Whats my chances of taking A Kodak brownie no2 apart without killing it ?

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I decided a few weeks ago to run some film through my Kodak Brownie number 2 , the quality of the photos seems quite good but it is really hard to compose the shots as the view glasses (if that makes sense) are really dirty on the inside. This would mean I would have to take the shutter/lens part of the camera out of the main box. Has anyone done this before ? Am I likely to destroy the thing ? My shots all seem to come out too low and I'm thinking this may be because the edges of the view finders are impossible to see,it may of course just be the fact that they are out. Here are a few examples.

000088420006.jpg

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Are you sure it’s not just parallax error?
BTW you say they are too low but they look as though they are higher and lefter than you wanted — though impossible to judge what you wanted of course.
 
Early model of the no2 were made of Cardboard later ones of aluminium. The lens mirror viewfinder units are usually ok at about 10 feet. But are difficult to reposition, but possible..
It should not be too difficult to remove them for cleaning.
 
They're unlikely to be out of alignment unless something is seriously out of whack with the camera - they're just glued to a shaped block.

The front panel is just clipped on - one little catch type of feature in the middle of each of the long sides, like this...

Brownie No2 Front Panel 01.jpg

A bit of a press on the side of the camera body next to the catch can help with easing the panel off...

Brownie No2 Front Panel 02.jpg

You don't need to get both catches released - getting one cleared is enough to get the panel tilted up at one side, after which it can just be lifted away.

Once it's off, you have access to the insides of the lenses in the viewfinders, and the mirrors...

Brownie No2 Front Panel 03.jpg

The mirrors look like they're silvered on the exposed surface, so clean with care to avoid damaging the silvering - blower brush to remove the loose crap, then something like a microfibre cloth wetted with lens cleaner to remove more stubborn bits. Don't expect to get them perfectly clean - better to have a few bits of crud than no silvering. The lens are plain, uncoated glass, so give them a good clean inside and out.

If either of the mirrors are loose, you'll need to stick them back in. Remove any dusty crap from both surfaces and use the minimum amount of glue needed to hold them in place. That way, there's a better chance of being able to remove them again later. I'd probably try with thin double-sided tape first (just a thin strip at one end - not over the whole area of the mirror).

When done, just ease the front panel back into place until it clicks.
 
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It could be the silvering has deteriorated, which has happened to one of my box cameras.
 
Sorry for the delay I've been down in Cornwall . First off well done Richard for spotting the deliberate error in my description (woops !) I have had another look at the view finders and there does appear to be an element of silver/grey in the dirty parts of the view finders so may be it is the silvering rather than just dirt Mr Badger and thanks Nomad for the photos as they say a photo speaks a thousand words. The No 2 Brownie I have is the metal cased one so must be one of the later models. I will take it apart and have a look. When I first had the camera it was in a really dusty/dirty state but did have its original canvas holder with it.

Thanks everyone
 
Can't give any advice for the problem, Brad. Nomad's advice looks spot on.

However, a couple of excellent shots from a camera that could 60+ years old, especially the first one.

Dave
 
The mirrors look like they're silvered on the exposed surface


To me, they look like they're silvered on the back - the particles of dust and hairs have their reflections separated from the objects themselves while a first surface mirror will have the reflections touching the "originals" where the two meet.
 
To me, they look like they're silvered on the back - the particles of dust and hairs have their reflections separated from the objects themselves while a first surface mirror will have the reflections touching the "originals" where the two meet.

Well spotted. I had only looked at the edge of the left-hand mirror in the photo, and got the impression that the silvering was on the front.
 
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