FWIW: Minolta Spotmeter M

My Minolta spotmeter quit working and, since I had nothing to lose, I opened it up to see what might have failed. It turns out there is a ribbon cable that joins the viewfinder display to the PCB and that conduit had separated. Most ribbon cables are attached with sockets but this was simply a mylar substrate with deposited conductive material as conductors (instead of copper) and the end that terminated at the display was simply pressed on with some sort of adhesive that dried out and the ribbon cable lifted off the glass display substrate (there was no additional mechanical support). The adhesive strip wasn't more than approximately 0.030" wide. The other end of the ribbon cable that terminated at the PCB, same method, had an adhesive strip .33" wide and was much more robust.

Bottom line: the means by which the PCB communicates with the viewfinder display is very poor quality and a very fragile connection and, as I witnessed, will separate at the display end. The way the ribbon cable is routed internally keeps constant stress on that junction. The failed junction is, unfortunately, non-repairable.

It is almost certain the Spotmeter F has the same construction. I won't be replacing the spotmeter with another Minolta after observing the method used to join the two modules; however, PCB construction/quality and internal wiring were quite good. If your viewfinder display quits, it is quite likely the ribbon cable has separated.

Not sure what years the Minolta Spotmeters were produced but the adhesive has to be quite old.

My Minolta F spot meter display bled and had after a flight and then cold weather. I tried to fix it, but trashed it. Was a really nice meter. I especially liked the H highlight and S shadow easy buttons for tranparency exposures

Excellent concept, poor execution!

• Quality Light Metric
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  Phone number (323) 467-2265

I recommend these folks for any light meter repair. Have repaired/recalibrated 2 meters for me. Even have a way to fix selenium cell (old Weston Master) meters.

A couple of months ago, I bought a nice Minolta spotmeter F from KEH.Com, in bargain condition, meaning it was near perfect. It didn't function correctly so I sent it back and received a excellent + replacment, which had a short somewhere and was not usable.

KEH did not have another Minolta to send out so I took a refund and bought a Pentax V and a Luna Pro F to cover spot and flash.
I had a new Minolta M back in the early 1980's and loved that meter. That said, I doubt I'll go back to digital meters, at least used ones, any time soon. The fact that the two analog tools take up a third of my favorite small bag is just a small price to be paid for old school reliability, IMO.

eli griggs said:

A couple of months ago, I bought a nice Minolta spotmeter F from KEH.Com, in bargain condition, meaning it was near perfect. It didn't function correctly so I sent it back and received a excellent + replacment, which had a short somewhere and was not usable.

KEH did not have another Minolta to send out so I took a refund and bought a Pentax V and a Luna Pro F to cover spot and flash.
I had a new Minolta M back in the early 1980's and loved that meter. That said, I doubt I'll go back to digital meters, at least used ones, any time soon. The fact that the two analog tools take up a third of my favorite small bag is just a small price to be paid for old school reliability, IMO.

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Interesting choices! I have also gone back back to using the Pentax V; analog is indeed better-for me!