The rangefinder on Ricoh 500RF

[IgalSc]

I got mine 500RF two days ago, yesterday cleaned out and replaced the light seals.
Loaded it with the roll of Arista EDU 400 and found that a rangefinder is yellowish.
Anyone knows how to clean it myself?

 

[migtex]

You mean the entire Viewfinder or just the patch and Lines?

 

[IgalSc]

I think it's patch and Lines, but i don't know

 

[xwhatsit]

The patch and framelines are supposed to be yellow. Nearly all Japanese rangefinders from that era have yellow framelines and rangefinder patch, they were designed like that.

 

[IgalSc]

I had Hi-Matic F 2 years ago
I assume it's Japanese also, but it had bright rangefinder
And on my QIII QL-17 it was bright and not yellow

 

[xwhatsit]

By "bright" patch do you mean brighter than the rest of the frame? The only way that is possible is by dimming the viewfinder, and I'm not sure if I'd like that. Never used the hallowed electronic QL-17, though.

It should be a pretty bright yellow.

Even M3s have yellow rangefinder patches. Although, being Leicas, it's properly referred to as a golden rangefinder patch 😛

If it has got dirty over time, cleaning it is not too easy. Easy enough to clean the glass in the viewfinder, frameline illumination windows and rangefinder window. But the mirrors are a different story. They're front-surface silvered, which means they're very fragile. Don't wipe them with anything! The half-silvered beamsplitter mirror is especially fragile.

Read a few articles on telescope mirror cleaning. They use front-surface mirrors too, much bigger and much more expensive, so they're taken good care of. I don't usually touch the mirrors if I can help it, but when I have to I use a warm dilute dishwashing liquid solution and simply immerse the mirrors in there and agitate. Then use distilled water and leave to air-dry.

 

[Brian Legge]

The yellowing comes from either the beamsplitter or mirror - I forget which. If one of these cameras doesn't have a yellow one, I'd assume someone replaced one of the parts at some point in time.

 

[IgalSc]

Thank you for the answers, guys
I understand from what you say that this should be the normal
But is it normal that it's hard to focus in low light (like at home with regular light)?

 

[farlymac]

Some rangefinder designs suffer from not being easy to view when the light levels are low. After a while, you get used to estimating the distance, and stopping down for depth of field when it is hard to see the viewfinder patch.

And some manufacturers used white patches instead of yellow. I think the Petri's even had green, by the looks of the front of the camera. The viewfinder on my Taron VR is tinted bluish/greenish with the rangefinder patch almost a peach color. Then the patch on my Fugica GER is white, but very small. You find all kinds of variations.

PF

 

[xwhatsit]

But is it normal that it's hard to focus in low light (like at home with regular light)?

It may just be that it is dirty, or more likely that the beamsplitter silvering is wearing off. Seems to be very common with the 70s compacts; the earlier 60s Japanese RFs often hold up better for some reason. Much like the light seals!

You can get new beamsplitter from Edmund Scientific for a fair mint (and they won't even ship out of the US). Or, http://www.surplusshed.com often has 50% beamsplitter in the right thickness for next to nothing. I bought a stack recently so I could do a whole bunch of faded RFs -- made a big difference to the couple I've done so far!

 

[IgalSc]

Thanks!
I will check it out

 

[btgc]

Or, http://www.surplusshed.com often has 50% beamsplitter in the right thickness for next to nothing. I bought a stack recently so I could do a whole bunch of faded RFs -- made a big difference to the couple I've done so far!

Wow, this looks interesting. 50/50 probably isn't exactly how original works (more transmissive, I guess) but anyway good alternative.

How do you like VF's with replaced beamsplitter (I mean, 50/50 you mention)? Also, did it cut easily?

 

[awilder]

I have a Ricoh 519 which should be an identical body except for the faster f/1.9 lens. My sample has a salmon colored rf patch contrasted against a light greenish finder tint and is not great indoors but certainly usable if subject contrast is decent. A Nikon SP (2005 model) I once tried had the same color arrangement, better in low light than the Ricoh but not nearly as good as a Leica M. As I recall, my Canon QL17 G111 had a yellow rf patch against a blue finder tint.

 

[sevo]

How do you like VF's with replaced beamsplitter (I mean, 50/50 you mention)? Also, did it cut easily?

In my experience, many need to be cut generously and the edges ground/polished down to fit as the coating will splinter on cutting. You'll also have to watch out you get wideband neutral or blue/yellow ones. Most beamsplitters are made for laser purposes and are narrowband, sometimes very vividly colourful. I once ordered a cheap big sheet of unknown type, which turned out to be deep green/magenta...