SP rangefinder patch, again

[richardHaw]

The wide finder is a very delicate thing indeed.

Cleaning the fancy little prism at the rear of the assembly is a bitch of a job. Chances are, that it will break when you either take it off or put it back. Also, it's glued in place...

Cleaning the Galileo finder at the front of the assembly is safer but do never ever clean the rear side of that finder (on which are the etched and black painted 28-35 frames) with some optics cleaning fluid nor alcohol at the risk of immediatly wiping the frames off !

In any case you will want to remove and replace all the black foam pieces and small frames within the assembly if they have turned into sticky goo which deposits on the optics. Again, this is not very easy...

Thanks for the heads up! So the black frames are just sil screened into place and not etched like the bright line one!? 😱😱😱

Yes, I am worried about the delicate assembly. I do not know that it can break so easily. I am unsure where the bloody fungus is but from the looks of it it seems that it is in the middle. I was hoping that it is in the front!

So, what is the best way yo go about doing this? This looks like a simple finder but I think this may require some calibration of some sort. this thing has acquired a notorious reputation amongst the repair community here in Japan and now I can see why :bang: By the way, mine is the later one with metal curtains and the wide finder has 2 perfect dots in it. do they really exist in the late SP? I was looking at the earlier ones from the net and they are absent...

I may have to clean the half mirror again because I am not satisfied. It still looks pathetic even compared to the S3's path.

 

[Highway 61]

Thanks for the heads up! So the black frames are just sil screened into place (...)

Yes they are ; so, do not clean that rear element of the Galileo part of the wide finder any other way than with a soft martle brush and some compressed air.

By the way, mine is the later one with metal curtains and the wide finder has 2 perfect dots in it.

What do you mean ? 😕

 

[richardHaw]

Yes they are ; so, do not clean that rear element of the Galileo part of the wide finder any other way than with a soft martle brush and some compressed air.


What do you mean ? 😕

copy. I will leave the chemicals out of this for the time being. still cannot believe that these were merely silk-screened into place. aligning it will be near impossible without a jig.😱😱😱

when I look into the wide finder frame, there are 2 small black dots that are perfectly circular. I do not know where these came from and their placement is very peculiar because they are placed near the guides for the 35mm frame. this is WEIRD. I hope it's not something serious. I will know once I open this up on the weekend.:bang:

 

[Highway 61]

When I look into the wide finder frame, there are 2 small black dots that are perfectly circular. I do not know where these came from and their placement is very peculiar because they are placed near the guides for the 35mm frame. this is WEIRD. I hope it's not something serious. I will know once I open this up on the weekend.:bang:

I have my SP 6230108 (very late production run with titanium shutter curtains) at hand and I just checked the wide finder frame. The small debris which was in it from the beginning (and which for sure is a foam debris) which has the shape of a small black oblique line at two o'clock is still there but other than that there are no small "circular black dots" which I can see. And that wide finder is crystal clear and contrasty (I have seen many worse ones) so why would I take the risk to break it just for the sake of getting rid of that tiny debris ?

I suspect your small black dots to be foam debris as well. If they don't compromise the good use of the wide finder, leave them where they are and don't touch anything.

Between the rear element of the Galileo unit of the wide finder and the front optics of the fancy tilting-reversing image prism, there is a small light baffle frame made of black foam. This thing usually dries out and deteriorates over time and so there are such small dots in the wide finder because of some very small foam debris coming into the light path.

It's better to leave things as they are - you don't want to break anything and to be forced to change your SP into an "SP2" with a blanked out wide finder.

With DSLRs on which you can't remove the focusing screen (Nikkormat, Nikon FM...) you're used to live with (sometimes numerous) black dots in the finder, because they are dust spots and other tiny debris trapped behind the fixed focusing screen. The same with the SP wide finder. Take it easy.

 

[richardHaw]

I have my SP 6230108 (very late production run with titanium shutter curtains) at hand and I just checked the wide finder frame. I still have the small debris which was in it from the beginning (and which for sure is a foam debris) which has the shape of a small black oblique line at two o'clock but other than that there are no small "circular black dots" which I can see. And that wide finder is crystal clear and contrasty (I have seen many worse ones) so why would I take the risk to break it just for the sake of getting rid of that tiny debris ?

I suspect your small black dots to be foam debris as well. If they don't compromise the good use of the wide finder, leave them where they are and don't touch anything.

Between the rear element of the Galileo unit of the wide finder and the front optics of the fancy tilting-reversing image prism, there is a small light baffle frame made of black foam. This thing usually dries out and deteriorates over time and so there are such small dots in the wide finder because of some very small foam debris coming into the light path.

It's better to leave things as they are - you don't want to break anything and to be forced to change your SP into an "SP2" with a blanked out wide finder.

With DSLRs on which you can't remove the focusing screen (Nikkormat, Nikon FM...) you're used to live with (sometimes numerous) black dots in the finder, because they are dust spots and other tiny debris trapped behind the fixed focusing screen. The same with the SP wide finder. Take it easy.

Thanks. these dots are PERFECTLY circular so it got me curious. I will open this and not go too far. The prism indeed looked like a puzzle of some sort, like the pythagorian theorem puzzle that was very popular way back 😱😱😱 I am just going to see what I can do. I also see the foam and it is in a semi0setriorated state. I am going to replace it with electrical tape or acrylic.

I am most bothered by that fungal growth. I can live with those dots but I need to get that bloody tendril out of my finder. I appears to be on the rear it seem so I hope that it is just on the glass protector!

yes, bloody Nikkormats! i have cleaned 4 so far and they were never pleasant! same with the Nikkorex F!:bang:

 

[Highway 61]

Thanks. these dots are PERFECTLY circular so it got me curious.

These are rain drops for sure ! 😀 😛

 

[richardHaw]

These are rain drops for sure ! 😀 😛

and they are of the SAME opaqueness as the pain. I really should take a picture of it 😱😱😱

 

[richardHaw]

fixed the problem, the fungus and junk is in the most delicate of places 😱😱😱 took me the whole day to clean the top, RF and other stuff...:bang:

good thing i have help here and 2 manuals in my possession, one in English and another in Japanese!

the damn fungi and junk are gone now except for a little piece that is not obvious but I notice that the finder became a bit foggy or maybe it was like that from the start, i don't know. I have seen a clean SP finder before and it should be like this. I am just happy that the junk is all gone and I am just going to leave this, I am spending to much time on this and I am neglecting my father duties :bang:

edit: update! to my consolation, the wide finders that I saw on the other SP's are no clearer than mine! they are in some way "milky", this is probably due to reflections in the periscope-looking thing. I was tempted to paint mine with india ink but I was unsure which surface I should paint!

Final update: opened the SP again, unscrewed the prism housing and cleaned every accessible facet, including the one facing towards the finder/eye. It's a lot brighter now, probably as good as it gets. I am leaving it like this for now!!!