How to clean ground glass / mirror of Yashica Mat

Erm, I don't know how much help my answer will be but I have a Yashica D and I cleaned it. On the D there are 4 little screws holding the hood onto the body. Get a tiny screwdriver and get the 4 minus screws out. Then you can lift the whole lot off. You should be able to clean the ground glass easily. The mirror I cleaned with a normal lens tissue and lens cleaner BUT DON'T DO THAT!!!! I later found out that the mirror is coated or something on the topside so it is really easy to scratch. I ended up scratching mine a little but I don't care because it's better than it was! Also it was cheap but I still recommend doing it properly. To do it properly I think you would need to get some opticlean or a similar product and use that. It's like a liquid which you paint on the surface and then peel off after it dries so it takes all the dirt with it. It's made by caliope. I think you might only be able to get it in england? After you've done that you can put everything back. But before you do all this I recommend you get a service manual or something if you can.

Thanks, Chuk. I'm not sure how well this translates to the 124G. I don't see any screws that look like they hold that hood on. I'll poke around some more.

Ben

The Mat 124G hood is held on with 4 screws. I would be EXTREMELY careful cleaning the groundglass. IMHO, once the finder is removed, the mirror can easily be cleaned with cotton balls and 90% Isopropyl alcohol.

Check out this site it may help... http://davidrichert.com/yashica-mat.htm

Also DON'T USE ALCOHOL to clean your mirror, it will discolor n turn blue.

Here is something on the 124... http://davidrichert.com/Yashica%20124%20rebuild/yashica_124.htm

If you need a new mirror e-mail me automax1@juno.com Paul NYC

I've cleaned over a dozen TLR mirrors, and hundreds of lenses with Isopropyl Alcohol, and NEVER has one turned blue, or any other color, for that matter. It works fine.

I took off the screws and cleaned up both the ground glass and the mirror with no problem, using a spray lens cleaner. Also cleaned the taking lens and its chamber, using cue tips and canned air in the chamber. You might as well get it all while you are in there.

The whole thing brightened right up.

Your Yashica Mat does indeed have four screws holding the hood on, Benjamin. Once you have the hood off you can clean the mirror. The surface scratches very easily. Do not press hard, and brush/blow all the dust off that you can before touching it.

You have nothing to worry about with the ground glass on the side that you see when looking into the camera. It is like any other glass. Clean it with lens fluid and tissue. Just so you know, the side of the ground glass that has the grid painted on is easy to damage. Not the glass itself, but the grid paint can come right off if you rub it. This surface is between the top of the glass (that you see when looking into the camera) and the upper surface of the fresnel screen though, so you probably won't be touching it.

Clean the lower side of the fresnel screen carefully. It's just cast plastic, and it can scratch easily. Just go easy on it.

Dean

deansofidaho.com