I discovered 3 issues when I took it out of the box:
- Flash is physically broken, but not badly.
- Corrosion, but only on the door contacts.
- The thing I "thought" might be an AC adapter turned out to be an external battery.
Notice tape holding flash halves together. The 2 attachments are broken under the top half. Super Glue job needed.
Except for the chip out of the upper left eye piece, all else is good.
This corrosion is dried. Batteries were still in it, dried. I cleaned with a dental pick and Dremel with wire brush tool. I would say 80% better.
After cleaning the corrosion off I put a new set of alkalines in and it powered right up.
I checked the firmware and it was 1.10u and I updated that.
The thing I saw in the auction photos turned out to be a DigiPower DPS-90000 battery, part of the DigiPower DPS-9000 Lithium power supply set.


I'm sure everyone's heard about it but me! Anyway, the only cable with it is the one from the battery to the camera. I have searched all over Google for a complete system or, at least, the Power Supply itself. Nothing!! However, I did find this article about it with writer-experience with a 7i: (https://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/DPS9000/DPS9000.HTM)
When the camera powered on I got the same exact low battery icon on the screen. I rolled my eyes. So, I read the above article and then started going to every web site I could find with info on the 7i. It seems this camera is seriously power hungry. The manual says to stay away from alkalines, so I charged up a set of Ni-MH. I forgot to write down the voltage right after charging. I put them in the camera, powered it up and saw the same low battery icon. I went through the settings to my liking and powered it off. It sat for 24 hours and I took it out today. I clicked 9 photos before it shut off. I came home and checked the voltages: three of the batts are at 1.33 and one is 1.29.
Since I cannot find a way to use the DigiPower (and it might not work well either) I have decided to order a set of 1.5v rechargeable Lithium AA batts. I have also discovered that the LCD should never ever be used except if it is absolutely necessary to check a shot. Something about when the LCD first turns on it sends a big spike that causes some sort of battery drop flag to go off. So, I'm hoping the new batteries and only using the EVF will be a huge help.


