Canon LTM fixing canon 7 lightmeters

[DavidC]

I have a canon 7 with an inoperative light meter. Although I could use a handheld meter, it still is inconvenient to carry two items and I would rather fix the bad selenium meter. I noticed the meter needle moves when it is switched to high sensitivity (orange dot) Question: who fixes this kind of meter and is it worth fixing? Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[harry01562]

There is an outfit in CA that works on lightmeters. I think they do work for the movie companies, etc. I think the price would be high, if they would tackle a camera meter repair, at all. They mostly repair hand held meters, so I don't know if they have the experience to open the camera. Most repairs, I imagine, consist of replacing the CDS cell. That means finding the right size, which can be difficult. Best answer, in most cases, is to just use the separate meter, or sunny 16.

Harry

 

[mjflory]

The Canon 7 has a selenium meter; the 7s has a CdS one. I've heard the selenium cells are rather expensive and I don't know whether some generic type can be trimmed to fit. I've sometimes wondered if a more modern meter could be squeezed into the space used by a selenium cell, but it would require some careful fitting.

 

[colyn]

Quality Light Metric
7060 Hollywood Blvd Suite 415
Los Angeles, Ca. 90028

Phone 323-467-2265

I don't know if they will work on in camera meters but you could give them a call.

 

[DavidC]

Thanks to all for the useful information and thanks for this great forum! I will make some inquiries and then decide.

 

[Chad]

I looked into this fix as well. In the end I gave up on the idea of fixing it for two reasons.

1) The fix would costs more than the camera.

2) Even if it were fixed the light meter isn't that accurate, especially in low light.

My conclusion: Sell the 7, use that money plus the money you were going to spend on the repair and put it towards a 7s. Then you have a more sensitive meter, a batteried meter, an an accessory shoe.


Chad

 

[FrankS]

The best fix would be to remove the light meter altogether. Then it would be a nice looking camera!

 

[outfitter]

The best fix would be to remove the light meter altogether. Then it would be a nice looking camera!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When selenium meters first came out my GAS rendered them beautiful in my eyes. By the time cds and then TTL they were extremely ugly in my eyes. Now that I'm old enough so that most of my opinions are contrarian I sort of like them again - maybe because my Canon 7 meter works, maybe because I never threw away my Weston meters. My growing affection has been stoked by a re-build of my Contax IIIa meter which turned an ugly duckling into a really useful camera with a very sensitive meter.

Michael