Front surface mirror replacement - Olympus Pen FT

[brbo]

Does anybody know where to get a front surface mirror with a thickness of 0.85mm or a cheap camera that uses the mirror with the same thickness that I could use as a donor?

My Olympus Pen FT's reflex mirror broke and I need to replace it. I was very happy to find a replacement on eBay, but those are of wrong thickness (0.7mm) and made of plastic. At least I think 0.7mm is the wrong thickness as I also have a Pen F and the mirror in that one seems to be thicker than 0.7mm, but I can't measure it's thickness properly, of course.

 

[Ian Grant]

Getting the right thickness glass is the major issue, Vacuum Coatings Ltd in London can do the front silvering, these days Aluminium is used rather than Silver. They've made mirrors for me a couple of times, but in my case 2mm as I restore much larger SLR cameras, Quarter plare, 5x4, etc.

Ian

 

[brbo]

Thanks, @Ian Grant! Do you know if there is a minimum quantity required? Basically, do you think having a small mirror (19x22mm) custom made would be economically justifiable in the case of Pen F? Any price ballpark estimate from your previous dealings with Vacuum Coatings?

 

[Anon Ymous]

Thanks, @Ian Grant! Do you know if there is a minimum quantity required? Basically, do you think having a small mirror (19x22mm) custom made would be economically justifiable in the case of Pen F? Any price ballpark estimate from your previous dealings with Vacuum Coatings?

If I were you, I'd consider making a mirror myself. Silver nitrate is fairly easy to obtain and not too expensive in small quantities.

 

[Ian Grant]

There is a minimum charge of £25 inc p&p (inside the UK). I'm having a few mirrors made for myself and a couple of others, which will cut the costs, but that won't be until some time in January now.

Ian

 

[brbo]

I'm happy to wait until you are ready to order your mirrors and would be grateful if you could let me know then if it's possible that you could order a few mirrors for me as well. I'd, of course, cover my part of the fee and all the shipping costs (I'm from Slovenia).

Unless you think that the £25 fee applies to every mirror thickness in the order, then it would not make sense to burden you with the work of shipping my part of the order to me...

 

[Ian Grant]

The £25 is just a minimum charge to cover handling etc, not a reflection (no pun intended) of individual costs. One of the problems with small orders is the packaging, invoicing, taking to a Post Office is a large part of the cost. If you had a larger piece of glass mirrored could you get it cut to the sizes you need.

I should add the mirrors arrive with the front covered by a plastic protective film, the front surface itself has a Silicone coating as well. They can also make beam splitter mirrors.

Ian

 

[gone]

You best hop on this while you can. I happen to know him from buying things from him, and actually sent him a lot of mirrors from my cameras some time ago so he could make them correctly. Otherwise, I have no business connection to him at all, my eBay dealings appear to be a reliable and time tested money losing business

(44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for (44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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[blee1996]

The seller @momus mentioned is very reputable. I bought other type of front silvering mirror from NobbySparrow in the past, and had excellent experience.

I do recommend you to get a caliper and measure your old mirror properly. I wouldn't order any mirror without specifying the exact thickness and dimensions. He might not have the exact type of mirror thickness for you. This will save the hassle for sellers too, since it is overseas.

 

[r_a_feldman]

You best hop on this while you can. I happen to know him from buying things from him, and actually sent him a lot of mirrors from my cameras some time ago so he could make them correctly. Otherwise, I have no business connection to him at all, my eBay dealings appear to be a reliable and time tested money losing business

(44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for (44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

From the shape of the mirror shown, it is not for the swinging reflex mirror, but the internal one by the poroprism in a Pen F or FV. For an FT, this mirror would need to be partially silvered, or you will loose the meter. See my post at https://kyp.hauslendale.com/classics/forum/messages/2/15109.html?1637223628 for pictures of the FT meter and prism.

 

[r_a_feldman]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Standard-size-TLR-Glass-replacement-mirrors-see-description-for-mirror-types-/265538562531 claims to have mirrors for the Pen FT.

 

[brbo]

You best hop on this while you can. I happen to know him from buying things from him, and actually sent him a lot of mirrors from my cameras some time ago so he could make them correctly. Otherwise, I have no business connection to him at all, my eBay dealings appear to be a reliable and time tested money losing business

(44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for (44) Surface mirror for Olympus PEN-F FV rangefinder repair parts at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Yes, this seller also offers reflex mirrors that I mentioned in my OP, but contrary to his prism (half) mirrors that he offers, his reflex mirrors are made of plastic and in wrong thickness. I ordered a couple from him and even if I could get close to proper distance with his mirror with a help of two layers of thin double sided tape, the flatness of the mirror surface is not really there and focusing is very hard (unreliable). I asked him and he can't supply glass mirrors in 0.85mm thickness. So, he is not really an option for the reflex mirrors for Olympus Pen cameras. I am using his prism mirror in my FT ("upgraded" the semi reflective mirror to the fully reflective mirror).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Standard-size-TLR-Glass-replacement-mirrors-see-description-for-mirror-types-/265538562531 claims to have mirrors for the Pen FT.

Thanks for that link! I just placed an order, lets see if that works out...

 

[BobUK]

Knight Optical in the UK sell surfaced mirrors, and other optics.
Recently I have had anti Newton glass from them to use in an enlarger. Fast delivery and well packaged at a reasonable price for standard sizes.
They also do specials to order.
Drop them an email. Hopefully they might be able to accommodate you. Even if they cannot be of assistance it would be nice to know for future use.

As usual, no connection with the company.

UV/VIS/IR Optical Components from Stock | Knight Optical

www.knightoptical.com

 

[brbo]

Thanks @BobUK! Nice to know the options on ANR glass, too! I really should get one for my enlarger (Philips PCS 130) as the OEM part is too coarse and the structure of the ANR glass can sometimes be seen in the extreme edges of my prints when printing negatives approaching the widest supported size...

 

[ic-racer]

Thanks for the info on Knight Optical. Just emailed them about glass for my enlarger. Suppliers with which I had worked in the past are no longer in business, and I have been wanting spare glass for some time.

 

[brbo]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Standard-size-TLR-Glass-replacement-mirrors-see-description-for-mirror-types-/265538562531 claims to have mirrors for the Pen FT.

Thanks for that link! I just placed an order, lets see if that works out...

Well, turns out that that seller, too, doesn't have the right thickness for Pen F cameras. Good think I asked before shipping...

 

[CMoore]

Do most SLR Cameras use a front surface mirror.?
Thank You

 

[moggi1964]

I don't know if they do small mirrors but I have used Orion Optics for telescope mirror coating and been happy with their work. Might be worth asking.

 

[ic-racer]

I have removed the gray paint from standard rear-surface mirrors and...they have become front surface mirrors.

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[r_a_feldman]

Does anybody know where to get a front surface mirror with a thickness of 0.85mm or a cheap camera that uses the mirror with the same thickness that I could use as a donor?

My Olympus Pen FT's reflex mirror broke and I need to replace it. I was very happy to find a replacement on eBay, but those are of wrong thickness (0.7mm) and made of plastic.

You can always shim a thinner mirror to the correct thickness using brass shim stock or hobby-shop plastic strips.

 

[BobUK]

I R Poyser in the UK sells parts for making telescopes plus optical parts taken from old military equipment.
He used to do a paper catalogue of recovered lenses , mirrors etc.
I bought a few tiny surface silvered mirrors a good few years ago.
They are not listed on his web site but it might be worth contacting him to see if he still sells mirrors.

 

[ic-racer]

Knight Optical in the UK sell surfaced mirrors, and other optics.
Recently I have had anti Newton glass from them to use in an enlarger. Fast delivery and well packaged at a reasonable price for standard sizes.
They also do specials to order.
Drop them an email. Hopefully they might be able to accommodate you. Even if they cannot be of assistance it would be nice to know for future use.

As usual, no connection with the company.

UV/VIS/IR Optical Components from Stock | Knight Optical

www.knightoptical.com

I just got done with somewhat of a nightmare with Knight Optical USA. (Which may be the same as my box was shipped from UK Understanding it may be totally separate from the UK version).
First off, they had a minimum order of $650 USD,which is a little insane, so I was forced to buy twice as much glass as I needed.
Second they only had 3mm glass, no 2mm glass for my 4x5"small carriers.
Third, they then emailed that the 3mm glass for my 10x10" carriers is 3.3mm. That was almost not going to make it fit in the holder.
Fourth, they were unable to make a bevel on the glass, so I had to do it myself. I still can't believe how a glass company can't bevel the edge.

The picture of the Original Durst Bevel is the exact same one I sent to them.

So, I would not recommend them. Presuming there is anyone else on PhotoTrio as crazy as myself that would actually consider purchasing $650 worth of glass. Anyway it worked out about $150 per 10x10" sheet which was enough to re-glass both my carriers (main and spare; 4 sheets total). So, not totally unreasonable but I only wanted to re-glass one of the carriers in the first place

 

[BobUK]

Sorry to hear about your experience with Knight Optical ic-racer .
I bought a stock size A.N.Glass around 4 x 3 " from them. It cost about 32 UK Pounds including tax and postage.

I wonder if the USA branch is just an outlet and the factory is in the UK? That would account for a bit of a price hike in export/import charges plus their time and labour, but nothing like what you paid.

I chamfered the edge using wet and dry emery paper on a flat board with plenty of water. I am curious as to what cutter you have in the router. I thought about using some sort of abrasive disc but settled for the slow, safer manual method instead.

Although bad news, it is nice of you to tell us your experience with the company.

Thanks.

 

[ic-racer]

Dremel diamond bit #7144 is what I used.
The router assembly is not actually needed, I did free-hand the first piece. I used the router because I did accidentally bring the tip up under the glass and make a small scratch. Fortunately this area was inside the portion masked by the metal frame.

So, for the next sheet I protected the under edge with tape and used the router base.

I kept water on the edge and used the highest speed. It takes multiple passes. One can tell if each pass is following the same bevel if the white residue following the bit is across the entire bevel. If the white residue is only on the upper portion of the bevel, the tool needs to be cocked down some. And visa-versa if the lower portion of the bevel has the white residue.

Keep going back and for like that and it came out much better than expected. As you can see the totally free hand bevel came out fine too:

 

[ic-racer]

Sorry to hear about your experience with Knight Optical ic-racer .
I bought a stock size A.N.Glass around 4 x 3 " from them. It cost about 32 UK Pounds including tax and postage.

I wonder if the USA branch is just an outlet and the factory is in the UK? That would account for a bit of a price hike in export/import charges plus their time and labour, but nothing like what you paid.



Thanks.

My impression is my glass was cut in USA but the USA branch only does Industrial or Commercial accounts. Their e-mails seemed to treat me like I was some factory or commercial enterprise, but maybe I was unlucky and got the wrong sales person.

Stupid me, the box I got was shipped from UK, I just saw that now on the sticker.

Might also be that if you got your glass before COVID, they have totally changed their business model at both branches (as has the rest of the world).