I'm wondering if anyone here could point me in the right direction...
I have an Eastar twin lens reflex camera. I'm told that the Seagull is similar, but you can judge for yourself - a photo of another photographer's identical camera is at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbise08/3905246700/
Anyway, the viewfinder hood is composed of two pieces: one for the rear panel and one for the front. One piece has a hole in the right side and another has a track. A tiny rivet connects the two, and as you open or close the hood, the rivet runs through the track so that the two pieces of the hood travel in sync, snapping open or shut.
Well, on my camera, this little rivet broke. You might think it would not be a problem, except for the fact that the pieces don't want to be raised or lowered independently. That is, you can't fold down the rear piece completely before you start folding down the front piece... they apparently both have to travel down together, and they are really stubborn. Trying to force the hood closed after every shot is too tedious, and I imagine it could start leading to further damage.
I was wondering if any camera repair people could point me in the direction towards finding a suitable replacement - a rivet or other fastener. The hole seems to be less than 1/16" diameter. I was able to get copper wire through the hole, which I think was AWG 20 gauge (0.8128 mm diameter). I also had another piece of wire that would fit, 1.19mm diameter as measured with calipers, though it was a tight fit.
The problem, of course, is that the head of the rivet was very thin so that it could clear the narrow opening in the hood assembly and rest inside the body of the camera when folded down. The wire trick I tried was creating a makeshift staple-like piece by bending the wire on either side, but the radius of curvature in the wire was too big to clear the opening.
If anyone could point me to the right fastener and/or tools needed, I'd be grateful. Even better, if you have an appropriate fastener that you could spare, please let me know. From what I've been able to research on the 'net, it looks like any such item is sold in large-quantity packs.
I have an Eastar twin lens reflex camera. I'm told that the Seagull is similar, but you can judge for yourself - a photo of another photographer's identical camera is at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbise08/3905246700/
Anyway, the viewfinder hood is composed of two pieces: one for the rear panel and one for the front. One piece has a hole in the right side and another has a track. A tiny rivet connects the two, and as you open or close the hood, the rivet runs through the track so that the two pieces of the hood travel in sync, snapping open or shut.
Well, on my camera, this little rivet broke. You might think it would not be a problem, except for the fact that the pieces don't want to be raised or lowered independently. That is, you can't fold down the rear piece completely before you start folding down the front piece... they apparently both have to travel down together, and they are really stubborn. Trying to force the hood closed after every shot is too tedious, and I imagine it could start leading to further damage.
I was wondering if any camera repair people could point me in the direction towards finding a suitable replacement - a rivet or other fastener. The hole seems to be less than 1/16" diameter. I was able to get copper wire through the hole, which I think was AWG 20 gauge (0.8128 mm diameter). I also had another piece of wire that would fit, 1.19mm diameter as measured with calipers, though it was a tight fit.
The problem, of course, is that the head of the rivet was very thin so that it could clear the narrow opening in the hood assembly and rest inside the body of the camera when folded down. The wire trick I tried was creating a makeshift staple-like piece by bending the wire on either side, but the radius of curvature in the wire was too big to clear the opening.
If anyone could point me to the right fastener and/or tools needed, I'd be grateful. Even better, if you have an appropriate fastener that you could spare, please let me know. From what I've been able to research on the 'net, it looks like any such item is sold in large-quantity packs.
