| Author |
Message |
    
Katherine
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 07:30 pm: | 
|
Hi--
i'm a freshman at college, taking a photography course, and my camera is a hand-me-down from my grandfather. it's a Minolta XG1, though i'm unsure of the exact year. (as i understand it, this model was available from 79 to 81?) i'm having two rather persistent problems with it.
1) at times, the shutter won't go off. at first i attributed it to the cold weather, but it happens indoors as well as out. i wish i could provide more specifics than this, but i'm extremely new to photography, especially the mechanical aspects involved. i've cleaned the battery contacts with rubbing alcohol, but that hasn't helped at all.
2) there's some kind of trouble rewinding the film--there's some initial resistance when i rewind it, and it really feels like something's stuck somewhere. it invariably ends up that there are 4 or 5 exposures left in the canister, while the rest of the film is ripped off.
one of my friends has this camera and has had the same problems. the camera repair guy she showed it to said it was an electrical problem and that he couldn't fix it, but after that she said it started working fine.
has anyone else here had this problem? is there anything i can do to fix it? do i need to take it to a professional, and if so, how much would that cost?
i can provide more information if needed, but i am a true neophyte to this, so it'd be helpful if you geared and advice or instructions towards an absolute idiot.
regards and thanks in advance,
Katherine |
Mike
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 08:20 pm: |
|
Hi Katherine-
The shutter problem is most likely caused by dirty variable resitors- shutter speed, asa value, f-value. Moving them around by changing their settings can sometimes solve the problem, as with your friend's camera. Otherwise, the camera needs to be disassembled and cleaned, not unusual for a 25 year old camera. The rewind problem is annother matter. I'm surprised that a camera repair person has declined to service this very common model. Perhaps you might try: www.garryscamera.com if you do not want to repair it yourself. |
J.Ed
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 01:08 am: |
|
Regarding the problem rewinding - you are pushing the rewind release button aren't you? It should be located on the bottom of the camera. |
Katherine
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 17, 2005 - 07:43 pm: |
|
ahahah. I GUESS THAT WOULD DO IT. {/duh}
much thanks for the information that I could have easily found in my manual, were it not lost in the swamp of my desk.
thanks for the cleaning tip as well; I'll take it to the repair shop for a cleaning as soon as I can. my grandfather was a fastidious guy, but I doubt anyone's performed any maintenance on this camera since the last time he did, and he's been dead for 15 years.
thanks for the help, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. |
|
