F200 lock up

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

I'm wondering if there is some problem with the camera that when it
is in a certain mode it drains the batteries very quickly. I forgot
to say that as well as in manual mode using manual focus, I was
using aperture priority and macro with flash turned off in case
anyone wants to try to reproduce this. I will have another go and
see if it does the same thing and if so, I'll use an AC adaptor and
measure the current drawn.

Kevan

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Ambrose said:

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I'm wondering if there is some problem with the camera that when it
is in a certain mode it drains the batteries very quickly. I forgot
to say that as well as in manual mode using manual focus, I was
using aperture priority and macro with flash turned off in case
anyone wants to try to reproduce this. I will have another go and
see if it does the same thing and if so, I'll use an AC adaptor and
measure the current drawn.

Kevan

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Agustinus said:

If this happens with almost all mode, auto and manual, and video,
then you must follow Ambrose's suggestion: battery problem. When
the battery indicator goes red, you can continue to drain them till
no power left. I usually drain them with flash light during bed
time. Do this cycle 3-5 times until the length of battery operation
expanded to 90-120 minutes.

My ten-days old F200 came with two Japan-made Sanyo NiMH 2000mAH,
1.2V, AA batteries and a China-made Sanyo charger. Until now, I
have not successful to expand the battery life more than 60
minutes. May be just because I have not explore the camera alot.

Planning to buy GP 2100mAH batteries which I heard for having
slower draining speed instead of Sanyo.

Happy draining, then....

Agustinus
---

Ambrose said:

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I'm wondering if there is some problem with the camera that when it
is in a certain mode it drains the batteries very quickly. I forgot
to say that as well as in manual mode using manual focus, I was
using aperture priority and macro with flash turned off in case
anyone wants to try to reproduce this. I will have another go and
see if it does the same thing and if so, I'll use an AC adaptor and
measure the current drawn.

Kevan

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

Agustinus said:

If this happens with almost all mode, auto and manual, and video,
then you must follow Ambrose's suggestion: battery problem. When
the battery indicator goes red, you can continue to drain them till
no power left. I usually drain them with flash light during bed
time. Do this cycle 3-5 times until the length of battery operation
expanded to 90-120 minutes.

My ten-days old F200 came with two Japan-made Sanyo NiMH 2000mAH,
1.2V, AA batteries and a China-made Sanyo charger. Until now, I
have not successful to expand the battery life more than 60
minutes. May be just because I have not explore the camera alot.

Planning to buy GP 2100mAH batteries which I heard for having
slower draining speed instead of Sanyo.

Happy draining, then....

Agustinus
---

Ambrose said:

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I'm wondering if there is some problem with the camera that when it
is in a certain mode it drains the batteries very quickly. I forgot
to say that as well as in manual mode using manual focus, I was
using aperture priority and macro with flash turned off in case
anyone wants to try to reproduce this. I will have another go and
see if it does the same thing and if so, I'll use an AC adaptor and
measure the current drawn.

Kevan

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

STEFFIE said:

Kevan said:

Agustinus said:

If this happens with almost all mode, auto and manual, and video,
then you must follow Ambrose's suggestion: battery problem. When
the battery indicator goes red, you can continue to drain them till
no power left. I usually drain them with flash light during bed
time. Do this cycle 3-5 times until the length of battery operation
expanded to 90-120 minutes.

My ten-days old F200 came with two Japan-made Sanyo NiMH 2000mAH,
1.2V, AA batteries and a China-made Sanyo charger. Until now, I
have not successful to expand the battery life more than 60
minutes. May be just because I have not explore the camera alot.

Planning to buy GP 2100mAH batteries which I heard for having
slower draining speed instead of Sanyo.

Happy draining, then....

Agustinus
---

Ambrose said:

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I'm wondering if there is some problem with the camera that when it
is in a certain mode it drains the batteries very quickly. I forgot
to say that as well as in manual mode using manual focus, I was
using aperture priority and macro with flash turned off in case
anyone wants to try to reproduce this. I will have another go and
see if it does the same thing and if so, I'll use an AC adaptor and
measure the current drawn.

Kevan

Ambrose said:

Try to run out the batteries a couple of times, use something that
can drain them like childrens car boat etc. and load for very long
time, two days?

Also if you can borrow some batteries from a friend, just to know
it's not the batteries.

SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
SeYa/Ambrose... Cam F300 http://www.pbase.com/ambrosed

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

Not at all, the more the merrier

It is definitely not that as it locks up immediately after taking a
picture and the file is not written to the memory card. All the
controls become unresponsive. Only the amber light flashes.

I'd appreciate it if someone else with an F200 would try this and
see if it occurs on a dfferent camera.

The settings were:

Manual Mode/Manual focus/Macro/Aperture priority @ f8/no flash

Click to expand...

qbase said:

The lock ups has occured in different modes. Auto, manual and
macro. I also thought there was a battery problem, but it has
happened with new batteries as well.

The lock ups hasn't bothered me that much, I just open/close the
battery hatch and the camera restarts.

I'll try to write down the values next time. It's definitely not
power saving. It's like what Kevan describes, on my camera you can
see a faint horizontal line on the LCD display. Looks like the
display hasn't shut down properly.

qbase

Kevan said:

Not at all, the more the merrier

It is definitely not that as it locks up immediately after taking a
picture and the file is not written to the memory card. All the
controls become unresponsive. Only the amber light flashes.

I'd appreciate it if someone else with an F200 would try this and
see if it occurs on a dfferent camera.

The settings were:

Manual Mode/Manual focus/Macro/Aperture priority @ f8/no flash

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

At least it's not just mine. When I get chance I'll see if it's
easily reproducible and if so, contact Minolta.

Click to expand...

Andrew Mills said:

Kevan said:

At least it's not just mine. When I get chance I'll see if it's
easily reproducible and if so, contact Minolta.

Click to expand...

I have had the same problem in the 2 weeks I had the camera and
it's got very little to do with batteries (it won't happen on a
completely full battery but can happen anytime afterwards) and my
batteries should be well "burned in" by now. Can happen in any
mode, more likely with flash. It's either crappy testing at the
design stage or indicative of a shady marketing division. Either
way, I'm returning the camera.

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

darudi said:

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

They say that this is the first instance of this problem that has
been reported to them. They are passing the information on and if
this is a firmware defect, they will remedy it and provide a free
download on the Minolta support website.

To the other people who said they had experienced this problem, it
may be worthwhile reporting this to Minolta as well to make them
aware that this is not an isolated case. The UK Technical Support
email address is [email protected]

Kevan

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

They say that this is the first instance of this problem that has
been reported to them. They are passing the information on and if
this is a firmware defect, they will remedy it and provide a free
download on the Minolta support website.

To the other people who said they had experienced this problem, it
may be worthwhile reporting this to Minolta as well to make them
aware that this is not an isolated case. The UK Technical Support
email address is [email protected]

Kevan

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Kevan said:

I recently encountered a lock-up with my F200 and wondered if
anyone else has has experienced the same thing.

It happened after taking a picture in manual mode with manual
focussing on a tripod. The shutter sound effect was heard then the
display and LCD panel went blank and the amber light next to the
viewfinder flashed. None of the controls worked and the lens was
stuck out. I turned the control dial to OFF then back on and waited.

After a few minutes it sprang back into life. I tried again and the
same thing happened. This time I undid the battery cover and
re-inserted the battery and that brought it back to life.

The battery indicator was showing full before I started but
afterwards it showed half full then needed replacing. I then
replaced the battery (Lithium) with fully charged 1850mAH NiMH
batteries (new and just charged for 16 hours) and the same thing
happened. The batteries were flat within two or three attempted
shots. (I think I got one successful shot out of them).

The lock up may be due to the batteries being exhausted but why
should they go so quickly?

Has anyone else had any problems like these?

Kevan

Click to expand...