Maxxum 7, 35mm film camera shutter repair.

Good luck, Tom

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.

to

So you need to take pics before dismantling ;-)

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

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.

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.

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.

-- Cheers, WB .............

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.

Wild_Bill wrote:

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.