Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/06

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] 135 "bent"line frame revisited
From: John Collier <jbcollier@home.com>
Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 12:59:41 -0700

Well all those of you who are holding your breath, despondent and depressed,
saddened that twits such as I should be allowed to handle cameras in the
first place, can relax now as all is true again. I examined the finder
carefully and nothing seemed bent ( no stress marks, kinks or cracks). The
only thing I could find was that one of the hinges for the parallax
mechanism was loose. I loosen the retaining screw (accessible from the small
hole on the bottom of the finder) and withdrew the optical unit. Then using
a small hammer and punch, carefully pushed out the hinge pin. When apart it
was obvious that one of the optical housing's hinge holes had stretched (it
is very thin there) causing the finder to tilt. Using the hammer again I
gently tapped it back into shape so there was a small amount of tension on
the pin as it slid into place. Reassembled with new lube on the parallax
"cam" and she is better than new. Thanks to all who sent flowers.

John Collier

 It looks to me that this could easily occur to any of the parallax
compensating finders and one should watch out for it when buying used and be
especially cautious when purchasing sight unseen.