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Marco
Tinkerer
Username: Marco
Post Number: 9
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 06:37 pm: | 
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Although its auto-exposure function is already inoperative, I find it hard to part with this handsome and now manual-only camera, Moreover, I badly need it to test a 35-200mm Minolta mount AT-X Tokina which recently came my way and has just been sent for cleaning. However, the aforementioned opaque/black band running across the viewfinder is most annoying and makes focusing really difficult (the image can be placed in focus but the irregular band overlaps the critical central area with the fresnel screen). The impression I have is to be looking at an out-of-focus horizontal projection of two mating but separated surfaces (please ignore this if it makes little sense).
Before attempting to remove the top plate, I would be most appreciative for any comments regarding the probable cause of the problem and, hopefully, ways to solve it. Many thanks in advance. |
Mikel
Tinkerer
Username: Mikel
Post Number: 102
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 07:23 pm: |
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Minolta used adhesive tape on some production runs to attach to the back of the prism. The result, over time, was desilvering, which looks like a black area somewhere in the viewfinder. That may be the problem. If so, it's impractical to resilver the prism but almost any donor XG series camera will have an interchangeable prism.
In any case the top has to come off and then the flex circuit which covers the top of the camera must be disconnected on the wind side which will allow it to be folded out of the way. The prism is held in by two springs |
Marco
Tinkerer
Username: Marco
Post Number: 10
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008 - 07:58 pm: |
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Thanks for the diagnosis and suggestion, Mikel. I think I can get hold of a donor XG. Whether I can successfully swap the prisms is an entirely different matter - but I'll surely try. |
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