minolta hi-matic fp shutter stuck
WoodMirLtd
Would someone please tell me the secret of getting things back to normal
when the shutter timer is set without good batteries in the camera? Even
after putting fresh batteries in, the shutter won't depress and the timer lever
will only travel about 1/4 of the way down. Does this mean mechanical shutter
trouble?
Thanks and regards,
Woody
Vasu Ramanujam
"professional", I believe. It doesn't look like we're talking about a Hi-matic FP
here because Hi-matic F's don't feature a self-timer. I don't believe the FP does,
either. Please correct me if this is false.
If that's the camera, the most likely problem is a corroded contact in the battery
compartment. I have fixed three by just cleaning and resoldering a contact.
Does the shutter click but not open without the batteries? That's normal with the
Hi-matic F. The camera needs obsolete 640 size button cells to operate. You can
make your own adapters to accept ordinary A76 / LR44 size batteries. Exposures will
be close enough for print film.
If the shutter won't depress fully, as you say, then a mechanical linkage may be
implicated. First, open the bottom of the camera and see what happens when you
attempt to operate the advance lever (but don't force it.) When taking off the
bottom plate, don't lose the bent spring that presses against the battery
compartment door. An abnormal condition should become visible if you study the
mechanism carefully. Something may be bent or a spring may have sprung off its
anchor. Look at all moving parts with a magnifier. If that doesn't help locate the
source of the trouble, you may have to open the top of the camera. That's trickier.
There are four hidden screws below the hot shoe that must come off and you have to
be careful not to break off the hot shoe contact.
In my experience with three supposedly dead Hi-matic F's, however, it's always been
a battery issue and never a mechanical problem. The mechanicals are very tiny and
very compactly and solidly put together in that camera.
I did encounter a mechanical problem with a Minolta Hi-matic E - that one has a
40mm/1.7 lens and a self-timer. The stuck shutter/self-timer problem had to be
addressed from the top of the camera, and involved a bent linkage and a spring that
had jumped off its seating. The top of the Hi-matic E comes off very easily. The
flash contacts are not wired to the body and no screws need to be removed from the
hot shoe base.
Sometimes, the problem is just a stuck self-timer. If you're lucky, it's just that
the self-timer hasn't completed its travel and all it needs is a firm but gentle
push back toward the lens with a fingertip. If the gears are engaged and you can
hear them whirr, then it's OK to apply gentle pressure. If the gears don't engage
and it feels very hard, no force should be applied on the lever. Sometimes,
simultaneously depressing the shutter button, pushing against the self-timer lever,
and restraining or wiggling a spring loaded part ( I don't know what to call it -
its a hooked piece that prevents rotation of the film advance lever until released)
at the base of the camera with a screwdriver tip or probe seems to cause everything
to slip back nicely into place. Wiggling the pin that releases the sprocket teeth
and allows film to be rewound also sometimes helps. There is a little black bit of
plastic protective cover that slides over the spring loaded sprocket pin. It may
fall off, and you may or may not want to put it back on.
Occasionally, the problem may have to be addressed from the top by pushing
against the self-timer *inside* the camera with a fine probe. Hard to see what
you're doing but if you're practiced you can do it by feel.
My observations are based on successfully repairing three Hi-matic Fs, four
Hi-matic E's, and damaging one Hi-matic E beyond any hope of repair. I accidentally
burned off a strand of some extremely fine wires in the interior of the camera
while trying to resolder a shaky battery contact.
The Hi-matic cameras are not that hard to fix! You can do it if I can do it.
Good luck!
Vasu Ramanujam
WoodMirLtd wrote:
--
Vasu Ramanujam
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