So I finally got an original srT 101

So I've had an srT 200 for years, plus a staggering array of the old Rokkor lenses. When I finally got a good deal on a used original flavor 101 body, several things struck me. Overall, it's a very quirky camera that had to lose a lot of its quirks over the years in its metamorphosis into the 102, the 201 and the 202 (et cetera).

I knew the stop-down button worked completely different--like on a Canon, the shutter has to be cocked (idk why, in either case) and it will lock into position stopped down, for convenience I guess. What I didn't know was that the stop-down button disengages the meter unless the aperture is wide open--I suppose this is so no one gets confused and meters with an MC lens as if it were an old SR lens (which wouldn't engage the coupling ring and would thus not disengage the meter.) Does anyone know if there's battery drain when this cutoff is activated? It would be very convenient not to have to use the switch on the bottom to conserve battery during intermittent shooting--one would just be able to hit the stop-down button instead.

Does anyone know if there's an easy semi-non-invasive fix to the mirror locking up intermittently? It always returns when the shutter is cocked and it does not seem to affect other operations of the camera. It almost never happens at speeds above 1/60th and seems to happen less at 1/60th and 1/30th with exercise. Or is this something a CLA alone can fix?

And does anyone know what the delay is for FP? I was wondering whether FP can double as M synch below X speed. I know what FP is for, I just don't need it and would love to be able to use these Press 25's and this big handle bulb flash I have lying around. If not, I can use it with one of my variable-delay cameras from KMZ/

I forgot about the depth of field preview weirdness...isn't it the same on the SRT-102 though? I never had any issues with lazy mirror return nor with shutter capping on any of these old SRT. Only reason I got rid of all of mine, and I had many! was because I decided I needed to not have so many different systems...all with differnt maounts and ergonomics and quirks, etc...Loved the Rokkor glass but...in the end, I have settled (mostly) on Nikon.

Anyway, if you use a lens cap, I wouldn't worry too much about the battery drain. With a lens cap on the metering cells are in total darkness and the current drain on the battery is minuscule...I actually measured it once but forgot the exact numbers. I wanna say it is on the order of magnitude of a micro-amp or maybe even hundreds of nano-amps ??? I routinely left the switch on for hours with the lens cap on and had no noticeable effect on the battery. Turn it on in the morning and turn it off at the end of the day...

BradS said:

I forgot about the depth of field preview weirdness...isn't it the same on the SRT-102 though? I never had any issues with lazy mirror return nor with shutter capping on any of these old SRT. Only reason I got rid of all of mine, and I had many! was because I decided I needed to not have so many different systems...all with differnt maounts and ergonomics and quirks, etc...Loved the Rokkor glass but...in the end, I have settled (mostly) on Nikon.

Anyway, if you use a lens cap, I wouldn't worry too much about the battery drain. With a lens cap on the metering cells are in total darkness and the current drain on the battery is minuscule...I actually measured it once but forgot the exact numbers. I wanna say it is on the order of magnitude of a micro-amp or maybe even hundreds of nano-amps ??? I routinely left the switch on for hours with the lens cap on and had no noticeable effect on the battery. Turn it on in the morning and turn it off at the end of the day...

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I thought the 102 was identical to what was sold in other countries as the 101b but then I learned that that's the American 201, so I guess I know very little about the 102. It has Judas window, yeah?

Anyways, I'm really enjoying this camera. The capping appears to have disappeared with exercise (and I never saw it at speeds below 1/1000th) and the mirror problem appears to be going away at high speeds, so maybe it'll get all loosened up and work at slow speeds as well. I find it quite usable either way. I have a Zenit S and before that I owned early Prakticas, so a non-returning mirror is far from the worst problem for me.

It happens that cameras that sit get a little froze up, though!

You know about the rokkor files website...yeah? https://www.rokkorfiles.com/

I don't remember the details on the SRT-102 other than I liked it the best of all the SRT that I had owned over the years...Sure, the SRT-202's were better but...somehow I still preferred the old 102. I gave my SRT-102 to my youngest son along with a handful of decent glass.

John Titterington is The Minolta Repair guy. I think that he is semi-retired now but still sells on eBay (user name is: 'titterington').

BradS said:

You know about the rokkor files website...yeah? https://www.rokkorfiles.com/

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I think I was looking at that the other day. I'll look into it further.

Old cameras that have not been used for years are like older people that have not exercised regulary. They get stiff and do not move as easily as they once did. Cameras will usually start working smoothly with a CLA but there is no CLA for people.

shutterfinger said:

Old cameras that have not been used for years are like older people that have not exercised regulary. They get stiff and do not move as easily as they once did. Cameras will usually start working smoothly with a CLA but there is no CLA for people.

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Well, there are joint replacements but that gets into the territory of using non-OEM parts!