Hi-Matic RF Adjustment

[cbass]

Hi there -- a Newbie here with my first post to RFF. What a great site...I can't believe it took me so long to find you all.

The RF on my user Minolta Hi-Matic 7has become slightly out of adjustment; pehaps by 1 or 2 feet. Infinity looks OK based on recent photos, but subjects within 6-10 feet are affected.

Is re-calibrating the RF a DIY job on these early Hi-Matics or should I enlist the services of my local shop? Does anyone have a rough idea of what such a repair might cost? The HM7 is a nice shooter and aside from the RF problem the camera is tip-top. I'd rather service it than replace it, if possible.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Glenn]

I don't have an answer but I will be watching for one.

I also have a Hi-Matic 7 with what sounds like exactly the same issue. Subjects in that 4-10 feet range are usually out of focus on the prints. Otherwise all works well and it's a lovely camera to use.

Glenn

 

[Jon Goodman]

You could see one of my auctions for an example of setting the Hi-Matic F. The full-sized Hi-Matic may be a little different, but probably not much. I'll see if I can look at one soon.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15234&item=7502069943

(Scroll all the way to the bottom of the auction page to see it)
Jon

 

[Pherdinand]

I have a hi-matic 9, i was working on it. It's definitely doable to re-align the rf, unless you are feeling very unhandy.

 

[cbass]

Adding an FYI to the thread here...I dropped by a local shop in Boston yesterday (3/22) and the tech quoted me $70-$90 (!) to re-calibrate the RF. That's essentially a death sentence for my trusty Hi-Matic 7.

I'll either do this repair myself or look for a replacement Hi-Matic.

 

[phototone]

Himatic RFDR adjustment

Himatic RFDR adjustment

I have a Minolta HiMatic 11 Super 3 circuit. It is probably the same RFDR as the 7, as the body looks the same.

Take the top plate off. (not hard to figure out) Be careful of the wire to the hot shoe when you pull top off. The shutter release will fall out, and there is a pin in the middle of the shutter release that may fall inside camera, you need to retrieve and when you reassemble, you need to moisten it slightly (lick it) and insert it into the shutter release (slight moisture will hold it in), and then put shutter release into hole in top plate and hold it there as you slide top plate back onto camera body when reassembling.

The front glass element of the viewfinder swings left to right as you focus lens. It is attached to the mechanism at the bottom with what appear to be three screws.
These are actually the bottoms of screws with slots cut into them.

Loosen the center one by turning it CLOCKWISE with flat blade jewelers screwdriver.

Put camera on tripod, focus lens on infinity, looking at a clearly defined subject at least 100 ft away. Move glass element left or right until images align up. This is tedious and may take several tries, and you have to check and make sure the lens stays set on infinity. While in there, gently clean all elements of rangefinder with lens cleaner and cotton swabs, or other tools. Use compressed air to blow out dust before reassembly.

When done, tighten center screw by turning it COUNTER-CLOCKWISE.

Reassemble top of camera..go out, shoot, be happy.

Phototone

 

[Rob]

For some reason folks like to adjust their rangefinders to infinity...I think since depth of field is shallower the closer you focus I calibrate mine on 5ft instead. I use Scotch tape over the film plane and focus on it with an eyepiece magnifier. Works for me.

 

[phototone]

This is a fixed lens leaf shutter camera. If the lens has not taken a "hit" and damaged its helicoid one can assume that at infinity stop on focusing ring the lens is in proper focus at infinity and therefore you adjust the rangefinder to co-inside its image at infinity...all other closer distances should be in focus....this is not quite as sophisticated a rangefinder as one would find in a Bessa or Leica interchangeable lens RFDR.

On these rather inexpensive fixed lens RFDR cameras, there is NO way to adjust the lens to film distance. If the lens will not produce a sharp photo of a subject at infinity, when the lens focusing ring is set to infinity...then the camera is probably not worth being fixed.

Phototone

 

[refinder]

This is a fixed lens leaf shutter camera. If the lens has not taken a "hit" and damaged its helicoid one can assume that at infinity stop on focusing ring the lens is in proper focus at infinity and therefore you adjust the rangefinder to co-inside its image at infinity...all other closer distances should be in focus....this is not quite as sophisticated a rangefinder as one would find in a Bessa or Leica interchangeable lens RFDR.

On these rather inexpensive fixed lens RFDR cameras, there is NO way to adjust the lens to film distance. If the lens will not produce a sharp photo of a subject at infinity, when the lens focusing ring is set to infinity...then the camera is probably not worth being fixed.

Phototone

that's what i was wondering about earlier Phototone.

i took the lens board off in order to fix the wobbly lens on my Minolta Hi-Matic 9, and when putting it back, the focus/rangefinder was off.

didn't touch the helicoid, the lens groups srew in place, the square brass bar like thing on the helicoid just pushes against the rangefinder lever on the body, the lens board rests on 4 machined surfaces with screw holes... i couldn't figure out what was changed and could cause such a difference.

don't know wether the focus is off, or the rangefinder is off, or both. haven't got time to test yet. although the symptom is that the yellow patch falls short by about 1/3 of its width horizontally on far away objects. vertically it seems to be fine.

following your reasoning, what i need to do is just to adjust the rangefinder to match the lens. so which screw/screws should i turn, and what's the correct procedure for doing this?

tks a lot for helping!

- refinder

 

[Pherdinand]

you know, my experience is, even when i take off onl;y the top casting of the camera (the hi-matic 9), the rf goes slightly out of alignment. Could not figure out what pushes what, but managed to set it in a way that when all is assembled and functional, the rf is spot on.

The hi-matic 9 is the camera that gave technically the best results from within all my fixed-lens rf's. I wish it was a bit smaller, though.

 

[refinder]

you know, my experience is, even when i take off onl;y the top casting of the camera (the hi-matic 9), the rf goes slightly out of alignment. Could not figure out what pushes what, but managed to set it in a way that when all is assembled and functional, the rf is spot on.

The hi-matic 9 is the camera that gave technically the best results from within all my fixed-lens rf's. I wish it was a bit smaller, though.

hi Pherdinand,

could you describe how you did that, (aligning the rangefinder correctly)?

do you think that the lens infinity setting should NOT be questionable after re-assembling? there is nothing that could affect that, correct?

so the only thing that needs re-alignment is the rangefinder, right? i really hope this will be the case!

could you also elaborate a little bit on the "best technical results" you mentioned? i'd love to hear that.

tks!

- refinder

 

[Pherdinand]

I used the infinity mark and the shortest distance mark on the lens but also checked on a ground glass in the film gate, esp. since the mars are not clear about where exactly they point to on the ring. I mean, somewhere in the middle of the 0.9 text should be 0.9 meters, but where?🙂
I did not take the lens assembly out, only the front elements and some stuff like light metering cell, to have access to the shutter and flush-clean it (it was sticky).
If the ground glass test will show correct focusing for at least 2 known distances (preferably 0.9m and infty) , the only thing that maybe has to be realigned is the rangefinder,yes.
If i'm not mistaken, the rf can be slightliy tuned also by removing the acc shoe only, and keeping the top casting in place. But i might be mistaken, it was quite some time ago.

Best technical results: Excellent colour and sharpness, good separation of sharp and out of focus regions, and excellent shutter timing. I use a handheld meter by the way, but don't meter all the time, only if the light changes considerably.
Nice clean images, no flare problem unless pushed in bad situations.
I like the results better than the ones from yashica gsn's, yashica cc, canonets, and some more.

 

[refinder]

thank you for your fast reply Pherdinand! it is nice to know the Hi-Matic 9 has such good qualities!

i'll have to find time to do the ground glass testing. but that aside, which screw/screws should be turned in order to adjust the rangefinder horizontally? at infinity, mine falls short by about 1/3 of the width of the yellow patch now. vertically it seems to be ok.

i found greyhoundman's postings on this, and he pointed out 2 screws for horizontal adjustment. i'm not clear on the difference between these 2, and when to use which. here's the link to that post:-

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14313&highlight=kat