Fifteen miles away from my house and the low end of what I was expecting for that apparent condition (and no one else had both the hood and the case). Sometimes the universe just takes care of you.
I have posted elsewhere and perhaps even here that decades ago we children gave my dad an SRT101 and a bunch of lenses. One of my brothers kept everything after dad passed away. The shutter started sticking and he had it worked on twice, but it is still problematic. So he is going to send me everything. I don't know the condition of the lenses or metering. It's been more than 50 years since I thought about it, does the 101 even have an internal meter?) If the rest looks good, I may see about getting the shutter serviced. Any recommendation on where or how?
All my lenses are F-mount but the last thing I need is another film camera, already have an F, an F2, and my original Nikkormat which works great. Still, it was my dad's.
jimmuller wrote:
It's been more than 50 years since I thought about it, does the 101 even have an internal meter?) If the rest looks good, I may see about getting the shutter serviced. Any recommendation on where or how?
All my lenses are F-mount but the last thing I need is another film camera, already have an F, an F2, and my original Nikkormat which works great. Still, it was my dad's.
I miss my Minolta lenses a lot more than my Nikon lenses; they always seemed to have more interesting qualities to their images. The SRT-101 does have an internal meter but it requires the old mercury batteries that are no longer made. Three easy solutions: 1) use a Wein cell (expensive and short-lived, usually only a month or two even if you never take any photos); 2) get an MR-9 adapter from Kanto Camera in Japan (available online) and use SR-43 batteries with it (don't use LR batteries as their output falls gradually, meaning your meter will get less and less accurate as the batteries age); or 3) adjust the meter (easy to do by opening the bottom of the camera). Adjusting the meter sort of works, but may not be accurate at all ISOs or shutter speeds.
Most shops that work on film cameras can do a CLA on Minoltas; the other option is to buy one that's been CLA'd already as these cameras are so cheap that a CLA will likely cost you more than you'd pay for one that's already been serviced. John Titterington has an eBay shop where he sells CLA'd Minolta and other cameras and he does good work. Or you could contact him to see if he could do a complete CLA on the one you have.
bjhurley wrote:
... The SRT-101 does have an internal meter but it requires the old mercury batteries that are no longer made. Three easy solutions: 1) use a Wein cell (expensive and short-lived, usually only a month or two even if you never take any photos); 2) get an MR-9 adapter from Kanto Camera in Japan (available online) and use SR-43 batteries with it (don't use LR batteries as their output falls gradually, meaning your meter will get less and less accurate as the batteries age); or 3) adjust the meter (easy to do by opening the bottom of the camera). Adjusting the meter sort of works, but may not be accurate at all ISOs or shutter speeds.
Most shops that work on film cameras can do a CLA....Show more →
Thanks. I would have this camera serviced because it was my dad's, and IIRC giving him a new camera was my idea. As for batteries, I know about the Wein 625, used one successfully in my Nikkormat FTn and it lasted about 2 months. I did not know about that adapter and SR-43 though I knew such adapters exist. I can try that. I have already done the obvious research and learned the features of the 101. I just typed the meter question into my previous note because I'm lazy.
Congrats on your new project, @jimmuller . I hope it works out well.
I think I made an error with the 24-50/4. It's a good lens, but it's not as all-around useful as the 28-85, and the 20/2.8 is proving perfect for a wide (I've used that one more on digital than I have on film- very happy with it). So I think I'll undo it and make the film club outings kit the 20, 35/1.8 for the speed, and the 28-85, with the 70-210/4 coming along as necessary or one of the prime teles.
