Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]The dedicated cyclist knows how, or figures out how, to fix any mechanical problem on the road. Well done, John. You have more courage than I. Patrick - --- John Collier <jbcollier@shaw.ca> wrote: > For the last few years I have taken to wearing a > vertical alignment > tool around my neck as a talisman against evil. It > has been remarkable > successful with no misalignment during that time. > You might say that I > got cocky. You might say that I forget from whence I > came. The > resulting struggle in my somewhat dim evening of the > soul has freed me > forever from the tyranny of rangefinder coddling. I > sit before you, > clacking away. a changed man, a humbler man; but > more sure of myself > and my abilities. > > It all started innocently enough: a nice surfing > holiday in Tofino with > a good friend of mine. I packed light so as to do > the all carry-on > thing. A small pack and a hip bag for the camera. I > only brought the > 0.58x with a 24 and a 35. My new to driving daughter > agreed to getting > up early -- hard to believe but true: a seventeen > year old can get up > early -- to give me a ride to the airport. So far so > good except that I > decided to leave my alignment tool behind as another > sacrifice to the > weight gods. We jumped in the car, down the drive > way and, > unfortunately, a curb leapt out and smacked the back > wheel destroying > the tire. I frowned at my daughter and quickly > ordered a cab. > > In this somewhat agitated state, I threw my bags > into the taxi. The > sickening clunk that concluded the arrival of my > camera bag at the > boot's floor, had me inwardly cursing. I knew that > clunk. That was the > clunk of a camera with a misaligned rangefinder; and > me without my > alignment tool! Sure enough when I got to the > airport, the superimposed > image was almost fully halfway to completely missing > its target. OH > POOP! My only comfort being that my wides could be > moderately easily > scale focused. Sigh. > > While waiting for the ferry, I came to a decision. > If a knock can put > it out of alignment, why the h*** couldn't another > put it back in. So > there I sat by the ocean, beating the stuffing out > of my 0.58x. I am > sure it was only the ferry's arrival that allowed me > to narrowly miss > being arrested and locked up for this heinous crime. > Parents herded > their small children back into their cars and > cranked up the > Teletubbies soundtrack to drown the screams and, in > vain, pleadings of > my poor camera. However, no word of a lie, it > worked! I hit the camera > on the RW and the superimposed image dropped a > little low. A few more > biffs to the top plate and it was perfectly aligned. > > So the next time you are out and about and your > finder is bent out of > shape, just whack it back in place. Remember that > this only applies to > late M4-2 cameras and up. The earlier cameras have a > simple vertical > alignment adjustment located behind the cover screw > just above the lens > mount. > > NEVER NEVER hit a M2 or M3 camera. The finder is > held together with > Canadian Balsam and this deteriorates with time. A > good knock could > cause the finder to separate and black out. > > Cheers, > > John Collier > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html