| Author |
Message |
    
CJ
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 09:10 am: | 
|
Hi All,
I vaugely remember this has been discussed before; relating to a specific model of RF (Auto S2, IIRC).
I have two rangefinder cameras with lenses that have just a small amount of play in them: They can be wiggled just a little bit back and forth. This is noticeable--in the case of my Olympus 35RC--when I'm screwing my UV filter onto the front of the lens after adjusting the film speed.
All of this makes me just a bit nervous, as I'm not sure how robust these lens assemblies are, and the UV filter for the 35RC is a darned tight fit.
Is this a normal & acceptable characteristic of RFs? |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 10:23 am: |
|
There are 2 possible causes, and it could be a combination of both. In most leaf shutter RFs, the lens/shutter assembly is attached to a rectangular metal plate which is in turn attached to the chassis with 4 screws in the corners. These screws can work loose and let the entire panel, lens, shutter and all, wobble. This is not a critical problem, but it's not a virtue either and it won't get better over time. These screws are reached by peeling back the leatherette next to the lens... sometimes they're right there, sometimes there is a small access panel that you remove to reach them.
The other possible contributing cause is looseness in the focusing helical, either due to wear or to factory clearances. This gets worse as the lubricant migrates away en route to your shutter and aperture blades. About all you can do is to relubricate the threads with new grease, which doesn't make the problem go away 100% but it improves it. This requires more effort than going after the little screws, and probably accounts for a smaller part of the problem, so I'd look at the screws first.
rick : ) = |
Dan Mitchell
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 - 10:43 am: |
|
One other source of wiggle is wear of the shutter speed and aperture controls. This has no affect on the image quality. Check to see where the lens is wiggly. If it's just the controls you don't need to worry about it.
If it bothers you, it can be reduced by slight tightening of the rings or screws that hold the controls to the shutter, or by putting a damping grease on the speed cam and aperture controls. |
|
