Voigtländer 35mm accessory viewfinder repair

[Jan makowski]

Hi,
I’m looking for some information about the Voigtländer accessory viewfinder made by Cosina — 35mm the round one.

I’ve had this little gem for quite a while, but recently ran into a problem with it. After years of daily use and a few knocks and bumps, the reflective frame in front of the frameline glass has become tilted, and it now obstructs the viewfinder lines.

Is there a reasonably easy fix? I’m fairly handy with cameras and small parts.

Thanks!

 

[Jan makowski]

Problem solved; the repair was fairly easy.

 

[titrisol]

Problem solved; the repair was fairly easy.

Could you share what you did, it may help people later
Dziekuje

 

[santino]

*Dziekuje 😉

Yes, please share your solution.

 

[Jan makowski]

Here is the Voigtländer external viewfinder — 35mm, though the focal length shouldn’t make any difference.

Inside the barrel, you can clearly see the offending culprit — a skewed reflective “prism,” basically a few-millimeter-thick lens with a reflective coating. I don’t know its professional name.


Disassembly is quite simple. Start by removing the top ring — the one with two slots for a tiny lens wrench. Next, remove the top lens. There’s another ring that holds the barrel with the “reflective” glass (see picture below).



Right, so here’s what happened: after years of heavy use (and a bit of abuse), the two dabs of glue holding the barrel with the reflective glass finally gave up. Note that the two slots on top of this barrel aren’t for screwing it in place — they’re just for rotating it into the correct position during assembly.
I used a bit of black nail varnish I nicked from my wife to hold it in the desired position.
Assembly is just the reverse of disassembly.
Hope this helps!

Its a handy little viewfinder btw