Minolta CLE just stopped taking photos! HELP!

Scrambler

Scrambler

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My recent purchase CLE ex Adorama just stopped cold. I knew it had shutter timing irregularities but figured that was just the dirty contacts issue. I sorted the wildly off infinity focus courtesy of my good friend Google. Then it stopped firing the shutter. Meters, battery tests but will not trigger shutter even with cable release. Have removed batteries, replaced with fresh.

A) Anything I can do?

B) Anyone left who repairs these?

I don't think 24 hours of ownership was enough!
 
Yes, much as it pains me a return might be in order. Will still cost me around $130 in postage all up and camera itself was well below usual price due to 'issues' with shutter that were probably nothing.
 
The problem you will run into if it needs a new circuit board which I suspect is the cause is they are no longer available. Most parts cameras have already been robbed of this board..

A word of advise...never buy from autorama. They have a bad track record and don't have problems with selling defective equipment..and they are the KIng of bait and switch..
 
colyn said:
The problem you will run into if it needs a new circuit board which I suspect is the cause is they are no longer available. Most parts cameras have already been robbed of this board..

A word of advise...never buy from autorama. They have a bad track record and don't have problems with selling defective equipment..and they are the KIng of bait and switch..
Click to expand...
Thanks Colyn. We'll see. Shots of seen of the guts of the CLE suggest there are plenty of wires and resistors and not many PC boards, certainly compared to the innards of an XG-1. I'm optimistic that something can be done. But then I have to be, don't I?
 
Scrambler said:
Yes, much as it pains me a return might be in order. Will still cost me around $130 in postage all up and camera itself was well below usual price due to 'issues' with shutter that were probably nothing.
Click to expand...

"Probably nothing" is now "definitely something". I never would have purchased a CLE with problems. Parts are extremely hard to find due to old electronics.

Hope it all gets sorted out.
 
kbg32 said:
"Probably nothing" is now "definitely something". I never would have purchased a CLE with problems. Parts are extremely hard to find due to old electronics.

Hope it all gets sorted out.
Click to expand...
Well, there is "definitely something" wrong with it, but the "issues" reported were exactly what a correctly functioning CLE will do if you test it without film. And since it had been tested without film, there probably were NOT any issues with it on previous testing, as there were not for the 1st 24+ hours I had it. Now it gives a completely different set of "issues."

I knew I was taking a chance, the camera was not selling at a reduced price so I knew others saw it as too risky. If that now appears justified to you, so be it.

My issue is, how do I get it checked? And how do I get it fixed, if it can be? Return may be an option, but realistically that simply leaves me out of pocket with nothing possible to show for it, and the camera will be binned. I'm in the fortunate position of being able to throw (some) good money after bad.
 
Does anyone have a service/ repair manual for one? I know in years past people have been reluctant to copy them due to copyright issues, but surely they can be considered well and truly "orphan" now? If all else fails I may try to isolate the fault myself and see what can be done, but a wiring diagram would help considerably.
 
Can someone expand on the 'testing without film' topic? This is the first time I've heard of a camera where this caused problem of this nature. It seems crazy to me that dry firing would cause damage.
 
I've had three CLEs. Never had a problem with any of them, dry firing and all. Sold them to fund digital M lust. As far as I know, those that bought them, are still using them with no problems. I never heard of a "dry firing" issue before either.

Adorama does give a some sort of warranty on used items. I know it might hurt, but as others have suggested as well, return it.
 
Doesn't cause damage. The camera meters of the first curtain and the film (depending on the shutter speed) and closes the shutter when "enough" light has been detected. The first curtain is patterned to have a reflectance comparable to film. The pressure plate does not, and depending on lighting etc the camera will respond erratically to the lack of film reflectance.

The other common issue is small amount of corrosion in the contacts on the shutter speed selection dial. This can also cause erratic timing.

EDIT: just read back over my earlier post. I am not saying that the dry firing is related to the present fault. Quite the opposite. There may (or may not) have been in initial fault but the present does not, IMHO, correlate with the described fault. I myself did not observe any difficulty with it in the short time it worked for me. The dry firing may appear like a fault when it is a "normal" part of metering off the pressure plate at slow speeds.
 
Bellamy says no-one is even looking at them, to his knowledge.

Bummer.

Adorama are closed for Rosh Hashanah. I'll speak to them about a return after that.
 
Addy101 said:
Some links that might be useful:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127499
http://www.cameraquest.com/cle.htm
It seems repairers are afraid to repair them, but most parts are identical to Minolta SLR's of the same period. They just have to identify the right parts and the SLR that has this part......
Click to expand...
It's an old chestnut, sadly, Addy.

While the CLE shares some design elements with the XG series SLRs, there are very few interchangeable parts. I have 2 XG-1's, one reduced to parts. If you can recommend a repairer, I'm happy to send the bits. But the internal structure and wiring is completely different. I doubt there would be any part other than the shutter speed dial that would simply slot from one to the other - and even that I am not sure about. For example, the screw-in trim over the advance lever, while conceptually the same, uses a different thread size.
 
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