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Frank
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 10:57 pm: | 
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I made a really silly mistake and I need to see if one of you can help. I recently bought a nice Minolta SRT101 with the relex mirror stuck in the "up" position. I thought it was gummed up by the deteriorated foam bumper. So I tried to pull it down with my fingertip, not knowing it has the mirror lock-up device until I read the manual. Well, it was too late. I guess I have damaged part of the mechanism and now the mirror will not move anymore although it remains at the "down" position.
Does anyone know any quick-fix? If not, how do I get to the mirror mechanism? I would much appreciate any suggestions. |
Lee Crump
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 10:27 pm: |
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Accessig the mirror lock up mechnisim is not easy. You will need to remove the top cover and remove the Mirror/Shutter assembly from the center of the camera. The Mirror/Shutter assembly is attatched to the base by 4 screws under the leatherette cover of the camera. The most difficult part will be the reassembly of the string and pully mechnisim that is used for exposure calculation, so take good notes when you disassemble it! (These are just the major steps. Many other steps are omitted)
I have restored 4 SRT series cameras (my only attempts at such a feat). I would estimate 4 hours for me to accomplish this. My first attempt took me a total of 8 hours. A professional camera repairman would probly charge ~$150-$200 anc could accomplish this in considerably less time. You can usually find SRTs on ebay for the same price range.
If you are just as big a lunatic as I am and want to try this; I recommend you buy the service manual. This is regularly onn Ebay for $10-$20. |
Frank
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - 10:02 pm: |
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Thanks for your advice, Lee. I was so happy to find that I didn't actually damage the mirror mechanism. I fiddled with it over the weekend and managed to fix it by luck.
Apparently, there is a retractable pin (next to the mirror) that forms a hinge for the mirror movement. What happened was when I pulled the mirror down by force, I had dislocated the pin and forced it out of its joint. Once I figured out this reason, I just simply turned the mirror lock to the "lock" position and pressed on the pin while lifting up the mirror. Well, guess what, the pin happily clicked back into the joint.
I am really really happy about it 'cos I didn't think it could be fixed so easily. The purchase price of this camera would not have justified the cost of any repairs or restoration.
Anyway, I will do a test roll to see if there are any "side effects" from this incidence. Cheers. |
Lee Crump
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 08:58 pm: |
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Happy shooting. |
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