Rangefinder brightness (Canon P)

[pobe]

The rangefinder patch in my P isn't overly bright and a bit hard to see in low light and indoors. I've been thinking about getting it cleaned, not sure if this is something I can do myself or should leave to a professional... Anyway, I don't know if it'll make a difference.

I compared it with my FED 5 and the FED has a much brighter RF patch. Should the P be able to match it in brightness?

 

[Jamie Pillers]

I've read a number of threads here about this type of problem. Search on something like "rangefinder brightness". If I remember correctly a number of people have, to a greater or lesser degree, solved this problem by putting a piece of colored gel in front of the viewfinder window or simply drawing a dot the size of the rangefinder patch on the outside of the viewfinder window using a red sharpie pen.

 

[Mablo]

Cleaning is of course the first thing to do. I'll leave that to professionals although it can be done by oneself. I'm also using a small round piece of yellow gel in the round rangefinder window. The round window cover unscrews easily by hand and you just place the piece of gel between the cover and the window. It will make the yellow rangefinder patch a little bit more contrasty and easier to see.

This is definitely an aspect where a M2 excels compared to Canon P.

 

[pobe]

Hm.. I've read about the gel fix but haven't tried it. I was basically wondering if the P should be close to the FED in brightness, perhaps I'll get it cleaned and see if it improves.

Don't mention the M2, I'm trying to resist it! 🙂

 

[stevebrot]

The reason why the patch on your FED is bright is because the viewfinder itself is so dim. My understanding is that this is by design.


Steve

(has both the FED-2 and the Canon P on the table as I type...love the handling of the FED...love the viewfinder on the P...)

 

[pobe]

I feel a bit stupid now... Of course the viewfinder is dimmer in the FED. I was just comparing the RF patch, when I looked again it was obvious. 😛

Perhaps I'll try the gel thing, I do have a sampler with lots of colors.