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Maxxum 7, 35mm film camera shutter repair.

D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a 7 year old Maxxum 7 film camera. Intermittently, when the shutter
is depressed the shutter doesn't click though you here some softer noises
instead. It's almost like the mechanism is staging for fire but doesn't.
When this happens, the lcd data display (remember it's film so there's no
image display) goes dead. Then I have to power cycle the camera and it's
fine. Usually it never misfires two times in a row. The only drawback
besides the inconvenience of missing the photo and the time that is wasted
is that after the power cycling, the film automatically advances to the next
frame leaving one frame unexposed. I've found a workaround for this. This
camera has an individual frame rewind feature so I can actually rewind the
film one frame back to where it was before the shutter misfire. Of course
all of this is a big p.i.t.a. Swapping out batteries, lenses, or changing
metering, flash, or programming modes makes no difference.

I was considering disassembling the camera in hopes of perhaps finding a
simple electronic or mechanical reason for this intermittent failure.
Perhaps a loose connector, a bad capacitor, or something that should move
easily but has started to get sluggish. Camera stores really don't repair
these anymore so I don't have much to lose. Anyone have any experience with
this?

Thanks for your reply.
 
C

Cydrome Leader

Jan 1, 1970
0
David Farber said:
I have a 7 year old Maxxum 7 film camera. Intermittently, when the shutter
is depressed the shutter doesn't click though you here some softer noises
instead. It's almost like the mechanism is staging for fire but doesn't.
When this happens, the lcd data display (remember it's film so there's no
image display) goes dead. Then I have to power cycle the camera and it's
fine. Usually it never misfires two times in a row. The only drawback
besides the inconvenience of missing the photo and the time that is wasted
is that after the power cycling, the film automatically advances to the next
frame leaving one frame unexposed. I've found a workaround for this. This
camera has an individual frame rewind feature so I can actually rewind the
film one frame back to where it was before the shutter misfire. Of course
all of this is a big p.i.t.a. Swapping out batteries, lenses, or changing
metering, flash, or programming modes makes no difference.

I was considering disassembling the camera in hopes of perhaps finding a
simple electronic or mechanical reason for this intermittent failure.
Perhaps a loose connector, a bad capacitor, or something that should move
easily but has started to get sluggish. Camera stores really don't repair
these anymore so I don't have much to lose. Anyone have any experience with
this?

cameras = serious PITA to fix. If it's not bad batteries, toss it. It's
not worth even looking at unless it has sentimental value or something like
that. You can probably get an exact replacement from KEH for like $50 or
something like that.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cydrome said:
cameras = serious PITA to fix. If it's not bad batteries, toss it.
It's not worth even looking at unless it has sentimental value or
something like that. You can probably get an exact replacement from
KEH for like $50 or something like that.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cydrome said:
cameras = serious PITA to fix. If it's not bad batteries, toss it.
It's not worth even looking at unless it has sentimental value or
something like that. You can probably get an exact replacement from
KEH for like $50 or something like that.

KEH has one for $165. For that price I thought I'd at least take it apart to
see what was going on inside. The thing I am unsure about is ruining any
light seals or being able to put back cables in their correct positions so
that everything fits together nicely at the end.

Thanks for your reply.
 
N

N_Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
David Farber said:
KEH has one for $165. For that price I thought I'd at least take it apart to
see what was going on inside. The thing I am unsure about is ruining any
light seals or being able to put back cables in their correct positions so
that everything fits together nicely at the end.

Thanks for your reply.


So you need to take pics before dismantling ;-)
 
C

chuck

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a 7 year old Maxxum 7 film camera. Intermittently, when the shutter
is depressed the shutter doesn't click though you here some softer noises
instead. It's almost like the mechanism is staging for fire but doesn't.
When this happens, the lcd data display (remember it's film so there's no
image display) goes dead. Then I have to power cycle the camera and it's
fine. Usually it never misfires two times in a row. The only drawback
besides the inconvenience of missing the photo and the time that is wasted
is that after the power cycling, the film automatically advances to the next
frame leaving one frame unexposed. I've found a workaround for this. This
camera has an individual frame rewind feature so I can actually rewind the
film one frame back to where it was before the shutter misfire. Of course
all of this is a big p.i.t.a. Swapping out batteries, lenses, or changing
metering, flash, or programming modes makes no difference.

I was considering disassembling the camera in hopes of perhaps finding a
simple electronic or mechanical reason for this intermittent failure.
Perhaps a loose connector, a bad capacitor, or something that should move
easily but has started to get sluggish. Camera stores really don't repair
these anymore so I don't have much to lose. Anyone have any experience with
this?

Thanks for your reply.


A hobby of mine is repairing 35mm slr cameras. I have seen on camera
sites that there are 2 electrolytic caps that need to be replaced to
repair this problem. The Yahoo group"Camera fix" has threads on this
issue. I don't repair Minoltas so I don't know exactly where they are
located. I think one is under the top cover and one is under the
bottom. Chuck
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
N_Cook said:
So you need to take pics before dismantling ;-)
Yes, of course I need pictures. So I have to reassemble the camera every
step of the way, put the film back in, take another picture, then take it
apart again. I should be an expert by the time I'm done with this job. (-:

Thanks for your reply.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
chuck said:
A hobby of mine is repairing 35mm slr cameras. I have seen on camera
sites that there are 2 electrolytic caps that need to be replaced to
repair this problem. The Yahoo group"Camera fix" has threads on this
issue. I don't repair Minoltas so I don't know exactly where they are
located. I think one is under the top cover and one is under the
bottom. Chuck

Hi Chuck,

I removed the bottom cover today. There are no visible electronics there.
Just the plastic transport gears there that probably advance the film. There
is a small pc board off to the right side but it's buried in the chassis.
There appears to be a rather large capacitor on that board, perhaps for the
flash. When I turned the camera right-side-up with the bottom removed, some
gears fell out. You'd think they be fastened in there with a clip or
something. Anyway, I did notice that the hinged battery cover contains the
contact plate for the positive battery terminal. This terminal however is
not hard wired to the inside of the camera. There is a small copper wiper
which looks like what you'd find in an old vcr mode switch (the movable
part) that transfers the current from the battery plate to another part of
the camera and then there is yet another one of these copper wipers pushing
against the next conductive track. I used some alcohol to clean up the
contacts and then used a burnishing tool to hopefully improve the
connection. I'll load up a roll of film and see if that helped at all. I
don't look forward to taking the top part of the camera apart looking for
more failed electronics while springs, gears, and whatever else pops out.

Thanks for your reply.
 
C

Cydrome Leader

Jan 1, 1970
0
David Farber said:
KEH has one for $165. For that price I thought I'd at least take it apart to
see what was going on inside. The thing I am unsure about is ruining any
light seals or being able to put back cables in their correct positions so
that everything fits together nicely at the end.

Thanks for your reply.

The light seals would tend to not be a problem, but 1980s japanese
electronics wiring probably will be. Stuff is crammed so tight into those
cameras that unsoldering all sorts of stuff tends to be a must.

I love fixing stuff, but the challenge of messing with a camera is pretty
up there. I've done work on cameras that belonged to dead folks so the
owner wanted to not toss it, and it's quite doable, but not easy, and can
require strange tools.

If you're just curious and don't mind just tossing the pile of parts you
end up with, it can be fun.
 
D

David Farber

Jan 1, 1970
0
BAZINGA! David.. not as easy to remember as cuss words (if you've
practiced) , but like getting an unexpected tickle/zap, it tends to
focus ones' attention on what they're doing.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, as they say. Good luck with the
camera repair.

Life Of Brian.. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

Thanks WB. I'll use it until I've used up the rest of my slide film mailers
which have expiration dates. Then, there's no rush and I can take my time to
dismantle it if need be.
 
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