Fix: Torn mirror bumper on a Minolta SRT-202 vs just leaving it

I finally got around to fixing that torn mirror bumper on my Minolta SRT-202 last weekend. For months I was just ignoring it, thinking the foam was fine enough since the mirror still flipped up okay. But after a roll of film came back with weird light leaks near the top edge, I had to face it. I ordered a replacement foam strip from a guy on eBay for like $8, took maybe 20 minutes to scrape the old gunk out and stick the new one in. The difference was night and day. No more stray light hitting the film, and the mirror slap sounds way more dampened now. Has anyone else put off a simple foam replacement way longer than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

hernandez.ben10d ago

Dude, that "weird light leaks near the top edge" is exactly what happened to me. I put off swapping the foam on my Canon FTb for like a year because I figured it was fine, then got a whole roll of portraits ruined. Took ten bucks and a half hour to fix and I felt like such an idiot for waiting.

fiona_scott4410d ago

Well, actually the Canon FTb uses light seals, not foam. Easy mistake though!

sanchez.mia10d ago

hold up, is this really the end of the world? i get that light leaks are annoying but a whole roll of portraits ruined sounds like a bit much. honestly half the time you can fix that stuff in editing with a quick clone brush or just crop it out. i've had light leaks on plenty of rolls and only a few were actually bad enough to matter. maybe i'm just lazy but i'd rather spend my time shooting than swapping foam on a camera that works fine otherwise.