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minolta weathermatic 35 dl af


dusty_p.

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<p>hi guys,<br>

i recently purchased a minolta weathermatic 35 dl af, I am having some issues and I am wondering wether it is me or the camera.<br>

1. there doesnt seem to be ae/af lock on the camera like it says in the manual, when i depress the shutter half way, nothing seems to happen. no indication of any sort in the viewfinder either.<br>

2. when i load the film, and put it under the pressure plate, the camera start winding it forwards, by itslef, and it doesn't stop until the entire film is wound/exposed. when i close the back, the winding stops, but it stil winds up and wastes a lot of film, and it seems somewhat weird to be doing that.<br>

3. when i am done with a roll, it doesnt wind the film back in the camera like it says it the manual, and i have no idea how to wind it otherwise.<br>

help with any of those issues will be greatly appreciated.<br>

much thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>Do you have the right batteries in it. That model doesn't like alkaline, nor NiCd. Try some lithiums in it. <br>

The shutter button may have corrosion inside. Try pressing the shutter button about a gazilllion times, sometimes w/ a little off side pressure, and see what happens. The camera is probably designed, from what I can gather, to wind the whole film into the camera. So it may be working OK in that regard. If it won't rewind the film, it may be that battery issue.</p>

 

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<p>I have a Weathermatic Dual 35, which worked for a long time until its 35-50 control died. Mine winds film on when the lid is closed, and rewinds when the last shot is fired. I never noticed any focus lock on mine either, and nothing happens between nothing and firing the shutter. If anything does happen, though, I don't think you'll see anything in the viewfinder. </p>

<p>I don't know whether this came in different models, but mine can only take a lithium 6 volt battery, and I don't know what might happen if this gets weak, but I doubt it will wind wrong. </p>

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<p>I have a Weathermatic Dual 35, which worked for a long time until its 35-50 control died. Mine winds film on when the lid is closed, and rewinds when the last shot is fired. I never noticed any focus lock on mine either, and nothing happens between nothing and firing the shutter. If anything does happen, though, I don't think you'll see anything in the viewfinder. </p>

<p>I don't know whether this came in different models, but mine can only take a lithium 6 volt battery, and I don't know what might happen if this gets weak, but I doubt it will wind wrong. </p>

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<p><a href="http://www.butkus.org/chinon/minolta/minolta_weathermatic_35dl/minolta_weathermatic_35dl.htm">The manual says (link to Mike Butkus' site) </a>it'll take 4 AAA cells, but I always used the 6v Li battery pack (Duracell DL223A), as it lasted a lot longer (almost 3x the # of rolls...).</p>

<p>As for the film winding issue, check the weatherseal o-ring is in the right place, and not touching anything it shouldn't. There must be a contact someplace that tells the camera to start winding the film, and maybe the o-ring is pressing on that.</p>

<p>Interesting tidbit: Though it will accept DX-coded film from 100 to 1000 ISO, it can only set 100 ISO or 400 ISO... It also has a land-based twin, but I'm not sure the exact model #...</p>

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<p>Dusty,<br>

<br />You peaked my curiosity and I bought a Weathermatic Dual35 off Ebay and got it yesterday.</p>

<p>This model does take either 6V lithium 223A or 4 AAA batteries. Like many older cameras, it took several tens of minutes to begin to work. I've noticed on many older bodies like this (and lots of used, older industrial/scientific instruments at my factory) that the electronics take a while to "wake up". It is shear speculation, but I think aged electrolytic caps need time to reform and make the circuit balanced again.</p>

<p>Anyhow, the body reminds me a lot of the Nikon ActionTouch AW, but this one floats on its own without a buoyant add-on to the strap. Neat concept with the 35mm or 50mm lens. My 5 year old granddaughter uses a Nikon as her "film" camera, as it is virtually indestructible.</p>

<p>A. As to the shutter and focus lock...<br>

I'll be darned if I can feel or see anything happen when looking at the lens with a half-depress. I do detect a mild detent in the button about halfway down but I do not see anything occur until the shutter is fully depressed. At that time the lens moves and focuses and the exposure is made. Regarding the Nikon, with a half depress one can hear a whir inside the body and then an exposure occurs when the shutter is fully depressed. In fairness, I cannot see any lens element movement in the Nikon either with the half-depress but I do hear a motor whir momentarily. This does not mean that some triangulation/rangefinder measurement is not made and stored with a half-depress for the eventual exposure.</p>

<p>B. With regard to winding on and then no rewind ...<br>

Wow, that's a stinker. If there is nothing obvious and since it is electronic I haven't much to offer. Must be some sort of "switch or eye" that controls that. If you look at the upper right corner of the film gate, with the film pressure plate opened, you see a sprocket. I believe that is part of either an optical or Hall Effect encoder that counts sprocket holes and tells the camera how the film has advanced. If it is optical and if there is any "schmutz" in it you may be able to dislodge it with tweezers, small brush or a small blast of air. Beyond that, it's not likely to be a simple DIY repair.</p>

<p>I'll have some fun in the days to come with my new "bumble bee".<br>

<br />Below, photo of Minolta and Nikon and then the encoder location.</p>

<p>Jim M.</p>

<div>00bNhf-521491684.jpg.fadfbe3772d7488db0ef3aec42a8ce69.jpg</div>

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  • 1 month later...

<p>I too just got a Weathermatic (thrift store C$1.50) and with batteries it works.<br>

But I noticed after a few minutes the casing was warm and the NiCads were hot to the touch...probably why Lithiums are recommended. Inside the battery compartment is a spring-loaded separator to keep the AAAs correctly positioned; push it down with a finger and that would be how the 6v slides into place.<br>

Auto-everything would mean the lens is fixed focus, no movement when you take a picture, but the "lens select" button (black, near the big yellow one on top) moves lens elements to select the 35mm or 50mm focal lengths for wide view or closer up. And for the auto-wind I have found a small detent that is activated when the back is shut, just below the widest part of the stainless pressure plate spring; its mate is the plastic moulded bump on the back's inner side, right of centre, low down.<br>

Now for a question to Weathermatic owners; does anyone have an U/W Viewfinder for sale?</p>

 

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  • 2 years later...

<p>Hey there. I'm sorry for bumping up an old thread. I'm also new to the forum and couldn't find another thread about the weathermatic 35dl and its issues anywhere else on the internet.</p>

<p>Just got a weathermatic and loaded it with 4 brand new AAA batteries and a roll of film. I followed the instructions on the camera's manual and it automatically pulled the tip of the film roll once I closed the back plate. Everything is right, it turns on, but just won't shoot. Whenever I push the shutter a red light lights by the right side of the viewfinder and that's it. The manual says this red light indicates the shutter is locked for one of these reasons:</p>

<p>a) <strong>Low batteries </strong> - I don't think so, the batteries are new </p>

<p>b) T<strong>he film wasn't adequately loaded</strong> - Well, I doubt it very much. The spool pulled the film, actually it pulled even more than it was supposed to because I opened the back door twice to check it and each time </p>

<p>c) <strong>Flash didn't load</strong> - Idk if this could be the problem because I'm using new batteries. The manual suggests you hold the shutter button to warm the flash up and release it once the red light turns off. I think I spent 1 min holding that button and nothing happened.</p>

<p>Also, the manual says that once you load film correctly the exposure counter will go from "0" to "1". Mine is forever stuck at "0". Well, once it somehow changed to "1" when I left my camera on for a day by mistake, but this drained my batteries and I couldn't shoot, had to change batteries and reload film... back to square "0". </p>

<p>I ust wanted to know if anyone had this problem with their camera and if it worth it to take it to repair as it is working, just not functioning right. Thanks in advance!</p>

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