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Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2012 - 02:49 pm: | 
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I've just acquired a Brownie 2 F and find that both viewfinder mirrors have lost their silvering and need to be replaced. One suggestion I've read is to use plastic/acrylic mirror as it's easier to cut. Can anyone comment on how satisfactory this would be? And if it's not viable, where would I look to find a suitable thin glass mirror from which to cut the small viewfinder mirrors?
And secondly, when I took the mirrors out of the camera (or more correctly when I took the front cover off and the mirrors fell out!), the sloping wooden base where each of them is affixed seems to have a thin piece of metal fixed to it to which the mirror was glued. Is this correct, or is what I am seeing actually just hardened glue and the mirrors should be stuck directly to the wood?
All advice and suggestions gratefully received. |
Simaken
Tinkerer
Username: Simaken
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2012 - 06:51 pm: |
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Polaroid camera (the type of film instaled in base) contains about t1.2 x 5cm square mirror. AF SLR contains about 2.5x3.5cm half mirror. junk scanneer contains small mirror. They are front surface mirror and very cheap. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 234
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 24, 2012 - 07:42 pm: |
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Simon, they are as Simaken said, a front surface mirror, and a junk Polaroid is an excellent source. And you are just seeing the glue on the wood. I have a Brownie Six-20 that belonged to one of my Grandmother's, and had to reglue the mirrors.
Get some Weldbond (or Pliobond), and put a bit on the mirror, and the remains of the glue pad in the camera. Let them sit for a couple of minutes, then put the mirror in the camera. Should last for another seventy years.
PF |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 06:44 am: |
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Many thanks for these replies, guys. Not sure where I'd go to find junk Polaroids or SLRs, or even a scanner! Would the acrylic or plastic mirror that you'd find in a lady's make up box do the job? It would be easier to cut to size, that's for sure. |
Hanskerensky
Tinkerer
Username: Hanskerensky
Post Number: 169
Registered: 05-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 08:14 am: |
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You also could have a look at stainless steel mirrors. These are surface mirrors and can be cut without problems. The smaller sizes are often sold as "camping mirror". |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 10:15 am: |
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Thanks, Hans, that's an excellent idea. I just found your photos on Flickr of how to extract a mirror from an SX 70 Polaroid but clearly cutting the mirror is another challenge altogether. And I hadn't realised the significance of Simaken's reference to 'front surface mirror' until I looked it up online so the stainless steel mirror seems perfect as it's only for the view finder in a Box Brownie which is hardly a mission critical installation.
Thanks again, guys. |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 330
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 12:12 pm: |
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Another possibility is to go to a craft shop and look for mirrored glass "tiles". I found a pack of 4 for about GBP2, which gave me plenty of room to practice scoring the tiles and then breaking to size - you can do this quite easily with a glasscutter (not much more than that pound), a square edge like a tabletop, and a pair of thick gloves. |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 4
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 03:27 pm: |
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Thanks for this suggestion, Adrian. I'd also though of checking out my local craft shop but then I found that my local Scout Shop has the stainless steel camping mirror in stock for GBP 1.75 so I'm going to start with that as it's likely to be easier to cut to shape than the glass tiles. And it's also a front surface mirror, although it remains to be seen how significant that really is for Brownie viewfinders! |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 235
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 07:06 pm: |
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Front surface mirrors eliminate the reflection one could get using a back silvered mirror, such as your medicine cabinet, and refractions from the light having to pass through the glass twice.
PF |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 5
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 01:40 pm: |
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Well, I got a stainless steel camping mirror but it proved to be very difficult to cut without distorting the metal. Perhaps it was too thin? Any suggestions as to how to cut thin sheet metal so as to avoid distortion? |
Hanskerensky
Tinkerer
Username: Hanskerensky
Post Number: 171
Registered: 05-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 02:58 pm: |
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Maybe attach (lightly glue) it to a wooden plank and use a Dremel tool with a cutting disc. Just avoid too much pressure. |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 6
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 06:32 am: |
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Good idea, Hans, thanks. I don't have a Dremel type tool but I think my son in law has one so I'll check this out. |
Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 126
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 10:55 am: |
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We use a metal ruler then score the metal with a razor blade a number of times then clamp one side tight and use a flat clamp pliers to bend back and forth the other end until it snaps. No distortion. |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 7
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2012 - 03:01 pm: |
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Finnegan, many thanks for this suggestion and apologies for not acknowledging it before now. I've been side tracked from my Brownie project as I've been helping my daughter decorate her new apartment. But I'll certainly try this idea once the painting is finished! |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 8
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 03:50 pm: |
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Thanks to everyone for all their suggestions and advice. I finally opted to have a go at cutting a mirror from a make up box of my wife's which was just the right thickness. Being so thin it was actually quite straightforward to cut cleanly and I duly ended up with two more or less perfect viewfinder mirrors. I opted to locate them with Blu Tack rather than glue to give me some margin of adjustment in due course.
So it's down to Jessop's tomorrow for a roll of 120 Ilford XP4 to try the camera out! Wish me luck, guys. |
Adrian
Tinkerer
Username: Adrian
Post Number: 331
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2012 - 03:57 pm: |
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Good luck!
By way of inspiration...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gray1720/3074439713/sizes/o/in/set-7215761569176225 2/
If you have a yellow filter handy, fix over your lens with two rubber bands so you get sky instead of grey. |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 9
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 - 01:17 pm: |
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Initially, at least, I'm just going to make sure the thing works and carry out some experiments related to focal length and angle of view as I bought the camera specifically to replicate a 1930s photo.
I do find, however, that the viewfinders are even worse than I remember from the Brownie we had at home many years ago and I wonder if using regular mirrors rather than front surface ones is contributing to this? There is quite a bit of what I can only call vignetting from the little lens the viewfinder peeks through and might this be caused by the reflective surface of the mirror being too far back?
Or are they just naturally terrible! |
John_s
Tinkerer
Username: John_s
Post Number: 79
Registered: 07-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2012 - 03:43 pm: |
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Sorry to come in late on this thread - but these little finders are never very clear and I doubt the position of the mirrors is that critical. Some had a sort of frosted glass to produce a little thumbnail of the subject.I think the idea was that you used the finder to roughly compose the picture, then looked directly at the subject, typically a person or small group, to fine tune the composition. |
Puderse
Tinkerer
Username: Puderse
Post Number: 62
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 19, 2012 - 07:21 am: |
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I've quite a collection of box cameras and Edwardian bellows Kodaks, prefer those that take 120. I have re-bellowsed several and have two new-old-stock bellows waiting for the perfect camera to install them into.
A $0.50 garage sale (boot sale) polaroid, the plastic ones, not the nice SX-70, yields enough mirror to re-do the mirrors on several old waist-level finders, box or folding.
Old European made box and folding cameras are almost always 120 and some come with quality lenses. |
Simon_j
Tinkerer
Username: Simon_j
Post Number: 10
Registered: 02-2012
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 03:03 pm: |
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Well I ran a test roll of Ilford XP 2 (not XP 4 - silly me!) through the Brownie this week and sent it off for developing and contact prints. It sure was difficult to frame the scenes with any accuracy through the viewfinders and it remains to be seen both how accurate the viewfinders are, and whether the game was worth the candle in terms of image quality. We shall see in due course!
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions - they helped get the Brownie resuscitated which was the object of the exercise |
John_shriver
Tinkerer
Username: John_shriver
Post Number: 70
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 07:43 pm: |
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Many of the original Kodak reflex finder mirrors aren't even front silvered. They're just conventional rear silvered. I used a little craft mirror, and cut it down with a glass cutter, with the help of Grozier's pliers, to replace the finder mirror in my No. 3A Kodak Panoram.
The reflex finders with two lenses and a mirror are pretty bad.
The reflex finders with one lens and a ground glass (like in a Brownie) are just awful. |
