Today I picked up a medium format rangefinder Zeiss Super Ikonta 533/16, sent to me from an older guy in the north of Sweden some 1300 kilometers away. I paid 1100 Swedish Kronor, 1100 skr = 130 dollars. A very good price considering the outstanding cosmetic condition.
But still, the purchase was a bit of a gamble since the old man didn't know anything about cameras. (He had inherited the camera from a close relative). I made sure to ask about things like shutterspeeds, bellows, glass, lightmeter and overall condition. He checked it and everything seemed OK.
Now, with the camera in my hand and looking through the viewfinder, the yellow rangefinder mirror/prism has crackled and distorted the viewfinder completely. In fact, it looks likes there's a huge birch tree with yellow autumn leaves standing in front of the camera (see attached images below). Catastrophy!
A friend of mine who repairs analog cameras professionally now tells me that this is a tricky thing to fix. The mirror/prism has to be heated up, cleaned, then prepared with new "wax" (of some kind, can't remember the name of it), then hardened with UV-light and finally inserted into the camera again.
Does anyone have experience of this crackled viewfinder prism? Is it even fixable?
I could call the old man and complain, send it back or get a price reduction, since he should have noticed this and told me about it.... but then again I never asked him. Frankly I just forgot about the viewfinder since everything else looked almost perfect in the pictures he sent me.
Also, the camera is apart from the mirror/prism in almost perfect condition. It would be a shame not to but it back in working condition.
What would you do?
Below: viewfinder, seen from the front.
Below: viewfinder, inside, shot with iPhone (crackled parts are out of focus)
But still, the purchase was a bit of a gamble since the old man didn't know anything about cameras. (He had inherited the camera from a close relative). I made sure to ask about things like shutterspeeds, bellows, glass, lightmeter and overall condition. He checked it and everything seemed OK.
Now, with the camera in my hand and looking through the viewfinder, the yellow rangefinder mirror/prism has crackled and distorted the viewfinder completely. In fact, it looks likes there's a huge birch tree with yellow autumn leaves standing in front of the camera (see attached images below). Catastrophy!
A friend of mine who repairs analog cameras professionally now tells me that this is a tricky thing to fix. The mirror/prism has to be heated up, cleaned, then prepared with new "wax" (of some kind, can't remember the name of it), then hardened with UV-light and finally inserted into the camera again.
Does anyone have experience of this crackled viewfinder prism? Is it even fixable?
I could call the old man and complain, send it back or get a price reduction, since he should have noticed this and told me about it.... but then again I never asked him. Frankly I just forgot about the viewfinder since everything else looked almost perfect in the pictures he sent me.
Also, the camera is apart from the mirror/prism in almost perfect condition. It would be a shame not to but it back in working condition.
What would you do?
Below: viewfinder, seen from the front.
Below: viewfinder, inside, shot with iPhone (crackled parts are out of focus)
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