Konica Hexar RF frame lines adjustment

[RobinWinter]

I just bought a Hexar for cheap because the rangefinder was out of alignment. I was able to fix that last night in about 2 hours but the frame lines seems just slightly tilted. Is this normal? Does anyone have experience with how the frame lines look like they aren't parallel to the dark edge of the viewfinder window? Anyone with a service manual or experience in adjusting the framelines tilt?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and as a side note, if you have a Hexar RF and the rangefinder patch wont stay properly aligned, check the prism to the right of the adjustment screws and make sure its not loose. Mine was completely unglued and the patch alignment would change randomly. I re-glued it in place and now the patch is solid. I wonder how much of the bad reputation these have comes from the fact that if you didn't try to lift the prism out you wouldn't know its loose under normal service conditions since it doesn't appear to move and doesn't fall out even if the camera is upside down.

 

[improbabilitydrive]

Hey there! I just got a Hexar of my own and I am also having alignment issues. I opened it up, got it nice, lined up and accurate, take it out once, and boom. Out of alignment again. Im going to to open it up again this weekend to check it again and Ill be checking that prism like you said.

When you say you glued it back into place, how exactly did you know it was correctly seated? Im scared to death of introducing glue to the rangefinder mechanism. I would love to get your advice on the matter. Thanks!

@improbabilitydrive

 

[RobinWinter]

Hey! I’ll do my best to help, I’m not at all a pro so this is do at your own risk, I just enjoy trying to fix stuff and I don’t have the budget to buy new or nice cameras haha.

Anyway, when you look at the camera with the front facing away from you, to the right next to the adjustment mechanism there’s a long white rectangular thing with some metal on it. That’s one prism, mine was loose, just gently try to pull up on it to see if it slides. As far as getting in the right position, I just put glue on it and slid it back down, I figure if it needed an exact position it would have an adjustment mechanism on it. It doesn’t so I think the adjustment mechanism for the vertical and horizontal is used to calibrate based on where that prism ends up. And there are guides anyway so you can’t get it too far off.

The second thing I discovered today was that the main viewfinder prism on my Hexar was also loose. I’m assuming the camera was dropped and the epoxy holding the prism broke. I think that shifts just slightly when I move the camera around and throws off the patch. I’m not sure how to fix that. I think I’m going to try to re-glue it and if that doesn’t work I’ll try removing the old glue and then glue it. You might check to see if that large prism is loose too.

 

[improbabilitydrive]

Copy that!

Also, which glue did you use? Ive got Crazy Glue, but Im sure there's a more camera friendly option.

Thanks for the reply! Im lucky that theres someone else digging around in their Hexar RF at the same time I am.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Do not use crazy glue, model glue, or anything that has that really powerful smell to it as it will outgas and fog all your glass/air surfaces, probably ruining your rangefinder. You need an epoxy or balsam cement. You could even use clear nail polish. Make sure to keep the top plate of the camera off for the duration of the full curing time of the adhesive you use. I'd wait three days just to be safe.
Phil Forrest

 

[rfaspen]

And most crazy glue has very short open times -- the interval during which you can still adjust position before the glue "grabs". I do think that cyanoacrylate (crazy glues) are rather inert once fully cured. Still reluctant to use it in camera repair...

 

[RobinWinter]

For the smaller prism I honestly just used basic white glue. It’s a small part in a metal housing that isn’t under much strain and doesn’t have much mass to dislodge itself. Again I’m far from a pro at this I just try stuff and see what works.

Anyway, seconded I’m not using any super glue or crazy glue, you don’t want off gassing to ruin all your glass surfaces. That’s part of why I used simple white glue for that smaller prism. The larger on will probably need a two part epoxy. And even then I plan to use as little as needed, leave the top of while it cures, and I’m going to put tissue paper over adjacent glass surfaces and maybe point a small fan at the camera to help blow any gas away.

 

[RobinWinter]

Oh forgot to add, it looks like finding that the viewfinder prism was loose also solves My tilted frame lines. The prism is also glued on the side and doesn’t just sit flat on the top metal plate, if you have a loose prism and look through it from a ways back you can see the rangefinder patch and the frame lines (albeit very small) and if I push up on the right side just a little I can see that the frame lines aren’t tilted any more. So once i get that glued into position my frame lines should be fixed too.

Then the next step is electronic contact cleaner to fix the random zeroing out and rewind that seems to come from a bad door switch.

 

[improbabilitydrive]

Ok gotcha. Glad I asked.

Also, I'm having the same issue with the random zeroing and rewind. Please share any fixes you might have.

 

[RobinWinter]

There’s another thread on RFF that goes into detail on the zeroing our problem. When I get back home and have a minute I’ll try to find it but try searching for that in the forums, it’s an older post but it has a detailed write up.

 

[improbabilitydrive]

I found this:

The next day, I began shooting it but ran into an issue, which I believe some of you have reported as well. Here's how I fixed it:
1. remove the film, clean out any dust in the film chamber.
2. With a Q-tip or something thin, apply a small amount of rubbing alcohol to the Q-tip and clean the electronic contacts inside. The DX sensor, and the 3 contacts located right under the film curtain.
3. Now, open the battery chamber. Clean the battery chamber cover with rubbing alcohol. Make sure there isn't any dirt or corosion on it. Clean it even if it looks clean.
4. Clean your batteries if they're old.
5. Dust out the battery chamber, make sure it's clean obviously.
6. This is the big one, and I think it's the primary culprit: Ensure that your batteries are actually making proper contact. I believe the issue comes from the camera being jostled about as you walk around and such. If it is jiggled the wrong way, the batteries may lose proper contact because they may move inside the battery chamber. In my camera, it came with 2 batteries from 2 different brands. Therefore, the little nibs at the positive ends were slightly shaped differently. I flipped the order of the batteries and this fixed the issue. By this, I mean the batteries were ordered like "duracell first, then energizer." So, I put the energizer battery first, then the duracell battery.
I now have no issues with the camera! Hope this helps!

 

[improbabilitydrive]

Alright!

So I opened it up again. Found that the prism you were speaking about, the long skinny one, was pretty well secured. However this prism:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MjDLoG7zlS0kg09nXiQMebtH4gcUcF2-/view?usp=sharing

...moves around a little when touched. I tried to move the prism one way, then the other, to test wether or not it had any impact on the focus alignment, but it did not. At this point I'm a little perplexed.

I aligned the camera once. Then, to test how easily it could get knocked out, I gave the camera a firm tap against my hand, and it fell out of alignment. So something is loose in this ******* and I want to get the bottom of it, or get my money back.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

...I want to get the bottom of it, or get my money back.

You have that option? If I sold a camera to a person and they had taken it apart, I (nor anyone else) would not offer any refund at all.
Phil Forrest

 

[improbabilitydrive]

The thing had clearly been opened before. The ISO/Shutter knob is very scratched around the camera-spanner holes and the "hidden" screw underneath the leatherette was missing.

Any more options to troubleshoot? I would love to not have to try and return/resell this thing.

 

[RobinWinter]

The thing had clearly been opened before. The ISO/Shutter knob is very scratched around the camera-spanner holes and the "hidden" screw underneath the leatherette was missing.

Any more options to troubleshoot? I would love to not have to try and return/resell this thing.

I'm in a similar boat, I can't seem to get my frame lines to not tilt. If I shim the prism to make the frame lines straight, I cant get the rangefinder vertical alignment to be correct. Its infuriating.

My only suggestion is to check the main viewfinder prism isn't loose. Mine was but its not apparent unless you actually check it as it can seem secure but shift a tiny bit when the top is back on and you bump the camera. If its loose I would reglue it and then adjust the rangefinder. Fingers crossed you dont have tilted frame lines. No freaking clue how to fix that issue :bang:

 

[RobinWinter]

Gonna drop this in here just in case someone else runs into this issue later on down the line.

I bought a Konica Hexar RF with rangefinder patch missing, tilted framelines, and a film counter reset error. The camera had apparently been dropped by the previous owner. Here's how I fixed it to about 95%.

Both the main viewfinder prism and the rangefinder prisms were popped loose from their glue. If you're having focusing issues, check them. They weren't obviously loose just from casual handling of the camera with the top off. I had tilted it all around while trying to adjust the rangefinder with the adjustment cog and screw and didn't realize they were loose until I started trying to wiggle stuff when focus kept changing. I re-glued them both back in place and adjusted the rangefinder mechanism and checked it against my Bessa R3A with the same lens on it. (a word of warning, DO NOT USE SUPERGLUE or anything that off-gasses)

The frameline tilt was a mystery until I noticed that the glass cover to the viewfinder that sits in the top plate was also partly dislodged. I re-glued that down as well and the frame lines are 95-98% straight. Apparently because of the prisms and everything, small shifts anywhere are amplified and just the slightly different refraction from a glass window that's not even an optical lens was enough to cause some tilt on the way the framelines appeared.

The film counter error is an easy fix thanks to another thread on RFF. I used deoxit electronic cleaner in the switch that detects if the film door is open or closed. After putting some in there no more problems with the film counter resetting mid roll.

As far as I can tell I've now resurrected a $200 Hexar RF! Time to shoot and see how it works. Hopefully this will help anyone who runs into similar problems in the future.

 

[PRJ]

Another tip is once you get your rangefinder aligned put a small amount of Canada Balsam on the knurled alignment wheel. I did that to my Hexar twelve years ago and it is still aligned even after I've used it enough to wear the paint off most of the corners and almost completely off the power switch! Lots of film, still kicking (knock on wood).

 

[RobinWinter]

The thing had clearly been opened before. The ISO/Shutter knob is very scratched around the camera-spanner holes and the "hidden" screw underneath the leatherette was missing.

Any more options to troubleshoot? I would love to not have to try and return/resell this thing.

Hey improbabilitydrive, sorry for the long delay, I switched jobs, then the pandemic hit and I haven't been on the forum in a long time.

Did you ever have any luck with the rangefinder mechanism? My loose prism was the one all the way to the left, the main prism you look through. It seemed secured even to poking it but when I actually lifted on it it came right up. Re gluing that fixed the alignment issues.

I hope that helps.

-Rob