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Devoted to film use, whether using the older manual Minolta system or AF/Dynax/Maxxum system from 1985 on
Javelin
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New addition

Unread post by Javelin »

Just picked up a 135mm F2.8 MD Rokkor for 20 bucks. well by the time I got there to pick it up the fella found the camera he used it on and he gave that to me as well. it's an SRT 102 and it looks to be in perfect shape and functioning. what is missing on it is the plastic handle on the film advance lever. other than that it's in great shape and very clean. I need to put a battery in it to see if the meter works though. it used a mercury cell 1.35v anyone have an idea what the 1.5v replacements do to the meter accuracy ?
01af
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Re: New addition

Unread post by 01af »

Javelin wrote:Just picked up a MD Rokkor 135 mm f/2.8 for 20 bucks.
Is it the four-element or the five-element version? Either way, it's a great lens, both clearly better than the seven-element Minolta AF 135 mm 1:2.8 (which is no slouch to begin with).

Javelin wrote:... the fella found the camera he used it on and he gave that to me as well. It's an SR-T 102 ...
Oh, great! That's the most desirable model from the whole SR-T line.

Javelin wrote:It used a mercury cell 1.35 V. Anyone have an idea what the 1.5 V replacements do to the meter accuracy?
They don't.

But you can still buy 1.35 V mercury cells; they still are making them in China. Search around a bit on the Internet and you'll find them for purchase. Or you can have your SR-T camera modified to meter accurately with 1.5 V alkaline cells or, better yet, 1.55 V silver oxide cells. Or you use it with a hand-held light meter.

-- Olaf
David Kilpatrick
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Re: New addition

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

You can buy a Wein Aircell replacement (US made) which is mercury-free.

David
Javelin
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Re: New addition

Unread post by Javelin »

ouch. well I just shot 1/2 a roll of film with an alkali cell in there. I must say it is a pleasure to use. it's not a great camera to carry the way I carry (in hand) I thought I was going to break the timer lever. My X cameras don;t have anything there. I really like the match needles. better than LEDs or a numerical read out. wish it had more shutter speed and maybe some 1/2 stop settings in between.

Couple of funny things happened. the DOF button latches (thought I broke it) and right after that discovery I set the MLU button to see what it does .. thought I broke it again.. heh. well also it's easy to forget your not shooting digital and I know I set the shutter to 125 a couple of times so those shots will be trashed because I never gave much thought to holding still (spoiled now ya see). and the 135 was a little long to shoot the car club gathering that happened to be there on my way home. but now with the wrong battery I'm worried that all the shots are exposed wrong.

The only film the nearby store had was 400asa kodak something or other with kodak photo cd processing included :/ am I going to get 50k jpgs on that ?

Looking through the 135mm reminds me a lot of the 3d effect I get from the G and the 28-135 lenses that my other lenses don't quite have

I notice another button to turn that I see now is to set flash for bulbs or electronic and I wonder what the difference is?

Using the fantastic list of 135mm MC lenses I found that Olaf wrote I see that my version is likely this version:
MD Tele Rokkor 135 mm 1:2.8 (1st MD generation)
4 elements/4 groups
rubber-waffle focusing grip
plastic aperture ring
barrel length 89.5 mm
except I don't know if it's first or second gen. the descriptions are the same but mine is marked as Rokkor-X so I assume first? I can't remember if it was the same as the one I had before but I think this one would be older since mine was bought near the time I bought my x570.
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Dusty
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Re: New addition

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Javelin wrote: I notice another button to turn that I see now is to set flash for bulbs or electronic and I wonder what the difference is?
X sync is electronic flash. The flash fires in micro-seconds. FB? (can't remember) is for flash bulbs. Since they're an explosive metal being ignited by a battery, it takes an extra few mini-seconds for them to go off. They also have a longer 'on' time, so the shutter waits until the bulb is fully ignited before it fires.

Yes, you'll have a metering problem with the wrong battery.

Correct me if I'm wrong, David, but don't air cells start to deteriorate as soon as you open the package, giving them a short lifespan?

Dusty
Javelin
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Re: New addition

Unread post by Javelin »

X sync is electronic flash. The flash fires in micro-seconds. FB? (can't remember) is for flash bulbs. Since they're an explosive metal being ignited by a battery, it takes an extra few mini-seconds for them to go off. They also have a longer 'on' time, so the shutter waits until the bulb is fully ignited before it fires.
Your probably right here. I set one off in my hand once... it did burn for a long time.. as did all the molten glass.

Yes, you'll have a metering problem with the wrong battery.


Any Idea which it will be ? over or under? the aircell I can get by it'll take a week.
Correct me if I'm wrong, David, but don't air cells start to deteriorate as soon as you open the package, giving them a short lifespan?
Theres tips to making them last longer so I guess this is likely a problem.
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Dusty
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Re: New addition

Unread post by Dusty »

I haven't seen anything definitive about which way the extra voltage makes the meter read, but I would suspect that it would over excite the CdS cells, making them read more light that exists, and giving you under-exposure.

Dusty
David Kilpatrick
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Re: New addition

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Too high a battery power normally gives overexposure I think with CdS - something to do with photoresistor not photodiode or photocell? Depends on whether a galvanometer readout is used, and the SRT102 does have that. I think the effect of a high voltage could balance out between the CdS circuit and the galvanometer.

I certainly have used 1.5v cells in 1.35v CdS/galvanometer cameras without ruining the meter accuracy, back when cells were sometimes hard to get.

David
01af
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Re: New addition

Unread post by 01af »

Javelin wrote:Ouch. Well I just shot 1/2 a roll of film with an alkali cell in there.
Maybe you're lucky, and the alkaline cell is not too fresh. It will drop its voltage during its useful lifespan, so during a certain period of time the actual voltage can be close enough to 1.35 V. And if you're using colour negative film then the exposure error might get absorbed by the film's exposure latitude. By the way, silver oxide cells have a very constant voltage through their lifetime which will drop sharply only very close to the end. In this regard, they are very much like mercury cells. Unfortunately their voltage is 1.55 V, not 1.35 V.

To estimate the exposure error, simply compare the SR-T's readout to a known light meter, e. g. to that inside your digital camera. Don't forget to match the ASA settings (falsely called ISO these days).

Javelin wrote:... except I don't know if it's first or second gen. the descriptions are the same but mine is marked as Rokkor-X so I assume first?
Quote the complete (!) writing on the front ring, and I can tell you which generation it is. By the way, there are two different 1st-generation MD versions out there; one with plastic aperture ring and one with metal aperture ring---the latter is rare and sought-after by collectors. From a user's point of view, both versions are just the same; the plastic aperture ring is no worse than the metal ... but the metal's clicking sound is nicer ;)

-- Olaf
Javelin
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Re: New addition

Unread post by Javelin »

Well I ordered a wein cell today (thanks David) and I will shoot the rest of this roll with it ans see. and I will coompare a scene with my a700 and see what the settings come out as.

the lens says .

MD Tele ROKKOR-X 135mm 1:2.8 Made in Japan (null) 55mm MINOLTA

and it has a plastic apeture ring. the metal may sound nicer but i'll bet the paint come off easily :)
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