tmessenger
Established
Here are some tips on DIY finder adjusting. Note: When I looked around on the net for information on adjusting the R-D1 finder I didn’t have much luck finding a good explanation. I’m sharing my own experience and observations (I’m not an expert) I can only tell you how I went about it. There may be better ways of getting the results you want. I assume no responsibility for your camera if you muck it up.
The first thing I want to point out is what the adjusting screws # 1~3 do. These screws are accessible by removing the hot shoe and should cover the adjustments you need to make to correct an out of alignment finder. Look at #4 this is the rear element of the finder patch lens (see photo). This element is mounded on a bracket that is connected by linkage and swings left or right as the lens cam pushes the roller in or out. This in effect swings the patch in the finder left to right as you move the lens focus. Problems arise when the either the finder patch does not agree with the lens or the patch is not aligned top to bottom or the patch is not in focus. Lets start with infinite focus. If the finder patch is not aligned vertically (top to bottom) when your lens is set to infinite focus use the #3 vertical alignment screw to make corrections. This screw moves the lens bracket up and down and the finder patch up and down. If your finder patch is not aligned horizontal (side to side) use the #2 horizontal adjusting screw. This screw swings the bracket left or right and your finder patch side to side. If your finder patch is not clear and focused use the #1 focusing screw. This screw moves the bracket in and out and focuses the finder patch lens. Here there is a problem you need to be aware of when adjusting the focusing screw, it also move the finder patch horizontally a bit. So get the patch in focus then go back to the #2 horizontal adjusting screw and make corrections. Sometimes you have to go back and forth a bit to get the horizontal screw and focusing screw coordinated.
There is a pitfall you’ll need to be aware of: The #1 and #2 eccentric screws ride in a slot and this slot can be gummed up with sealing compound. These screws are sealed at the factory with sealing compound and with my camera the compound had run down into the slot and prevented adjustment. This is easy to deal with when the top is removed I just soaked the compound with lacquer thinner on a small artist brush and cleaned it out. Don’t know it you can do this easily with the top in place? but maybe you’ll be lucky and the slots will be clear.
After you get the finder in perfect alignment at infinite focus check the 1m adjustment. I used a tripod and a yardstick set at a 45 degree angle. You want to get the film / sensor plane set 1m from a know point on the yardstick. As far as I can tell the sensor plane is right around 1” or 25.4mm back from the front of the camera (see the illustration). With your lens scale set at 1m the finder patch should be aligned (this assumes your lens is correctly collimated and the scale is accurate). Take a test shot with the lens aperture opened up and make sure it is not front or back focusing. If your lens is not focusing correctly at 1m but your finder is correctly adjusted at infinite focus then the base length adjustment is off or your lens is off. Note: the finder patch has parallax error (it's not in the center of the frame lines) at 1m take this into consideration when making this adjustment. The base length adjusting screw is not shown in the photo but #5 is where it’s at. This adjustment can only be made with the top plate removed and this is probably beyond the skill level of most tinkers.
Good luck
Tim
RD1 top plate removal:
You should be confident with working with small parts and have some mechanical know-how before proceeding. But again my disclaimer: I assume no responsibility if you muck it up.
Remove the two screws from the bottom of the winder lever handle, lift off the plastic and metal cover. Remove the keeper from the top of the winder arm shaft and remove the tensioning washer and winder arm. There’s a barrel shaped ketch on the shaft below the winder arm, it looks like a bushing with notches on each side, lift this off of the shaft. Note: in general it’s a good idea to arrange these small parts in the order they come off or take photos as you go so you can get it back right. Next take note of the current settings of the dial or just set it to AE and iso 200 (it will help when you put it back together). Remove the collar nut around the shutter button. The button has a spring below it so release the nut slowly. Remove the collar nut the shutter button, spring and shutter button keeper (the keeper looks like a washer with two ears on it), it keeps the shutter button from turning when you screw accessories in to the top of the button. Next remove the push rod, note the direction it goes in (the collar on the push rod goes up). There’s a small push rod spring in the shaft below the push rod but mine stayed in place so I did not have to deal with it. With the shutter button out of the way you’ll see another collar nut, this one requires a pin spanner to remove (or I just pushed on the edge of the pin hole and it came loose) after you get this loose lift off the dial. Now facing the front of the camera remove the left side rubber grip (it has double sided tape holding it on). Under the grip is a metal plate, it’s held in place with 3 small screws, remove the screws and plate. Now remove the two upper ribbon cables the left one pulls straight out of the connector (no keeper) the right one is behind another ribbon cable and does have a keeper. The keepers for this cable are on the sides of the connector (they’re brown) push straight up on the keepers, work side to side as required (they move up about 1mm) Now you can lift the ribbon cable out of the connector. Set the frame line switch to 50 (or whatever just so you remember which setting it was on). The last step is to remove the 5 black top plate retaining screws. There’s one above the display on the back of the camera, one on each side of the camera (you already have the left side grip off so you’ll see the left side screw). The right side screw is behind the right grip, you don’t have to remove the grip just pull it loose in the upper side corner. Also pull the right side grip loose along the top edge as it my be stuck to the top plate. The other two screws are on either side of the lens mount. You should now be able to lift the top plate off.
A couple of things to look for when replacing the top plate: The frame line switch should be in the same position as when you took it off. If fits into a slot to drive the frame line linkage so when you have the top plate back on just make sure the frame lines work before you screw down the top plate. The other thing to watch is a small bushing behind the right side screw above the lens mount. It stays with the top plate (its not loose) but can get cocked when remounting the top plate so just watch it.
This all sounds a bit complicated but once you know how this all works the top plate can be removed in 5 minutes. Good luck !
The first thing I want to point out is what the adjusting screws # 1~3 do. These screws are accessible by removing the hot shoe and should cover the adjustments you need to make to correct an out of alignment finder. Look at #4 this is the rear element of the finder patch lens (see photo). This element is mounded on a bracket that is connected by linkage and swings left or right as the lens cam pushes the roller in or out. This in effect swings the patch in the finder left to right as you move the lens focus. Problems arise when the either the finder patch does not agree with the lens or the patch is not aligned top to bottom or the patch is not in focus. Lets start with infinite focus. If the finder patch is not aligned vertically (top to bottom) when your lens is set to infinite focus use the #3 vertical alignment screw to make corrections. This screw moves the lens bracket up and down and the finder patch up and down. If your finder patch is not aligned horizontal (side to side) use the #2 horizontal adjusting screw. This screw swings the bracket left or right and your finder patch side to side. If your finder patch is not clear and focused use the #1 focusing screw. This screw moves the bracket in and out and focuses the finder patch lens. Here there is a problem you need to be aware of when adjusting the focusing screw, it also move the finder patch horizontally a bit. So get the patch in focus then go back to the #2 horizontal adjusting screw and make corrections. Sometimes you have to go back and forth a bit to get the horizontal screw and focusing screw coordinated.
There is a pitfall you’ll need to be aware of: The #1 and #2 eccentric screws ride in a slot and this slot can be gummed up with sealing compound. These screws are sealed at the factory with sealing compound and with my camera the compound had run down into the slot and prevented adjustment. This is easy to deal with when the top is removed I just soaked the compound with lacquer thinner on a small artist brush and cleaned it out. Don’t know it you can do this easily with the top in place? but maybe you’ll be lucky and the slots will be clear.
After you get the finder in perfect alignment at infinite focus check the 1m adjustment. I used a tripod and a yardstick set at a 45 degree angle. You want to get the film / sensor plane set 1m from a know point on the yardstick. As far as I can tell the sensor plane is right around 1” or 25.4mm back from the front of the camera (see the illustration). With your lens scale set at 1m the finder patch should be aligned (this assumes your lens is correctly collimated and the scale is accurate). Take a test shot with the lens aperture opened up and make sure it is not front or back focusing. If your lens is not focusing correctly at 1m but your finder is correctly adjusted at infinite focus then the base length adjustment is off or your lens is off. Note: the finder patch has parallax error (it's not in the center of the frame lines) at 1m take this into consideration when making this adjustment. The base length adjusting screw is not shown in the photo but #5 is where it’s at. This adjustment can only be made with the top plate removed and this is probably beyond the skill level of most tinkers.
Good luck
Tim
RD1 top plate removal:
You should be confident with working with small parts and have some mechanical know-how before proceeding. But again my disclaimer: I assume no responsibility if you muck it up.
Remove the two screws from the bottom of the winder lever handle, lift off the plastic and metal cover. Remove the keeper from the top of the winder arm shaft and remove the tensioning washer and winder arm. There’s a barrel shaped ketch on the shaft below the winder arm, it looks like a bushing with notches on each side, lift this off of the shaft. Note: in general it’s a good idea to arrange these small parts in the order they come off or take photos as you go so you can get it back right. Next take note of the current settings of the dial or just set it to AE and iso 200 (it will help when you put it back together). Remove the collar nut around the shutter button. The button has a spring below it so release the nut slowly. Remove the collar nut the shutter button, spring and shutter button keeper (the keeper looks like a washer with two ears on it), it keeps the shutter button from turning when you screw accessories in to the top of the button. Next remove the push rod, note the direction it goes in (the collar on the push rod goes up). There’s a small push rod spring in the shaft below the push rod but mine stayed in place so I did not have to deal with it. With the shutter button out of the way you’ll see another collar nut, this one requires a pin spanner to remove (or I just pushed on the edge of the pin hole and it came loose) after you get this loose lift off the dial. Now facing the front of the camera remove the left side rubber grip (it has double sided tape holding it on). Under the grip is a metal plate, it’s held in place with 3 small screws, remove the screws and plate. Now remove the two upper ribbon cables the left one pulls straight out of the connector (no keeper) the right one is behind another ribbon cable and does have a keeper. The keepers for this cable are on the sides of the connector (they’re brown) push straight up on the keepers, work side to side as required (they move up about 1mm) Now you can lift the ribbon cable out of the connector. Set the frame line switch to 50 (or whatever just so you remember which setting it was on). The last step is to remove the 5 black top plate retaining screws. There’s one above the display on the back of the camera, one on each side of the camera (you already have the left side grip off so you’ll see the left side screw). The right side screw is behind the right grip, you don’t have to remove the grip just pull it loose in the upper side corner. Also pull the right side grip loose along the top edge as it my be stuck to the top plate. The other two screws are on either side of the lens mount. You should now be able to lift the top plate off.
A couple of things to look for when replacing the top plate: The frame line switch should be in the same position as when you took it off. If fits into a slot to drive the frame line linkage so when you have the top plate back on just make sure the frame lines work before you screw down the top plate. The other thing to watch is a small bushing behind the right side screw above the lens mount. It stays with the top plate (its not loose) but can get cocked when remounting the top plate so just watch it.
This all sounds a bit complicated but once you know how this all works the top plate can be removed in 5 minutes. Good luck !
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