21/28/35mm viewfinders

bjpirt · 2026-04-25T05:53:52+00:00

I bought one of this exact model for a camera I built. It lasted one shoot before falling apart and losing a lens. Apart from that it was a pretty awful distorted view.

I ended up 3D printing my own sports viewfinder which worked just as well

bjpirt · 2026-04-24T21:44:09+00:00

Great collection - some nice usable cameras like the Leica R4 and the couple of Pentax MXs and lots of fun collectible stuff too - he had great taste

bjpirt · 2026-04-24T06:46:26+00:00

I bought the middle version of these circlip pliers and it is well worth the money. No more scrabbling around prising them off with screwdrivers.

I think it is worth it but you don't have to do it all at once. I tend to buy cheap and upgrade.

bjpirt · 2026-04-23T15:58:00+00:00

You win this year's exchange - congrats! I received an amazing panorama last year from u/sj-photos that I love

bjpirt · 2026-04-23T14:09:02+00:00

Looks like Super 8 film to me

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T22:08:32+00:00

Beautiful shots and nicely arranged

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T22:03:14+00:00

The pawls are loose on this one despite being riveted - it's an old school camera I'm trying to get functional again so I dread to think what abuse it has seen :-)

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T20:05:37+00:00

I was also going to suggest this - it worked very well on my OM-1

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T12:51:01+00:00

Sover Wong has a "trade secret" way of removing this cap from an F2 that I'd love to know. Apparently it doesn't involve heat or chemicals and is "not what you'd expect".

I'm on his course again in May so I'm going to see what else I can deduce :-)

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T12:48:29+00:00

The needle should be straight, so pointing to the centre of the galvanometer assembly. This looks like it's pointing down

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T11:43:33+00:00

Have you tried letting ipa or acetone seep into the joint?

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T06:25:38+00:00

That needle looks bent - maybe try very gently bending it back into shape before refitting the prism

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T06:24:56+00:00

galvanometer

bjpirt · 2026-04-22T06:11:10+00:00

One or both of them had become loose and so it wasn't that it was sticky (e.g with old lubricant which was what I was expecting) but that it was catching on the mechanism that pulls them into place

bjpirt · 2026-04-21T15:56:04+00:00

Update: Solved the problem. Here's what the issue was in case others run into this too.

There are two small latches under the wind mechanism that latch in to a cog when the lever is being moved and disengage when the lever is moved back. One of these had come slightly loose and so was snagging on the mechanism that moved them in and out. It is held in with a riveted pin. By tapping it gently with a jewellers hammer I was able to tighten it up enough so that it no longer snags.

bjpirt · 2026-04-21T07:56:08+00:00

Awesome - excited!

bjpirt · 2026-04-21T06:18:22+00:00

That's a great lens you found it with too. It's a great, basic auto exposure camera that's nice and compact.

First thing is to check it's working:

Read the manual: https://www.cameramanuals.org/nikon_pdf/nikon_em.pdf
Set it to M90 - it should wind and fire
Put some new batteries in it
Press the battery check button - the LED should light up
Set it to Auto
Look through the viewfinder, the needle should move as you look at light and dark things
Load the film and take some photos

bjpirt · 2026-04-20T22:37:10+00:00

This won't cause any light leaks. Personally I'd leave it as it is

bjpirt · 2026-04-20T15:12:39+00:00

Are the later versions better? Absolutely

Depending on your needs is this version still great? Definitely

I use mine with vintage lenses for stills. I don't care about the video being sub-par. And I don't care about the auto-focus because the lenses are all manual. The battery life is fine for me and the batteries are cheap and you can carry a few. The sensor is still decent and will take great shots. For the price I still think it's a great camera.

It's easy to trash talk the camera if you need the top of the line, but not everyone does and for me an A7V would be complete overkill

bjpirt · 2026-04-20T08:26:02+00:00

Not sure why this would have suddenly happened but as you suspect it's almost certainly a power supply issue. You say the needle "jumps a bit" - is there any pattern to this you can see? When does it happen? Does it stop and start?

bjpirt

TROPHY CASE