What could be wrong with my movie camera optics?

I found a working Nikon Super Zoom 8 (Super 8) camera on ebay and took it out to shoot some test footage today. The TTL viewfinder image, even with the diopter and focus adjusted, remains very blurry unless the lens is set to the longest focal length (The rangefinder patch remains hard to judge). The separate exposure window is not readable unless I'm squinting and have my eye at an odd angle.

Have you experienced anything like this? The optics of the lens look beautiful and in order. Should I be concerned about the footage? I'm using a second camera to gauge distance for focusing. The meter works fine.

Added (1). I figured the photography section would be the most idea place to seek help. I see no significant difference between a still camera and my camera aside from the frame-rate. It all works the same, for the most part.

You may want to try visual arts-other. Photography is still camera, not video camera. Hopefully someone who happens to know a bit about the old video cam's will be around, but you'll probably have better luck in a more appropriate category.

Unfortunately, that is a problem with buying things off of e-bay and not being able to examine it beforehand. Check with your local camera shops to see if they can inspect the camera (or know of someone who can).

Here is a manual on the camera and it provides some decent information (especially the DOF charts at the end)… Http://fv.calarts.edu/main/manuals/Nikon_super_zoom_8%20Manual.pdf