Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/12/17

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Subject: Re: [Leica] bitten by the SL bug
From: "Patrick G. Sobalvarro" <pgs@sobalvarro.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:29:25 -0800

At 08:35 PM 12/17/97 -0500, Dan Post wrote:
>BTW, in a more serious vein- if you've had repair work done on an SL, I have
>a question. Is the 'seperation' in the viewfinder that Leica advised me of
>endemic? Just what seperates? I have a black SL-Mot, and the prism is
>de-silvering ( VERY dim), so it's hard to say if there is seperation. The
>chrome SL I have has a slight darkening at the edge of the viewfinder, but I
>didn't notice it until Leica pointed it out!

I don't do camera repair, but in "Leica Reflex Photography," Brian Bower
points out that "staining" around the edges of the finder are an indication
that the balsam cementing the finder components is deteriorating.  I don't
think this is necessarily a disaster (unlike a black RF in an M3, which I
have not heard of anyone being able to repair).  The reason I don't think
it's necessarily a disaster is that there are repair people who can
recement lens elements, and so I would guess that the same would be true of
finder components.  I don't actually know it's possible to repair these --
I'm just guessing, based on the fact that S.K. Grimes, for example, can
replace the balsam in a separating lens.

- -Patrick