Minolta XE-7 repair advice needed.

[parkpy]

Hi all -

I picked up an XE-7 yesterday for $24 from a camera show yesterday. The camera is in good condition, except the light meter overexposes by 1-3 stops with new batteries, and is fairly slow in reaction to light. I have been searching for any/all information regarding any common light meter complaints on the XE-7, and it seems information points to some bad pots, connections, etc.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

FWIW, I looked into having my XE-7 CLA'd by Mark Hama, but the quoted repair costs ($185+ $14 s&h) are a bit steep for a body I will use very infrequently.

 

[Zathras]

I've heard lots of good things about John Titterington in the various Minolta groups. I'm thinking of sending him a nasty old SRT-101 to play with. Here is his email;

JTCamera@aol.com

hope this helps,

Mike

 

[martyryan]

I have emailed John Titterington about an XE-7 CLA before and he can work on them but has no replacement parts if they are needed.

I had him CLA a SRT-101 before and was very happy with the work.

Marty

 

[fstop]

Hi all -

I picked up an XE-7 yesterday for $24 from a camera show yesterday. The camera is in good condition, except the light meter overexposes by 1-3 stops with new batteries, and is fairly slow in reaction to light. I have been searching for any/all information regarding any common light meter complaints on the XE-7, and it seems information points to some bad pots, connections, etc.

Any insight would be much appreciated!

FWIW, I looked into having my XE-7 CLA'd by Mark Hama, but the quoted repair costs ($185+ $14 s&h) are a bit steep for a body I will use very infrequently.

Turn the EV adjustment and the film speed dial back and forth several times gently,mount a lens and turn apeture ring back and forth gently.

It helps if you mount it on a tripod, watch the needle and turn one of the above. What you are looking for is to see which one may make the needle jump.
The one that does is the culprit. Often just moving all these around wipes the contacts and the problem clears up.
I have 3 XE7s, one of them likes to have the meter "warm up" for a few minutes before it calms down. Another will have a jumpy needle until the apeture ring is cranked back and forth a few times.

 

[Mark Minard]

I sent my Canon AE-1 and FT-b to ACR in Texas; both cameras came back good as new. My highest recommendation, FWIW. Here's the link:

http://www.abilenecamera.com

Your XE-7's foam seals will most likely be turned to goo now, or dried up and useless for their intended purpose. Whatever route you choose make sure this is addressed. There used to be a guy on ebay selling the foam seals if you're handy like that and want to save money, but I'm not sure if they're still available.

p.s just checked eBay, yep the foam seal kits are still out there:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Minolta-XE-7-XE-5-Custom-Foam-Light-Seal-Kit-/370467631003

Have fun!!!

 

[Vonder]

Yer lucky it's a Minolta. I've been looking for a guy to CLA my Fujica ST605N for months.

 

[Bearman]

Minolta XE-7 repair

Just got my XE-7 back from Garry's camera repair
http://www.garryscamera.com/

They fixed its stuck meter, CLA'd it, and brought it back to the awesome camera that it is.

Highly recommend Garry. He is quick and does great work. Even including shipping the repair was under $60. You cannot beat that, bro.

 

[Jadedoto]

Simple solution: the XE-7 is one of the best manual focus bodies ever manufactured (I compromise... my opinion is that it is THE best). Use it more frequently

 

[parkpy]

Simple solution: the XE-7 is one of the best manual focus bodies ever manufactured (I compromise... my opinion is that it is THE best). Use it more frequently

I would if it worked.

I'm going to take the above advice and send mine to John.