| Author |
Message |
    
Peter Anson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 05, 2006 - 07:31 pm: | 
|
Into my hands have fallen, Yashica Minister III,Yashica MG-1 and Konica Auto S2. Some years ago I had a Yashica ME. It was a good little machine so that when this crop arrived I got very excited. They are all in working order and I've been learning how to do a basic clean. The rangefinder on the Minister has almost vanished and while hyperfocal Distance focusing is almost foolproof for this fool, I would like to find out if its possible to restore that little yellow rectangle to its former glory or install a new one or what,what, what to do for this beautiful machine. |
Stuart Willis
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 08, 2006 - 08:52 am: |
|
Under "Camera Articles" within this Forum you will find my contribution on the Minister III. It does not specifically address the rangefinder issue which you raise but it will help you access such should you deterimne to go the route.
The viewfinder yellow coincident image is produced by semi-silvered coating on one side of the diagonal glass in the viewfinder. That glass is called the "image-splitter".
The coating is very soft and will usually vanish if an attempt is made to clean it. You then end up with no rangefinder.
Perhaps some previous camera tinkerer has done just that !
The only fix is to replace that image splitter with a good one as possibly salvaged from another camera. Optical Labs can recoat it but the cost would be prohibitive.
Hope this helps. |
Peter Anson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 02:09 am: |
|
Thanks, Stuart. Your Minister article is an inspiration for newcomers.....Pete |
Peter Anson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 26, 2006 - 06:54 am: |
|
I found a salvage camera with good rangefinder.Stuart,you were right. A previous tinkerer had been very busy. The two screws holding the assembly in place were a little the worse for wear and not at all tight.On the salvage one things were tight and unmarked. I spent a long time looking at it all. I got Stuart's Minister article up on the sceen for insiration. Then did it. Carefully. Slowly. And it looks good. A bright finder that works. It may need adjustment so that will be the next step. Thanks again Stuart. |
