OT: In case your Minolta camera quit

[mc]

On Mon, 15 May 2006 17:57:13 GMT,


This type of film is abundant everywhere. It's THE standard for studio
photography.

Yes. It's known as 120 and 220 (size numbers), or 2 1/4-inch, or 6-cm, or
60-mm. Sometimes, quite incorrectly, as 120-mm by people who don't realize
the size numbers are arbitrary codes.

Demand isn't falling off as fast as the demand for 35-mm because it wasn't
so much used by amateurs in the first place. So the supply and selection
haven't decreased much in 10 years.

 

[Keith]

A friend has a Mamiya that's definitely high end. I think it uses
2-1/4" wide film, or perhaps the metric equivalent.

Yes, that was the RB-67 (6x7 format) camera. Very nice camera, but
the lenses cost more than I made in a year (I was in college ;-).
I had all I could do to afford a Canon FTb with a 50mm F1.8. Now
they're about a half-hour's salary. ;-)

 

[Jim Backus]

Hi Jeorg,

Hello Jim,


It is really easy. Turn the camera off, remove batteries and place it
upside down onto a white towel in case a screw falls down. You don't
want any of these to disappear in the carpet, it's unlikely to ever find
a spare.

Remove the four little screws and black plastic bottom cover. Now you'll
see an electrolytic on the side. That's the one. Note which side is plus
(on mine it was towards center of the camera). Carefully unsolder the
capacitor. It helps to bend down the flex with a tooth pick so each leg
comes off without applying heat for too long. Replace the capacitor with
the type I mentioned. I bent its legs inwards and stripped off that
little black SMT carrier to make it even smaller.

Place cover back on. The smaller screws with machine thread go inside,
the longer ones with the coarser thread on the outside (those are a bit
tougher to turn).

That's it. It took me an hour to find a suitable cap, a few days for
Fedex to get it here and about ten minutes to actually do the repair.

Regards, Joerg

Thanks for the details. It will probably be a few weeks before I get
to it, but I'll post here if it's the same fault.

Jim

 

[Joerg]

Hello Jim,

Thanks for the details. It will probably be a few weeks before I get
to it, but I'll post here if it's the same fault.

Just be sure to tack that capacitor on with your next parts order.
Ordering it alone would make it rather expensive because of freight and
possible min order qties.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Michael]

Yes, that was the RB-67 (6x7 format) camera. Very nice camera, but
the lenses cost more than I made in a year (I was in college ;-).
I had all I could do to afford a Canon FTb with a 50mm F1.8. Now
they're about a half-hour's salary. ;-)

Forgot to mention that I never even touched an RB-67 until last summer,
thirty-plus years after a magazine ad. for it infused me with the gimmies. I
took a year-old Nikon that my niece had abused over to a man who recently set up
a camera repair shop in his home, and upon entering the basement the second
thing I saw was an RB-69 body + back. I was prepared for the weight of a boat
anchor but that thing weighed nothing. All plastic, I guess. Seems like it
would be very unbalanced with glass optics on it, so maybe they're now plastic
too.

 

[mc]

thing I saw was an RB-69 body + back. I was prepared for the weight of a

boat
anchor but that thing weighed nothing. All plastic, I guess. Seems like
it
would be very unbalanced with glass optics on it, so maybe they're now
plastic
too.

Serious camera lenses are still all glass, not plastic. I've only
encountered plastic lenses on very cheap, pocket-size cameras.