SBLOO With Deteriorated Frame Lines?

[jagstang]

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I recently acquired an old SBLOO for a decent price. It's the older version with the "E. Leitz Wetzlar" and "3.5 cm" engravings. Despite the exterior being in cosmetically excellent condition, I noticed that the frameline is a bit odd, with a lot of jagged black in it. I only looked at one other SBLOO in my life, and if I remember correctly, the frameline was all white, not too different from the white framelines in the built-in M camera viewfinders.

I can't see any defects in the optics, but I'm wondering what causes this and if something that's serviceable?

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Edited October 5, 2022 by jagstang

[a.noctilux]

These four dashed lines are normal in SBLOO.

To "say" beware of parallax when used in near subject, less than two meters, above the lines would be outside of the picture taken.

Have a look at Wiki page ...(this link)

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we can see the projected "frames" with the four lines

Edited October 5, 2022 by a.noctilux

[jagstang]

Just now, a.noctilux said:

These four dashed lines are normal in SBLOO.

To "say" beware of parallax when used in near subject, less than two meters, above the lines would be outside of the picture taken.

Yes, I'm aware of the short lines marking infinity, I think? But I was referring to the black edges all around the white frameline, which I hadn't seen in the other example of the SBLOO that I saw.

I'm wondering if the frameline marking is an etching on the glass with some sort of white paint on it that wore off due to cleaning, etc., but to be honest, I'm quite ignorant on how these work.

[a.noctilux]

I see deterioration of the silverings, indeed.

Have a look from the rear, you can see this on the lens.

I don't know if that can be restored, though.

 

edit:

I had a look inside my SBLOO and the frame lines are with or without "black" shadow when the front lighting changes,

as sometimes, only one side shadow, the other illuminations of reflected frames can give two/three /four shadows under/above lines.

Can you confirm this with side/spot illuminations, then light from below ?

Edited October 5, 2022 by a.noctilux

[Pyrogallol]

I have three of these finders. They all look about the same, maybe it is just a question of age, none of them are new.

[jagstang]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:04 PM, a.noctilux said:

I see deterioration of the silverings, indeed.

Have a look from the rear, you can see this on the lens.

I don't know if that can be restored, though.

 

edit:

I had a look inside my SBLOO and the frame lines are with or without "black" shadow when the front lighting changes,

as sometimes, only one side shadow, the other illuminations of reflected frames can give two/three /four shadows under/above lines.

Can you confirm this with side/spot illuminations, then light from below ?

I just tested it as you describe, and the black shadow is there in all situations, but less present on the side of the light source.

I think it must be the case that the white paint/silvering has been removed almost completely. I compared the rear lens with photos on the internet and in my copy, the frame doesn't look white at all. You can only see the engraving on the glass, but with no white paint in it. The black shadow must be literally the shadow that the engraved part of the glass casts over the little remaining white paint in it.

In any case, thanks for the help! I decided to return it as I don't want to go through the hassle of looking for a technician to check it out when there are better copies available elsewhere.

 

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Edited October 6, 2022 by jagstang