manfromh said:
Few days ago I bought a Zorki-4k for 11$. It seems to be in almost perfect condition, except that the viewfinder is kind of wobbling. When I look through the viewfinder, the image is shaking a bit. At first I thought its my hands that are shaking, but now im sure its the viewfinder. It doesnt bother me very much, but i just wanna make sure that it wont lead to bigger problems. And how hard is it to take the top off and glue (?) the viewfinder down? Is superglue okay?
And another thing. I know that the camera must never be pointed at the sun without a lenscap on. But what about fires and lamps?
Second question first: Fires and lamps would have to be *seriously* powerful to burn the curtains so that's pretty unlikely.
First question: the 4K has a little trap for the unwary when taking the top off, it's the return-spring for the wind lever. Here's how it comes off:
Remove the screw near the eyepiece on the back. Remove the screw near the viewfinder on the front. Remove the screw near the rangefinder on the front. Remove the screw from the accessory shoe on the top and the one near the wind crank. These screws are all different so note which is which!
Loosen the two screws on the shutter dial and remove it - note what speed you had set for later re-assembly. Don't remove these screws, just undo them enough to remove the dial. It helps to set a speed of about 1/2 sec to access these. Likewise slacken the grub-screw on the flash-synch ring, don't remove it!
Now remove the frame counter screw and hence the dial, under which is a star-shaped washer. You will now see two holes in the plate underneath. Using something like circlip pliers, undo this - it's a LEFT-HAND thread so CLOCKWISE to unscrew! You'll have to get a large screwdriver in the bottom of the film spool to hold it still too.
The spool will drop out now. Now for the trickier part...
There are three screws holding a kind of drum and the rewind lever - DON'T be tempted to undo them yet! First, you will see a small hole in the bottom of the recess. Find a small drill or pin that will fit in it - if you use a pin it must be plain with no head. Wind the lever partway, until the hole you can see lines up just BEYOND the nearby top-case screw hole. Insert the pin as far as you can with no force. Now, if you release the wind lever it won't return fully. If it does you didn't do this step correctly so go back and try again, wind a little further before putting it in.
Now undo the three screws in the bottom of the drum, and lift it off, over the inserted pin, together with the lever - do it carefully so as not to disturb the pin.
Now you can lift the top cover off. It's prudent to remove the winder and spring at this point, with the pin still in place. Just prise the outer end of the spring off its post and set the whole thing aside gently - if you disturb the pin the sprig WILL FLY and it's got sharp edges! Take off the ratchet gear from under it too, noting the position it engages at first.
As all the best manuals say, re-assembly is the reverse of the above! Before you put all the cover screws back, check that the lever engages at the right point. If it doesn't, you have not put the ratchet gear back in the right position.
Now you can get at the viewfinder/rangefinder. Either the whole thing will be loose or just the rangefinder mirror - there are 2 small adjusting screws and one screw on the end that retain it - check them. It's unlikely the viewfinder prisms will be loose on their assembly.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
