Hmmmmm.....should I, or shouldn't I....

[fishtek]

Over the past several months, I've become increasingly interested and acquisitive concerning fixed-lens rangefinders. As a result, I've got a whole shelf full of functional FL RF's...mostly Canonets. They're neat, and although a couple needed minor repairs (re-glue rangefinder mirror, replace front glass), I've been hesitant about taking my maintenance program any deeper.

A couple months ago, I got a Minolta 7s for basically shipping charges, because I negotiated a partial refund when I discovered that the aperture blades didn't open when the shutter was cycled. Bummer...it's pretty nice.

Now, I'm thinking about the feasibility of getting into the thing to see if I can make the blades function properly again. I've seen a couple articles about getting into the body of the camera, but I really don't want to have to manufacture tools, and if I factor in the cost of buying tools, I'm starting to get into the range of having a professional CLA done.

Your thoughts, please?

Regards!
Don

 

[Gumby]

Hey Don... I posted a reply, but it is not here. did you see it? Perhaps there was "technical difficulties" and it never really posted. Or... ????

What I said was given your contraints of not wanting to make or buy tools, maybe D-I-Y repairs is something you don't want to get involved in. It often takes more time/effort/money to fix up cameras than they are really worth. Yoiu either have to reallly want to do it... for the fun of it... or don't bother. When successfull, however, there is a great sense of accomplishment.