ProSeal Instructions for Minolta Hi-Matic Rangefinder Series
Please read these instructions completely before you start. Knowledge builds confidence, and like most jobs, this is better done right the first time. I think youll find it rewarding and fun, and Ive tried to keep things as easy and interesting as possible. This is a great rangefinder, and the job youre doing now is very important in repairing one of its most common problems. You have been given these instructions as a free gift for buying one of my light seal kits or for some other reason. I am assuming you have already read my basic light seal replacement instructions. Here are some things you may need: (1) a safe surface to work onI like to use a piece of cardboard about 1.5 by 1.5, but you can work on fiberboard, newspaper or anything else handy--the important thing is to protect the surface beneath you. (2) Solvent--Naphtha (cigarette lighter fluid is the same thing) or denatured alcohol are my favorites. (3) a paper towel or two. (4) some toothpicks or your bamboo toolif you have access to a wooden cuticle stick, this is a handy tool. (5) a safety razor blade, hobby knife, or small scissors. (6) a small screwdriver (7) a pair of tweezers. Now, let's take a look inside your camera: Ill use the model F for an example. The full-sized Hi-Matic is a little different, but not much. Beneath the top plate, you will see a long thin rail slot. There is a corresponding slot at the bottom. In the top slot, you will see the frame counter reset lever (pin) about 1 inch or so from the right side. There will be a seal at the hinge end, too. It may be on the door or it may have been relocated to the camera body. Well replace it on the film door. There is no latch end seal. You may see black residue on the camera body and the film door edges. Use your small screwdriver as a dropper to carefully drop solvent where you need it. I normally use enough to saturate it, but not to the point of dripping. An old plastic bottle (like a contact lens cleaner bottle) makes a good solvent dropper, too. The procedure is to let it sit a few minutes, and then begin scraping it off. You may use a toothpick with the sharp end removed, your bamboo tool from the light seal kit, a wooden cuticle stick, or you may use the tip of your small screwdriver. Work carefully and try not to scratch the painted surface. Your work will go better if you are patient and give the solvent time to dissolve and loosen the old adhesive. IMPORTANT NOTE: Observe the precautions on the solvent can. Work in a well-ventilated area and avoid too much skin contact or contact with eyes, and dont drink it. Now were going to clean out the rail slots on the camera body and replace those seals. Heres how: Place a small bit of paper towel in the slot and push it down with your tool. Next, drip a little solvent onto itenough to wet it, but not to the point of being messy. Use your tool to push it through the slot, cleaning the old goop out. You may need to repeat this three or four times until the slot is nicely clean. Push the old material away from the reset pin, so you dont get old goop under it, then clean the slot on the other side of the pin. Repeat for the lower slot.
When you have the slots clean, take a long 2mm piece of seal material from your kit and press it into the slot using your fingertip. Start at the hinge end and work toward the frame counter reset lever. Dont let the seal material turn or twist and press it into the slot with the thin end of the little bamboo tool, as below. When you get to the film frame reset pin, cut the strip so that it will stop right at the pin, as shown. Start the strip back in the slot on the other side of the pin.
Dont worry that there is no adhesive. With this seal you dont need it. I designed it so the pressure of the seal material against the channel walls will keep it in place perfectly and provide a full-channel and completely effective light baffle. When you reach the end, use a razor blade, small knife or tiny scissors to trim the excess so the strip will tuck under the latch coversee below:
You will repeat this procedure for the seal at the bottom of the camera body. Notice there is a cutout to allow easy removal of the film canister. Simply follow through this cutout with your seal strip, pushing it into place with your bamboo tool or a blunted toothpick. When you reach the end, trim as per above. I normally leave about 3/8 inch of extra material. I will push this extra piece down into the space between the body and the latch plate, as shown in the image to your left.

Now, with a blunted toothpick or the thin tip of your bamboo tool, trace the seals length, pressing it gently down into its slot to seat it. Dont poke into it or damage it.
Now, lets remove and clean the hinge end seal. To the left, I drop some Left: drop some solvent seal solvent on the hinge end on the old seal. Let it soak a and let it soak a minute or so. minute or so-dont the large To the right, I use forget the of the bamboo tool to end seal piece at the top of the door. scrape the old seal material Right: scrape the old (or off. The bamboo toolseal a off as wooden one) will not similar shown. Finish cleaning with paper cameras paint. damage thetowel & solvent. Well want to clean the hinge area really well, as per the image to your left. In this example, the slots have not yet been cleaned. To the right, I use a bit of towel soaked in solvent to clean the film door edges. We dont want them to foul your new seal material. Cut a piece of 1/32 fabric seal material to fit. The dimensions of the piece you will need are 46mm x 8mm wide. Remove the protective backing, and carefully install it. Please note this seal does not reach from end to end on your film door. Here is a view of how it should look: The seal material starts and stops at the place where the door breaks into the trough on both ends. You can see this clearly in the picture to the left. If you happen to install your seal piece crooked, simply drop some solvent on it and let it soak a minute or so. This will free the adhesive, allowing you to re-locate the piece. Be careful not to poke into the seal piece when it is wet with solvent, or you could damage the fabric. Move it gently if you need to do this.
When finished, this is how your new seal material should look. You can see the slots have been re-sealed in this image. Since there is no latch end seal, were finished, and your Hi-Matic is ready to take excellent pictures. Also, because we used a fabric seal at the hinge end and high grade LDPE in the film door slots, it is unlikely you will ever have to worry about light leaks again.
Now, please close your film door and let your camera sit a few hours or overnight to allow the new seals to adjust to their new surroundings.
A little further into the camera we go
Is your rangefinder foggy or not as bright as you wish? Ill show you how to clean it. First, we remove the top plate of the camera:

ProSeal Instructions for Vivitar 35ES and Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII Please read these instructions completely before you start. Knowledge will increase your confidence, and like most jobs, this is better done right the first time. I think youll find re-sealing to be fun, and Ive tried to keep things as easy and logical as possible. Sealing your camera is one of the best ways to help it take really nice pictures. You have been given this set of instructions for any of several reasons. You should have already read and understood the general directions which accompany my light seal kits. Here are some things you may need: (1) a safe surface to work onI like to use a piece of cardboard about 1.5 by 1.5, but you can work on fiberboard, newspaper or anything else handy--the important thing is to protect the surface beneath you. (2) Some solvent. Denatured Alcohol or Naphtha (cigarette lighter fluid is the same thing) are my favorites. (3) 2 or 3 paper towels. (4) some toothpicks or your bamboo toolif you have access to a wooden cuticle stick, this is a handy tool. (5) a safety razor blade, hobby knife, or small scissors. (6) a small screwdriver (7) a pair of tweezers (8) metal straightedge to use in cutting seal pieces. Now, let's take a look inside your camera: ~~First the Vivitar 35ES~~
At the hinge end, you are likely to see a real mess. Generally, the old seal has deteriorated to the point where it looks like there was originally seal foam applied to both the body and the film door, but there wasnt. At the latch end, you will see a tapered foam piece which acts as light seal and film canister retainer.
A closer view at the latch end piece. Originally this piece tapered from 6mm thick to 3mm thick and was 18mm wide by 48.5mm long. Reconstructing it will be a bit interesting, but we can do it, and the pad well make will work just as good as the original and last much longer. First, were going to clean all the old foam out in preparation for the re-sealing. Please read on
IMPORTANT NOTE: Observe the precautions on the solvent can. Work in a well-ventilated area and avoid too much skin contact or contact with eyes, and dont drink it. Please see below:
Top left-I drop solvent onto the old seal from an old dropper bottle. I use just enough to saturate it. Next, I use the wide end of my bamboo tool to loosen and remove from both the film door and camera body. I will also use a paper towel with solvent to clean this area very well. Next, I clean the film door edges well with paper towel and solvent. Next, I drop solvent on the latch end pad and remove it in the same fashion as I did the hinge end seal. Next, I clean the area very well with paper towel and solvent. You can see the cleaned area next. Finally, I run a bit of paper towel soaked with solvent through the body slots using the narrow end of my bamboo tool. Get them very clean and avoid pushing anything into the film frame counter reset lever area.
Above, you will see Ive replaced the hinge end seal. Heres how that is done: First, cut a piece of 1mm thick self-adhesive foam 5mm wide x 47mm long. Remove the backing paper and lick the adhesive side very well. You will want to get this piece very moist, because youre going to slide it behind the hinge itself for a very good seal. In the first image above, you can see I have set the piece in place (do not cover the body slots). In the second image, you can see I have slid it down behind the hinge so that a thin line of the body shows above the top of the seal. Use your bamboo tool to gently slide it downward. When this is dry (it will take between 30 minutes and an hour), you can press it down for a final fit. ~~Reconstructing the Vivitar Latch End Piece~~
Measurements of the 4 component pieces: From 2.5mm thick foam One piece 18mm x 48.5mm From 1mm thick foam One piece 13mm x 48.5mm One piece 15mm x 48.5mm One piece 18mm x 48.5mm
As shown above, cut the 4 component pieces (measurements in the text box). Laminate the 15mm and 13mm wide pieces cut from 1mm foam onto the piece cut from 2.5mm foam. This will look like the stair-step piece in the second image above. Then laminate the 18mm piece cut from 1mm foam onto this as shown in the third image above and fold it over. The end product will look like the left hand image in the second row. Remove the backing paper from the 2.5mm piece, lick the adhesive side well and install it, making sure to leave a small space behind it and the film door (this provides the light seal). When dry (30 minutes to an hour), you can press it down for a final stick. ~~Installing the long thin strips~~

As you see in the above three images, I begin with a 2mm non-adhesive Seal Strip at the end of the slot, tucking it in with the thin end of my bamboo tool. Install it with the coated or glossy side facing upward, and please do not worry that there is no adhesive. Sidewall pressure will keep it in place indefinitely. Do not let the strip rotate or flip over as you tuck it in. Continue around the corner and trim so the piece will end right at the film frame counter reset lever (last image above). Tuck this in and repeat for the remaining part of the top slot and the bottom slot. If you are re-sealing the Vivitar 35ES, youre finished, and you can close your film door to let the seals set for a few hours. It is normal for the door to feel tighter than before, as you had virtually no sealing action left when you began. ~~The Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII~~ Some people think these two cameras are the same. Mechanically they are not, but from a body style standpoint, they are very similar. In fact, the only difference in the Hi-Matic 7sII is the latch end. Lets take a look and see how the two cameras differ:
Above, you will see the Minolta uses a thin metal tab to hold in the film canister, and also there is a thin metal baffle plate used to hold the latch end seal. This is very similar to the design used in the Konica Auto S2. To replace this, first clean out the old seal with solvent and bits of paper towel. Next, cut from 3mm self-adhesive foam a piece 8mm x 49mm. Remove the backing paper, lick the adhesive side very well and slide this piece down so the adhesive side faces the baffle piece (as shown in image number two above). In the final image, you can see I have slid the piece down so that the top of the seal rests just under the edge of the baffle piece. Once it is dry, I will press it down for a final fit with the thin end of my bamboo tool. Sometimes I will leave this overnight to dry, especially if the weather is very humid. All other parts of the Minolta are the same as the Vivitar and use the same dimensions of foam. One final noteyou will notice on both the Vivitar and the Minolta the bottom slot has a double bend in it. The Seal Strip is a professional solution for these slots which has been designed and cut from foam which will allow you to follow right through that S curve easily. You can see how I do this in the image to your left. Just gently push the strip in place using the thin end of your bamboo tool and remember to keep the coated side facing upward (as you see me doing). Please do not use inferior seal products in your cameras. Using the best costs no more, and there is no substitute for a job professionally done with professional quality materials. Jon Goodman --- 2007