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Treve
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 04:59 am: | 
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Hi there!
I bought a secondhand Canonet QL17 GIII from eBay and its viewfinder was a bit dirty, so I thought I'd take the top off and give it a clean.
Took the black viewfinder cover off and gave all surfaces a good clean with Q-Tips, lens cleaning tissues and lens cleaning fluid. I found the left-hand side of the 45 degree angled semi-mirrored glass difficult to reach, so I left that.
Glued the black cover back on using Superglue and reassembled the rest of the camera for testing.
The viewfinder still appears to be a bit foggy.
My question is, have I ruined the viewfinder surfaces by using Superglue to replace the black viewfinder cover? I've since read that Superglue gives off a vapour that can cause fogging?
Is there any way of removing fogging caused by Superglue?
Finally, if I can't use Superglue what type of glue should I use? I live in the UK, so any suggestions of glues available here would be greatly appreciated!
Please tell me that I haven't ruined this camera! I haven't even put a roll of film through it yet and I really wish I hadn't been tempted to tinker with it!!
Cheers,
Treve |
Ezio
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 05:22 am: |
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In don't know about superglue, but if worst comes to worst I would be glad to contribute replacement viewfinder elements from one of my "cannibalising corpses". Tell me about the temptation to tinker with old cameras... I've already ruined quite a few, although I must admit that I have learned something in the process (such as: Rule #1: keep you hands in your pockets, etc.) |
Curtis Saxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 06:01 am: |
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I did the same thing with a Baldessa and after I removed the viewfinder cover again, I cleaned the screen easily by a Qtip with vinegar, then windex. Mine came out just fine but maybe I got lucky. Hope this helps. Curt in Canada. |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 06:38 am: |
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Super glue can cause fogging. I would use a contact cement to glue the black cover back onto the viewfinder assembly.... this has the additional advantage of being separable for future service. |
Treve
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 07:01 am: |
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Thanks for your replies guys! Sounds like all is not lost!
Thanks for the offer of spare parts - I'm hoping it won't come to that. But if it does, I'll be in touch!
Living in the UK, I am not familiar with Windex. Is it just a standard domestic glass cleaner that you'd use to clean windows and mirrors in your house?
When you say vinegar, will malt vinegar that you'd put on your food do the trick?
Finally, what sort of contact cement should I look for? Anyone got any ideas of what this might be called in the UK (brand names, etc.)?
Thanks again,
Treve |
Eileen
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 08:06 am: |
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Auro Contact Glue £4.23 can be bought from:
www.thegreenshop.co.uk
Put 'Auro Contact Glue' into search.
Hope it helps. |
Treve
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 08:16 am: |
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Thanks Eileen.
Looks very eco-friendly - is it non-fogging?
Have you used it successfully for this purpose? |
Eileen
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 08:49 am: |
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No I have not used it. Just found the site through Google. Think they have a 'Contact Us' button, so you could query it with them.
Why not give B&Q and HomeBase a ring and see have they sell contact glue. |
Jan Dvorak
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 11:12 am: |
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Treve,
Another point to remember when cleaning rangefinders: never clean the semi-transparent mirror on the side facing the eyepiece. That is the glass sitting at a 45 degree angle, between the eyepiece and the large finder window. The coating can be easily wiped off, resulting in much dimmer, or even the loss of the rangefinder image.
Good luck,
Jan |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2004 - 12:44 pm: |
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Super glue will not completely fog the viewfinder. I have successfully quite a few of viewfinder lenses and mirrors with super glue without fogging it. In some cases it will cause minor fog around the glueing spots - a whitish 'snow' around the droplets of glue. |
Treve
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 - 06:48 am: |
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Thanks again for your thoughts.
I have a few more questions, I'm afraid:
1) Is the semi-mirrored beamsplitter coloured yellow in my GL17 GIII, or is it something else in the rangefinder "section" of the camera that produces the yellow second image?
2) I have bought a New Canonet 28 camera as a spare parts donor for this camera because it seems to share a lot of common parts with the QL17 GIII. I am considering swapping over the beamsplitters because the yellow patch seems brighter in this camera. Will this fit in the QL17 GIII? If so, how do I remove it? What can I use to loosen the glue, but not damage the mirrored surface?
3) If I were to buy a new beamsplitter from somewhere like Edmund Optics, does anyone know which one I should go for? A part number would be great! Does it have to be yellow mirrored to produce the second image in my QL17 GIII?
Thanks again for your input!
Treve |
