Minolta Hi-Matic 9 auto not working

[thevdm]

Hi all, having managed to get my Minolta AL working well I decided to buy a mystery Hi-Matic 9 (as in there was no details of its functional condition), the camera was very cheap so I thought it worthy of the risk.

The camera arrived yesterday and other than a couple of simpler bits that need attention (some dust in the lens, some dust in the VF, light seals perished) the camera is in extremely good condition, the RF is bright and clear, the aperture blades move freely and appear oil free, the shutter fires at all speeds (not tested for full accuracy yet), the light meter works well (although currently with an LR44 and tin foil, Zinc Air batteries and adapter on order).

The only problem that I can't understand is that if the camera is set to full auto it always fires with the same shutter speed and aperture (F/16 and at a guess around 1/60), this is the same if the shutter is fired in a dark room or pointed at the sun. If set to Tv the aperture is always F/16, if set to Av the shutter is always around 1/60, no matter what the light meter says.

Although don't really plan to use the camera in full auto it would be nice to have a 100% functional camera. Does anybody have any suggestions on what could be the cause of an issue like this?

 

[thevdm]

Edit:


I've ran a film through it to test all sorts of situations. The meter appears fairly accurate despite having an LR44 in it, it's readings match that of my digital camera fairly closely.


Looking at the exposures with anything on auto it would appear that the apature is always F/16 and the shutter is always 1/500 (which would make sense as they are the settings next to 'A'). The problem would appear to be the A settings not electronically connecting, seeing as the front of the lens has to come apart to remove dust then I will check the mechanism is engaging there as well as make sure there are no loose wires at the top when I clean the inside of the viewfinder.

 

[thevdm]

Well I seem to have worked out what the problem is!

Trying to tackle some of the other issues on the camera I removed the top housing to clear the dust out of the VF, uppon putting the camera back together the light meter wasn't working, the needle was stuck at 5.5 EV. Lots of research later and it turned out that a foam pad had disintegrated and was sticking the EV hold in place so I removed the pad with a craft knife and alcohol. The meter now works again and as it happens the meter coupling to the lens is controlled by a rod the other side of the foam pad so was also sticking.

Picture not mine, borrowed from https://www.flickr.com/groups/52109366@N00/discuss/72157623568134875/

 

[markus_h_photography]

Interesting. After reading your original post I checked my Himatic 9 and noticed a similar thing. I've only ever shot it in manual so hadn't noticed the issue.

Just great. Another project for me to work on...