In need of repair: Mamiya RB WLF focus element

[ellie claire]

Hello Photrio, I'm brand new here. I posted this on Reddit and they advised I come here and I can see why!

I took my RB out in the rain today - it's been wet before but I guess this was too much for the old gal. I stopped shooting when I noticed the focusing element in the viewfinder was broken (see 1st pic).

I've dried it off and put the pin back through the hole so it's not crooked anymore (see 2nd pic), but the focus element is meant to spring up when I slide the lever on the top of the viewfinder cover, and it's just stuck in place when I slide the lever. I can lift the focus element without sliding the lever, but it sounds like I'm breaking something when I do it, and it's really meant to spring up on its own.

This video illustrates my problem.

Any and all help would be great, I don't really have NYC camera repair shop dollars presently and it might be a really simple at-home fix. Thanks in advance!

 

[Donald Qualls]

I think it's safe to say the rain didn't do that.

The two tiny torsion springs aren't seated correctly -- they're supposed to push the magnifier up into working position, and you should have to work against them to fold it and latch it down. Mine is an older version of the camera, but I'm sure that's going to be very fiddly to get corrected.