Not computer patching, but more patching of rangefinder mirrors that had lost the capacity to reflect anything.
This time round it was the Braun Gloria, a camera I bought earlier this year. I knew the RF mirror would need replacing as the seller said it was very faint.
- The Camera, lens in.
First problem was how to get the top off. There's very little information online, not like more common cameras where you can often find quite detailed repair / tear-down info.
- The Top
Undoing the RF wheel on the left hand side was easy enough, working out that the two rear screws on the cold shoe needed to come off, and working out the advance wheel would need to come off was also not too taxing on the brain. Working out
how to get the advance wheel off was more challenging. The centre piece would not unscrew, so not that way. After much head scratching I tried looking from inside the film chamber. Nothing obvious, but on whim I tried unscrewing the take-up spool key. Normal way didn't work, but giving it some more thought, I surmised it was likely a reverse thread. A 10mm socket fits well enough to give a bit of purchase. Success!
- The Key
Once I'd got the top off, gently, I decided to take a few photos of the layout, just in case. As I reached for the phone, I just caught the shutter plunger and off it shot, along with at least one other piece. $#%^@!&!!. Oh, how unfortunate...
- Topless
I found the shutter plunger, and a brass collar. It had a thin rim on one side, a wider rim on the other, but I couldn't work out how they fitted together. I tried a few options, nothing seemed to fit properly. The hole in the collar didn't fit the shutter release shaft size (hole too large), and I couldn't be certain the two parts even belonged together.
Oh well, on to fixing the RF mirror. The mirror is held in a carrier that slips over two posts (the larger, lower half silvered mirror in the preceding photo). A gentle pry with the handle side of the tweezers and up it popped, having first removed the lacquer on the top. It took a couple of goes to cut an appropriately sized mirror, but some lacquer to hold in the mirror, then slipping the carrier over the posts and it all seemed good. Now I just have to work out the shutter release mechanism.
I studied the top for a while, and there appeared nowhere else the collar could go, apart from in some combination with the shutter release. None of the combinations I tried worked, I couldn't get the shutter interlock to work properly. It would only work if I held the shutter release down while winding, and then only as long as I kept it gently depressed. Being a little depressed myself, I put it to one side.
While doing something else, I dropped something unrelated on the floor. Searching for that unrelated thing, I found a spring acting suspiciously under my desk. Under interrogation, it admitted it had indeed made a bid for freedom together with the shutter release and collar. It had good camouflage, so I only found it through feel. It admitted being part of the gang, but wasn't going to give up any more information. So, I tried some more combinations of shutter release, collar and spring before working out their relationship.
- Not quite right
Finally, it all clicked <ahem>!
- The right relationship
Then just a matter of a bit of a clean, then reassembly and adjusting the RF. The uncoupled RF can be adjusted with the three screws on the RF wheel:
- RF Pointer
- RF Adjustment Screws
I then gently polished some of the aluminium work and managed to clean up the advance wheel quite nicely.
- Advance Wheel
