Minolta A5 shutter

[Peter_Jones]

I found a Minolta A5 for a couple of quid at a car boot sale today, built like a tank in fairly good condition, except the shutter will not fire and the advance lever won't budge.

Has anyone had any success cleaning the shutters on these, and is the Rokkor 45/2.8 worth the hassle ? (Shutter is a Citizen MVL, and the mechanism makes encouraging noises when shutter speed is changed)

 

[zuikologist]

Try the link here on RFF, from way back when...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3969

From what I have seen of the Rokkor lens on the web, it seems worth the trouble. And there is a certain satisfaction in bringin an RF camera back to life : )

 

[racoll]

I have two A5s, one that has the same issues as your A5 and another that works like new and has the 1/1000s shutter. I haven't been able to get the first one to work but if you can, the lens is most definitely worth it. Since getting the first roll developed from the 2nd A5, I've put a lot of film through it and each time I'm simply amazed at the sharpness and contrast of this lens. This is a really nice camera that handles very nicely and produces superb images.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I found a Minolta A5 for a couple of quid at a car boot sale today, built like a tank in fairly good condition, except the shutter will not fire and the advance lever won't budge.

Has anyone had any success cleaning the shutters on these, and is the Rokkor 45/2.8 worth the hassle ? (Shutter is a Citizen MVL, and the mechanism makes encouraging noises when shutter speed is changed)

There is a link to a detailed and illustrated guide to tearing down and cleaning a Seikosha shutter (the Citizen is a close variant of a Seikosha shutter) on this web page: http://pheugo.com/cameras/index.php

Edit: Forgot to mention it, but Rokkor lenses are very definitely worth the trouble.