Please Help! Shutter Problems for Minolta Hi-Matic

Hello all - I'm having trouble with my minolta hi-matic 9. The shutter will not fire correctly. Naphtha worked to free the blades of the shutter but now I'm having another problem where even a full press of the shutter release button is not sufficient to fire it. I have to manually work a lever deep within the lens to get the shutter to fire, and I'm hopeful that there is a way to fix this without disassembling the camera further. I took a video to more easily demonstrate my problem, I hope this link is allowed. It's just a quick 40 second video showing the exact problem:

 

 

Any help at all very appreciated.

 

Best,

 

Andrew

Two things come to mind: 1) Wear in the shutter release bits that's preventing full travel. 2) Shutter release bits are out of adjustment, preventing full travel.

 

A short cut to fixing it is to glue a small strip of tin plate to the trigger with long setting Araldite

The shutter release button of the Minolta HM-9 (and HM-11, probably HM-7- but I have not opened up one of those) has two parts- the release that you see, and a small metal stem that sits loosely inside of the release button. That latter part is easy to lose when opening the top of the camera for cleaning the VF and/or calibrating the RF.

 

If you have opened the top of the camera, verify that this metal piece is in place. If it is not in place, the shutter will not fire.

 

I just opened up my HM-9 to clean the viewfinder of haze, which was last done in 1976. I've had this camera since 1969, my first 35mm camera and a whole Summer of mowing lawns.

 

And to add- even the 1-second speed is still good, after 44 years since the last full CLA.

I took some pictures, hope this helps.

More images here-

 

Pop Your Top- Cleaning the Viewfinder for the Minolta Himatic 9, also applies to the 7, 7s, and 11.

 

GOTCHAS:

1) The Hot Shoe and PC cord are wired to the body, and this is easy to break. Have something to lay the top on while working on the camera in the upright position.

2) The shutter release button has TWO parts, and the small metal stem can fall out into the body when you remove the top. Remove the top with the camera on its back.

3) Washers: one on each end of the rewind shaft. I reassembled the rewind shaft after removing it to keep the washers in place.

 

When reassembling- lay the camera and top on their side, put the two-piece release in place on the top piece, then slide the top into place.

More images here-

 

Pop Your Top- Cleaning the Viewfinder for the Minolta Himatic 9, also applies to the 7, 7s, and 11.

 

GOTCHAS:

1) The Hot Shoe and PC cord are wired to the body, and this is easy to break. Have something to lay the top on while working on the camera in the upright position.

2) The shutter release button has TWO parts, and the small metal stem can fall out into the body when you remove the top. Remove the top with the camera on its back.

3) Washers: one on each end of the rewind shaft. I reassembled the rewind shaft after removing it to keep the washers in place.

 

When reassembling- lay the camera and top on their side, put the two-piece release in place on the top piece, then slide the top into place.

Win10 and Chrome out of control!

 

Moderator- please delete duplicate entries...

Just to add, found this on a Minolta AL-E: some of these cameras have an interlock when used on the "A"utomatic setting that prevents the shutter button being used to release the shutter. Always test the camera with it set to Manual Shutter and F-Stop.