Light meter on camera?

Question

so i took my Minolta XG7 35mm SLR camera to the pool today and did some underwater pictures. apparently, the waterproof bag wasn't 100% waterproof and a little bit of water got inside the bag. i think a little got inside the camera. the shutter won't release; i ****** it, but nothing happened. that wasn't happening before, it just started about five minutes ago. the light meter isn't working either. i took the film out after rewinding it to see if there was any water and there were a few droplets...

did i just break my camera or will it be ok once the inside of the camera dries out? should i take it to a camera place or can i fix it myself? and how much will it cost if i do take it to some camera place?

i don't see why it would be broken, it was only a little bit of water...it was soaked or anything.

Answer 1

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Dude, electricity and water don't mix. The water could easily have shorted your camera and burned out a component.

See the answers in the other thread you started.

Answer 2

The difference between a light meter in your camera and a handheld one is that the camera's meter is reflective, and the hand-held meter is transmissive. This means, the hand held meter measures the light hitting your subject, and the camera meter measures light reflecting off the subject. Sometimes there can be a difference. And (camera) light meters can be easily fooled, as they are trying to resolve the scene to 18% grey. So if you have a lot of black or white in your photo, the light meter on your camera will be fooled. Try this trick. Take a photo of a black wall. Then take a photo of a white wall. In both situations, the result will be a (18%) grey photo. In the black photo, the light meter is tricked to over-expose the photo, and in the white photo, it is tricked to under expose it. The reason is that the meter does not anticipate such backgrounds. Now, put an object in the middle of the wall and photograph it again. The result will be the same, with the object over or under exposed as well. Now use a light meter, measure the light on the object, and use that value rather than your camera. You will see that the light meter will properly calculate the exposure, as it is only using the values of the object. You can do the same thing somewhat with spot metering in your camera, but it might not be as accurate.

Answer 3

Contact Garrys Camera Repair at [e-mail]. He is very reasonable and has a quick turnaround. He will answer your email and tell you if he can repair your camera. If not, just upgrade to a Minolta X-700.

No more supposedly waterproof bags for your camera. If you want to take underwater photos, go to ebay and buy the Minolta Weathermatic Dual 35 underwater camera. Its good to 15' and mine even survived my 6 yr. old grandson at the beach last summer.

I will be listing an X-700 with Motor Drive 1 on ebay later this week. If you're interested, email me.

Answer 4

Imagine if "only a little bit of water" got into your iPod. Well, a modern camera has more electronics and moisture-sensitive circuits than your iPod.

You'll find electronics in the exposure meter, shutterspeed control, ISO sensor, viewfinder readouts, and other delicate components too many to name.

One bit of moisture or one bit of grit can ruin a camera. I wouldn't suggest trying to repair it yourself, as it requires very careful camera surgery. Unfortunately, Minolta no longer provides support for their film cameras. Check in your phonebook for your nearest service center or try this site.
http://abilenecamera.com/index.html

Of course, another choice would be to replace the Minolta body. You can use an XG-7 or XD-11 and will find them on your local Craigslist or on Ebay. Here's some Ebay listings I found for you.
http://photography.search.ebay.com/Minolta-XG-7_Film-Cameras_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQcatrefZC12QQfromZR40QQsacatZ15230QQsatitleZMinoltaQ20XGQ2d7

And one curiously interesting entry.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Phoenix-P5000-SLR-Camera-Kit-Minolta-MD-Mount-NEW_W0QQitemZ200154194621QQihZ010QQcategoryZ15241QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And other cameras that will fully function with your existing lenses.
http://photography.listings.ebay.com/Minolta_SLR-X-Series_W0QQfclZ3QQfromZR11QQsacatZ43486QQsocmdZListingItemList

By the way, I once tried to repair a Nikon FM 35mm SLR and ended up making it worse. My suggestion is to leave it to the experts.

I hope this is helpful.