SBLOO mount worn down. What to do?

[RFH]

My father kindly gave me a SBLOO 35mm viewfinder from his collection for Christmas. All well and good? Not so.

Mine is the one with the four oblong 'feet' under the shoe mount. The 'feet' are worn down a bit, which leads to loose mounting in the hot shoe. It has about 0.2mm wobble, which affects the vertical VF perspective quite a bit. On my black Leica III it falls right out when I tilt the camera backwards. I could add a 0.2mm shim to the body shoe, but then it will only fit this finder.

Has anyone experienced this, and found a good solution?

 

[mdarnton]

Fit a piece of electrical tape, maybe two, to the bottom of the finder shoe. It takes space and adds friction, both. Make sure the tape goes all the way across in contact with something--down into the gap, not bridging it.

The iii had nothing to hold the finder in, no springs or anything, just a couple of dents downward, so I put a strip of tape across the top of the camera, up the side of the finder and over the top. I do this with any finder, on any camera, and have never lost a finder in 45 years. Keep a couple of extra strips of tape on the bottom of the camera so you always have a fresh one.

 

[RFH]

Problem solved. I laid the finder with the shoe facing upwards on a piece of cloth. Folded cloth over the shoe, then pressed down with a firm hand on the shoe with a flat piece of metal. This caused the shoe to 'spread out' just enough that it now fits perfectly and does not wobble.

 

[Richard G]

My SBOOI fits well on my modern cameras, but it was loose on the Leica II. I've used a piece of film as a shim and it sticks in well.

 

[stuart_115]

Problem solved. I laid the finder with the shoe facing upwards on a piece of cloth. Folded cloth over the shoe, then pressed down with a firm hand on the shoe with a flat piece of metal. This caused the shoe to 'spread out' just enough that it now fits perfectly and does not wobble.

I will try it for mine as well. Mine wobbles on my IIIa and on my M2.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Problem solved. I laid the finder with the shoe facing upwards on a piece of cloth. Folded cloth over the shoe, then pressed down with a firm hand on the shoe with a flat piece of metal. This caused the shoe to 'spread out' just enough that it now fits perfectly and does not wobble.

Great! I was about to suggest asking a jeweller/silversmith/watchmaker what they would charge to fix it (often surprisingly little). No need now!

Cheers,

R.

 

[Travis L.]

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