cmedin
Well-known
Just thought I'd share, since I'm excited about it. 🙂
The Minolta SRT-101 I bought was listed as needing new mirror bumper foam. This was indeed true as there was virtually nothing left but a few nasty patches of adhesive. I ordered the interslice kit after reading some glowing reviews, and Jon immediately sent it out and emailed me making sure I knew how to contact him with any questions. Excellent service indeed!
Got the kit, and it contains a ton of foam; I can imagine doing quite a few cameras before running out. The booklet was great, and I used Jon's instructions on kyphoto for the SRT models as a guide as well.
I was a little paranoid about the mirror foam since I didn't want to gunk up the viewfinder (the focusing screen already had some dirt on it), but it went well; just had to use an x-acto knife and tweezers to carefully remove the remaining shreds/patches. Cut a new one, stuck it on, and everything seemed dandy. Fired the shutter and I'll be damned -- before the mirror made a loud 'clack' but now it sounds smooth and quiet and friggin' brand new to my ears. Been sitting here firing it a bit just enjoying the smooth 'shnick!' from the shutter. 😀 I checked for leaks as well, and couldn't see a speck of light.
Moved on to the back. The hinge seal was rock hard, but easy enough to remove after soaking in denatured alcohol. Cleaned the area up real nice, then soaked the two long seals along the top and bottom. There was virtually nothing left of those either; I just scraped out little nasty piles of goop, and ran through the channels probably a dozen times with soaked paper towel bits to clean them out. Fitted the new strips in, which was real easy with the supplied tool. Cut and fitted the hinge seal as well. The trick to remove the seal backing with a sharp knife/razor blade is really crucial to avoid tearing the fabric seal up. Back used to close sharply with some metallic noise, now you just softly push it closed and it locks in with a click. Pull the rewind button/lever up and the back springs open just a bit, like a new camera.
Overall, the < $1 spent (considering how little I used of the kit which was $6-7) made the camera feel and sound like it was new again.
I know this stuff is old hat to a lot of you, but I'm just glad I could accomplish something that really helps my gear out. I know that putting some TLC into a piece of equipment makes it that more personal, and I'm far more likely to use it...
Maybe I'll brave cleaning up the viewfinder on my Kiev now. 😛
The Minolta SRT-101 I bought was listed as needing new mirror bumper foam. This was indeed true as there was virtually nothing left but a few nasty patches of adhesive. I ordered the interslice kit after reading some glowing reviews, and Jon immediately sent it out and emailed me making sure I knew how to contact him with any questions. Excellent service indeed!
Got the kit, and it contains a ton of foam; I can imagine doing quite a few cameras before running out. The booklet was great, and I used Jon's instructions on kyphoto for the SRT models as a guide as well.
I was a little paranoid about the mirror foam since I didn't want to gunk up the viewfinder (the focusing screen already had some dirt on it), but it went well; just had to use an x-acto knife and tweezers to carefully remove the remaining shreds/patches. Cut a new one, stuck it on, and everything seemed dandy. Fired the shutter and I'll be damned -- before the mirror made a loud 'clack' but now it sounds smooth and quiet and friggin' brand new to my ears. Been sitting here firing it a bit just enjoying the smooth 'shnick!' from the shutter. 😀 I checked for leaks as well, and couldn't see a speck of light.
Moved on to the back. The hinge seal was rock hard, but easy enough to remove after soaking in denatured alcohol. Cleaned the area up real nice, then soaked the two long seals along the top and bottom. There was virtually nothing left of those either; I just scraped out little nasty piles of goop, and ran through the channels probably a dozen times with soaked paper towel bits to clean them out. Fitted the new strips in, which was real easy with the supplied tool. Cut and fitted the hinge seal as well. The trick to remove the seal backing with a sharp knife/razor blade is really crucial to avoid tearing the fabric seal up. Back used to close sharply with some metallic noise, now you just softly push it closed and it locks in with a click. Pull the rewind button/lever up and the back springs open just a bit, like a new camera.
Overall, the < $1 spent (considering how little I used of the kit which was $6-7) made the camera feel and sound like it was new again.
I know this stuff is old hat to a lot of you, but I'm just glad I could accomplish something that really helps my gear out. I know that putting some TLC into a piece of equipment makes it that more personal, and I'm far more likely to use it...
Maybe I'll brave cleaning up the viewfinder on my Kiev now. 😛
