Light Meter issue (Minolta Hi-matic 7s)

[APSUmusician]

Hi all!
I recently bought my first rangefinder, a Minolta Hi-matic 7s, which I'm happy with the first test roll but the light meter doesn't seem trust worthy at all.

I bought a Duracell 625a battery and most of the time the light meter is all the way up past the 5.7 EV factor. It doesn't always stay up there; when I put it directly at the sun, it goes down to about 11 EV. 15 minutes ago I was looking through the viewfinder and noticed that if I flip the camera upside down, the light meter goes all the way down to the bottom 17 EV.

I'm a little confused and wondering if it's the battery type, light meter, or it's supposed to be that way - which doesn't follow the sunny16 rule.

Any information on this would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'll be practicing without a light meter.

Take care,
Brandon

ALSO, interestingly enough the automatic setting works well despite the wonky light meter.

 

[ntenny]

When you say the automatic setting "works well", do you mean that it exposes well, or that it agrees with the wonky light meter?

If the exposure is right but the needle is wrong, maybe it's just a mechanical issue with the needle.

-NT

 

[APSUmusician]

The automatic set photographs were exposed correctly. So I guess it is the needle.

 

[CGW]

That confused me, too. If the "auto" setting producing OK exposures, then the meter's probably accurate. It's also possible that the alkaline PX625 replacement wasn't the freshest and is dying. These old Minoltas took mercury PX625 1.35v cells.Banned a decade ago, these long-lived batteries were once widely used.Their discharge curve was almost flat--meaning they produced a uniform voltage right up to the time they croaked.Alkaline cells' output drops as they discharge, so a dying or nearly dead 625 alkaline cell might be throwing off your camera's meter simply it's producing south of 1.5v or even 1.35v. I'd try for a fresh or fresher battery. If you think the pix are OK, then I'd live with it.

 

[APSUmusician]

It was brand new at BatteryPlus. Interesting. Thanks for the replies!