Kodak Duo 620 viewfinder - anyone got a spare?

[Muggins]

I've just got a Kodak Duo 620 (less than 24hrs after deciding that future cameras should be one a one-in-one-out basis... 😱), the second non-art-deco model. Having checked that the bellows looked OK from the outside - more on that anon - and the shutter worked, I found when I got it home that the rear lens in the pop-up viewfinder has gone awol so that the view is pretty much what you'd get if you drank a bottle of scotch before you looked.

Does anyone have a donor Duo 620 or a similar Kodak that I could get a replacement lens off, please? I'd like to have a go at using it, especially as it still has a roll of hardly-started 620 film in it (that's why I only checked the bellows from the outside). Probably utterly useless by now, but I wonder if the absence of the viewfinder lens is why the film is still unfinished?

Also, anyone ever taken leather off one? There are some spectacular Zeiss bumps (Nagel must be spinning in his grave, hearing me call them that!) where the brass rivets are corroding, and I'd appreciate advice on whether or not you can treat them.

Many thanks,

Adrian

 

[chippy]

I havnt got a spare Adrian (or a duo for that matter) but just to widen the net for you...if anyone has the rear lens from any pop up viewfinder for any brand 6x4.5 camera of that era it will likely be the same.

if you had a disposable 35mm camera (even with the plastic lens) or any peice of junk camera that has a basic small lens, plastic would be an advantage so you could trim it down. i would give that a try as well, only if you have one or get one for free though as i am not certain it will work, but there is a chance if you just pop it in back the front it will, if it did you could glue it in place as you will still be missing its retainer.

 

[Muggins]

if anyone has the rear lens from any pop up viewfinder for any brand 6x4.5 camera of that era it will likely be the same.

Prepare to wince... the only period 6x4.5 I have is my Welta Perle! Don't panic, I'm not going to sacrifice it, but that's given me food for thought. I'll have a look at the rear glass on that and my Moskva, and see if it gives me any ideas. Thanks!

Adrian

 

[chippy]

😱😱😱 NO NOT the Perle! definately try the lens element from a disposable or old instamactic ect first ....if that doesnt work, then wreck some other camera 😛

god will strike you down if you hurt the welta 😀

 

[Muggins]

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring! The Perle is safe from interference, at least until I find a parts shutter. It's too good to part out by a long way. 😀

ETA that I'd forgotten I had a Kodak Six-20 B of similar age and style, but with utterly shot bellows. I've been meaning to have a go at making new ones, but it looks as though it might end up as a viewfinder donor - the mount is very similar, just 90 degrees sideways, so with a bit of luck...

Adrian

 

[chippy]

hehe , Adrian just so long as you know the danger of making one false move to the welta

Sooo..... dont make any false moves Mr Muggins...and dont make any real ones either 😉😀








whistle while you work, Hitler is a twerp, he's half balmy, so is his army, whistle while you work. 🙂

 

[FallisPhoto]

I've just got a Kodak Duo 620 (less than 24hrs after deciding that future cameras should be one a one-in-one-out basis... 😱), the second non-art-deco model. Having checked that the bellows looked OK from the outside - more on that anon - and the shutter worked, I found when I got it home that the rear lens in the pop-up viewfinder has gone awol so that the view is pretty much what you'd get if you drank a bottle of scotch before you looked.

Does anyone have a donor Duo 620 or a similar Kodak that I could get a replacement lens off, please? I'd like to have a go at using it, especially as it still has a roll of hardly-started 620 film in it (that's why I only checked the bellows from the outside). Probably utterly useless by now, but I wonder if the absence of the viewfinder lens is why the film is still unfinished?

Also, anyone ever taken leather off one? There are some spectacular Zeiss bumps (Nagel must be spinning in his grave, hearing me call them that!) where the brass rivets are corroding, and I'd appreciate advice on whether or not you can treat them.

Many thanks,

Adrian

If it's just flat glass, and not an actual lens, go to a hobby shop, get some microscope slides and a glass cutter and make your own. They're cheap and you'll have enough for many tries, so if you screw up a few times it's no big deal.

As for the leather, I've taken the leather off of a whole lot of cameras. In most cases, you just peel it off and then scrape off whatever is still sticking. Yours will be one of those. On others you use solvents. Anyway, after cleaning up the "Zeiss bumps" (removing verdigris), and polishing the hell out of them, you give them a thin coat of clear fingernail polish, so they don't "bump" again. Then you either glue the leatherette back down or releather the camera.

To clean up the verdigris, you scrape off as much as you can get, go at it with a dental pick if you need to, and finally give it a couple of wipes with a mix of ammonia and salt (pretty acidic, so wear gloves -- some people prefer vinegar or lemon juice, but it takes longer and can stain some metals black). This will dissolve any traces of verdigris that are remaining. Then wipe it down a couple of times with a damp rag to remove the acid mix. As mentioned before, the last step is to give the brass rivet, and the immediately surrounding area, a thin coat of clear nail polish. This will keep your Zeiss bumps from coming back.

As for releathering, if you can't get the leatherette off in one piece, well, Camera Leather doesn't support that particular Kodak, and I don't think Aki-Asahi does either, so you are going to be buying sheet leather/leatherette and cutting and gluing your own. Camera Leather sells sheet leatherette, as does Micro Tools. Then Fashion Leather International sells Italian goat leather through their ebay store (look for goat leather that is between 0.3mm and 0.4mm thick).

Micro Tools: http://www.micro-tools.com/
Camera Leather: http://www.cameraleather.com/
Fashion Leather International: http://stores.ebay.com/Fashion-Leat...Skins_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ10QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

[FallisPhoto]

😱😱😱 NO NOT the Perle! definately try the lens element from a disposable or old instamactic ect first ....if that doesnt work, then wreck some other camera 😛

god will strike you down if you hurt the welta 😀

Blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kill! Kill! Kill!

 

[chippy]

If it's just flat glass, and not an actual lens, go to a hobby shop, get some microscope slides and a glass cutter and make your own. They're cheap and you'll have enough for many tries, so if you screw up a few times it's no big deal.

it is actually a lens of some sort,

Its needed to be used in conjuction with the front rectangular shaped 'lens' (if that what you call em) of the pop up finder. looking through one without the other, everything is blurred, both are needed to make the veiw in focus

 

[FallisPhoto]

it is actually a lens of some sort,

Its needed to be used in conjuction with the front rectangular shaped 'lens' (if that what you call em) of the pop up finder. looking through one without the other, everything is blurred, both are needed to make the veiw in focus

Well, if he can't find a replacement lens, then the only thing I can think of is to replace both the front and back lenses with plain glass, maybe on a temporary basis until he can find the lens he needs. It isn't ideal, but it at least gives him something he can use.

Better yet, he could remove the pop-up viewfinder entirely and replace it with an accessory shoe (allowing the use of an accessory rangefinder) or a bolt-on rangefinder. This would give him a focusing aid and a viewfinder in one.

 

[Muggins]

It is indeed a small lens - just curved enough to see that one side is convex. Annoyingly, the one from the Six-20 is just a tiny fraction larger than the Duo 620 mount - either I file it down with a diamond file (need to get one for another job...), or try one of the suggestions above.

First priority will be to "use" the film - if it's genuine 620 it'll be over twenty years old, and no doubt not stored with any care at all, so I'll just rattle off a few shots one lunchtime and get a friend to soup it on the off-chance there's anything there. Once I've done that, I'll think about sorting it out properly, and your ideas will help a great deal. Thank you very much, gentlemen!

Adrian

 

[chippy]

Adrian, i was just destroying a cheap polaroid land to get the mirror.

So I had a quick look at the viewfinder lens peices in those to see how they would work just for the hell of it. they are made of plastic, so easy to shape to fit. i had a quick look and it seemed to work, although a bit too thick to fit in the pop up viewfinder of the Kodak duo, but it does demonstrate that a simple menencus lens should work where ever you can find one....also the dorky rear plastic lens for the main taking lens should work as well, looks the right thickness too and about the right diamerture, although on the one i distroyed, the rear lens comes within a larger disk with several small plastic lens so you still need to cut the lens from the surounding plastic...i could send them to you although you may be able to get one for nix at a flea market near you........anyway just another option for you if you didnt want to use what you have