Minolta XD5 intermittent metering error

Helge · Apr 4, 2022

Just got a XD5 yesterday for a song.
It is in pretty good condition and would be a nice backup to my XD7.

It does however exhibit a meter reading that is one or two stops too high, about a third of the time.

The rest of the time it is bang on.

That is, checked against other Minolta bodies and a meter.

It seems the problem is worse in S mode, but it could also be that it’s simply easier to detect in that mode.

Could it have something to do with the max aperture feeler, that detects that the lens is set to auto aperture?

It seems the over reading can often be “massaged” away by gently pumping the half press or working the compensation/ISO dial.
That makes me hope that it is a connection problem, and not a capacitor or IC starting to malfunction.

Anyone had a similar problem?

dynachrome · Apr 4, 2022

The last XD repair I had done might have been 7-10 years ago. I don't know who would work on one now. My XD-11 is a pleasant enough camera to use but I think other Minolta manual focus models are more sturdy. I have a fleet of X-700s and they can still be repaired. I also have many SRTs. I have a working XE-5 and I'm not in a hurry to get any more XE models.

Helge · Apr 4, 2022

dynachrome said:
The last XD repair I had done might have been 7-10 years ago. I don't know who would work on one now. My XD-11 is a pleasant enough camera to use but I think other Minolta manual focus models are more sturdy. I have a fleet of X-700s and they can still be repaired. I also have many SRTs. I have a working XE-5 and I'm not in a hurry to get any more XE models.

Don’t know what to make of that.
Unless you are John Titterington?
Sure, I have both X-700/570/300 and all of the SR-t models, and they are wonderful cameras. But the two XDs does a few things, that makes them interesting. S mode, better double exposure and a slightly better shutter for instance.
I just need to hear from someone who has experience with the XD5 and the metering being intermittently off.

John Koehrer · Apr 5, 2022

does the xd5 have a follower on the body that moves when the aperture ring is turned?
It's also been years since I worked on one too.

Helge · Apr 5, 2022

John Koehrer said:
does the xd5 have a follower on the body that moves when the aperture ring is turned?
It's also been years since I worked on one too.

It does.
I have daddled with it to see if that could be the problem.
The follower on some lenses aperture ring doesn’t push it as far as others.
Guess that has to do with max aperture, and not slack.
But a slight misalignment might cause trouble?

Could a bad connection with the battery compartments holder be causing the fluctuations described?

gone · Apr 5, 2022

Helge said:
It seems the over reading can often be “massaged” away by gently pumping the half press or working the compensation/ISO dial.

That should be your problem, it couldn't be anything else (although w/ electrical that's not necessarily true, electrical issues aren't always logical. especially intermittent ones). It should be cause and effect. I'd buy a can of electrical cleaner and give that area a spray. Let it soak in, and after a few hours turn the dial back and forth a few times. Shutter buttons will do this on older cameras too and the same thing works for them. A lot of times the contacts just get a film on them over time from the ambient air and humidity.

Alternately, you could spray some electrical contact cleaner on a toothpick or small brush and dab it in the right areas. Sometimes just lighter fluid will work. Some cans of aerosol electrical cleaner contain a red or blue sort of dye, but if it has that it will say so on the label. For this type of thing I always go to automotive parts houses, those folks have a lot more product knowledge than your neighborhood hardware store workers.

dynachrome · Apr 6, 2022

I am not John Titterington but he did the last overhaul of an XD camera for me. He has also done beautiful work on many other Minoltas for me. I agree that the XD cameras are very nice, even if they have not aged so well.

Helge · Apr 6, 2022

dynachrome said:
I am not John Titterington but he did the last overhaul of an XD camera for me. He has also done beautiful work on many other Minoltas for me. I agree that the XD cameras are very nice, even if they have not aged so well.

Oh, I think they aged better then the rest of the X series cameras. It’s just that they where upper tier cameras and as such are A. rarer B. often more intensively/intently used. These where not “mom cameras”.

Helge · Apr 6, 2022

momus said:
That should be your problem, it couldn't be anything else (although w/ electrical that's not necessarily true, electrical issues aren't always logical. especially intermittent ones). It should be cause and effect. I'd buy a can of electrical cleaner and give that area a spray. Let it soak in, and after a few hours turn the dial back and forth a few times. Shutter buttons will do this on older cameras too and the same thing works for them. A lot of times the contacts just get a film on them over time from the ambient air and humidity.

Alternately, you could spray some electrical contact cleaner on a toothpick or small brush and dab it in the right areas. Sometimes just lighter fluid will work. Some cans of aerosol electrical cleaner contain a red or blue sort of dye, but if it has that it will say so on the label. For this type of thing I always go to automotive parts houses, those folks have a lot more product knowledge than your neighborhood hardware store workers.

I’m not crazy about just spraying electrical spray blindly into a camera, however little. It wicks very willingly.
Have you tried that with with an XD (shutter button and aperture follower)?
I have given the battery chamber a cleaning and contact spray. Didn’t seem to help much. But often the film there can be surprisingly hard.

Minolta XD5 intermittent metering error

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