Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Camera Repairman

Resealing My SRT-101
As I mentioned in an earlier post I would like to try and run some rolls of film through my Minolta SRT-101. My new batteries(replacement for the now illegal mercury batteries it takes) arrived last week and my kit to reseal the film door and mirror damper arrived yesterday. I've wiped, cleaned and scraped the old seals off and now I just need to install the new ones. The mirror damper was the hardest to deal with because it moves(above photo).
Most cameras that are at least 25 years or older need the seals replaced. After some research I found many camera collectors recommended Interslice on Ebay.com - he makes pre-cut seals for lots of older cameras and ships them with a tool and instructions. The kits cost 10 bucks, including shipping - compare that to the $40 Dodd Camera wanted to charge me just to look at my camera.
I'll know how good of a job I did when I get my first roll developed.....

*Check TheChiefSource.com today for more on 'Space Blazers'.

3 comments:

Tim Fitzwater said...

Getting the old seals off was really a pain with this camera. They were in really bad shape - crumbly and gooey. It looks like some of my other cameras will be a little easier to deal with.
I plan to order some kits for my Minolta X-700 and X-570 - and my Canon Canonet 28.

David S. said...

I've always been afraid to mess with my cameras myself. I could definitly save some money by trying.

Tim Fitzwater said...

It really wasn't that hard - it was more about patients.
It made me want to go farther into camera restoration - I have a few old ones with broken mechanical shutters.