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Serious question, did a dropped Rolleiflex at a Phoenix estate sale teach anyone else to check the focus screen before quoting?
I was at an estate sale in Phoenix last Saturday and a guy handed me a Rolleiflex 2.8F to look at, then dropped it on the driveway. The focus screen cracked and the viewing lens got knocked out of alignment, which turned a $400 easy service into a $950 job with a full tear down. Now I carry a small flashlight and check collimation on every waist level camera before I even name a price. Does anyone here have a quick field check for focus screen seating on TLRs, or am I stuck pulling the hood every time?
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robertb478d ago
Heard a story from an old tech years ago about a studio that lost two Rolleis in one month because nobody checked the screen after rentals. One of them had the fresnel seated crooked and the guy shot a whole wedding with focus off. That scared me more than the drop damage honestly, cause cracked glass you can see, a shifted screen you cant. A trick I picked up is to open the hood and press down gently on each corner of the screen with a fingertip, if you feel any rock or click its not seated right and the focus is lying to you. Also shine the light at a low angle across the glass, any gap or lifted edge shows up as a bright sliver. Takes like ten seconds once you get used to it, way faster than a full tear down.
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