Help! I want to get Minolta SRT serviced...

I know there's not supposed to be cross-posting, but the Minolta forum is mostly

auto-focus or digital, so i want to see if anyone here can help...

 

I need Minolta SRT expert for repair!

 

I have a couple of Minolta SRT cameras, a SRT 101 and a SR 505, both need a

little love, CLA, and repair.

 

There's Sherry Krauter for Leicas, Krimar for Rolleiflex, experts in Hasselblad,

Olympus, almost somebody for every major camera line.

 

Who is THE person to go to for Minolta SRT?

 

Haven't been able to find anyone like that online.

 

Thanks in advance!

Try typing MINOLTA SRT REPAIR into Google. And don't expect to find the answer on the first page.

Hi, Alan Having used an SRT 303 some years ago and much more recently, an SRT 101 with f1.4 lens from out of the Trophy Cupboard when my "user" Olympus OM1n MD suddenly developed a light leak on the back door, I can tell you that you're in the classic problem situation for a modern user of a classic 35mm SLR.

 

Like many others - the Konica Autoreflex T3n and Canon FTb for example - the Minolta SRT series are relatively common still, but not regarded as sufficiently collectable to keep their prices high enough to justify a CLA/service. It's a sad fact that you can buy today a working one for less than the cost of anything but the most basic CLA. So, unless you find a particularly philanthropic Repair Guru Guy, you're better off to track down a similar model still clicking and whirring A-OK and keep your recalcitrant one(s) for spares cannabalising.

 

I guess this is mainly due to the digital revolution - there are just too many older-style 35mm SLRs out there flooding the market, whose former owners have gone pixelly. Eventually things may balance out with a retro move back to film, once the lifespan of a typical digital becomes established at around 6 years before something disastrous and non-repairable happens to a PCB, LCD or whatever gizmo. At the moment, there are so many new all-singing and dancing models coming out with this and that better feature, that folks aren't staying with the older ones long enough to discover their short lifespan.

 

I predict that things will level out eventually with all the new stuff, so folks will start to keep their digital battery-muncher long enough to discover its very finite lifespan. Then there will be some interest back in 35mm SLRs with prices rising accordingly. When will all this happen, you ask? I'd say at least 10 years from now .........

You will get a first rate overhaul from Essex Camera Service in Carlstadt, NJ. There are plenty of parts SRT bodies around so I wouldnlt worry about whether your SRT cameras can be fixed. If you are on the West Coast you might also consider Photography On Bald Mountain in Davenport, CA.

Unfortunately, that's not really true any more that a "new" one is cheaper than an "old" one, because the SRTs are pushing 40 years old and even one that was never or slightly used is still going to need CLA and a bit of attention before becoming a frontline camera again.

 

So, yes, I could buy other examples, but chances are they are not going to be truly in better shape than mine -- which are technically functional -- shutters and film advance are good, meters gummed up (a common problem i understand) and a couple of small problems.

 

Whether you pay $25 for the camera or $100, either way you have to invest the care, unless you know how to DIY, which sadly I don't!

 

Anyway the Olympus OM cameras do not cost much more on the used market these days, same price for an OM-1 as a SRT, more or less, yet there's Camtech in Huntington, Long Island, NY, dedicated to servicing Olympus. He did some great work for me a couple of years ago.

Normally the SRT models do not require extensive service. They were well-built and durable cameras. You can do some of the service yourself with instructions I and other people have written. I have prepared some annotated images of the sticking shutter problem (very common problem), Mike Willegal has an excellent website detailing his work on the cameras, and I've written re-sealing instructions (you can see them at the KYPhoto site). If you want to know more, you can e:mail me at Jon_Goodman@yahoo.com.

 

Jon