Rick Oleson Screens for TLR

Andysnap

Andysnap

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Andy Grant
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I'm thinking of getting one for my new Rolleicord Va, anyone used one? They do seem to get a good write up but I'm wondering whether they would make any practical difference, although they do have the split screen which I always find a help in focussing.

Ta

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
I'm thinking of getting one for my new Rolleicord Va, anyone used one? They do seem to get a good write up but I'm wondering whether they would make any practical difference, although they do have the split screen which I always find a help in focussing.

Ta

Andy
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Andy. I fitted one to the K4 that Nick just bought. It made a huge difference. So much brighter and easy to focus. Get one (y)
 
Sounds good, thanks Trev.

Andy
 
I have one installed in my Rollei. It was good value for money and provided a nice, easy upgrade.

I didn't want to shell out £200+ for a Maxwell/Beattie screen either!
 
Just Google rick oleson. His website is dead easy to follow and at £26 a bit of a bargain.
 
Superb Value for money and revolutionised my Rolleicord V and Rollieflex 3.5E!
 
how to check if my rollei is a or b?
DSC_6505 by Lukasz Baszko, on Flickr

Rick states on his page that he has no screens to b
thanks
 
Just had an e-mail from Rick to say mine has been despatched. I might pop it into the parcel when I send the camera off for a CLA and ask Brian to fit it, save my ham-fisted attempts to fit it myself.

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
Just had an e-mail from Rick to say mine has been despatched. I might pop it into the parcel when I send the camera off for a CLA and ask Brian to fit it, save my ham-fisted attempts to fit it myself.

Andy
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Hi Andy, Who's is Brian and does he CLA all types of camera's I have one that I would like to be done and my last two attempts with Miles have been less than expected.
 
Brian Mickleboro, as far as I know he is an expert in Rollei's but I have a suspicion that he may do other cameras as well.
This is the latest address and number we have.

Brian Mickleboro
6 Fairway
Bishops Stortford
CM23 5LT
01279 506862

I haven't phoned him as yet but I will be doing sometime soon.
 
Sectionate said:
I had never heard of these before, I htink I will grab one and see what difference it makes to my Yaschica
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I fitted one to a Rollei K4. It improved it no end. Wouldn't bother to put in my Yash Mat though. It's about the same..
 
I might get one of these for my Minolta Autocord... once I get reunited with it and check it's as dim as I remember! Might stop me selling it...

BTW, reading Brian's site makes me realise that the lines on the Autocord screen don't delineate the 6*6 area within a larger view (as in rangefinders), but are just composition aids, and the viewfinder presumably shows the whole view. But as above, I'm not nearby so can't check!
 
Mine arrived today and I fitted it tonight. What a difference, super bright and the split screen works really well, very impressed. It also came with easy to follow fitting instructions, big thumbs up for Rick.(y)
 
Andysnap said:
Mine arrived today and I fitted it tonight. What a difference, super bright and the split screen works really well, very impressed. It also came with easy to follow fitting instructions, big thumbs up for Rick.(y)
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This is good to hear, mine was posted the day after yours going by the above so hopefully it will come tomorrow :) Looking forward to the upgrade. The screen on my old Automat is very dark and dull
 
I checked it against my old and knackered Yash Mat and it is a bit brighter and against my Mamiya C330 and its as bright and the screen on the Mamiya is terrific so its a winner as far as I'm concerned. Going to run a roll of Portra through it this weekend, before deciding if it needs to have a CLA.
 
Ruffmeister said:
My screen turned up yesterday and I fitted it last night. What a difference! I recommend it to anyone who hasn't got one. Especially for the small ££ outlay. :)
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Need to lol in to them....
How much exactly it is ?
And what is waiting time for one to be delivered ?
Thanks
 
@bastic.
They come with very easy to follow instructions and it took me about 20 minutes to change the one in my Rolleicord. The only slightly tricky bit is removing the little spring clips that hold the glass in place. They can spring out a good long way if you aren't careful, oh, and make sure you put the new one in the right way around...someone I know did that and had to take it all to pieces again...:whistle:
 
Andysnap said:
@bastic.
They come with very easy to follow instructions and it took me about 20 minutes to change the one in my Rolleicord. The only slightly tricky bit is removing the little spring clips that hold the glass in place. They can spring out a good long way if you aren't careful, oh, and make sure you put the new one in the right way around...someone I know did that and had to take it all to pieces again...:whistle:
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Matte side face up? Haha. I did have to double check that myself when I placed the screen in place.
And I know what you mean about the springs. One came out easily and the other just didn't seem to budge. Wasn't anything taxing overall though.
Worth it :)
 
My Oleson screen arrived a couple of days ago, and I fitted it this afternoon. Well, when I say I fitted it...

I know I bought a set of watchmaker's screwdrivers a year or so, 'cause they're obviously useful, but they've vanished into a man-drawer somewhere. All I could find in the way of very small screwdrivers was one from a Christmas cracker. An hour or so later (well, a bit more) and all 4 screws holding the viewfinder were out, and I'd managed to take the springs out and remove the old screen. The new screen went in fairly easily, but I spent half an hour wrestling the first spring clip into place! The second went in fairly easily, then the two side clips just slotted in. Little bit cleaning the mirror and the inside of the viewing lens. Now all I need to do is refit the 4 tiny screws. Easy-peasy...

45 minutes later I have one screw partway in and no joy with the others. They just won't stand up in their holes to allow me to screw them in, and they are too close to the VF to get my fingers round them. Plus when my fingers are anywhere near, it goes DARK! Clearly I need a better class of micro screwdriver. Search. Fail. Knock on neighbourhood doors. Door no 4 gets me the loan of a set, never before used. Very nice, but half an hour later I'm no further forward, except... I've noticed that the viewfinder hood doesn't quite want to stand upright, and if you pull up the loupe it goes all floppy. :) :( Maybe those side springs weren't in the right place? Out comes that single screw and after 10 minutes of fiddling, yes, they were in the wrong place and are now right. But no, I can't even get that screw back in.

Eventually I have a brainwave. There's a jeweller in town who does watch repairs, maybe it won't cost too much to have him, ahem, screw it up for me. Off I go. "That's a nice bit of kit", says he of my Minolta Autocord. "Let me have a look."

It took him more than 5 minutes, with the right tools, a proper work bench, a jeweller's loupe and a working light, so I didn't feel too bad. Turns out he had a Yash 124G but hadn't used it for a while as there was nowhere to get those films processed these days. 10 minutes more chat, no charge!

So, I have an Oleson screen in my Autocord, and it looks much better. I haven't used it properly yet, as it was getting late after all this. But the lesson is, given the limitations of my right hand, I'd be better off not trying home repairs, unless there's a plan B!

(I feel I've missed many many opportunities for double entendres here, please make your own!)
 
Chris, a great tale, glad you have the screen in and working, they are a big improvement on the original screens in my view.

Also another example of the power of the camera to make friends and influence people!
 
Yes, cameras can be great conversation starters.
 
I think I have a Rick Oleson screen that came with my 2.8F. I swapped it out for an original one since the grain is finer so it's easier to see if something is in focus or not. The split prism on the aftermarket one is nice though, I'd probably use that if I had a 45/90 degree finder for the camera.
 
I did wonder if the cleaning of mirror and lens plus a bit of cleaning on the original screen might have been almost as good!

BTW I forgot to mention, I got stung by Parcelfraud/HMRC which together added 50% to the cost of the screen. Happy to pay the £4.05 VAT, but £12.05 is a bit steep!
 
Hello Everyone!
I know this is old, Could someone please share some snaps of finder with Ricks Screen. I have used Maxwell Hi Lux bright screen on my GX which is too bright but hard to focus :) Need something for my Va and MaT124G

Cheers
 
Taimoor said:
Hello Everyone!
I know this is old, Could someone please share some snaps of finder with Ricks Screen. I have used Maxwell Hi Lux bright screen on my GX which is too bright but hard to focus :) Need something for my Va and MaT124G

Cheers
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Well, I wouldn't recommend the Rick Oleson screen unless it's the only thing you can find and have no other options. I like to shoot wide open and I didn't find it was possible to do so reliably with the Oleson screen. It's bright enough, but it's difficult to see the plane of focus.

The traditional Rolleiflex and Yashica Mat screens are usually my preferred option, provided they aren't too dirty. They're not quite as bright, but my pictures come back in focus.
 
skysh4rk said:
Well, I wouldn't recommend the Rick Oleson screen unless it's the only thing you can find and have no other options. I like to shoot wide open and I didn't find it was possible to do so reliably with the Oleson screen. It's bright enough, but it's difficult to see the plane of focus.

The traditional Rolleiflex and Yashica Mat screens are usually my preferred option, provided they aren't too dirty. They're not quite as bright, but my pictures come back in focus.
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Agree 100%

I've ditched the R.O. and gone back to the original Rolleicord screen

The solution according to Google is a cut down Mamiya RB /RZ screen.

I'm hoping Santa might bring me one to try
 
Change the mirror first. Then see how you get on. I have on Oleson screen with the fresnel split wotsit in the middle. He does more than one sort I think. I couldn't focus at all with the original screen and mirror but with this combination I seem to get better results. I have kept the original screen if I want to revert at any time as they're fairly easy to change.
 
Perhaps my focusing screen is in very bad shape due to age!!! I need to share picture with you guys and this will give you idea what i mean!!!
I have cleaned the mirror infact miles whitehead has given it a good service.

T
 
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