M2 hazy finder, DIY fix?

[laptoprob]

I have been looking at an M2, but it has a very hazy finder. All over and equal. No separation visible though, the rest looks and sounds OK.
Question therefore, Where could this haze be, within finder elements or usually on the outside of elements.
The former makes it difficult to clean, the latter should be relatively easy.
The camera has been dormant for quite some time appearantly. The shutter is in excellent shape though.

Have you experienced anything similar and if so, how was it solved?

 

[NL2377]

make sure that you've got the right tools to take off the top plate... and good luck!

 

[laptoprob]

Proper tools, fitting screwdrivers etc. I guess? And fitting grips for the screws like on the selftimer?
Any clue about cleaning haze anyone? Is it usually on accessible surfaces? It does not look like decementing.

 

[Matthew Runkel]

My impression is that some old dim/hazy finders can be improved with a cleaning and others cannot. The chance it can be improved is greater if the factory wax seal is intact, since that means no one already tried cleaning it.

I am confident that cleaning various optical surfaces of a 50-year-old rangefinder is a job for a professional.

I got great advice from Sherry Krauter when I was considering an M3 with a dim patch. She said to keep looking and find one that didn't have the problem. I soon found another example with a crisp, bright finder. There are other fish in the sea.

 

[NL2377]

Well, assuming that you'd be taking the top piece off, you'll also have to have a flexi-clamp

This place seems to have a decent rep and good deals: http://www.micro-tools.com/store/SearchByCategory.aspx?CategoryCode=30

 

[haagen_dazs]

how does one know if the rangefinder is hazy?
i know its can be a dumb question but i guess if i don't have the luxury of using alot of M cameras, i wont really know?

some times the finder can be dimmer just because it is smaller (and lets less light in)

 

[laptoprob]

This M2's finder looks like a foggy morning... I will post some pics as I get the camera. Yes, I decided to get it anyway. Then the challenge. Getting or making tools and getting the M2 topless. To clean the vf, to get the selftimer unstuck, to undent the top and maybe a paintjob. Oh yes, and new leather!

 

[clintock]

I have watched Youxin Ye take the top off my M3 and do a CLA.
I generally repair my own cameras, but in the case of the M, the main problem is removing the threaded ring holding the film advance lever. Youxin said that the haze in the finder is generally not too hard to deal with, it's almost always on the surfaces between the outer glass, which comes up with the top shell, and the outer finder assy surfaces which are exposed once the top is off. In the case of my M3, he did not open the finder assy any further, and simply cleaning those four surfaces, (well, seven in all, the eyepiece exterior, the eyepiece interior, the surface adjacent to the eyepiece, the main window exterior, interior, the surface adjacent to that, and the outside of the rf window..
I cant remember why he said they haze up, some lube outgassing I think, or glue over the decades.

Youxin takes in repairs from all over the world, I'd at least email him about it before buying the tools to open the top, if it's that hazy it may have the wrong kind of lube inside somewhere, and that could be what fogged it up in the first place, so it may need the full CLA anyway, which is quite reasonable via Youxin.

 

[Justin Low]

If it's just opening the top to clean the haze, that is easy. You can fashion your own 'flexiclamps' from aluminium or brass or plastic using a saw/file and drill bit of the appropriate size.

Like Clintock mentioned, it's just wiping down the glass surfaces just inside the cover.

That said, if your camera needs a full CLA, you might as well send it to someone like Youxin. My M4-2 just came back from him and it's lovely.

 

[Justin Low]

If it's just opening the top to clean the haze, that is easy. You can fashion your own 'flexiclamps' from aluminium or brass or plastic using a saw/file and drill bit of the appropriate size.

Like Clintock mentioned, it's just wiping down the glass surfaces just inside the cover.

That said, if your camera needs a full CLA, you might as well send it to someone like Youxin. My M4-2 just came back from him and it's lovely.

 

[laptoprob]

Thanks guys, that's what I was hoping for. I ordered two hoods with Heavystar for my Jupiter 8 and the Komura 200 and added the pliers to unscrew the rewind bit. Hope that works.
The rest I will make or borrow.
The haze is not a thick morning fog but a gentle half-transparant one. I will post pics as the camera arrives.

 

[Xmas]

Wait until the M2 breaks and you need it fixed, the finder will still be usable for black cats in coal bunkets.

Noel

 

[kinoglass]

The very HAZE of the M2 RF has to do with the type of antireflextion coating Leica used at that time on their M2's. It is not too hard to remove but the original coating will be gone with it. A pity.

 

[Xmas]

Kino
The soft coatings can be cleaned without any damage if you know how but leitz did not coat early Ms to my knowledge? I'll have to look at mine again. Canon coated their finders.
Noel