john_robison4

Even if a batt checks good I always try a different one to be sure. Before that I make sure battery contacts are really clean. Then switch back and forth between manual and auto several times to swipe any dirty contacts in the internal switch. If all that fails you might want to carefully remove the bottom cover and battery compartment to see if a wire has come loose. That's as far as I go, after that it camera repairman time.

My lovely bride (of 28 years) is not at all interested in cameras or photography but supports me when I want to buy film or paper or pick up an orphan camera and take it home. She has her addiction, handbags and purses, and I have mine. Fortunately both of us share one trait, we are frugal, so not to much income is spent on either.

@ Fred, thanks for the research and info. @ Brian, yeah, I often think when I see these "Some new photography student could use that". I've given away a number of such cameras. @Brett, the light trap is quite narrow with a good fit to the door perhaps I'll clip a 3 inch piece of ISO 400, lay it on the inner rails and then rotate the camera out in the sunlight, take it back into the darkroom and develop the clip. @ JDM, you got it bad I can see, now I feel better. To all who gave sympathy (and warnings of addiction) , thank you.

<p>Normally the focus slider should have a piece that protrudes into the camera and pushes on the arm on the front element assembly. Surprised that that is broken as it is a low stress part. I haven't had mine apart for several years but when reassembling you had to be careful the focusing slider arm engaged the tab on the front element housing, if it slipped past it then as you say the lens was always at infinity. </p>

I think my Zeiss Box Tengor is "better". After all it's got German engineering too, it's the 'Zeiss' of box cameras.

What is it? I have no use for it. I already have way too many cameras. But.........it is such a deal! Back in 1979 I was selling these for $200, that's two hundred 1979 dollars! Now it sits, upside down on a shelf, piled in with other junk at a Value Village. A Minolta SRT MC II mounting a 50 f1.7 Rokkor X.....for $12.99 A quick run through shows functions appear nominal. Meter works, looks like it is about a stop over exposing. The plastic thingy on the advance lever missing. (What is it about those things?) Body clean, vf clean, lens clean and aperture snappy, can't tell if the flash sync works till I get it home (it did). So, the compulsion kicked in and I buy it. Now what, oh yeah, needs foam, better get Jon Goodmans email, by the way, anyone know it, I can't find where I wrote it down. So now I have yet another classic SLR that I probably won't have time to do much with and will feel guilty whenever I see looking at me from the camera cabinet. Like the title says, compulsion!

On my Minox IIIs the negatives all show a bit of a hair, perhaps .7 mm long protruding from the top of the negative ( thus the bottom of the film cavity) I noticed it on the last roll and before I loaded a new roll I made attempt to clean the film chamber by holding it upside down and puffing air from a rocket blaster to dislodge the offending obstruction. The last roll just now still shows that damm hair. What's next, disassemble the whole camera to get at it? I thought about dragging one of those tiny dental interplac brushes through the film gate but am cautious about such extreme measures. Any ideas.

<p>I assume you are asking about the 35mm Minox cameras and not the 8X11 cameras.</p>

Weren't these windows a little prism cemented to the pentaprism? Perhaps the cement failed and the small prism has shifted position. To verify that you would have to remove the top I think.

Before rushing out and buying another camera I would determine just why your pictures are out of focus. Are you sure you can see the screen clearly? Have you tried other SLR's and been able to focus accurately? When I sold cameras in the 70's, including the SRT and customers came back with poor results, especially fuzzy pictures I found the reasons evenly devided between not being able to focus on a SLR screen and camera shake. Often an appropriate diopter on the eyepiece would solve the focusing problem (although good luck trying to find them to fit older cameras today). Yes, there could be something wrong or out of alignment with your SRT that could cause screen focus to not be accurate film plane focus but that failure is fairly rare. So.........I would make doggone sure the problem lies with the camera before laying out my hard earned cash for another used camera body.

<p>If you go out to make some photographs and find you always backing up to get more in the frame then you need a wider angle lens. If, on the other hand you find you are often moving closer to get less in the frame then you need a narrower angle lens. Basic but true.</p>

<p>There could be some kind of adjustment of the shutter release stroke that needs adjusting. Other than that I have no clue. Here is the bad news. A Nikkormat FT3 black body in EX condition at KEH is $49, so, if you have to send this to a repair place to fix it then it's a toss up as far as expense. How badly do you want to own a working Nikkormat is the question only you can answer.</p> <p>Just another thought, does the shutter work ok with a cable release? If it does then it must be some problem with the length of the shutter release button stroke. </p>

<p>Be careful Elena! Half frame will grow on you and before you know it you are looking for a Olympus Pen F and a set of lenses. Seriously, half frame has it's charm. I've been shooting it for 45 years, ever since a chance encounter with a little Oly Pen VF camera. There it sat, in the window of a Chicago camera store, small, cute and lonely. I could not resist the idea of 72 exposures on a 36 exp roll and have never been without a half frame from that time forward. </p>

<p>By the way, almost forgot to thank you for the information about scanning. Have to check that out although probably way out of my retired income bracket. You see, I'm an inveterate tinkerer. Over the decades I have collected a lot of photographic junk (and way too many cameras). So I often find a way to cobble together a Rube Goldberg device to do what I want to do. I get much more pleasure from this activity than actually using the contraptions I build. Go figure. </p>

<p>Yes, I casually looked into a Minox enlarger but yikes, the prices! I have a Olympus E-410 and can fit either of a couple of legacy 1:1 macro lenses I have to it. That would get me to a minimum field size of 13X17mm and then add a 25mm extension tube should get me the rest of the way there. I also have a Mamiya Enla head that can be mounted onto the 39mm threads of an enlarger lens board. I'm not thinking of truly monumental prints. I think I'll keep it to about 5X7 (that is still a little over 13X of magnification) I have several Minolta 16mm cameras and have printed their 10X14mm negs using the Enla head.</p> <p>I've had the Minolta 16II cameras for 15 years or so but the Minox purchase was a fluke. I was content with the Minoltas and had not considered another submini format. One reason was the film issue. For many years new 8X11 film was almost impossible to source. There were many empty promises from Minox in Germany that it would be available "soon" but no film appeared. Finally Blue Moon Camera secured a supply of the empty cartridges and started to stock it as a regular item. Then last year at a photo show there was a table where the guy had several IIIs samples and all appeared to be both cosmetically clean and functional. He only wanted $40 each and I got to pick out which one. It came with the measuring chain and worn but serviceable case. When I got back from the show I set to work obtaining cartridges, 3 NOS from ebay (discarded the very out of date color film) and 2 fresh from Blue Moon. Then took one of the old Yankee reels and modified it to develop 9.2mm film. Also built another pull through film slitter to cut two films from 35mm. (No, I didn't set it up to cut one 16 and one 9.2 from a 35mm strip but still might build that slitter in the future.)</p> <p>So now the only thing left to make is neg holders. I'll sew three runs into 120 film Clear File pages to hold 4 strips of film per 120 or 16 strips per page. I shoot 24 exposure loads so that will be 8 rolls per page. The only other item I've bought was a Binocular clamp, I found a cheap but good one on ebay as a BIN for less than $20 shipped. It mostly does duty as a tripod adapter.</p> <p>My Minoltas are feeling lonely and rejected but I'll get back to them too.</p>

<p>Well Martin, almost all my support equipment is modified regular developing stuff I already had on hand. From an old plastic Yankee reel I cut down, reducing the depth of the grooves and the diameter of the reel and fixing the spacing at 10mm. I only load 16.5 to 17 inches into a cassette for a total of 24 exposures. This length slips on the reel very easy and the development looks completely even. o<br> Once I have the film in hand slipping it on the reel takes no more than 5~10 sec. <br> I have successfully developed 4 rolls already. Except for exposure blunders the negs have come out fine. Call me cheap I guess. The single most expensive item, other than the $40 for the camera, a clean and working IIIs, has been film from Blue Moon. I don't think it is overpriced. They get the empty cartridges and coffins from Minox. Then they have to felt them, and load slit film. So, quite a bit of work for $20 each.<br> I could always spend a lot more money but I've been a DIY type of person all my life. </p> <p>I want to say I follow your posts with interest. Thank you for keeping up with this forum. Without you it would be dead. I hope a few other Minox users will also share their experience. We need new blood. I will try to learn how to post images, will try to get my computer nerd wife to help me as I've never posted any images anywhere on the internet. </p>

<p>Thanks Martin. Now, to load exposed film in the darkroom I use a different method. When I finish the last exposure I pump the camera twice, open and remove the film cart, and then pull the remaining bit of film from the feed side and just leave it like that. In the darkroom I pull out the film from the take up side, snip it off and load onto the reel. Later, in room light, when I reload the cart I open and remove the last stub of film from the take up spool and then reload the cartridge.<br> I think I'm getting this workflow for the Minox settled into a method that works. Now all I have to do is sew up 120 neg holders to take 4 strips of film each. Then I'll have a place for the negs. Right now they are in 35mm file pages. </p>

<p>Hello fellow 8X11 Minox users. I was just wondering if anyone had tried to use minox cartridges with a cracked or broken bridge. Being clumsy, I managed to break the bridge on one of my precious cartridges trying, in total darkness, to unsnap the cover on a finished roll. I have thought about just removing the bridge and loading the feed and take up sides of the cart. just wondering if anyone had tried this. Replacement cartridges from Blue Moon Camera, loaded with film are $20 each, plus whatever shipping is. Bit spendy but I might just have to order anothe couple of cartridges from them. </p>