Minolta 7sII help sought

[jamesdak]

I have two wonderful 7sII with the same problem. I can hardly make out the

rangfinder patch (tinted square) in the viewfinder and this makes it hard to

focus. My Olympus 35 RC is wonderfully bright and easy to use in comparision.

But the Minolta's are so much sharper I really want to use them. Any hints on

what to do here?? Thanks,

[bob_camarena]

I don't have specific experience with the Minolta, but my experience is that this probably means that some or all of the various pieces of glass in the rangefinder's optical path are dirty and are in need of some careful cleaning.

[stephen_w.]

I have Leicas and their RF's are not dim, but I read on PN recently a little and cheap trick. Place a piece of black electrical tape (I used a Sharpie) on the center of the viewing window corresponding to the size and location of the RF patch as you see when focusing. It works. I removed the ink for some reason I cannot remember. I'll try it again with tape.

[john carter]

Stephan, That's great. I tried red (see thru) plastic film from Tap Plastics (like car window tint) and it worked, but maybe not as well as your way.

[michael s.]

Illustration of this "fix" for dim rf patch: <a href=http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-165.html>here</a>.

[winfried_buechsenschuetz1]

You should clean the rangefinder first. Unscrew the advance lever and the rewind crank and remove all screws you find. Lift the top cover gently and peel off the black dust cover. Clean all glass parts with moistened lens/glasses cleaning paper, but NEVER clean the eyepiece side of the semi-silvered mirror!

[stephen_w.]

I have to report the black tape solution works great on even a non-dimmed RF, a recent Leica M7. I used a razor blade to trim the tape to size. No worries, glass is harder than steel. The tape even has the benefit to make sure the eye is centered in the eyepiece (the black "blob" moves according to eye position.