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Dan Lee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 - 01:15 am: | 
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I bought this Minolta X370 on ebay earlier this year and it worked fine at first. Then last month I started getting my negatives back with half the frame exposed. In other words, the shutter was only opening halfway. One guy who's supposed to be experienced with these things told me that something must've went wrong with the circuitry and basically it's shot. And he said since the shutter is electronic, there's nothing really that can be done with it. Is this true? It won't help if I took it apart? I'm thinking it's a lubrication issue as to why it's not opening all the way....but that's just my layman's observation.
Any suggestions? |
rick oleson
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 - 06:03 am: |
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I assume these are not flash photos, right?
There is no electronic cause for the shutter to open halfway and then stop or hesitate. But it's probably not lubrication either, or at least not only lubrication. I think you have manual shutter speeds available, am I right? If so, operate the shutter at all speeds while looking through it and find out whether this is happening at ALL speeds or just at certain speeds. Also, when only half the frame is exposed, is the line between the exposed and unexposed halves sharply defined or is it fuzzy? |
Dan Lee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 - 08:20 am: |
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Thanks for the reply. No, these are daylight shots.
Just running through the different speeds manually (and not shooting another roll) the problem definately occurs at B, 1s, 1/2s, 1/4s, 1/8s, 1/15s, 1/30s & 1/60s. After that the speeds are too high for me to judge. Although most of my negs were shot hand held, which meant I was shooting at 1/60th or higher.
Another thing is, this problem doesn't occur 100% of the time. Occassionally, the shutter does open all the way, but I'd say that happens about 5% of the time. The vast majority of times it's only halfway.
Looking at my negs, it appears the lines are pretty much defined. Also, it appears that it's not opening halfway but only a third of the way and consistently a third of the way....it doesn't really vary.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. |
Henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 - 09:00 am: |
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Right...a third of the way. There is nothing mechanical in the shutter assembly that could stop it half way. But...if the second curtain isn't being latched properly during winding it will come to rest about a third (perhaps slightly less) of the way across the frame. Remove the lens and look behind the mirror to see if the second curtain's metal edge can be seen.
If the metal band cannot be seen, it is also possible that it is following the first curtain during release and catching on the "secondary latch" until the release magnet releases. This can be seen at slower speeds.
If either of these is true the good news is you don't need to completely disassemble the camera. Only a tooth has jumped in the winding geartrain. Remove the bottom cover and you'll see a blue gear. There is a smaller white idler gear meshing with it. In a personal email I attached a picture showing the two screws to loosen to unmess the white idler. On both the white and blue gears you can see molded in alignment marks.
That should fix you up nicely.
Henry |
Dan Lee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 - 10:26 am: |
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Henry, I got your diagram. Unfortunately I'm at work right now and can't try it out. I'll attempt it tonight and let you know the results. Thanks a lot to you and everyone else that answered!! |
Monte
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 29, 2005 - 11:15 am: |
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I am trying to completely dissasemble the camera so that I can take out the viewfinder and put in a new focus plate... is this a realistic assumption... i would assume if somebody can build it, somebody can 'un build' it |
Josh
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 11:13 am: |
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My X-370 just developed the exact same problem that Dan Lee had. It seemed like the rear shutter curtain was sliding closed 2/3 of the way as the front curtain opened (almost like the front curtain caught it and dragged it 2/3 of the way across the opening).
I'll be ecstatic if Henry's suggestion works. Heck, his advice on the locked mirror helped me out a few months back, too. :-) |
henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 05:59 pm: |
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Josh, do you need the same photo I sent Dan to see which two screws need to be loosened to unmesh the gears?
Also, if you look closely, you'll see molded indicator marks on each gear. These should line up.
Henry |
Josh
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 06:31 pm: |
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The photo would be much appreciated. |
henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 07:00 pm: |
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Sent it Josh. But Eudora gave me a weird message when I sent it. Let me know if you get it.
Henry |
Josh
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 08:34 pm: |
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I got the photo just fine. However, things are still a little confusing.
Basically, the photo you sent shows the camera in a very disassembled state, but your message to Dan Lee above says the procedure can be done by removing just the bottom cover. When I do that, I see the two gears and can access the two screws, but I'm not quite sure what to do with them; undoing the screws won't help me realign the white idler gear (since it's still meshing with the blue gear).
So do I need to disassemble the camera further, or am I missing something? |
henry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 04:00 pm: |
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No further disassembly is needed. After loosening the two screws shown the blue and white gears should be able to be separated. Now just turn the two gears until their timing marks align. Tighten the two screws back and you should be set.
In an email I'll send you a page of the repair manual. Maybe it'll help.
Henry |
Josh
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 08:24 pm: |
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Wow... I finally figured it out. The alignment of the blue gear was odd; I basically had to misalign it intentionally to get the shutter opening completely. I then discovered that tightening the screws too much prevented the shutter from cocking completely, but the slightest twist fixed that up. And now the camera is working PERFECTLY.
Thanks again! |
Cliff Langston
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 07, 2005 - 06:00 am: |
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My daughter's 370 is having the exact same problem. Could you send me the same documentation (picture, manual)?
Thanks!
Cliff |
terry
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 - 11:12 am: |
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i am having the same problem with my 370. if you could sent info to fix i would appricate it. thanks |
