Minolta CLE repair in Europe

[pumrel]

Hi everybody,

I've had my Minolta CLE for about a year and it seems to me it's dying. The exposure meter is going crazy. I just had the contacts cleaned up as I thought it might have been the issue but it just got worse. Now even the shutter speeds are inconsistent. Be it in manual or A mode. Do you think it might be still repairable? Do you know anybody in Europe who could look into it?

 

[Laurent]

I've been very happy with Gerard Metrot, who was head of Leica and Rolleiflex repairs shops in France for decades. He's now retired but still doing some work.

http://ateliergms.com/home.html

The CLA for my Rolleiflex did not cost too much and was greatly done...

 

[pumrel]

Thank you very much. I'll try to write him and ask him if something can be done. However I don't have high hope. A lot of people don't repair these Minolta's anymore.

 

[RMD]

Probably your best bet is Runtime in Bremen.
They are the old Minolta service centre in Europe,
and,for example,about the only place in Europe to
get the Dynax 9 repaired. So,I would suspect they
are the only outfit able to fix a CLE.

Runtime Contract GmbH
Betriebsstätte Bremen, Hohweg 5, 28219 Bremen, Germany
Phone : +49(0)421/52628-0
Fax : +49(0)421/52628-111

repairinfo@runtimecontract.biz
(Note that Runtime do not ship outside Europe)

 

[pumrel]

Thanks a lot. This looks really promising.

 

[ath]

Have a look at Arlüwa in Cologne. http://www.arluewa.de/service.html
They list the CLE as a camera they service and are known as Minolta specialist. I had a long talk with the owner about the clutch in my XD7. I'm sure they know what they are doing.

 

[pumrel]

They really list Minolta CLE on their sites. That's really interesting. However they don't have an email contact on their sites. Don't you have one please? I'm a bit afraid of calling them. I don't know practically a word in german. I know I should have learnt it because it's quite useful

 

[ath]

Sorry, i have no email either. I just went in their shop...

Maybe just an old fashioned letter? Or get german speaking support when calling them.
Or just try - maybe they speak english.

 

[pumrel]

You're right. I know someone who speaks german. I'll have him call them (^_^) But first I'll make sure she knows how to say shutter and exposure meter in german (^o^)

 

[AgX]

Send them a fax.

Add an automated translation. The key words would Verschluss and Belichtungsmesser.

 

[ath]

According to their service page the Arlüwa people speak english and french as well.

 

[Trask]

I believe the CLE is based in large part on the metering and shutter circuits that Minolta were using in Minolta SLRs of that era. As these SLRs are now relatively cheap, you may find that having one on hand to offer to the repairman as a parts camera will help.

Good luck -- I've got a CLE too, and use it frequently. Just FYI, I found it frustrating to switch from AE to manual, which I occasionally want to do because the CLE has no exposure lock. On a standard CLE, you have to push down a small button to move off of AE and into the manual shutter speeds; having to push that little button means taking the camera away from your eye and maybe losing the shot. So when in for a CLA, I had the little button disabled, so now I can rotate the dial easily from AE to manual. So if I meter a scene or part of a scene and know that I want to hold the exposure at, say, 1/60th, I can just spin the dial around quickly to 1/60, recompose and take the shot. Of course you have to remember to go back to AE afterwards, if you wish. The one downside to this modification is that it makes setting the ISO on the dial a little fiddly, but otherwise I like the flexibility. You may wish to consider this mod if you're sending your camera off for a CLA.

 

[pumrel]

Well I have heard that too, that the CLE shares a lot of common parts with other Minoltas. But a lot of service centers either don't know that or are not willing to use parts from another camera. Usually I was said that there are no spare parts for the CLE and therefore they won't help me.

But I had my mother call the Arlüwa service center (she speaks german) and apparently there was somebody who didn't even know if Minolta CLE is film or digital but then she spoke with some repairman and he said that they would repair. Frankly, I was a bit surprised but I will be nervous until I get my Minolta back and will check that it really works

Well, about the button. When I first got my Minolta I also thought it was a bit unfortunate but soon I got a knack of using it. And you don't have to lift your eye away from the vf. I just press it with the side of the tip of my index and then with the tip of my finger I rotate the shutter wheel CCW. It's really easy and the wheel is only locked when on A so whet you turn it past it the button does not need to be pressed anymore. A much better change would be to have the meter reading also in manual imo. However I don't know it is doable.

 

[pumrel]

I just wanted to keep you up to date in case somebody encounters the same problem as me. So apparently Arluwa would have been able to repair the Minolta CLE and they diagnosed the issue as coming from the shutter. However they told me that the cost of the repair would have been about €240 so I decided not to have it repaired as I thought it was too much and it was also just a bit less than what I bought it for. I'm a bit down now as it really is a lovely little camera that is fun to use. Well now it's on my shelf and when I have enough to spend on the repair I'll know where to send it.