camera repair question

[aquajet]

Maybe someone could give me some advice...my uncle gave me his Pentax KM, been sitting in a dusty garage for probably 10+ years without any protection. The light meter doesn't work and the foam seals are rotted. How much should I expect to pay for repair? Any place in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that you trust? Also have my dad's Minolta SRT 201, broken light meter, rotted foam seals and broken flash mount. You think it's worth the cost of repair? Thanks for any advice you all can provide.

[colinhester]

Replace batteries on both cameras and see if the meters works. The light baffle (foam seal) is easily replaced by using self-adhesive strips (see http://www.micro-tools.com/Merchant2/ps.htm). Just be sure and clean the old foam off.

I was quoted by a local camera shop $100 for replacing the seals and decided to do it my self for around $10.

If the SRT is sentimental, I would have it fixed. However, if the meter is really broken (not in need of new batteries) and the flash mount is a must for you, then you're looking at a lot more money than the camera is worth.....Colin

PS. You might want to poke around www.photo.net and see if there is a respected camera repair shop in your area.......

[OvenMaster]

If you intend to actually use the internal meters, you may also be looking at electrical modifications if the original batteries were of the no-longer-available mercury type. I had to give up a long-used Ricoh rangefinder with rotted seals because it wasn't worth modifying it to accept silver oxide button cells.
Tom

[salred]

Abilene Camera Repair (http://abilenecamera.com/) did a great job on my mid-60's vintage Nikkormat -- seals + clean/lube/adjust. They did the whole job for what my local camera store wanted to charge for just the seals.

Would it be worth it? Don't ask.

Regarding the meter -- given it actually works, and if the camera use the forbidden mercury cells, then ask for a Wein zinc-air cell at your camera store. Same voltage / discharge characteristics as the mercury cell, just not as long lived.

Happy snaps!

Steve A.

[ManFromPorlock]

On the matter of batteries, try:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.photo.equipment.35mm/browse_thread/thread/7d9882a8c30d4c6d/5ad6d2a83360a66e?lnk=st&q=srt+%2B+batteries+%2B+%22hearing+aid%22+%2B+%22o-ring%22&rnum=2&hl=en#5ad6d2a83360a66e

Replacing foam isn't that hard, use Ronson lighter fluid (it's pure naptha, which not all lighter fluids are) to get the old foam off. For the Minolta, buy the 1mm strips of self-adhesive foam that microtools sells; you'll also need a wider piece (I forget how much wider, maybe somebody else here knows?) for the mirror cushion. Sorry, no idea what the Pentax needs.

[Nat]

Both are good cameras, but have little economic value. While they may be sentimentally valuable (which does matter), you could probably replace them with perfectly functional cameras for significantly less then it would cost to have them repaired. I'm sorry to say this since I love mechanical cameras, and enjoy repairing them. But repair people have to make a living, and even simple repairs can cost a surprising amount, not only because of having to track down no longer available parts etc, but also because easy repairs are where the money is made -- complex repairs take long enough that generally they are subsidised by the easy ones. This is true, regardless of whether it is an explicit policy. Its especially true since when a repair price is quoted, they don't actually know usually how complex the repair really will be, so they have to protect themselves.
But fortunately, a lot of camera repair is relatively easy. If its just foam, you can replace it yourself easily, and, in fact, in most places black yarn is an adequate (or better) replacement.
Minolta meters are not quite industructible, but are fairly close. If there is a problem, its usually that the wire to the battery holder has corroded. Though if the hotshoe has been broken off, its also possible that the meter cells on top of the pentaprism have been damaged.
And the KM is basically a K mount Spotmatic, and as such, is also pretty reliable. So I suspect that new batteries might be enough to get it up and running. Sometimes manipulating the controls helps by clearling off corrosion.
If you are handy, you could try investigating, but only if you are handy and have the correct tools.

[aquajet]

Thanks for the replies. Replacing the batteries was the first thing I did. The meters just don't work. And I'm not too inclined to try and repair them myself; I have no problem tearing down a laptop computer to repair it, I do it all the time, but old precision mechanical devices make me nervous. And I'd certainly rather pay $200 to someone who enjoys doing what they do to rebuild the whole camera rather than waste my money on some plastic piece of garbage from Best Buy.

[Celt]

Thanks for the replies. Replacing the batteries was the first thing I did. The meters just don't work. And I'm not too inclined to try and repair them myself; I have no problem tearing down a laptop computer to repair it, I do it all the time, but old precision mechanical devices make me nervous. And I'd certainly rather pay $200 to someone who enjoys doing what they do to rebuild the whole camera rather than waste my money on some plastic piece of garbage from Best Buy.
Aqua, that made me smile, because I'm just the reverse. I can tear down a watch and repair it without any prob. However, PC's make me nervous! :D

[EddyR]

Let me tell you up front that I owned FCR corp thats Florida Camera Repair. I repaired thousands of Minolta's and Pentax's and I would not recommend getting them repaired.Every thing that was said above is true. Do not remove the top cover on the SRT as you will loose the timing on the meter string.The SRT photo cells will be bad and the meter insulator will be bad.Some times you can remove the bottom cover and clean the contacts between it and the wiring as the battery box is in the bottom cover. The Pentax are famous for bad meters. YOU DON'T NEED A METER TO TAKE PICTURES,just use 1/125 second and F11 and shoot any color film and you will get great results.400 speed film use 1/250.Do not blow air into the body lens mt to clean it as this will push dirt between the Fresnel screen and there is no way to get it out with out taking it apart. Sorry for the bad news but it is good news if it saves you money.
Edd yR

[rallycat]

Do the foam seals yourself & buy a handheld lightmeter to set the right exposure. Or, as EddyR says just set it to 1/125 & f11; color print film is flexible enough to give good results under most outside ocnditions.

Tom

[colinhester]

When shooting outside, try the sunny f/16 rule. This has worked very well for me on my old Argus cameras......Colin

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=005ghh