stevelmx5
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- Steve
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As I've now finished my chrome and Wenge veneer SX-70 Model 1 project, I've moved on to a classic 35mm rangefinder.
I bought this camera a while back but when it arrived I noticed some spiderweb fungus on the rear element. At the time, I was busy on other cameras to take a look at this one but have just stripped the lens back to take a proper look and found that the fungus just wiped off with a camera lens cleaning cloth and left no lasting damage :0)
After completing the SX-70, I hadn't planned to do any more veneer because it was so time consuming but having seen some similar wood covered rangefinders online, I've decided to use it. So far, all I've done after repairing the lens it to remove the original leather/vinyl skin (which came off surprisingly easily and in three solid pieces). I've stuck them to the veneer sheet ready to cut out in the week.
As with the Polaroid thread, I find documenting my projects makes me work on them and I enjoy looking back on the steps. If any of the pictures/text help anyone else then all the better!
1) Original camera with Olympus lens cap and skin. Before disassembling, I set the focal distance to infinity and the aperture ring to 'off' so I knew where to re-attach the rings/elements.
View attachment 24705
2) Showing spiderweb fungus on rear element. Other than this, the rest of the camera is in perfect condition so it's an excellent project donor
View attachment 24706
3) After unscrewing the thin black plastic retaining ring, the front panel holding the metering cell can be lifted out. I left the two wires soldered to the cell as there is enough flex on the wires to lift the lens rings out of the way. The plastic retaining ring is tiny and sits between the two chrome rings on the front of the lens. There are two notches opposite each other. I used a fine blade screwdriver to unscrew it.
View attachment 24709
3) The three very small blade head screws are removed first. They hold a black metal disk (in the picture above) that moves the lens elements forwards/backwards on the helicoid to focus when the outer ring is turned.
4) After the focussing disk is removed, the next three screws can then also be removed. They are small cross-head screws and hold the silver ring in place. Once unscrewed, the silver disk can be lifted up once the rangefinder pin is pushed back through its mount hole.
View attachment 24710
5) Once the silver ring is lifted out of the way, the lens element can be taken off the camera. It comes off in a single unit with the front/rear elements together. I then wiped the rear element with a lens cleaning cloth and dried it with a lint free cloth.
View attachment 24711
6) I then re-fitted the lens elements and re-assembled the parts. The most awkward part was getting the three focussing disk retaining screws back in because they're very small, have a very thin slot and are also a tight fit...other than that, they're easy!
After checking that the focussing range and shutter speeds were set correctly (hitting the focus stops), I then removed the leather skin panels by lifting one corner with a thin screwdriver and the pealing each part away. I then placed some veneer pieces on the body to see how it might look....I'm definitely veneering it
View attachment 24712
Anyway, that's me for this evening. I don't want to take over the F&C section entirely!
Cheers
Steve
I bought this camera a while back but when it arrived I noticed some spiderweb fungus on the rear element. At the time, I was busy on other cameras to take a look at this one but have just stripped the lens back to take a proper look and found that the fungus just wiped off with a camera lens cleaning cloth and left no lasting damage :0)
After completing the SX-70, I hadn't planned to do any more veneer because it was so time consuming but having seen some similar wood covered rangefinders online, I've decided to use it. So far, all I've done after repairing the lens it to remove the original leather/vinyl skin (which came off surprisingly easily and in three solid pieces). I've stuck them to the veneer sheet ready to cut out in the week.
As with the Polaroid thread, I find documenting my projects makes me work on them and I enjoy looking back on the steps. If any of the pictures/text help anyone else then all the better!
1) Original camera with Olympus lens cap and skin. Before disassembling, I set the focal distance to infinity and the aperture ring to 'off' so I knew where to re-attach the rings/elements.
View attachment 24705
2) Showing spiderweb fungus on rear element. Other than this, the rest of the camera is in perfect condition so it's an excellent project donor
View attachment 24706
3) After unscrewing the thin black plastic retaining ring, the front panel holding the metering cell can be lifted out. I left the two wires soldered to the cell as there is enough flex on the wires to lift the lens rings out of the way. The plastic retaining ring is tiny and sits between the two chrome rings on the front of the lens. There are two notches opposite each other. I used a fine blade screwdriver to unscrew it.
View attachment 24709
3) The three very small blade head screws are removed first. They hold a black metal disk (in the picture above) that moves the lens elements forwards/backwards on the helicoid to focus when the outer ring is turned.
4) After the focussing disk is removed, the next three screws can then also be removed. They are small cross-head screws and hold the silver ring in place. Once unscrewed, the silver disk can be lifted up once the rangefinder pin is pushed back through its mount hole.
View attachment 24710
5) Once the silver ring is lifted out of the way, the lens element can be taken off the camera. It comes off in a single unit with the front/rear elements together. I then wiped the rear element with a lens cleaning cloth and dried it with a lint free cloth.
View attachment 24711
6) I then re-fitted the lens elements and re-assembled the parts. The most awkward part was getting the three focussing disk retaining screws back in because they're very small, have a very thin slot and are also a tight fit...other than that, they're easy!
After checking that the focussing range and shutter speeds were set correctly (hitting the focus stops), I then removed the leather skin panels by lifting one corner with a thin screwdriver and the pealing each part away. I then placed some veneer pieces on the body to see how it might look....I'm definitely veneering it
View attachment 24712
Anyway, that's me for this evening. I don't want to take over the F&C section entirely!
Cheers
Steve
Last edited:
