Frustrated with a problematic 7D

I got a Maxxum 7D, and yesterday.  Shot 86 shots with it, and was pretty pleased.

Brought it home and charged the battery. Started it up again, and to my surprise, the shutter will no longer fire!  Everything else seems to work, but when I depress the shutter button to take a photo, it just doesn't trip it.

I have read on the web that this is a common problem, and a design flaw which SONY was repairing for free.  I called SONY and they told me to take a hike, as they ended any Minolta repairs in 2011, recommending for me to check ca.konicaminolta.com.

That site had Prceision camera listed; I gave them a call and they also told me to take a hike as they no longer repair Minolta cameras :-(.

Am I out of options?  I really like this camera, and thought would be shooting with it a long time.

Please let me know your feedback.

Your 7 D is ten years old. KM has been out of the camera business for a long time. there are no parts available to fix this camera. Even if there were. Precision Camera  would charge you 300 dollars for the fix. You can buy another 7D for less than that. But it too will be subject e to failure with no cure.

I have a perfectly functional 7D with grip and KM flash  and every accessory with all the boxes and paper work. I spent 300 dollars back 8 years ago to have mine fixed before Sony took over KM and After the warranty was over. Once the fix was announced Sony sent me a check to cover the repairs. I would not sell my 7D for 800 dollars. There is no camera out there that produces such wonderful colors. That's why I keep it.. its not as much fun as my Sony A700 or my Sony A77 but those colors are simply amazing. I take it out and shoot it every couple of months and only wish I could get the same breathtaking color for my other cameras.. I shoot Raw and use Lightroom and cant get the same colors with the Sony's as I get with my 7D right out of the camera..

BTW, I read somewhere (IIRC it was on the forum of dyxum.com, but I am not sure), that the First Black Frame error can be temporary cured by shaking the camera for a minute or so. The shake will put the mechanics in such a way that it works again for some time, I guess.

The problem with the first frame black, is the shutter mechanism. The reason I know this is when I sent my camera. Because it did what yours did and finally stopped working. I sent it in after warranty and I paid almo0st 300.00 dollars for the repair. when Sony took over KM they sent me a check for the repair, because it was deemed a manufacturing defect. The Fix was to replace the Shutter and the connection cable. Note my repair order from 2006. They replaced the shutter mec. and associated parts, as stated in the repair invoice for parts replaced. Sony told me it was the covered manufacturing defect repair which the covered for 4 years. They returned the money I spent out of pocket.

that's unfortunately the well known "ERROR:58"....i hope my 7D will last for many years still, even with today's only 6 MP, i love the design & haptics of that DSLR quite much, it'sa living legend already, and turns 10 years old this year, too!

Yay for KMT?DP Review, and thanks very much Lyle for your 'bones 'n' braces' approach to the FFB issue.

Yes, I know all the arguments why one should not bother - too old, too worn, too ... whatever!

And yes they both succumbed to the FFB issue. Coming back to this work-around has brought both back to life.

MY 7D's are now almost ten years old, yes. They have idiosyncrasies and sometimes make me lust after others, but the colour rendition and atmosphere in a good high-res file produces images that make me feel good, and those I share them with more than happy to hang their 24x30 inch prints alongside images no more impressive that have been sourced from much more expensive kit.

So I will raise a glass to Canada. And make some more 7D images this week. (Even if my A77 cries foul!)

Cheers, and thanks again.

Lyle From Canada wrote:

When the shutter locks up and you get a black frame that freezes the camera:
1 - shut the camera off and remove lens
2 - turn it back on
3 - go into the menu and locate the "clean ccd" option
4 - select yes
5 - lightly touch the louvered curtain that is sitting over the sensor. It should sitting open when touched.
6 - shut off the camera and reattach the lens

It should work fine now. I find as long as I use mine daily it seems tip be ok. Regardless this always fixes the problem

According to Konica Minolta ages ago, it's a hardware issue, so it can't really being simply fixed by that way - how often does the in-famous "Error 58" comes back that way to your 7D?

Marc

I have been through the whole process...Shutter replaced FOC by Sony Repair here in New Zealand. Then after three years one more time, but advised there might not be another chance.

Discovered (when it inevitably occurred again, about two years ago) that by shutting down, removing battery and then applying power again it would suddenly re-awake after  one or two frames. Leaving it powered down for a  few weeks brought it to a dead end, or so I thought.

After finding this trick I tried it, the camera works, like as if nothing was ever wrong, and if I power it on every two days or so, it seems to be going just like new again. I have no idea what is going on save perhaps some static accumulation on a part within. (I do use antistat wristband when getting anywhere near the front curtain.

Cheers

MichaelSolna wrote:

EXX wrote:

BTW, I read somewhere (IIRC it was on the forum of dyxum.com, but I am not sure), that the First Black Frame error can be temporary cured by shaking the camera for a minute or so. The shake will put the mechanics in such a way that it works again for some time, I guess.

I have one that I have tried that cure on. It worked a couple of times.

FFB workaround is on Dyxum.  I have a perfectly good 7D listed in the classifieds BTW.  K-M authorised repair agents are listed on the KM website.  Bear in mind new parts are no longer made, so any repairer cannot put a warranty on the repair if they use used parts (taken from another body for example) though I hear the agent in Bremen have parts, so it may be worth sending them an email and asking for a costing and to confirm if they still hold spare parts, though the cost to do this is likely to exceed the value of the camera, so have you considered buying a Sony A100-A750 APS-C which have no FFB issues, though the A100 and A700 are the only two that have mag-alloy chassis as the 7D and retain the DoF button, though the A700 has a CMOS sensor as opposed to CCD and I think this is the sensible option.

I have here a recipe that works for me

Charge the battery
Turn on the camera
Leave it on, and no longer touch the camera for a few hours
Then disassemble the lens,(Do not touch anything else) and put the lens back in place.
Test your camera, mine is working again.
Never turn your camera off
Good luck!