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beauty Minolta
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2024 12:42 pm    Post subject: beauty Minolta Reply with quote
I've got the x700 with the macro zoom in pretty dirty look, but now the camera seems to be working and lens lens fungus it cleaned pretty nice , except a pair next to de aperture that comes in a metal shell (couldn't acces the interior). If anyone has an idea how and what should I do to clean< to be able to see properly the aperture on the viewfinder, now is visible but kind of blurry.

Last edited by kiddo on Tue Jun 11, 2024 2:48 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2024 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Congrats!


PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2024 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I guess I've found the answer : "Now you can see the Judas Window arrangement which displays the lens aperture into the viewfinder. Its best not to mess with this as getting the mirror and lens aligned can be a painful experience but if you are missing an aperture mirror (very common on X series) this is where it would be mounted" - should it be a problem cleaning that mirror with ear buds and isopropyl alcohol without removing it?
And the link:
https://high5cameras.com/all-articles/repair/minolta-x-700-capacitor-replacement/


PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2024 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
I guess I've found the answer : "Now you can see the Judas Window arrangement which displays the lens aperture into the viewfinder. Its best not to mess with this as getting the mirror and lens aligned can be a painful experience but if you are missing an aperture mirror (very common on X series) this is where it would be mounted" - should it be a problem cleaning that mirror with ear buds and isopropyl alcohol without removing it?
And the link:
https://high5cameras.com/all-articles/repair/minolta-x-700-capacitor-replacement/


Possibly cleaning that mirror may help, but I suspect it has been cemented onto its bracket; not sure if isopropyl alcohol might loosen that cement. I would try some water first with a slightly damp (not dripping!) q-tip or something similar, and very gently of course; those mirrors are easy to misalign.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2024 12:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you, finally the fix was much easier, it was lot of dirt on the screen that is sitting inside the front cover (the one that needs to be removed with 2 screws), as the problem on the viewfinder was that it wasn't displaying properly the aperture . On the xg-m it only shows black screen where it should show the aperture in the viewfinder, so the problem might be complex I guess.

Otoh I guess you do have previous experience dismantling the macro zoom 35-70mm 3.5. Do you think there should be any way to open the elements that are sitting inside the metal capsule next to the aperture? I did look properly but couldn't find any way to do it.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2024 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
Thank you, finally the fix was much easier, it was lot of dirt on the screen that is sitting inside the front cover (the one that needs to be removed with 2 screws), as the problem on the viewfinder was that it wasn't displaying properly the aperture . On the xg-m it only shows black screen where it should show the aperture in the viewfinder, so the problem might be complex I guess.

Otoh I guess you do have previous experience dismantling the macro zoom 35-70mm 3.5. Do you think there should be any way to open the elements that are sitting inside the metal capsule next to the aperture? I did look properly but couldn't find any way to do it.


From memory when servicing my copies of this MDIII 35-70/3.5 version, as well as looking at it right now from the outside, I believe that is one of those cells with a burnished mount, which makes them nigh impossible to remove. Unfortunately Minolta constructed a lot of their late MDI/II and MDIII era zooms with burnished mounts on the inside, which means servicing the inner elements on these zooms (near the aperture, usually) is frequently impossible.

(In a burnished mount the element(s) is(are) not held in place by a threaded retaining ring, but rather by thin metal lip that is carefully deformed and pressed down over the edge of the exterior element. The only way to open those cells is to carefully grind/cut away the burnished edge and glue the element(s) back in place after cleaning. You will find some of the mass-produced MDIII primes such as the 50/2, 50/1.7, 135/3.5 also have a burnished mount of the cells.)


PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2024 3:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
i´m not sure i could open it without braking it and fix it with glue on the right way, so the only option would be to expose lens to the sun
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