Minolta Autocord problem-- focus off?

[andrew_c2]

<p>I recently received a Minolta Autocord off of an eBay auction; the seller had described everything as being in excellent condition.<br>

When I looked through the 'cord's finder, there was a bright hazy patch in the middle, and I could barely see any image from this haziness/distortion. I could see the image in the bottom part of the finder but had difficulty focusing.<br>

For those of you in locales with snow, it reminded me of having a severely iced windshield in the morning and only being able to see ahead through the bottom as the defogger is first taking away the frost in that area (yes, I am too lazy to scrape the ice away sometimes if in a hurry!)</p>

<p>I have received no response from the seller and have requested a refund... but I am curious as to what this problem is nonetheless. Could it have received a bump and the lenses became misaligned? How much would it cost to repair this issue?<br>

<br />Anyway, it's too bad because I was looking forward to this camera, and the seller had one thing right-- it was in beautiful shape cosmetically, with the speeds sounding right on! It was an LMX 'cord, and the meter even seemed to work!</p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>Yeah, my first Autocord was from another unscrupulous seller on Ebay, who claimed I broke it. I hope the prick got hit by a bus. ;-)</p>

<p>Anyhow, the front plate should move in and out easily as you focus. If not, or if it's not parallel to the camera body, the helicoid could be damaged (common).</p>

<p>You should be able to remove the focusing screen and see how the mirror and lens look behind it.</p>

<p>And the image should be in focus everywhere in the finder at SOME point, even if it's out of alignment.</p>

[ridinhome]

<p><strong>Andrew </strong>- if you end up hanging on to the 'Cord send it along to Karl Bryan (ping me off line for his contact details). He's a magician when it comes to Autocords and did a CLA (including adjusting shutter speeds) and rebuilt the front focussing lever (I'm sure you know that's the one major weakness of the Autocord series) for not a whole lot of money. And total turnaround time was barely a day in his hands. For the front focusing lever he uses a replacement part he machines himself made out of steel. Once he's done, you'll never be able to tell that the camera doesn't have the original lever.</p>

<p>My 'Cord is in superb condition now. IMHO its well worth spending money on a CLA for a Cord, they're excellent cameras. Pretty to boot!</p>

[karl_bryan1]

<p>There is always the possibility that the Fresnel lens is warped due to someone leaving the camera lying in the direct sun. This will give the affect of looking through a snow/ice covered window. Sadly this means removal and replacement of the Fresnel lens. I have only seen this twice while repairing TLR cameras. <br>

The lens board should have a consistent distance between it and the camera body. If not then the lens board has been bent, usually by dropping the camera. This can be fixed. The Autocord, Diacord and Flexaret, and a few other makers, used a focus helix directly mounted to the lens board. Front impact on a focus helix rarely damges the camera or affects focus of the taking lens. Rollie, Yashica and most other TLR makers used focus arms and helicoid cams and on each side of the camera and these are easily damaged. As described in the previous posting above, the lens board on a helicoid cam should move in/out smoothly and in parallel with the body. This is not an issue that Autocords have.<br>

The recommendation to take off the waist level finder (only 4 screws) and looking at the mirror and viewing lens is good advice. While you are at it you can look at the Fresnel lens and ground glass. The Fresnel lens is the plastic lens under the ground glass. If the Fresnel lens is damaged by direct sunlight you will easily spot it because the plastic will be melted. If the Fresnel lens is melted you can either remove it, this makes the view dimmer and will affect the lens collimation, or find a replacement Fresnel lens. I do have one spare remaining so contact me if you want to purchase it.<br>

You can clean the mirror on the later model Autocords because they have a silicon dioxide coating over the first surface mirror. On the older models you run the risk of removing the first surface mirror. Check by trying to clean a corner with a soft cloth and ammonia. Clean the rear element of the viewing lens with a cotton swab and ammonia. Don't worry about viewing lens focus, the indexing occurs off of the waist level finder. Just reassemble and you are good to go.<br>

karl</p>

[tom_cheshire]

<p>Easy way to check it is look into the viewing lens. You can see the mirror that way without disassembly. Sounds right what the other guys said about the melted spot on the fresnel. Have a few Rollei screens here with that. No biggie. Doesn't affect the photo.</p>

[roelof_lucas]

<p>If the taking lens is clean it could be worth investigating how much it would cost to get it fixed ( depending on how much you payed for it to begin with) my Autocord looks awful and beat up but the superb images just keep on amazing me. A decent quality screen for a very reasonable price can be found here: <a href="http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-175.html">http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-175.html</a></p>

[andrew_c2]

<p>I found out what appears to be wrong. I think you're right, Karl; it does appear to be a clear piece of plastic that I can see behind the viewing lens when I look through the front (when the viewfinder cover is open).<br /> I turned the camera upside down and shook it a bit, and the plastic piece fell back into place and stayed there for a time, until a shake or two would bring it down again.<br /> Anyway, I'm going to use it for a bit to determine how much of an irritant this is, and then repair it accordingly... I might try to take it apart to get this piece out. <br /> Karl, if it is the fresnel lens, can you hold that piece for me until I ascertain how much I want it replaced? Shouldn't take too long to figure that out.<br>

Other than that, I don't think a CLA is necessary; everything else, including the focus lever, seems great. </p>

<p>Thanks folks! You're great too!</p>

[andrew_c2]

<p>Ok, fixed it! Took the four tiny screws out so I could remove the finder assembly. Darn, it took forever to put them back in!<br /><br />The Fresnel lens had fallen out of place and was sitting right on the mirror. I brushed the mirror and Fresnel lens off and squeezed the Fresnel lens underneath one of the springs holding the ground glass. I'm not sure if there was another set of springs holding the Fresnel lens in place at one time, because the lens only went under one of the sets of ground glass springs; it wasn't long enough to fit under the other one.<br>

Anyway, it stays put now, hopefully for good!<br />Thanks and best,<br>

A</p>