ethics_gradient
Well-known
I've got an R3a, and I decided I needed to rectify the lack of a 35mm finder. On Monday I picked up a Canon 35mm VF in fairly grotty shape on eBay as a fixer-upper: it had some surface corrosion and fungus/haze on the internal elements. You could still look through it and frame a shot, but contrast wasn't great and it got fuzzy around bright light sources. I set about cleaning it up this afternoon.
Here are the front and rear elements, pretty gross.
Used a solution of 50% hydrogen peroxide, 50% ammonia for cleaning, and some cotton swabs for application.
Not sure if it's possible to get the rear element out or not, putting the swab through the internal mask worked pretty well though. The front element is done and drying in this picture.
Noticed my lens cleaning solution also did a good job cleaning up the "patina", so I went over the metal as well. You can see the area I started on on the right.
Front element looking a lot better...
I balanced the body on a pair of dead SR-44's, wanted it to drain but hopefully not trap any fumes.
Re-assembled and mounted!
Focusing on something with my normal left eye, I went back to the VF to frame the shot. It was blurry again, with weird ghosting around bright light sources. My first though was "how the hell did the haze come back that quickly?!" I took a look at the eyepiece and saw it was smudged, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and it was good as new. Repeating the action it seems like my forehead is coming in to contact with the glass surface of the VF. Barring an unusually bulbous forehead on my part, is this a reflection of the difference between the setup of Bessa and a Canon RF body, or do I need to relearn how I bring the camera up to shoot? There doesn't seem to be anywhere to attach a cup or other kind of protector to the rear of the Canon. It's really difficult to avoid smudging as-is, I have to shoot with my right eye (which feels weird, like writing with my left hand) or tilt my head at an angle when looking through the Bessa's viewfinder.
Here are the front and rear elements, pretty gross.
Used a solution of 50% hydrogen peroxide, 50% ammonia for cleaning, and some cotton swabs for application.
Not sure if it's possible to get the rear element out or not, putting the swab through the internal mask worked pretty well though. The front element is done and drying in this picture.
Noticed my lens cleaning solution also did a good job cleaning up the "patina", so I went over the metal as well. You can see the area I started on on the right.
Front element looking a lot better...
I balanced the body on a pair of dead SR-44's, wanted it to drain but hopefully not trap any fumes.
Re-assembled and mounted!
Focusing on something with my normal left eye, I went back to the VF to frame the shot. It was blurry again, with weird ghosting around bright light sources. My first though was "how the hell did the haze come back that quickly?!" I took a look at the eyepiece and saw it was smudged, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and it was good as new. Repeating the action it seems like my forehead is coming in to contact with the glass surface of the VF. Barring an unusually bulbous forehead on my part, is this a reflection of the difference between the setup of Bessa and a Canon RF body, or do I need to relearn how I bring the camera up to shoot? There doesn't seem to be anywhere to attach a cup or other kind of protector to the rear of the Canon. It's really difficult to avoid smudging as-is, I have to shoot with my right eye (which feels weird, like writing with my left hand) or tilt my head at an angle when looking through the Bessa's viewfinder.
