Minolta 110 zoom slr

I just can't help myself.
I keep telling my wife that you can't have too many cameras.
I've bought two (yes 2) Minolta 110 zoom slr camera's the first one arrived today, and I'd hoped to be taking it to Lake Eyre with me on Monday, but alas it it has a wind-on / shutter-release problem.
Question does anyone work on camera repair? I do a little with good success but it's always good to be guided.
It will have to wait until I've returned and go into the queue of things to be done.

Dai.

I'll be watching this too, have 3 of them, 2 110 Zoom and one mark II, one of the twins have problems, might be a help for me also!

I have one also. Never used it because of the relative size disadvantage over the others here.
However, I can pass on a warning. I heeded it myself.
The lens is prone to fungal infection and I could see some deep down inside there. Not much, but I was prompted to try and get at it. I didn't get far before I realised the advice proffered was good. They are next to impossible to reassemble correctly once apart. I gave up after a couple of the front ones were out.
The fungus seems less after some prolonged exposure to the sub-tropical UV light and I maybe I'm less critical nowadays, having seen perfectly good pictures from even dirtier lenses.
That lens was once described as a wonderful thing but the lenses on some of these digitals must challenge it out of contention.

cheers
Murray

Good morning, Iantoz;

Your liking for the Minolta 110 SLR is understandable. I also have two of them. The first one came with a lens problem, but it was cured fairly easily. The second one is in nice shape, but I have not yet put a cartridge into it. One of the reasons for my lack of progress here is the need to get the film processed, and none of my local shops want to do anything smaller than 35mm. I have been looking for a 16mm processing reel. They are not common.

I do have equipment for testing my cameras, but I need a light sensor to fit the 110 and the Minolta 16mm film formats. Then looking at the actual performance of the smaller shutters will become more practical.

Lens work does seem to be more of a problem for us these days. Many of the lenses I have purchased over the last few years did arrive with the aperture either "very slow" or stuck in one position or another. The "oily aperture problem" seems to be rather common. Funny how the seller so often never seems to notice that and include a comment in the description. Alternatively, perhaps I should be asking more pointed questions. A photograph taken of just the bright clear glass hopefully indicating no fungus does not necessarily indicate an oil free and snappy aperture. You need to close down the lens aperture to be able to see that part.

As Murray has said to you, welcome to the small format group. The Minox people demonstrated many years ago that a camera does not need to be large to get a high resolution photograph from it. But you do need to work very carefully to make a camera that will do that. Perhaps that is why the ones that really work well also come with price tags that you notice.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

16mm processing reel....

I will publish pictures of my never-used 16mm minotlta daylight tank, bought new (well old-on-the-shelf for sure!) back many, many years ago, long before anyone heard about digital cameras....

I can be cohersed to part with it, I already have 16mm reel(s) in some of my tanks.

Ralph, with regard to your Minolta problems, I have two and one came with a lens problem that was easily fixed. I ran a film trough it and all seemed OK. However yesterday I put a film in before going out and wound on a couple of frames but the shutter wouldn't fire. My other one wont wind on the film.
So I now have two with different problems, I have the workshop manual but was wondering if anyone has experience with these cameras? I was really looking forward to using them.

Dai.

As with you I have two. The first have lost its 3 little screws fixing the focusing cover tube on the zoom lens, so I had to get another, I don't know where such screws are hiding.

But apparently both mine are working OK (once I can find 3 little screws), so If anyone need one sans the mentioned screws, put up a smoke signal!

Erik, I feel sure that I can help you, if you can wait a couple of days until I've sorted myself out, very busy at the moment.
Dai.

I've had a good day, done a little job in the house for the wife, but I've finally solved the Minolta 110 zoom problem.
It worked fine with a Fuji cassette of colour film (preloaded) but wouldn't operate the shutter with a 16mm B&W loaded film. It was the same for the Canon 110D and Minolta 240 T, and I've found out why.
There is a safety feature on these cameras (but not on the Pentax 110), a small notch needs to be made in the cassette body, and once done it all works.

Stand by for some more prints.

Dai the happy.

Do tell! I've heard about the notch but am not sure where it is supposed to go.
Is it something to do with the tiny finger that feels for the film perfs? Left, bottom side of the film gate.

Been busy here too. My son in law the builder helped to finally erect the antenna tower and install the tri-band antenna. Hasn't been up in 20 years but still works. Wrong w/e to try it out, the CQ contest is running. Bedlam of the air waves. :-(

I would have taken pictures from the roof but I've lost my head for heights, even with a safety belt on. Looks beautiful to me, but in this case is all in the eye of the beholder.

Await the results of your notch.
Murray

Murray, this is from an article on the submin web site that I re-read yesterday, it explains it far better than I can.

With some cameras, such as the Minolta 110 zoom SLR, Fiji 200F, Canon 110's, and many others there is a "safety" feature that you need to override in order to use the reloaded cassette. Just below the bottom of the film plane frame of the camera -- not on the door or on the cassette, but on the camera body itself -- is a tiny tab that tells the camera if a cassette is loaded. It can be very hard to see, but you'll need to find this lever and make a small notch in your cassettes at this exact point so that this lever is NOT pushed in by the cassette. If the lever is pushed in, the shutter will not fire with a cassette loaded with 16mm film with these cameras.

What I did was measure 3.5 mm from the edge of the supply spool and using a triangular needle file filed about 2 mm into the edge of the plastic. Works a treat as they say.

Dai.

Well!!! I must have read that many times but missed the point entirely. Duh! I see the object under the frame on the R side.

None of my other cameras has that 'finger' so I assumed, incorrectly it must somehow be the sprocket hole detector that made the camera inoperative with unperforated film. Al lot of words were said about being unable to use unperfed film and there was much talk about putting them into the film by hand. Hard work, but not impossible.

You have forced me to look more closely at the film gate and I now confess I was quite wrong saying the register was established by the ridges down the sides of the cassette. The gate moulding pokes up into the cassette and there is even a ridge along the top and bottom so's the film doesn't get scratched, just like a 'big' camera. So, there you go - an admission of error from me. =:O

One can only wonder why the camera rejects a cassette like that? I can only speculate it activates the sprocket detector and that is where folk run into trouble?? Anyone know?

Murray

Murray, my understanding of it is that the "safety" detector works in conjunction with the frame hole detector. I don't understand why they would do it unless it's because of the pre exposed frame numbers between the frames means you would need to accurately position the film to avoid the frame numbers.

If all that makes sense to you can you please explain it to me ????

my brain hurts now and I'm going to bed.

Dai.

Dai, we are singing from the same Hymn Book.
This extra finger engages the sprocket hole detector, and if that can't find one, ie it is still pushed in, then the shutter won't fire.
Talk about making the simple complicated!

Murray

I have a 110 SLR now all I need is

- ten lomo cassettes,
- 16mm film can and
- swiss file.

Then to convert a Patterson spiral to 16mm...

Thanks guys.