very very dim rangefinder... is there hope? (yashica lynx 5000)

[Donald Qualls]

Do be sure which mirror is at fault -- the rangefinders I've had open (not many, admittedly) had a first surface mirror for the moving mirror, and the beam splitter was a prism, rather than a mirror. If your splitter is a mirror, it's the most likely culprit, but if a prism, it'll be built so there's glass on both sides of the splitter layer, and only the first surface mirror can be at fault.

If you're seeing framelines, your splitter is probably fine -- most compact top-RF cameras seem to view the framelines through the splitter, rather than on the straight-through path. That means it's the "easy" mirror -- easy in that a first surface mirror isn't particularly rare or critical, nor even expensive.

[titrisol]

Try putting a few dots with a blue/black Sharpie in the main window where the RF patch should be.
That should bring it back up, afterwards you can cut a small piece of electrical tape and put it permanently

[Andre R. de Avillez]

Thanks Donald and Titrisol.

I've tried the tape/shapie trick, and it only helps if I'm aiming at a lightbulb, and even then all I see is a faint yellow stain.

[zsas]

Can a Lynx 14 or othe Lynx beam splitter be cleaned? I have seen some say yes it can be cleaned and others say it can't even be so much as looked at or whilst loose the coating.

[ic-racer]

Lynx repair page, may be of some help if you are going to dig in there: http://www.yashica-guy.com/document/lynxfix.html

[zsas]

Yep checked there, the Yashica Guy does not advise touching it to clean it, but other forums and sites I have seen say otherwise. I hear the Canonet beamsplitter can't be touched but it seems that Yashica's have some folks saying yes and others no way. Is there any Yashica RF CLA'ers on this forum who can weigh in?

[kwall]

I've only read good things about Mark Hama (both in cost and service), so I'll anxiously await that one as well

I will personally vouch for the service Mark Hama provided. I sent him my Yashica Mat-124G for a CLA and repair of the winder. It came back clean, spiffed up, and working. I couldn't be more pleased. Seems like it was about $150US, and worth every penny.

Kurt