barnnies Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 Have becime the owner of a Minolta SRT 201. Works pretty good and looks like fun. Some help needed... 1) Can't use the meter as the battery is no longer available, it was a mercury battery... there fore 2) need to take pictures from the seat of my pants. Was looking for suggestions on setting F-stop/Shutter speed. Heard of the sunny 16 method. Not sure what it is. Comments? 3) I was thinking of a light meter but never used one or even know how they work. I also have a maxxum 4 setup but the SRT looks like fun. I would only use it in day light, no flash. Thanks in advance for any help and for all the help I have received here in the past! Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougs Posted July 6, 2003 Share Posted July 6, 2003 i use a hearing aid battery #675, its 1.4volt, the original mercury battery was 1.37 volts, meter over exposes about 1/3stop(nothing) the prob, it lasts only about a month and a half. but they are cheap, about $6.50 for a six pack at any chain drug store. use my 201 frequently... great camera...have fun regards Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris1664876655 Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 I agree. Get the battery. I used my 101 all weekend in Rockport, Gloucester and Boston MA. It IS fun. You may however, after you purchase a battery, that the meter no longer works period. Then you will have to rethink our options. Sunny F16 method will work. On a sunny day set your aperture to 16 and the shutter speed to the closest setting to the ISO film speed. If you are using 400 film set it to 1/500 of a second.....100 ISO goes to 1/125 of a second ..and so on. You can change your aperture or shutter speed as long as you change the other in an equal and opposite increment in order to keep the amount of light exposing the film the same. Simple. And it works because the film manufactures design the film to do that. It is not a random happy circumstance of film. Things you will enjoy about the 201 are the mirror lock up and I believe the ability to do double exposures. It is a classy camera. You will love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmueller Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 There are a number of workarounds for the mercury battery issue. These two articles will probably tell you more than you ever wanted to know: http://www.pcisys.net/~rlsnpjs/minolta/minolta.html http://www.rolleiclub.nl/batt-adapt-US.pdf Only if the meter is dead, I would consider other options like a hand held meter or sunny f16, because the built-in SRT meter is really pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas_green1 Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Get the 675 Hearing Aid Batteries. Once you know that the meter works, I buy them in an 18-pack for $11 at Costco. That many should last at least 2 years. They don't begin to drain until you activate them by pulling the air-tight tab off of them. At that point, air exposure, not useage, will drain them. In a very dry climate, they might wear out in a month. In a humid climate, you might get 4 months out of them. They are electrically identical to the Wein Cells that are sold in camera stores for $5-7. The Battery chamber of the SRT cameras is larger than the 675 size, so you need a spacer to fit the smaller 675 batteries. The perfect spacer is a Rubber #9 O-ring that costs under 30 cents at Home Depot or other plumbing shops. Also, the SRT's battery caps have a non-conductive decal which shows the battery orientation, in their center that needs to be removed if smaller 675-size batteries are to be used. That decal needs to be peeled off, and make sure that the stick-um that holds the decal is also removed, so you get conductivity between the battery and the battery cap. And once the decal is removed, remember that (+) faces up toward the cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnnies Posted July 7, 2003 Author Share Posted July 7, 2003 I am over whelmed by all the help I have received here at Photo.net. Because of you I got the meter working, but of course I just lost a good excuse for bad pictures! :) Thanks again! Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanleyBeck Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 I have an SRT 101 that I kept when I upgraded to an XD 11 some 23 years ago. I brought my SRT to a local camera repair shop for a 40-year check up, and they replaced the battery with one currently available, and recalibrated the meter. It work just great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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