Konica Minolta 7D

[yellowram]

Well after a few good years of great pictures, I am having problems.
The battery is fully charged and the camera turns on and all functions are working. When I press the shutter release the camera goes dead and appears to have turned itself off. I can turn it back on but there is only a black image on the card. There is no one locally that will look at it and to send it out of state it will be around $350.00. Anyone know what the problem might be?

Thanks!

[JimC]

Welcome to the forums. Your camera has a known issue that's commonly referred to as "First Shot Black". See this page:

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/informat...202/01_en.html

Sony has been repairing them for free, or in some cases, giving pro rated credit if parts are unavailable (and they've been unavailable from time to time), based on the amount of time you've owned your camera and what you paid for it.

Note that Sony is now handing repairs for them:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-i...20&region_id=1

Go here and you can enter information (model, serial number, etc.) and fill out a repair form:

https://eservice.sony.com/webrma/web/index.do

They'll probably want you to send it to Precision Camera (see (http://www.precisioncamera.com ) for repairs. They've been repairing them for Sony and KM, and as long as you go through Sony, they've been fixing this issue for free, even if the camera is out of warranty.

[JimC]

P.S.

I moved this thread to our Sony Alpha dSLR / Konica Minolta dSLR Forum (you had originally posted it in our Konica Minolta Forum in the Point and Shoot Camera section), since we have a separate forum setup to handle dSLR models like your Maxxum 7D.

[yellowram]

Thanks Jim, my error posting in wrong area. I did call Sony and they did recommend Precision camera but they mentioned nothing about this being a common problem. I guess I didn't mention that I can't take any pictures at all. All Sony had me do was take the battery out and try to reset the camera.

Thanks

[JimC]

The rep probably didn't realize it. Precision is very familiar with the problem. Make sure they know it's a "First Shot Black" issue (the issue that is being covered by the Service Bulletin I posted a link to) and send a link to Sony about it if you get a rep that's not familiar with the problem. They may or may not have parts to fix it. if not (and they have been out of parts for this issue from from time to time), they've been giving owners a pro-rated refund in the past.

[yellowram]

Okay, locally diagnosed as the shutter was not working - need to send out of state to fix. I decided to try the clean ccd function and now it is working again. I am pleased that I can now take pictures again. I don't know that it might be a temporary fix but we'll see. Just thought I'd give an update!

[JimC]

Basically, the longer the camera is off, the more likely you'll have a "first frame black". Usually, turning it off and back on again will allow you to shoot; and they will usually continue to work fine until the camera has been sitting up for a while again. But, eventually, it may get bad enough where it refuses to work at all (and that seems to vary by camera/user).

Here's an article on the subject:

http://www.dyxum.com/columns/other/F...lack_Frame.asp

The error 58 that their diagnostics sees is apparently related to how long the camera senses pressure on a roller cam. Well, if it's sticking because it hasn't been used in a while, it may see pressure for too long.

Ditto if you have a bad connection, weak battery or other electrical issue.

The best analogy I can think of is a weak battery or bad connection in an Automobile. In that case, your starter may turn more slowly. Ditto if the car has been sitting up for a while (the engine's lubrication is not going to be as good then).
.
I've got a Maxxum 5D that does it every once in a great while if it's been sitting unused.

Whenever I see it, I clean all contacts (battery, battery contacts in camera, lens contacts on lenses and camera's lens mount).

Then, I'll shoot a few hundred images using continuous mode to heat up and loosen the shutter mechanism. That seems to keep it working for a while (where I don't get the first frame black anymore for a few months, as long as I use it on a regular basis), whereas without doing that, it may refuse to work again the next day if you only take a few shots (requiring you to turn it off and back on again before it works OK for the rest of the day).

But, that doesn't work for some users, and once it gets bad enough, some users report that it will stop working entirely (even turning the camera off and back on won't allow it to shoot).

[JimC]

In other words, if it does it again, you're probably better off sending it to them and letting them fix it (since they'll fix that particular issue at no charge if they have the parts available).

[Talk2me]

I too have a Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D. It's been working perfectly for many years. I went to use it today and found that I had left it switched on (about four days since last use). I switched it off, then back on but it didn't restart. Battery appeared dead so I replaced it with a fully recharged battery. Still, it would not switch back on. Is there a camera reset somewhere that might be activated to see if it will come back to life? I can't see what else might be wrong.