Minolta winder GP for cold weather?

[ant!]

Hi!

Last March (or something), when it was up here still end-winter-ish with -15C, my Minolta X570's battery died within seconds outside. It wasn't a super fresh battery, but of the Lithium type (the 3V one, which equals two stacked 1.5V LR44 or SR44). I replaced the battery since then, even though inside it was still working fine.

What are my options to avoid this in the future, since I am still not convinced the battery was that bad yet? I was thinking of the Winder GP (not Winder G!), the one which supplies the camera through a pin with juice from AA batteries, beside it's winder job, see here: http://www.collection-appareils.fr/accessoires/html/accessory-4081-Minolta_Auto Winder GP.html , so powering the camera from much bigger batteries which hopefully last longer in the cold. Does this make sense, would this work? Beside the difficulty of finder the GP, the G is cheap and easy to find, I haven't seen any GP since months...

Or it is better to use a mechanical SRT in the cold? I got one recently which seems in a good shape (but I guess a CLA never hurts for a mechanical one), would still need to replace the seals. Or would this make also problems in the cold, due to stiffer lubricants or whatever?

I love that my Pentax 645n has an external battery pack for the cold, so the batteries can stay under the coat in the warm...

 

[NB23]

Just the other day within this forum someone tried to prove a point against all mechaniical cameras and that problems involving battery cameras were “tiring” and overblown. And yet, all my battery cameras failed me one way or another. To the point where i’m all mechanical and never looking back.

You need a mechanical rf camera with a mechanical winder. Think canon or super and extremely high quality Sweet barnack Leicas. Cheap Too.

Never look back, barnacks are great.

 

[Paul Howell]

I have a 3rd party winder and the Minolta motor drive for the X700, I need to check to see if either will power the body without the camera's internal battery. In terms of a machinal camera, in the past when working I had my F2 and 3 winterized for a few assignments in cold weather, the standard lube was replaced with I think was a silicon. As my beat was sub Sahara Africa with most of my work in hot humid weather, once winterized I never had a problem in a warm environment. Not sure who would winterized a mechanical camera.

 

[ant!]

Beside the extreme cold, I never had a problem with the batteries, and I like the tiny bit of automatic and in-camera lightmeter. But yeah, winter is long here.
And most mechanical cameras I had in my hand had more or less drift in their shutter speeds, which can be certainly fixed in a CLA. Speeds on the battery operated ones were always spot on even after 50 years, in case there were no other problems.
And old oil gets stiff in the cold as well... So, I guess both have their advantages and disadvantages, I wouldn't generalize...

 

[ant!]

The MD1, which I have as well, and the Winder G do not use the battery pin, they only wind. I saw a couple of 3rd party ones, some had interval features etc, but I haven't seen the battery pin, which might still exist in a version somewhere I guess...

 

[NB23]

I’m certainly not recomending you to buy a 50 Year old camera with 50 year old Gooey lube and to travel the Globe with it. But I certainly recommend to have them totally cleaned, relubed and adjusted. You’ll have another 30 Years of pure enjoyment.

Also, there is a reason why every serious amateur or Pro left Minolta for
nikon, back then: no mechanical Cameras, or very few. A FM2/n was the answer to a lot of questions, and your problem seems to be the typical problem of a lot of people back then who went to Nikon...

Beside the extreme cold, I never had a problem with the batteries, and I like the tiny bit of automatic and in-camera lightmeter. But yeah, winter is long here.
And most mechanical cameras I had in my hand had more or less drift in their shutter speeds, which can be certainly fixed in a CLA. Speeds on the battery operated ones were always spot on even after 50 years, in case there were no other problems.
And old oil gets stiff in the cold as well... So, I guess both have their advantages and disadvantages, I wouldn't generalize...

 

[xkaes]

The Minolta GP winder is in a class by itself. It is the only PRE-MAXXXUM winder that will power the camera -- and it will do this on any camera that can use the G autowinder. There are a LOT of them. These cameras are not only Minolta SLRs. Many of the Seagull, Soligor, Phoenix, Vanta, Vivitar, Centon, Carena, Kalimar, etc. cameras can accept the G and GP winders.

And Minolta made film winders that power the later MAXXUM cameras as well, such as the BP-200 for the MAXXUM 5.

But the GP winder is very hard to find and, as a result, pretty expensive.

More importantly, it won't solve your battery problem.

All batteries slow down as they get cold -- especially when they are not completely charged.

Your only option is to keep the batteries as warm as possible (DO NOT HEAT THEM UP) and insert them just before use. In very cold conditions, after an extended period of time, remove the cold battery and insert a warm one from your pocket. Warm the cold battery up and it will work fine.

Rinse and repeat.

This method should work fine, but another option is a camera with a mechanical shutter. You can use the internal meter -- if it has one, but you will have the same problem with the battery -- or get a meter with a selenium cell. No battery needed.

Just a tip from a "serious amateur or Pro" who did not leave "Minolta for nikon".

 

[ant!]

left Minolta for nikon, back then: no mechanical Cameras, or very few

I think there were plenty of SRT and SR, all mechanical: http://rokkorfiles.com/SRT Series.htm and http://rokkorfiles.com/SR Series.htm . I have a SRT102 which might only need some minor work. But I love my XD11, X570, XE7. And all the lenses i have. My autocord is mechanical, but a TLR. My maxxum 7 and the weathermatic 35 need batteries though.
I don't really care what a professional in the 70s would have chosen for whatever reasons, the Minolta are great for me. And buying a camera a professional used to death and went through war with is probably in a worse condition now then most higher end Minolta. Plus, lenses are cheaper and likely similar good, at least nothing to complain for me...

 

[Paul Howell]

If you find someone to winterize your 102 you should be good shape. I have a number of A mount bodies, a X700, but there is something about my 102 that is really nice to work with. Reading about shooting in cold weather in the 50s and 60s, seems that selenium meters were widely used, no battery at all, reading were considered to be more accurate than a battery driven meter.