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Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 1
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 - 11:55 am: | 
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Hi all,
This is my first post! I recently picked up a Minolta Hi Matic 11 (Super 3 Circuit). I own an old SRT 201 so I know the drill on finding an alternative for the battery. I have the 1.5 volt zinc air battery with the #9 O ring so it fits in the compartment well.
Once installing the new battery, with the Hi Matic, you move the shutter ring to activate the "Test" feature. The needle in the finder moves to the spot it's supposed to be in. But when I get to the normal settings, I'm not getting any response. I move the shutter speeds, ASA settings, and still no movement. It sits down on the bottom. Mind you, the needle will jump as I move from semi-auto, to flash, to full auto. So I know the needle is not stuck.
But is the light meter broken? If so, is there some contact that I might check to see if it's loose? Anybody with Hi Matics that can help? |
Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 3
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 03, 2010 - 07:48 pm: |
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Has anybody done a CLC light meter sensor replacement? I'm wondering if I can get one at Radio Shack if mine is broken. |
Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 4
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 07:18 pm: |
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OK. Still no responses! I guess these Hi-Matics are rare. ; - )
Since I've had time to search and search, and think, I wonder if the light meter is working, but the aperature blades are sticking. If the aperature blades were sticky and didn't move, would that prevent the light meter needle from showing the right reading? Meaning are they tied together somehow mechanically? |
Mndean
Tinkerer
Username: Mndean
Post Number: 190
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 07, 2010 - 11:11 pm: |
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It isn't that they are rare, just nobody really wants to own one ;) Really, they're not well loved since they're huge and pretty close to an automatic camera, and if the Hi-Matic 9 is any indication, not the easiest cameras to work on. |
Howpow
Tinkerer
Username: Howpow
Post Number: 22
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 08, 2010 - 06:02 am: |
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Hi Mutato. If you can get a good one they are capable of excellent photos, but because of their auto operation they are not as popular as the 7S and 9 which can be operated manually and are not dependent on whether the light meter works or not. The CLC metering is an advantage when it works but it seems a lot of the meters have died for one reason or another and as a
result the camera is virtually useless.
Good luck with it, try searching the archives here you may get some more information. |
Harryrag
Tinkerer
Username: Harryrag
Post Number: 171
Registered: 05-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 08, 2010 - 06:05 am: |
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Ok, so here's my two cents on the matter.
I did not respond to your inquiury in the first place because there is a bunch wise guys here in this forum who are deliberately finding fault with other members picking on others if they wilfully consider other people's posts contra-productive.
Frankly, I cannot really assist you in any repair attempt on the Hi-M 11, as I have never been inside that camera, but I know its makeup as a fully auto gadget from olden times is distinctly different from the other Hi-matics of the same vintage. And, yes, it is comparatively rare, as forty years ago people liked automatic gear, but they loved and bought equipment that also had a manual override facility on demand, like the other cameras of the Hi-M family, the Hi-M 7, 7 S, and 9, because one never knows and it was good to be prepared to get the best of both worlds.
A repair of the 11 is presumably at least as difficult as that of a Hi-M 9, which I am more familiar with, not least because parts like the photo resistor shown here is hard to find these days http://homepage1.nifty.com/fukucame/tips/hi11_t.htm , but also because the old school early Minolta rangefinders are rather complexly linked in their innards; I cannot imagine the Hi-M 11 being different in that respect, except that it has more wires and most probably a solenoid operated shutter. |
David_nebenzahl
Tinkerer
Username: David_nebenzahl
Post Number: 132
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 08, 2010 - 02:14 pm: |
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Harry-of-the-cloth, I really think you ought to take a good look in the nearest mirror before you start flinging aspersions about "deliberately finding fault with other members"; a lot of the high-horse indignation flying around here seems to be yours.
Just my own two cents worth, of course. |
Harryrag
Tinkerer
Username: Harryrag
Post Number: 173
Registered: 05-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 10:51 am: |
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If the shoe fits, wear it. |
Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 5
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 11:08 am: |
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Thanks for the web link. I translated it using Google so I can read the Japanese text. At some point, I might do this to test if the meter is indeed dead.
I own 3 vintage SLR's and one other rangefinder (Yashica Electro GSN). This one I couldn't resist for $25. I actually like that it has an full auto mode (still has an option of shutter priority mode as well), because sometimes I just want to shoot quickly. The Yashica has more control, and then if I want even more control, I'll just use the SLR's. |
Harryrag
Tinkerer
Username: Harryrag
Post Number: 174
Registered: 05-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 - 12:08 pm: |
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I think the lens of your Hi-M 11 is identical to the one used in the Mi-M 9 and I can say that it is very sharp, this is to say getting the camera back to working condition is certainly worth some effort. I hope your project will work out fine. |
Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 6
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 11, 2010 - 08:48 am: |
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I was working the shutter last night over and over, thinking the more I use it the more things will move inside better ; - )
I noticed that the light meter needle is more responsive to light changes now. In my workshop I'm holding it up to the light and then down again, seeing it move accordingly. It's not a drastic as my SRT 201 needle, so I don't think it's 100%. But I'll keep at it over time and see if, just by "shooting" it over and over, I'm cleaning contacts and getting it working again without having to take it apart (yet!). |
Mutato
Tinkerer
Username: Mutato
Post Number: 7
Registered: 01-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 02:56 pm: |
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I recently just shot a test roll and got the prints back today. I used 200 speed film. Expecting the worst, most of the pictures actually came out! I took some using the "Auto" setting. Some using the "Flash" setting (30th sec.) with a Vivitar flash unit. Then I took some controlled outdoor shots using the various shutter speeds (500 down to 8th sec.).
The indoor Auto shots were dark, so the Auto feature was not making the camera select something like 15th or 8th to do available light. Flash worked as expected. The outdoor shots on Auto worked OK since it was a sunny day with blue sky.
My controlled shots were of one scene with bare trees (Ct area) and mixed blue sky. They all came out. But given that this setting is "shutter priority", they should have kept pretty consistent. But the trees were getting gradually lighter on the longer shutter speeds.
So I think the light meter is partially working, but not fully. It's not swinging radically when you swing the camera up to a light source. Maybe it's safe for outdoor shooting where there's some flexibility in exposure error, but not to be used indoors/available light. Not yet! |
Matiase
Tinkerer
Username: Matiase
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, January 24, 2011 - 04:19 pm: |
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Probably my comment is much too late, but the fully automatic exposure system on the HiMatic 11 is only able to use shutter speeds from 1/30 to 1/250 s. Only when in semi-automatic mode, it is possible to use the full range of shutter speeds from 1/8 - 1/500 sec. In poor light conditions, you will need to use the shutter priority mode to enable the slower speeds. |
