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Wayne Culberson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 15, 2005 - 06:48 pm: | 
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I have been an Olympus SLR user, but have today come into possession of a Minolta SRT 303, and have the following questions about it.
1. Is it necessary to use a 1.35 volt mercury battery or the 1.4v hearing aid battery (as it is with an OM 1), or does the Minolta have circuitry that allows for accurate metering with the 625 alkaline replacement battery?
2. The viewfinder shutter speed indicator is stuck on about the 1 second mark. Is this an easy fix to get it moving again?
3. It obviously needs some back foam and the mirror foam replaced. Is there any internal foam that needs replacing (as there is in the OM 1, for example), or other standard "fixes" I should know about?
Thanks, Wayne |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 15, 2005 - 08:30 pm: |
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I think the SRT303 is the same camera we know in the US as the SRT101.
- I would use the 1.4v hearing aid battery as in your OM1.
- I believe this indicator is carried across on a cord. Once you reach it, it shouldn't be hard to fix; but reaching it requires an amount of disassembly that I think I would be reluctant to perform without a better motivation than the shutter speed indicator being stuck. I would live with it until the camera needs something more.
- Check that the lens-release button is attached snugly: this button is just screwed on (standard right hand thread) and can work loose and be lost.
- If the speeds get sluggish, the escapement is up on top, just below the wind lever. This would be your excuse to go in and take a look at the speed indicator.... |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 - 03:15 am: |
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1. Yes. The 303 has a rather simple meter circuit which needs a constant voltage of 1.35V.
2. To remove the top cover, you have to remove the red paint from the dot on the bayonet mount, this dot covers the last screw which you never would have found. However, AFAIK the 303 internal mechanism is not easy to fix.
3. Most, if not all, SLRs have some internal foam around the prism and focussing screen. Anyhow, as long as no particles fall off on the screen there is no need to replace this.
The 303 was an improved 101, it had a split-image screen and some other features like mirror lock-up etc. |
Wayne Culberson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 - 06:08 pm: |
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Thanks for the advice and help. I've replaced foam in the back and mirror pad, and have decided to leave the shutter speed indicator alone. If not for the engraving on the bottom plate, the camera looks almost mint and unused after a thorough cleaning.
A further question that I realize goes beyond the scope of this forum - Can anyone give a bit of advice, perhaps off this list, as to what to look for for additional Rokkor lenses? I have no experience or clue at all as to what are the best ones to look for. I'd be mostly interested in 24mm to 200mm range. Thanks, Wayne |
rick
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 - 09:08 pm: |
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I can only offer one bit of advice on lenses to AVOID: some of the later MC and MD rokkors had bayonets that were just stamped out of flat sheet metal and attached to the back end with little screws. These are ridiculously flimsy, as were the XG- and X- series caemras they went with. Look for earlier lenses that had at least respectable build quality. |
Haig Hovaness
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 - 09:17 pm: |
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One of the many virtues of the SRTs is that they can be easily adjusted to use silver cells. You can probably recalibrate the meter by adjusting the two potentiometers under the bottom plate. One controls the battery test meter position, and the other controls the meter alignment. Put a rubber o-ring or strip of foam tape around a silver cell, insert it into the batter compartment and fiddle with the potentiometers until the meter matches a properly calibrated camera. |
Wayne Culberson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 05:10 am: |
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Thanks Haiq,
I'll give that a try.
Wayne |
chromesjt
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2005 - 08:40 pm: |
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I hate to be that one person but..... I would fix the shutter speed indicator. SRTs are fairly easy to work on and this is probably a simple fix. It involves removing the top cover housing assembly and maybe the viewfinder glass but then you will have access to it.
Best |
Paolo Amedeo
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 11:28 am: |
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Two things about the speed indicator that should be considered in order to decide if it's worth fixing it or not.
The cord at which is attached, is also moving the "circled needle" (sorry, English isn't my first language and I don't know how to define it differently...) that has to match with the needle of the light meter. If, changing the shutter speed, the "circled needle" doesn't move, it means that the cord is either broken or dislodged and you need to fix it in order to get the proper exposure.
Second, one has to test the response of the light meter to different light conditions: most of those cameras suffer the problem that the sensor would detach from the pentaprism, overexposing, especially at higher lights (higher voltage of the battery leads to underexposure and the behavior is similar in any lighting condition)...
If this is the case, the cell must be re-cemented to the pentaprism: while there, it's worth fixing the speed indicator tab too.
Paolo
PS One weak point of those cameras is the circuit switch on the bottom: I have found too many with this broken... Removing the bottom plate, be careful, since it is relatively fragile (especially if aged). |
Pe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2005 - 01:57 pm: |
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How to renove the shutter release button |
Pe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 12, 2005 - 02:00 pm: |
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How to renove the shutter release button in the Minolta camera SRT 303. Please, answr by e-mail too, thank you. |
