It's so important to learn how to work on your old film cameras. Not many out there that will fix them for you and those that can charge for their services, in some cases more than the camera is worth. I just got a Mamiya-Sekor 80mm f/1.9 lens for cheap, but was in rough shape, so I opened it up, cleaned out the fungus, relubed it and now it works better than it had in decades. 👍🏾
Two weeks ago I also found a Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII that once belonged to my grandfather. It hasn’t been shot in decades, but I’m planning on using it soon!
I also repaired an old olympus 35Rd early this year which is similar to your hi-matic. However, I even adjusted the rangefinder. That was definitely immensely stressful.
Amazing video. I need to repair my Canon AE-1 50mm and clean up the body mirror that I bought in very bad shape. Always a motivation to see this kind of videos. Make me wanted to do it by myself. Thank you!
Cool, I have exactly that Minolta that I bought on eBay, but the film advance jammed after a few frames, so this has given me confidence to open it up and try to determine what is wrong. Thanks Willem!
Excellent video!! Here in Mexico, the Mamiya 7 is rare and extremely expensive, it's almost impossible to find one here, and if you find one, most of the times, they're in really bad conditions and at a ridiculous high price. I wish I could find one, maybe someday.
nice job Willem! I remember one time I spent so long putting a Contax G lens back together after taking it apart. Putting back together is the hardest part no doubt. lol
*You need JIS crosspoint screwdrivers!* Most Japanese-made gear uses JIS screws, which look like Phillips but are different and will be damaged by the wrong screwdriver.
How did you get batteries that work or what batteries did you use? I have a Hi-Matic E and cant figure out how to power it since they don't make old mercury batteries anymore.
I wish there were an organized resource for learning how to repair cameras. I'd love to get into the trade someday since it seems not enough people are doing it, but dang, I don't want to break the cameras I have experimenting.
Hey! First off, just wanted to say, I really love your work, I ordered your zine of Svalvard a while back and was wondering when those were going to be shipped?
@@jeric3857 you can get a good camera för as little as 50 bucks. Cannon AE-1 is a nice one. And then buy expired film for cheap. Most of them are just as new
Great video 😄👾 Really nice to have your Grandfathers camera, Personally Value it so Highly 👍 Fate brought the Minolta and Mamiya 7 together you should shot them Together?
What mic do you use? It's seeming a bit tinny lately. Idk if its just because i'm watching lots of RU-vidrs in succession, it just seems like yours isn't very clear?
Hey Will thanks for this video.. I have one of these and it doesn't work unfortunately. What batteries are you using since mercury's are discontinued? Also does light meter work without batteries? Can that be fixed if camera is taken apart?
You look younger without the Beanie!. I've had my Mamiya 7II for a couple of years now, so when I saw you taking the lens out it brought back the great feeling when I got mine! :D. looking forward to the video!.
Will, you are an Old Soul and thank you for a very good instructions, and you are correct old cameras are worth fixing/cleaning/rebuilding. Recommend that you have a small plastic tray for the parts and take pictures with your phone as you remove parts.
Hi, I found the older sister of this camera with the original box and original manuals... If you'd like to take a look, I've got the unboxing here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XWI0qnkdUW0.html
Alcohol does not do a permanent job of removing many types of fungus. For that you need hydrogen peroxide. I use both - the peroxide first. The silver surface mirror is actually cleanable, but with a VERY light touch. Andy
The first camera I tried fixing was the film advance mechanism on my Pentax 67ii. It looked so complex with so many tiny parts, I just put it back together and sent it out for repair! Congratulations on your Mamiya 7. It’s a brilliant camera with incredible lenses😀
I did this for my A1 because my film load was blocked and i couldn't use it anymore. And guess what : there were a screw inside of the film load mecanisme that caused this. Don't know where it comes from but now it's fixed 😊
lowkey cant tell if that alcohol is serious or nah, vodka/moonshine looking bottle named 'hand sanitizer" lmao but real dope design from dat local distillery tho
A bunch of distilleries are making hand sanitizer because of the shortage. I don't know how much of a difference it is from like just rubbing alcohol, but it's their way of trying to help out communities!
Well, that's a coincidence. My father's Hi-Matic 7sII is the camera I'm planning to load up with a roll of Ilford HP5 this weekend. The shutter mechanism seems to be working fine, but the viewfinder is super foggy. Doesn't look like I have any excuse to leave it that way now. Wish me luck.
I cleaned my 7sII viewfinder, but as I didn't know, I cleaned every miror and with 90° alcool! 😂 Maybe I'm lucky, but it worked. Before the finder was foggy and I could barely see the rangefinder image, now the viewfinder is like new, and the rangefinder image is a lot more visible. With the addition of a pink filter on the viewfinder (multigrade 1 1/2 filter), the 2 images are clearly visible and focusing is very easy again. The camera is now fully operational again! 🙂 PS: you may have been right not to touch the semi-transparent mirror, but a blast of air spray wouldn't have hurt...
Willem! There's a few frames of you shooting a model in this "HYPERBEAST" video about Hasselblad, at 4:38 in the link below :-) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ttaKLxV5SY8.html
nice video buuuuuut it is painful to see you just drop the parts n screws on the table.. for bigger tear-downs just draw on a paper the outline of the camera and the spot the screws came from and then tape it on that place :)
Great video Willem! Hey I was wondering if I can contact you about a problem I had about my order of "Walking Svalvard", I sent an email and haven't heard nothing back
I tried to fix my yashica mat medium format camera, drama! Still not completely fixed, but it's getting there. Something's wrong with the winder (along with the shutter mechanism..)
you should do a video looking at film camera apps. an app suggestion is dazz cam which has a couple of different cameras like 3d cameras, disposables, polaroid, etc.
I really want to support and buy your photo magazine but I’m all the way in NewZealand and I feel like it will take a looooooooooong time to arrive due to what’s happening all over ~ so I will just wait for now :(
By the way, for anyone who ever sees this camera (Minolta Hi-Matic 7s II) and thinks about buying one, you can also look for the Canon Canonet QL17 G-III, which also has a 40mm f/1.7 with shutter speeds between 1/4th to 1/500th for slightly cheaper
