Dynax 7D Shutter problem

When I bought my 7D in Sep 2005 I suspected that the shutter failed to operate on a couple of times but then it seemed OK. To cut a very long and frustrating story short the camera has been back three times to Minolta UK and now to the agent responsible in Germany and still I get this intermittent problem. First Minolta changed a component, secondly the agent reset the camera and thirdly they said 'No fault found'. Retailer promised a full refund if he saw this intermittent problem. Yesterday I managed to reproduce the fault when he was there. He then claimed I was pressing the shutter too quickly and fooling the camera - even though the focus lock symbol was on and the camera was clearly focussed correctly. Even so after carefully half pressing the shutter and slowly applying further pressure to the shutter release it still failed to fire. The retailer then refused to admit there was a fault and said most digital cameras could display this problem! So much for a full refund!

Selecting RP mode rather than AF does not clear the problem. Some times the problem does not appear for several weeks.
Has anyone out there had this problem?

He is being dishonest. Something is wrong with your 7D.

By the way, can you reproduce the problem using manual focus?

--
Henry Richardson
http://www.hrich.com
http://www.printroom.com/pro/intrepid

What kind of battery are you using - a KM NP400 or an aftermarket brand? I've experienced that my Maxxum 7D whould lock the shutter half way when not using a KM battery. Taking out the aftermarket battery and re-inserting it would fix the problem for a while. I also noticed this issue occured mostly in Continuous AF mode. No such problems for me with a KM branded battery though.
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Ron
Torrance, CA
Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/rambler358

Thanks Ron and Henry. Problem still occurs with Manual Focus. I am using the supplied KM battery.

I have had very similar problems with the shutter on my camera and have returned to Konica Minolta (KM) twice and it has now developed the same problem again. It seems to be worse if I have not used the camera for a few days. When I switch the camera on and press the shutter, it is as if the camera freezes when writing to the card or the shutter jams. If I switch the camera off and on again and take another shot, it ususally comes good, maybe after 15-20 tries; but this time it has not. I have tried new batteries etc but nothing seems to help. I have told KM that this is unacceptable but they refuse too change the camera as I bought it in Dubai and not the UK....sorry, KM, this is not a reasonable arguement. I have had the camera a little over a year and probably lost its use for half of this period as I travel a lot and find it difficult to get to the UK to collect...

All in all, a great camera, but the experience of ownership has been a complete nightmare and I'm glad KM are out of the business; I hope SONY can do better....

Have guys tried cleaning the contacts on battery and the camera?
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7D KM28-75mm f2.8 KM 75-300MM Sigma 28-300mm

Incompatible lens could also cause this problem. Are you using KM lens?

Biu

VulcanNav said:

When I bought my 7D in Sep 2005 I suspected that the shutter failed
to operate on a couple of times but then it seemed OK. To cut a
very long and frustrating story short the camera has been back
three times to Minolta UK and now to the agent responsible in
Germany and still I get this intermittent problem. First Minolta
changed a component, secondly the agent reset the camera and
thirdly they said 'No fault found'. Retailer promised a full refund
if he saw this intermittent problem. Yesterday I managed to
reproduce the fault when he was there. He then claimed I was
pressing the shutter too quickly and fooling the camera - even
though the focus lock symbol was on and the camera was clearly
focussed correctly. Even so after carefully half pressing the
shutter and slowly applying further pressure to the shutter release
it still failed to fire. The retailer then refused to admit there
was a fault and said most digital cameras could display this
problem! So much for a full refund!
Selecting RP mode rather than AF does not clear the problem. Some
times the problem does not appear for several weeks.
Has anyone out there had this problem?

Click to expand...

Is this problem specific to the 7D or is it also common on the 5D?

Searching through the forums and looking at the results, I get the idea that this problem is considerably more common to the 7D, but I'm hoping some of the members of this forum can give any additional info about this.

--
IraqiGeek
http://www.iraqigeek.com

On my 7D, the little spring that holds the battery door open came off and had fallen into the battery compartment. I discovered this when changing the battery and using a bulb syringe to blow dust out of the compartment. When I did that, the spring fell from the compartment. I thought about putting it back into its place on the door hinge, but realized if I did, chances are it could fall out again. I did not want to risk that happening, because even though it is small, I wondered if there is a chance that it could get lodged somewhere in the compartment against a metal contact and cause a short.

So, on your camera, is the spring still in place...or has it fallen out? If it's fallen out, did you find it? If not, I'd just take a close look inside the battery compartment to make sure it's not lodged down in there somewhere where it could cause an issue.

Just a thought...I've seen stranger things happen with electronics over the years

--
Mark Pernal, FPSA, RPS
Lk Mary, FL
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view?id=21985
http://photobucket.com/albums/v213/digiartiste/

Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D dslr
Minolta Maxxum 9000
Konica Minolta Z3
Minolta DiMage 7(ug)
Minolta HS(d)5600 flash
Konica Minolta 28-75 2.8
Promaster (Tamron) 18-200 EDO
Minolta 50 1.7
Minolta 35-70 AF

I have tried this and also a new battery. I have identified the problem as being worse if the camera is in the continuous shot mode

On its fifth trip to the servicing agent a fault was finally confirmed and Sony gave the retailer a full refund which the retailer passed on to me after almost 11 months. I bought a Sony Alpha100 from Jessops for £599.99 with 18-70mm lens - very similar to Dynax 7D in operation with improvements and higher resolution CCD - hope it is more reliable!

Hi,

seems that your problem is quite similar to my one. Could ou please have a look at this thread:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1035&message=19564333

where I described what's happening to my 7D. Seems that the shutter last much less than the average number of releases in according to KM's specs (180.000? or so).

Could you please maintain your thread updated as I'll do too in order to change information about how KM / Sony will solve the problem.

BTW, my is now on the way to the retailer in Germany. As far as they informed, they will have a look first and decide then if they can fix it or advance the camera to (former) KM's repair centre in Bremen/Germany.

Cheers,
Michael Fritzen