Rolleiflex 2,8D waist level finder

[suhefus]

I’ve been desperate finding a new waist level finder for my Rolleiflex 2,8D, because due to my weak eyes, the magnifier does not sit up straight, and makes it hard for me to focus. A few technicians have looked at it and no one seems to have enough patience for it. So I figured I need a new finder. It hurts me since mine is the original one, but I have to fix it, otherwise I can’t shoot. Looking online, I find it so hard to find one. Because there are so many different kinds, and none is like the one I have. I wonder if anyone knows a reliable technician. Because people in LA are useless.
I love this camera and I want to shoot it more, especially that I’ve found that has a multiple exposure option at the base of the cocking handle. Thank you all

 

[Dan Daniel]

Photo of the finder? The magnifier? Is it the magnifier on a stick that can be raised and swivels? And where is it failing- the main body swinging out from the hood, or just the stalk with the glass on it?

 

[suhefus]

So the magnifier that with a tap of a little silver bar flips and you get to focus, doesn’t keep the magnifier round glass straight, therefore it’s hard to focus, because that glass doesn’t sit up straight, so it’s blurry through it. The reason that I want to completely change the hood, it’s because no one has been able to fix it for me. Or no one even is willing to spend time to examine it. That also applied to the service center of the Rolleiflex we have here in LA, close to Long Beach. I don’t have a picture taken from it, I can take some later today if you would need it. Thank you for the response.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Photos, yes. There are a couple of different styles of hoods and a couple of different problems if it's the one I think it is.

 

[btaylor]

Just a little shout out for Dan Daniel- he did a very nice job on my Automat shutter. He knows his Rolleiflexes!

 

[suhefus]

Really appreciate it.
I’d have to take the pictures when I get back home at the end of today. I’ll try to be as specifically close up to the portion of the finder.

 

[suhefus]

Hello. By the way. As of this morning, for some odd reason, the flip works perfectly without anything in its way, but now the magnifier that wasn’t sitting upright, now doesn’t even want to come up. So here are some pictures.

 

[suhefus]

 

[Dan Daniel]

Yeah, there assemblies are tricky. Thin aluminum that can bend easily, a few places where they can crack, etc. I think I know who you talked to in the LA area, and I had a similar finder some years back that he just laughed when I asked if he could adjust something, then said no. I think that someone who has seen hundreds of them over the years and seen all the ways that they can fail learns that it is best to simply say no and get on with things

And then Rollei made subtle changes to the finders over the years. The overall screw location referenced to the back seems to be consistent. But with assorted name plates and meter assemblies up front, and the change to an active central spring roller from the simpler side springs, sizing got variable.

I have seen Ds with what appear to be MX-EVS hoods installed. I'm pretty certain that E1 hoods don't fit because of the meter block and adjustments for that, but I could be wrong. The MX-EVS hoods have a simpler flat plate, not the floating eyeball of the C and Ds.

I'll send you a DM and we can talk some more.