My Kinor has no light coming though the viewfinder!

James Steven Beverly · December 10, 2006

There is no light coming though the viewfinder of my 35H! I noticed the was a chard af glass in the hole where the arm for the viewfinder locks in as though an edge of the prizm had been chipped off, but I couldn't see any damage. If I rotate the the ring that moves the viewfinder's position to a certain point there is a VERY faint light that can be detected but it's barely destiquishable. I'm assuming some how the prizm has been knocked out of alignment. How does one correct this or is this something that can only be done at a place that repairs motion picture cameras? I just got this thing and am aggrivated beyond belief! I sure hope this thing doesn't have any other major problems! :angry: I know once I get things sorted out on this thing, I'll enjoy using it but right now it drives me crazy that I spent all this money and can't use the damn thing! AHHHHHHGGGGGGG!!!!! Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions or if there's something about these cameras I don't know that could be causing this please let me know. I did notice that if you keep turning the ring that locks the viewfinder arm into the housing, you can spin the prizm 360* around. Does this have any baring on my problem? Please let me know. Thanks-Steve.

Todd Liebman · December 12, 2006

Steve,

The 'spin' is a normal funtion. The orienting prism is on a rotating axis in the housing where your VF locks in- if you carefully turn the notched ring inside the housing (you can carefully use your thumbnail and avoid the glass), the prism spins around to reverse the image coming out of the port (this is for the short VF vs. long VF attachment). It may very well be that your prism is just in the middle of the range. If it is loose or broken, don't try it, but that is one possible (and simple) solution to your dilemma if you havent spun it all the way through the range...

Another possbile thing to look for is corrosion- over very long periods of time, the prism coatings can go black, and need to be resilvered. You'll need to seek a qualified tech for that- any well-equipped motion picture camera service center should be able to handle it. If you prefer, there are a few who specialize in Russian gear in the US...I wont advertise for them, but you can feel free to contact me off list if you need a recommendation.

Best of luck!

Todd Liebman, DP/Steadicam

16/35/HiDef

Los Angeles, CA

todd_liebman (at) yahoo (dot) com

There is no light coming though the viewfinder of my 35H! I noticed the was a chard af glass in the hole where the arm for the viewfinder locks in as though an edge of the prizm had been chipped off, but I couldn't see any damage. If I rotate the the ring that moves the viewfinder's position to a certain point there is a VERY faint light that can be detected but it's barely destiquishable. I'm assuming some how the prizm has been knocked out of alignment. How does one correct this or is this something that can only be done at a place that repairs motion picture cameras? I just got this thing and am aggrivated beyond belief! I sure hope this thing doesn't have any other major problems! :angry: I know once I get things sorted out on this thing, I'll enjoy using it but right now it drives me crazy that I spent all this money and can't use the damn thing! AHHHHHHGGGGGGG!!!!! Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions or if there's something about these cameras I don't know that could be causing this please let me know. I did notice that if you keep turning the ring that locks the viewfinder arm into the housing, you can spin the prizm 360* around. Does this have any baring on my problem? Please let me know. Thanks-Steve.

Edited December 12, 2006 by Todd Liebman

Ian Dudley · December 12, 2006

Hi,

Looks like Todd beat me to the punch on this question. That would be my suggestion as well. I've monkeyed around with the viewfinder on my 35H in the past because the image was ever so slightly canted and initially I did much more harm than good. I ended up opening up the whole viewing system and partially dissassembling the viewfinder system. I fixed my issue and in the process learned a lot about the Kinor.

Try manually turning the prism as Todd suggested and let us know how it works. If you still have no image it may be the mirror system in the camera body that relays the image from the shutter/groundglass.

If that's the case get back to me and we'll take the next step.

best of luck.

Ian

There is no light coming though the viewfinder of my 35H! I noticed the was a chard af glass in the hole where the arm for the viewfinder locks in as though an edge of the prizm had been chipped off, but I couldn't see any damage. If I rotate the the ring that moves the viewfinder's position to a certain point there is a VERY faint light that can be detected but it's barely destiquishable. I'm assuming some how the prizm has been knocked out of alignment. How does one correct this or is this something that can only be done at a place that repairs motion picture cameras? I just got this thing and am aggrivated beyond belief! I sure hope this thing doesn't have any other major problems! :angry: I know once I get things sorted out on this thing, I'll enjoy using it but right now it drives me crazy that I spent all this money and can't use the damn thing! AHHHHHHGGGGGGG!!!!! Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions or if there's something about these cameras I don't know that could be causing this please let me know. I did notice that if you keep turning the ring that locks the viewfinder arm into the housing, you can spin the prizm 360* around. Does this have any baring on my problem? Please let me know. Thanks-Steve.

A follow up question:

Did you just recieve your Kinor 35h or did this just happen to the camera you've used for a while? Where did you purchase the Kinor?

Ian

James Steven Beverly · December 13, 2006

I bought it from a guy in the Ukraine a few weeks ago. It was on ebay and no one bid on it which suprised me because It had a near complete set of lenses (missing only the 150mm and the zoom) + a small set of fast lenses-35, 50 and 75 , 4 mags, both viewfinders, the single sided follow focus, the bridge-plate with rods and a long lens support and all the aluminum cases. It had a power cord with the + and - already marked (Which saved the problem of having to trying to sort it out.). I was listed at $5500.00 bucks +shipping not including the cases and the guy had very good feedback.

I marked the ad and waited for him to relist it to see what it went for sence I didn't have the cash to buy it at the time, but he never did. I kept the ad and kept, the ad looking at it every once in a while because I knew I was going to have to get a sound sync camera for my film and wasn't about to rent one then after a while I emailed the guy just out of curiousity and asked it he would take less for the camera. He said no but said He would sell it for th $5500 price it was listed at for an opening bid. He had said he wanted extra for the cases (which was stated in the original ad as well) + shipping which brought the total up to $6080. I figured it would cost me that much to rent a camera and lens package for the shoot, so I raised the money. and bought it. He shipped right away and it got here last week.

I built the camera to make sure everything fit together and this is the only problem that I've ran into so far but I haven't as yet, powered the camera up. I did check on getting a video tap for it from Steve Morton. He wants about a grand for one but it does utilize the existing video port door which to me is a plus. Thanks for the advice, I'll try it and see if I can get this thing to work. I've got a line on the other parts I'll need like a matte box, big Follow focus, power supply, the variable speed controller and a set of anamorphics. I want to put together a complete packge with everything that originally came with the thing. I'm taking the precaution of buying a spare set of electronics just in case these blow out on me sense I can't afford to undate them yet. B)

Mark Henderson · January 31, 2007

James:

I'm not sure if this will help, but it might. Go to:

http://www.konvas.info/v/admin/view+finder/

and you will find a picture breakdown of a Konvas camera's viewfinder being taken apart and serviced. The Konvas is like a cousin to the Kinor and I believe the viewfinders are similar, at least as close as any other camera's. It might give you an insight on what to look for.

Good luck,

Mark