Minolta Srt 202

I inherited a Minolta srt 202 from my grandfather, and I thought it was working but when we process the pictures, none of them come out. I might as well let you know now that I know NOTHING about photography with film cameras-- I've always used a digital one.

I put new film in it, and my dad adjusted the settings and film speed and all that... but still, nothing.

Do you know what may be the problem? Is it anything I can check?
I read somewhere that the light meter battery may need to be replaced-- if it's dead, could this be the cause of the failed processing?

I really don't want this camera to go to waste.
I got them processed at CVS, and they called back to say there was nothing to pick up; none of the images had shown up at all.
Maybe we have been loading the film wrong after all... the last time we tried to "rewind" it or whatever, we had some problems with the numbers not oing backwards. Thank you!
I'll try to check off the things on your list. :]
EDIT:
I just checked the film movement as I shot a picture and pulled the little film-advancement trigger, but when I pull the trigger it turns the film backwards.
And I'm not talking about the rewing crank... I'm talking about the lever on the right side of the camera (lens facing away). Why is it doing this?
I think I haven't even been using the film this whole time. D:

How can I fix this?!
*rewind crank
Okay, I think I got it! Thank you everyone. This whole time I think we weren't loading it right-- not threading the film through correctly or something.
I think it's working now.
Thank you so much!! I needed the help! C:

I need to know more about what "nothing" means in your case.

After the film, is processed, what does it look like?

-- If you are shooting color film, is it a uniform light orange? Are the frame numbers and film type visible on the edges? If so, the film was properly processed. The same is true for B&W film except that it will be a uniform silvery gray. If the film was properly processed and there is no image, there are three possibilities:

1 -- You didn't load the film properly. If the film isn't caught on the take-up spool, it doesn't advance and is never exposed. The counter will move, because it just counts the shutter cycles after you close the back even if the film isn't advancing. You can check this after you load the film and advance to frame 1. Gently turn the rewind crank clockwise as you hold the camera with the lens facing away from you. There's an arrow on the rewind crank, which flips up from the rewind knob. If the film was loaded properly, you should feel the crank take up the tension on the film. When you feel tension, STOP! If this is the problem, you just need to learn to load properly. Buy a short roll of film and practice with the camera back open until you learn to hook the film properly in the take-up spool.

2 -- The shutter is not opening, so the film is not being exposed.

3 -- The reflex mirror is broken. In all SLRs, the mirror has to flip up when you trip the shutter. That will make the viewfinder go dark for a fraction of a second. If that doesn't happen when you press the shutter, no light can reach the film.

You can check conditions 2 and 3. To check the shutter, open the back of the camera. With no film loaded, press the shutter. If the shutter curtain doesn't move, that's the problem. To check the reflex mirror, remove the lens, look inside the mirror box behind the lens mount and press the shutter. If the mirror inside the camera doesn't move, that's the problem.

-- Is there any sign of images? If you look closely at the film in good light, is there even a hint of an image? If you can see faint images that are too underexposed to print, the shutter may not be operating properly.

-- The meter may not be working properly, but even if it is badly wrong, you would still get images on at least a few frames, Color print film has a very wide exposure latitude, which means it can produce an image even when over- or under-exposed by many stops.

Minolta sold its camera business and patents to Sony and left the camera business. There has not been factory support for your camera for many years. The only parts are those salvaged from other old cameras. If the problem turns out to be the shutter, the reflex mirror or the meter, it will be hard to find someone to do the repair. Even if you do, the cost will be far more than the camera is worth, so I hope it's just a matter of learning to load a 35mm camera.

Good luck!

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REPLY: I'm not certain I understand. By "film advancement trigger" do you mean the advance lever? It's on the right as you look at the back of the camera. The advance lever pivots around the shutter button. You push it with your thumb one cycle after each exposure to advance to the next frame.

I don't get your reference to "backwards." As you look at the back of the camera, the film moves from left to right. The cartridge containing the film is on the left. When all of the film has been exposed, it will be on the spool on the right side of the camera body beneath the advance lever. That's when you flip up the rewind crank, press the clutch release button on the underside of the body and crank the exposed film back into the cartridge.

I agree the you probably have not loaded the film correctly. I strongly suspect it never advanced and therefore was never exposed. With luck everything else is OK, so you just need to get the loading down.

I'd suggest a trip to a good camera store. They should be able to demonstrate loading the film, check out the camera and answer your questions. Go to a real camera shop, not the camera counter in a place like Best Buy.

You shouldn't feel bad. This gave a lot of folks trouble until the manufacturers developed autoload mechanisms in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

2009-07-25 07:21:38 by Jay B

I have this camera listed on ebay here tinyurl.com This is a vintage 1975 Minolta SRT 202 originally owned by my Parents bought new in 1975. I ...

I'm new to slr cameras. I shot and developed a roll of film using my minolta srt 202. My classmate and I developed our film in the same tank, but when we hung our roll of film to dry, I couldn't see any pictures in my frames, but all his pictures were visible. My roll of film was all white and black at the last couple frames.

Is this a problem with the camera?

I think the light meter might be broken. I got a replacement battery for the camera and did a battery check. The needle with the circle moved, but the other needle didn't.

Anyone know what the problem is? Please help!
I checked the shutter, without film, and it works fine.

Thanks for explaining that the one needle doesn't move. The needle with the little circle however, doesn't move in response to changes in light. It only moves with changers in shutter speed, while the other needle is stationary.

I think I may have severely underexposed the film then. Is there anyway to take visible pictures if the light meter doesn't work? Are there certain combinations of shutter speeds and aperture settings that generally give a good amount of exposure?

Thanks so much!
I was working with 400 ASA film. Thanks for the sunny 16 rule! I didn't get a chance to use it however.

I got a tip that the problem might be battery terminal corrosion. So I used a baking soda paste, and poof! the light meter was working.

Do you actually mean "white" or do you mean semi-transparent? If the negatives look kind of cloudy or "milky" then that means you didn't fix the film for long enough, or the fixer was too weak.

If the negatives look sem-transparent or "thin" with really faint images, then that means the film was underexposed when you took the pictures in the camera. The last couple of frames are black because that's the "leader," that's the part of the film that got exposed to light when you loaded the camera. That's normal. Remember that film records images in reverse. Light causes a chemical reaction on the film. So on the negatives, areas that were exposed to more light will be darker, and areas that were exposed to less light will look lighter. If the film is overexposed, the frame will be almost black. If the film is severely underexposed or not exposed at all, it will be almost transparent.

The first thing you need to do is rule out a problem with the shutter on the camera. Open the camera (without film!) and hold it up to a bright light, like a ceiling light or lamp. Look through the lens and fire the shutter. See if you can see a flash of light. Try different shutter speeds.

If the shutter works, then probably what happened is that you severely underexposed the film. Where did you try to take your pictures? Was it indoors? Outdoors? Was it clear and sunny? Or cloudy? What ISO film were you using? We really need more information to be able to help you. If the shutter is working, then to me it sounds like you probably severely underexposed the film. (There wasn't enough light).

But right now, you need to rule out a shutter problem first. Check the shutter.

----

EDIT:

Ok, maybe you don't have the light meter turned on, the battery is dead, or it doesn't work. But you really don't HAVE to use the light meter in order to take pictures. It's just an indicator. If the shutter works, then the problem is that you underexposed the film. What ISO film were you using, and where were you trying to take your pictures? Were you taking pictures outside? Was it sunny or cloudy? Did you try to take pictures at night?

You can use what's called the "Sunny 16 Rule." It's a guideline for how to take pictures outside with manual exposure. You estimate the light, and then set the shutter speed and aperture based on what ISO film you're using. If you're taking pictures outside on a clear sunny day, then 200 ISO film will work fine in most conditions.

This Wikipedia article might be helpful:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16

You can email me if you have any questions.

2009-09-16 17:34:29 by tvn90

scratch the 202 i meant 201

They are 35mm cameras, so they make a lot of different film for them

Features of both cameras

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicC ameras/index-frameset.html?MinoltaSRT101 .html~mainFrame
http://www.camerareview.com/templates/ca mera_details.cfm?camera_id=118

http://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf /minolta_x-370.pdf

You willl have to replace the mercury battery on the SRT-201 with the PX625A

2008-02-12 09:36:11 by wefangwe

A clean camera takes better pictures and is a pleasure to use
Keeping your Camera clean will avoid costly repair bills
Keeps your camera body clean and protected when the lens is off

I have an old Minolta SRT 202 SLR camera, with many lenses from telephoto to macro and lots of filters. I was wondering if there is a digital camera that will accept my lenses.

Unfortunately, the Minolta MC lens mount that the great old SRT series used, was replace by the MD mount, and then by a newer mount before Konica/Minolta abandoned the SLR market. Currently, Sony DSLR's take recent Konica/Minolta autofocus lenses, but not the ones from the SRT era.

2008-08-10 23:07:49 by Julie C

The Minolta is an older, 35mm model (SRT 202)and I want to purchase a digital, SLR, to be able to take bird/flower nature pictures (and of grand kids playing sports). I have the telescopic lens but was told it won't work with the newer cameras. ( I inherited camera and lens).

It won't work straight-out on a Nikon body.

There exist adapters to convert between different mounts, but in the case of Nikon's mount design it is possible to make converters from nikon lenses to other maker's bodies, but vice-versa is not practical (you lose the ability to focus at infinity). In addition you lose most if not all automation on the lens (autofocus, in some cases exposure metering and aperture actuation).

2008-06-29 20:40:11 by jdl222001