rolleicord viewfinder vignetting?

[nehril]

I have just stepped into the medium-format game via a used Rolleicord

Va from ebay. This promises to be great fun! The unit looks great and

appears to be functioning at first glance, however the waistlevel

viewfinder is only bright at the center. A small area (about the size

of the flip up magnifier) is decently visible, anything outside that

area gets VERY dim very quickly towards the edges.

 

is this normal for Rolleicord Vs? I intend to spring for one of the

maxwell optics screens that I have heard great things about, but I

want to make sure this unit isn't defective first.

[roger_michel]

a cleaning, if done properly (don't try it yourself beyond wiping th smooth side and gently blowing the fresnel side with air), may help. but probably not much. the old screens were poor by modern standards. get a maxwell screen. your pics will be much sharper because you will be able to focus properly. and p.s., while i have a maxwell screen in several of my cameras, i also must say that the 20/20 brightscreens are also fine products. i bough a two pice affair for my deardorff 8x10 (maxwell's wait was too long), and it is simply amazing. on axis, it is like watching a bright little tv!!! worth checking out for sure. and PPS, i am sorry if this violates any rules, but hunt's photo in melrose, mass has a beautiful autocord for sale for 199 (and they'd take 175 if you asked). it really is a lovely camera, looking for a good home. i would have bought it myself, but i've ODed lately on camera stuff.

[bobby_cranford]

I cannot answer the vignetting question, but I can recommend the Maxwell screen. I had one put in an old Rolleiflex I purchased a few years ago and it improved the viewfinder brightness. It is not a miracle, but it is much better than the original screen. I purchased the screen with the spilt image rangefinder which according to Maxwell is not as bright as the plain screen. If I had to do it again, I would go with the plain screen.

[richard_oleson]

From your description, it sounds like your viewfinder may not have a Fresnel screen. Rollei began using these about 1950 I think, so all Rolleicord Va's ought to have had them. It may be that the Fresnel plate in your camera was lost at some time. In any case a new screen ought to fix it. In the meantime, you can get at least some improvement by getting an appropriately sized 'flat magnifying glass' at the local drug store, cutting it to fit and dropping it on top of your screen. it won't be perfect but it will help a lot.

 

rick :)=

 

rick_oleson.tripod.com

[andrew_schank]

My Cord V was the same way. It only has a ground glass for a focusing screen. The Maxwell screen totally transformes the finder in the Cord-night and day comparison and very bright and contrasty right out to the edges. It does not just drop in however, and any modern replacement screen for a Rolliecord with original ground glass will have to be carefully shimmed up or the viewing lens and taking lens get thrown out of calibration.(the ground glass is thicker than the modern screens) Bill Maxwell will send you some small strips of self adhesive tape from those label machines to use as shims, and I had to also use some thin Scotch transparent tape as well to edge mine up so infinity was spot on. Yes, it is worth the hassel and expensive if you ever plan on using the camera in low light.