Pen FT - How to clean the viewfinder?

[Meisenknoedel]

Hi!

There was a remarkable amount of dust in all Pen F/FT viewfinders i have seen so far! Has everyone ever tried cleaning? Is this possible?

Regards, Meisenknoedel

 

[monopix]

Anything is possible.

Yes I've cleaned one. It's not easy. The lens mount panel (that's basically the whole front of the camera) has to be removed and the viewfinder arrangement comes with it. There's two prisms, an internal mirror as well as the focus screen and the bottom mirror that all potentially need cleaning.

The source of the dust is the deteriorating foam that was put there originally to keep the dust out. Now, it will be creating more dust than it prevents. The whole assembly needs dismantling and all the old foam removed before cleaning and reassembly.

Then, of course, you will have the problem of getting the mirror mechanism working properly which is a whole different ball game.