Mirror replacement for my new Rolleicord.

[simonSE15]

I know there are other threads on this subject but I wanted to post some photos to show how easy it is to get a new mirror for your TLR.

I recently acquired a Rolleicord Art Deco at an auction.

When I looked at the viewing screen the image was really blurred. I cleaned the grime off but it was still awfull.

When I unscrewed the viewfinder the source of the problem became apparent. Where the mirror should've been there was a piece of glass covered with a bit of silver card. The image it gave was how I imagine the world looks if you have cataracts.

A search of the inter-web found this thread which suggeted I could use the mirror from a Polaroid camera:
http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/forum/messages/3/6014.html?1177370617

I wasnt quite sure what "bulk housing" meant but picked up a Polaroid One Step which I easily took apart and removed the mirror. Not the actual one but they look like this:

The mirror in these cameras is slightly bigger than needed for the Rolleicord so it needed cutting down. Unfortunately the person I asked to do it f***ed it up and broke the corner off. It still worked but the top right-hand bit of the image was black in the viewfinder.

Next I picked up this thing for 50p at a car boot sale:

I took this one apart using these specialised camera repair tools:

I should point out that I am hopeless at fixing stuff so if I can do it anyone can. Like the One Step, this camera came apart really easily.

First I removed the lift-up flash part. I pulled it off then cut the ribbon that attaches the two parts.

Then I set about prizing the other bits out of the front of the camera using a screwdriver. I dont think I actually unscrewed anything - just pulled it all out.

It's very easy and you get this out:

On this one I lifted up the plastic covering at the back from the bottom to reveal a lovely intact mirror:

This just pops out, no glue or screws holding it in place. I took it to a nice chap who cut it down for £2.

My Rolleicord now has a screen that works well enough for me to get this photo:

So far focussing seems ok, although I may need to fine tune it. We'll see.
🙂

 

[BillBingham2]

Very interesting rescue, thanks for sharing.

B2 (;->

 

[newspaperguy]

As noted elsewhere, the Poloroid's boast surface mirrors, and though they are available from specialty shops, you can't beat the dead one-step's price!

Thank you for sharing how simple this can be.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing an interesting repair. My first camera was a Rolleicord Ia, not nearly as pretty as your 'Art Deco" one. Rollei made a brighter focusing screen in the 1960s, which I had installed in my (later) Rolleiflex. I had a black focusing hood extension which I sometimes used on both Rolleis. It helped me see the image on the focusing screen more easily. Placing a focusing screen on the film rails would help you adjust the focus of your mirror and focusing screen. PM me if you'd like to borrow a Rollei sheetfilm back and groundglass. Good success.
JustPlainBill

 

[rolleistef]

Hello, a bit of a post un-earthing : do you know if a mirror from just any polaroid fits? I've got a Pola Black Onyx but I don't really want to rip apart, and I'd really like to get back my Art Deco to life.

Thanks a lot!

Stéphane

 

[PMCC]

Made for different models, but perhaps can be modified to fit:

http://www.uscamera.com/rflextlr001.htm
http://www.uscamera.com/yashicatlr1005.htm

 

[Steve M.]

I've used the US Camera mirrors several times. Excellent quality. You might have to cut it down on the 'cord models. That's what I had to do to get it in an Autocord.

 

[Dan Daniel]

I've used the US Camera mirrors several times. Excellent quality. You might have to cut it down on the 'cord models. That's what I had to do to get it in an Autocord.

US Camera's Yahsica TLR mirror fits in an Autocord quite well. i think their mirror might be a millimeter shoter and a bit wider at the base, but I know from installing several into several Autocords that they do work.

I may be mistaken in my memory, but I think I put a US Camera Yashica mirror into a Rolleicord III and to a Rolleiflex Automat K3. The US Camera site has dimensions on the mirrors; mock up a dummy of both the Rolleiflex and Yahsica sizes to see if one will work?

Also, this is probably obvious to many most or all people most likely, but I learned the hard way that Polaroid batteries in film packs are quite long-lasting, capable of charging a flash after months, and that cutting a wire to the flash can discharge it into your wire snips. The plastic coated handles kept the energy away from me, but also put a 1/16 inch divot in the edge of the cutting blade on the snips from the arc. Leave wires to the flash unit alone.