Minolta Hi-Matic 7S stuck aperture ring

Hi there, I'm a new member here and am not sure if this is where I should be posting this, if not could a mod move it for me. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone here has ever come across this issue before. As the thread name states I have a Hi-Matic 7s that has an aperture ring that gets stuck. It will move freely for a bit, but after a bit it gets stuck and wont move past f11. To fix this you have to turn the camera on its back and move from f1.8 to f11 a few times and wiggle the ring a bit. The thread mount on the front of the lens is bent and there is the possibility that the camera was dropped or bumped hard enough to mess something up. Any thoughts or help on this would be appreciated.Thanks.

Hi William,

Is the camera in auto or manual mode when this problem appears. Do you want to tackle the problem yourself? There are mechanical links from the metering to the aperture via a trap needle system. I have a few photo's of the internals. But you will have to partially dismantle he camera yourself.

Hi Greg,

The problem occurs when I have the camera in manual and move from f1.8 towards f22. I think I may be able to pull it apart myself. Worst case I get it free and leave the camera in auto and use it as is.

I've posted a lot of photos on Flickr. Peel back the leatherette on both sides of the lens, remove the two screws on either side. You can see the links through the access plate on the LHS of the lens plate. You can see in the photos where the linkages are. You can also see where I damaged one of the levers and attempted to repair it, Go gently without forcing anything.

Good luck

 

nickon51