Repair for Minolta Flashmeter IV?

[ZoneIII]

Does anyone know where I could get my Minolta Flashmeter IV repaired? I sent it in to International Camera in Chicago when they said they should be able to do it but they called back saying they can't. I got the strong sense that they simply didn't even try. It's reading about 1 1/3rd stop towards under-exposure in incident mode. I really would like to get it fixed if possible. It's an old friend! I supposed I could just rate my films 1 1/3rd stop faster because the readings are at least consistent but I'd rather get it repaired. I just don't trust it now. Oddly, reflected readings, which I rarely use, seem to be right on.

[JW Dewdney]

well - if it's consistently off - wouldn't adjusting the pot on the back of the meter (think it's in the battery tray) work??

[Gene McCluney]

You do know that the "Minolta" brand flashmeters are being reintroduced under another name.

I would think Quality Light Metric in California could fix it..they can fix anything, can't they?

[Rider]

Last weekend, my Minolta flash meter gave me a reading that was 1+ stops off what my trusty Nikon SLR said, but this discrepancy occurred only in direct sun. Luckily, I went with the Nikon (and the sunny 16 rule), and the slides came out perfectly. The Minolta reading would have caused an underexposure.

[Wayne R. Scott]

I had Quality Light Metric repair a Minolta IVf for me. I think it was in the $65 range for the repair.

Wayne

[ZoneIII]

JW... I think you meant to say, "If consistency ISN'T off." The meter does seem to be consistent. The POT will not compensate that much but that isn't a problem because I can simply rate the film much slower. In fact, that's what I have been doing. But I would rather get it repaired because I just don't trust it now.

Gene... I have heard the rumor or rather I have seen it while searching for someone who might be able to repair the meter. Do you know what brand name? (I wonder if they will repair old Minolta meters.)

Gene and Wayne... Thanks much! I'll give them a call today. I really appreciate that.

[Jim Noel]

Perhaps your "New" rating is the correct film speed for the film, developer, and working conditions. If it is different than the mfg ASA rating, that is not unusual.

[Oren Grad]

Kenko is the company that's bringing the rebadged Minolta meters to market. However, US distribution plans, if any, are not yet clear.

Official word from Konica Minolta was that Sony would handle repairs on the meters, as on the cameras:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=120&region_id=1

Quality Light Metric may be a good bet regardless.

[ZoneIII]

Hey guys! Thanks much for the tip about Quality Light Metric. I called them and they said it's no problem. They apparently do a lot of repairs on this meter and, in fact, the guy said it is one of the finest meters ever made. I already knew that and that's why I want to have it fixed. Apparently, they have parts for it too. Nice people as well! Thanks again.

Jim, No, my "new" rating is not the correct rating for the film but I know what you mean and your suggestion is valid. But my meter is off even for my older films. It's also off by about 1 1/3rd stop from all my other meters and three of those have recently been re calibrated. However, the Flashmeter IV is right on for reflected readings which seems odd to me.

Here's the deal: I use this meter primarily for E6 film although I do use it sometimes for b&w film when I shoot portraits in the studio which is not to often.... maybe a few times a year. My color film of choice in sheet film for many years was Velvia 50 which I rated at E.I. 40 for best results (like many other photographers). When I finally ran out of my large stock of frozen Velvia 50, I switched to Velvia 100 in sheet film. That film reportedly is a true 100 speed film in sheet film format for most photographers, depending on their meters and equipment, of course. But I got gross under-exposure when I rated it at E.I. 80 or 100. At first I thought it might be the batch of film itself which I bought from Helix in Chicago. They charge $30 less for a 50 sheet box of it than anyone else! It was well within the expiration date and they are a large pro lab and they keep their pro films frozen. But when I bought it from a Helix satellite branch west of Chicago (sent from their downtown main location) I found out that they had a subsidiary that did E6 processing. I thought... great! I have an E6 lab in the area again. But when I got my test film back, not only was the film grossly underexposed at E.I. 80 or 100, but it was also shifted strongly to red, blue, and magenta. I then thought that their E6 processing was off. So I tested it again but sent it to Gamma lab in Chicago. The cast was gone in the Gamma processed film which proved to me that Helix's lab was off, but the film was still under-exposed at any E.I. faster than 40.

I ran another extensive test on 120 film shot with a roll film back but using the same camera and lens as the 4x5" tests. The results were the same.

I just happened to be doing my Zone System calibration tests again with old and new films and developers and even though I do all that work with a spotmeter, of course, I used the opportunity to re-check the Flashmeter IV. Sure enough! It was off by the same amount as my color film as shown in my density readings.

Long boring story but the point is that the meter truly is off. It's not a matter of the film simply having a different E.I. I don't rate a single film that I use at it's nominal rating. I test all films. However, I did rate Velvia 50 in 35mm format at E.I. 50 because that's what it was with those cameras' meters.

Here's a weird thing. If you have a Minolta meter, take a look at the tiny buttons that are on the body of the meter and under the rim of the receptors when they are on the meter... at least with the Flashmeter IV. You will notice that the reflected light receptor has a thin white washer on its underside. This engages one of those tiny buttons on the meter. My other receptors (domed incident, flat incident, and spot mask) do not have that washer so they don't press that button. But if I take a small pointed object and press on the button with an incident receptor on the meter, the reading goes up and is just about accurate. That made me think that perhaps there should be white washers on those receptors. But I don't think they should. It's odd that the meter reads just about right, though, when that tiny button is pressed. (I don't know what the other tiny button does. I saw no effect on the readings when I pressed it.)

If anyone has a Flashmeter IV or similar meter, I would appreciate it if they post here which one of their receptors has the with washer installed. Of my four receptors, only the standard reflected light one has the white washer/spacer that engages that button on the meter body.

[ZoneIII]

This is for anyone who has a meter, especially and obsolete Minolta Meter that they need to have repaired. I contacted Quality Light Metric as suggested above and the service I received was absolutely amazing. I sent it via USPS two days ago. I just received a call from QLM that the meter is done and is as good as new. That's within about 48 hours of when I mailed it to them from Chicago! Amazing! Not only that, but their price was very reasonable. In fact, it was less than 1/2 of the minimum rate that another place quoted me but that placed made it clear that it very well could run much higher than that. In addition, that place demanded a credit card number before they would even look at the meter and, from their response, I am not even sure that they could repair the meter.

Thanks to those that recommended QLM here. QLM will get my business for all repairs that I need in the future if they can do them. I am absolutely delighted with their service.

[Wayne R. Scott]

Thanks for the update. I am glad you were able to get it up and running again.

I wish more people would finish their threads with the real world conclusion. Thanks again Zone III.

Wayne

[nenpics]

This is for anyone who has a meter, especially and obsolete Minolta Meter that they need to have repaired. I contacted Quality Light Metric as suggested above and the service I received was absolutely amazing. I sent it via USPS two days ago. I just received a call from QLM that the meter is done and is as good as new. That's within about 48 hours of when I mailed it to them from Chicago! Amazing! Not only that, but their price was very reasonable. In fact, it was less than 1/2 of the minimum rate that another place quoted me but that placed made it clear that it very well could run much higher than that. In addition, that place demanded a credit card number before they would even look at the meter and, from their response, I am not even sure that they could repair the meter.

Thanks to those that recommended QLM here. QLM will get my business for all repairs that I need in the future if they can do them. I am absolutely delighted with their service.

Hello....I know this post is very old. Did you ever find out how they repaired your meter. I have the same issue. Appears the inner washer is missing on my incident dome to push small pin.

[sharktooth]

I was googling this, and found this site (Transcat) that does light meter calibration. The Minolta light meters are included in their list of instruments calibrated.

https://www.transcat.com/calibration-services/instruments/light-meter-calibration-labs

I have no idea how good these folks are, or how expensive it is. Does anyone have experience dealing with them?

[xkaes]

It's interesting how they list Minolta, but not Gossen, Sekonic, and other common brands for photographers. It makes me think they only deal with the newer Minolta meters.

[sharktooth]

I'm guessing they are doing calibrations of industrial light meters rather than photographic light meters. They would need schematics for the potentiometers and their range, so if they have access to the Minolta industrial meter info they may also have access to the photographic meter calibration info.