just arrived

[back alley]

well, my 3rd minolta 7s arrived today and it looks good.
there is a small dent in the corner by the rewind but all else looks good. the meter works, the shutter speeds and aperture all appear good. will have to test them all soon.
so i have 2 with working meters and one without a working meter. the plan is to carry one all the time and when using both have 2 different films loaded. thinking about maybe using colour in one.
the third may be on it's way soon to another country.

i'll keep you guys posted.

joe

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Good news! You have a new toy! That's always nice...

 

[Doug]

Joe, with so much to test, I'm sure it'll be an arduous task! Congrats on your new goodie. I expect that "third one" you'll dispose of is the meter-dead one?

In the vein of newness, I just got my Olympus 35RC back from the repair shop, with a full CLA and it sure seems like new now!

I had taken it in earlier this year too, tired of seeing it on the shelf with gooey foam seals and dead meter. They convinced me then that it was not economical to repair.

But, doggone it, I've had this little cutie for 30 years and I've gotten attached to it! So I took it back, suggesting he might look for a loose or corroded meter wire or something, and at least put in new foam. So much for economics...

Well, he found the meter problem was the spring for the movement was cross-coiled, bound up. That was easy, once he dug in far enough. New foam wasn't too big a deal either.

Then he relubed the jerky focusing, found a junker 35RC and put its top cover on mine, which had a dent on the right corner like Joe's. Took the opportunity to clean up the RF too.

I'm delighted! No dent, working meter, smooth focus, good seals, and the RF is brighter and clearer than ever! What a nifty little camera! Have to run some film through it...

 

[back alley]

doug,

that's what i was told about the meterless 7s, 'not worth repairing', and with the ebay prices i paid they were probably right.
i too have an original oly 35rc that still works just fine. it was my first good camera and i have this fear of losing or breaking it and so i just leave it home now. too sentimental?
but the 7s cameras will be used without fear.
can i ask how much you paid for the cla on the rc?

joe

 

[Doug]

Too bad your 35RC isn't getting out and about, Joe. How about clipping it on a lanyard to your belt, so it won't wander away, and too short to allow it to hit the ground if dropped?

How much to CLA the 35RC? Total invoice was $473.67! Ouch. Well, that also includes working over an ancient gummed-up Pentax model K made in 1958, and refurbish my Pentax ES & 35 f/2, and a Jupiter-12 35 f/2.8 for my Kiev. Breaking it out, it looks like $79 labor + $7 parts + tax for the 35RC. Say about $93, about what I'd bought it for long ago. More than it's worth? Not to me! 🙂

Also in the "just arrived" category is a Pentax 43mm f/1.9 in 39mm Leica thread mount, bought from another Rangefinder.com member. And a few days ago B&H finally came through on my order two months ago for a Voigtlander 40mm f/2 Ultron in Pentax KA mount.

So... These two uncommon lenses will need some exercise... and beg for comparison with the 35RC's Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 and the Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f/2. It'll take a while, I think, but will be fun.

 

[Rich Silfver]

100 bucks to fix up a 35RC might indeed sound like a lot but I don't think it necessarily is. Even the MINT RC's you can get from eBay can run you 50-60-70 dollars depending on how pretty the photos are of it - and even then there is no guarantee that the damn thing is working 100% accurately anyway.

So 93 dollars bought you a great working RC - but also YOUR old RC is alive again - something its hard to put a price tag on.

I'm off to buy Wein Cells 🙂

 

[Flinor]

I noticed the comment about Wein cells and I wonder if the group is aware of the MR-9 adaptor from criscam.com. These are little trays the same diameter as a PX625 and with an S76 silver battery in the middle they are just about the same thickness. They have a diode that steps the voltage down to 1.35 and let you use $1.50 S-76's with very long life. I've been using two of them for a few years in everything from my M5 to a Yashica Lynx 14 and they work fine. Sometimes I find myself running a $20 camera with a $30 adaptor but you do what you've gotta do.

Gerry

 

[back alley]

gerry,
yes i'm aware of the adapter. i have the site bookmarked, but have not bought one yet. one of these days...

joe

 

[taffer]

I was watching also this 35 RC that was on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2965852363&category=15234&rd=1

Finally sold for $76.

BTW, the MR-9 adapter is priced 55 EUR here, so you can consider yourself lucky enough getting it for $ 30 🙂. Anyway I still have a 1.35 V mercury battery that feeds the meter on my Minolta SRT.

 

[Rich Silfver]

There are still places that cough-cough sell mercury 625 batteries.
Personally I'm happy with the wein cells but if anyone out there is interested - there are places for it.

 

[back alley]

oscar,

are the mercury batteries still legal in spain?

joe

 

[taffer]

well Joe, I've checked my battery and what a discovery...

go figure, the search for the V625U returned a 1.5V alkaline battery, reported to be a valid replacement for the old PX625 (I think that was the designation of the mercury one). The battery itself has no voltage indicator, and that was what made me think it was a 1.35 one.

So I suppose that either my SRT was recalibrated to use these batteries or in fact the voltage difference doesn't matter that much (I've used that camera for slides without any exposure problem to the date).

BTW, they were also banned here for enviromental reasons too, they were supposed to be a huge source of contamination, and I think I prefer it this way (I was a member of a naturalist group years ago).

Cheers !