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Floyd51930
Tinkerer
Username: Floyd51930
Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - 03:36 am: | 
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During my last few efforts at rangefinder restoration,including replace the beamsplitter with new mirror(edmund optics),i found that sometimes even after the new mirror, I felt it could be better, I experimented with boosting the contrast by darkening the main viewfinder, by applying some window tint film, (ask your tint shop if you can have a few scraps from their trash). Works great!!!You can preview the effect by holding up various strength samples in front of the view finder until you get the effect you like.You could apply it direct to the external glass but it looks a lot neater if you remove the top cover and apply it to the rangefinder.If you find it difficult to remove the backing sheet from the small piece of tint, apply a small piece of masking tape to each side and pull them apart gently, works ok after a couple of trials.If everybody already knows this already, just ignore this post, but it has made some of my unusable cameras very good, Steve |
Kiron_kid
Tinkerer
Username: Kiron_kid
Post Number: 10
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 11:09 pm: |
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Try a light to medium blue flash gel too. It works quite well. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1201
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 20, 2012 - 08:10 pm: |
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You can also buy the beamsplitter stock in different grades: 30% reflectance/70% transmittance and 50%/50%. If you use the 50% grade, the viewfinder will be darker and the RF patch brighter than if you use the 30/70 grade.
You can also selectively darken just the center part of the front VF window that coincides with the RF patch: this increases the contrast of the rangefinder without the penalty of a darker viewfinder field: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html
This can be effective even when the beamsplitter is pretty badly shot. |
Thomas1
Tinkerer
Username: Thomas1
Post Number: 19
Registered: 02-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 08, 2012 - 05:03 pm: |
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Cleaning the rangefinder mirror is touchy business. Has anyone refinished the Canon 7 "window" for the rangefinder mirror? The edges on mine are a little rough. I was thinking of placing some masking tape, a very small square, cut with a razor blade, over the clear portion of the window and repainting so I can get a new appearance. Are there replacement "windows" available for the Canon 7s? |
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