I hate this when it happens....

[belgiumreporter]

I once read an article on collecting cameras, The topic was "do collection cameras have to be fully functional?" to make a long story short the end conclusion was : no matter how good care is takes of  any camera, at some point in time things will stop functionning, it may take months or even years but is bound to happen, though some cameras are more vulnerable than others.
Now if you've got only one or a few classic cameras it can be a controlable problem, but when there are many it can be a problem on wich you lose sight. The thing that happened to me was i wanted to sell one of my Minolta XE-1's because i've got 2 and i am in the process of thinning out the heard. So i took it out of the cabinet put in the batteries and tried it out. Everything seemed to work but i had this nagging feeling something wasn't right with the lightmeter. turns out the aperture simulator isn't working anymore.

A little research showed me this is the Achilles heel of the XE-1's and i am not the only one having this problem. To make things worse it isn't an easy fix, involving replacing the capacitors of the metering system, a task i am not willing to take on as the XE-1 isn't worth enough for going through all that trouble. What's left is a body for the parts/ bargain bin and a 50mm1.4 of wich i hopefully can recover some money. The other XE-1 works fine but it'll have to go to. Keeping these type of cameras alive is a losing battle.

[John Farrell]

This is why I stick to mechanical cameras with basic meters. The only cameras I have with any auto mode are a Pentax ME and a Konica Autoreflex TC.

[yashica1943]

I know that about 90% of my cameras work mechanically and they all look quite good cosmetically.
Checking through the ones with batteries is carried out roughly (gently) 3 times a year. Some cameras have their batteries in, others not. Some have dead meters. As long as the camera and lens look bright & clean, the shutter and mirror work (SLR) I am fairly happy.
(Or, the camera is so odd or rare that it is worth keeping!)
I must say I was very pleased to get a really mint Miranda Sensomat RS recently as it has no meter at all and no battery to corrode..
I think that my interest is going towards earlier cameras that do not rely on batteries. (Or the exposure system bolts on!)

[belgiumreporter]

The XE 1 was sold the day i advertised it and is now on its way to the Netherlands. But more trouble every day, cheking out the other Minoltas so far the Srt 101 developed a shutter problem, the Rokkor  35mm 2.8 has a frozen diafragm, the XM has a blocked self timer and the 7000 after putting in fresh batteries refuses to do anything. There's still some more Minoltas to be tested i'm afraid of what i'm gonna find