Making a Custom Focus Screen

Hello everyone, I'm excited to be a new member, and look forward to making more camera repair related posts.

I was cleaning my focus screen on my Nikkorex F (keep in mind dirt was etched into this thing), when I noticed the fresnel (matte swirls) was wearing off. Little did I know that this focusing screen was plastic/acrylic, and not glass like many cameras in this era. I have cleaned tons of focusing screens and never had this issue. Now a good 15% of the image space is dark

I looked into many people who had made custom screens for swappable 4x5 and DSLR screens, but never fixed for something like this.

Does anyone know how I can make a replacement or send dimensions to have another one made, since this will be nearly impossible to find a part for?

There are as-is copies of those cameras going for about $25 on eBay. Would that be an option? Welcome to Photrio.

loccdor said:

There are as-is copies of those cameras going for about $25 on eBay. Would that be an option? Welcome to Photrio.

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It is an option, but then I run the risk of having another dirty/damaged screen, and I really don't need any more junk laying around.

It's funny that you mention the Nikkorex F. A year or two ago I was at a camera store and saw a Nikkorex F with a 50/2 lens. It seemed to be working and was $50. When I saw which 50/2 was attached, I bought the camera right away. The lens was a tick mark version of the Nikkor-S. The lens was in good condition. The Nikkor-S would eventually be replaced by the improved Nikkor-H but for collectors, the tick mark lenses are worth much more than what I paid.

dynachrome said:

It's funny that you mention the Nikkorex F. A year or two ago I was at a camera store and saw a Nikkorex F with a 50/2 lens. It seemed to be working and was $50. When I saw which 50/2 was attached, I bought the camera right away. The lens was a tick mark version of the Nikkor-S. The lens was in good condition. The Nikkor-S would eventually be replaced by the improved Nikkor-H but for collectors, the tick mark lenses are worth much more than what I paid.

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Ha ha that's a great deal. I also got mine pretty cheap, but no lenses with it. It's not my main Nikon camera, but I'd love to have a good screen since the rest of it is in beautiful condition.

There's an article here

https://richardhaw.com/2019/01/05/repair-nikkorex-f-part-1/

on how to remove (and clean) a Nikkorex focusing screen, given you still need to find a replacement screen all I can say is good luck.