Arriflex SR Viewfinder Fogging Issue

[Kirk lee]

Hello, I use the standard J-bar style viewfinders on my Arri SR and SR2.

I recently took out an SR that had been in long-term storage to use it, but the viewfinder looks blurry and hazy, as if it's fogged up.

The eyepiece lens itself is clean, so it seems like there might be fungus or something else causing the haziness somewhere inside the J-bar. I'm wondering if it's easy to disassemble and clean this myself. Removing the J-bar from the camera body seems simple enough, but I'm hesitant to unscrew the J-bar itself.

What do you think about taking it apart and cleaning it using Zeiss lens wipes or IPA (isopropyl alcohol)?

[Dom Jaeger]

Depends how experienced you are with pulling apart optical assemblies as to how easy it is. I wouldn’t recommend trying to service this with no experience if you value the equipment. You need the right tools as you do not want to damage screws that may be corroded in or are otherwise hard to undo. Plus great care handling and cleaning the optics. 

There’s a rotating pechan prism assembly driven by planetary gears that needs  recalibration after disassembly to keep the image level as the elbow is rotated, plus other prisms and optics. The pechan prism often develops haze between bonded surfaces which is not cleanable. There is also another prism and optics in the camera front that can get hazy or develop fungus, so your issue might not be in the J bar alone. The front may need to be removed, which is not too difficult, but the flange depth should be checked after reassembly. 

So while not super difficult, I would recommend sending it to an experienced tech for cleaning rather than trying it yourself.