fabricate an entire new optical system for it to change the latter - only to have spent a small fortune on getting a proportionally smaller finder image, compared to a M series Leica...