My old Minolta XG7, took lens area apart. SPRING shot out...

[bowhunter]

Hello all...this is my first posting to your forums and I'm hoping for some help. I purchased a Minolta XG-7 back in ~ 79/80 with 2 lens. I packed it away 20 years ago and recently took it out of storage to see if it worked. The camera was serviced before I packed it away, and to my surprise, with new batteries, it still works....OR IT DID!

I was cleaning things up... (I will get to other issues later if necessary)...and just could not get the reflector for the viewfinder clean (not the mirror). I figured I would take the front of the lens area off the camera and see what was up! Not a good idea...because as soon as I took off the metal ring, then the second ring (black plastic one with the contacts for the iso function) a SPRING sprung out of the d*&^* thing. The spring is attached to a post on the black plastic ring, but NOWHERE can I find a termination point for the spring. In the process, I, of course moved things around...etc...but now, after some time have managed to get everything working again, except for where the spring terminates. (I have it just kind of rigged, but it is not right).

IF anyone has a diagram of where this 1" spring terminates and how to attach it, that would be great. I may end up just rigging it to work and call it quits. From what I can determine, the camera really has no value so I don't want to pay for a service manual, I just need to know where the spring goes. I can post a picture of the black ring with the singe end of the spring attached, I just need to know where the other end goes. It will be shown in the service manual or even a parts picture. It looks like the spring termination may be way back inside the very top of the camera, which would require a complete takedown of the camera.

Thanks

[pakodominguez]

I think the best thing you can do is getting a new body. And, at the actual prices, buy a X700 that is a better camera. Just don't take too long because prices will go up (for MD/MC lenses) the day an affordable converter for the new NEX cameras hit the market -the one you can find now on ebay cost 80+ US$, what is a little expensive.

Regards

[KevinBarrett]

That's a lot of trouble to satisfy some curiosity, "to see if it worked," but I understand and sympathize completely. Unfortunately, Pako is right--if you put a dollar sign on the problem and drop the personal challenge of righting mechanical wrongs, there are better routes to a happy ending.