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Beaulieu dark viewfinder


Mendes Nabil

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Hello all!

 

I have a strange new problem with my Beaulieu 5008, the viewfinder seems suddenly dark (no as clear as it was when i bought the camera), i feel like the mirror is "half way", not completely positioned and i see some black points on the viewfinder, do you know what happened and how can i fix it? I don't have batteries to run it but i will test it this week-end.

Thank you!

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This is another reason why it's a good idea to always have a copy of the instruction manual to refer to. Anyhow, there is a small silver cap on the rewind shaft on the left side of the control panel side of the camera. Unscrew this and you'll see the slotted shaft. Just gently rotate the shaft until it stops, and you should be able to see clearly again. The guillotine mirror has moved a bit thus the viewfinder going darker on you. Good luck with the camera!

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Thanks for your answers Peter and Martin! I unscrewed the little cap and rotated the shaft inside, the shutter moves but now i'm sure that it is not a shutter problem but a viewfinder problem.

 

The image is a little bit misty.. A little black plastic circle knob is missing inside the cartridge door, and when i lightly blow there to remove dusts, the viewfinder becomes even more misty during few seconds..

 

Does someone know how to open that camera? I feel like the problem is easy to fix..

 

Thank you!

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Hello all!

 

I have a strange new problem with my Beaulieu 5008, the viewfinder seems suddenly dark (no as clear as it was when i bought the camera), i feel like the mirror is "half way", not completely positioned and i see some black points on the viewfinder, do you know what happened and how can i fix it? I don't have batteries to run it but i will test it this week-end.

Thank you!

 

By the description I would guess the ground glass has been swung in...

It gets darker, dependent on the aperture you may notice the structure of the grounded glass and of course you get to see the dust particles on the glass as black matter :)

Just swing it out using its control knob. Left side very much to the front. The petite one. Just above the drive axis.

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Thanks Andries! That worked really well, the viewfinder is much clearer now!

 

But the manual says: « The focusing screen is retractable by turning the control knob fully clockwise (that’s what i did) for some special applications at fixed focus. In this case, the viewing image is aerial.

For the most critical and accurate focusing, use this focusing screen. »

I feel much more confortable when this focusing screen is retracted, what problems will i encounter by shooting this way? The focusing screen make the viewing too dark .. Thanks!

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The ground glass is intended for critical focusing. Like when in very close-up or macro. Also when filming with wide aperture like f1.8-1.2 when there is shallow depth-of-field.

 

Otherwise, you can go without the ground glass and just film using the aerial image viewfinder.

You still have to focus but then use the markings on the lens tube after determining the distance roughly (or use a ribbon) :)

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Glad you've got the viewfinder at optimal brightness again. By the way, I experienced something really strange in a thrift shop a few years ago. There was an old, manual Pentax 35mm SLR for sale there. I picked it up and removed the lens cap. Looking through the viewfinder, all I could see was black. I was puzzled as to why. I don't suppose the mirror could be in the up position?

Edited by Patrick Cooper
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