Minolta XD7 ( XD11 ) shutter hangs open on 1/500

Hello everybody,

 

I'm new to this forum and quite new to (analog) photography in general.

I shoot a few films with a good working Minolta XG-M but wanted to expand a little and got an old XD7 from ebay.

 

The camera works as it should, even though there are some few rubber pieces on the screen and it's a little dirty in general, but thats not a big deal for me.

 

Only when shooting with a speed of 1/500 or sometimes also on 1/250 the shutter and mirror hang open after every second release. In order to close them I need to shake the camera or hit it from the bottom (without too much force).That's the case on all of the modes, so when the Aperture priority mode is set and the camera calculates a speed of 1/500 the shutter may hang open after the release as well. There's kind of a 60% chance that the shutter will hang open on this time (1/500).

 

Can anybody help with ideas about what I could check? I'm quite good with electronics and small fiddly things. I already checked the mode switch and took the speed-dial apart but the contacts all look very good. Re-assembling the tungsten wire was horrible though :-D

I assume it is a mechanical issue but it's strange that every other time seems to work just fine.

 

If anybody could help this would be great! I already have the repair guide which helped a lot so far but the problem I am experiencing is not covered in the guide.

 

Thanks a lot!

cheers, yves

Perhaps the mirror is sticking to the mirror bumper at higher speeds. The rubber on the focusing screen has come from the mirror bumper, the foam strip at the top of the mirror box which cushions the mirror when it flips up. The foam will have deteriorated into a sticky mess by now. Try replacing it before going in too deeply.

Thanks for your reply! The mirror bumper doesn't look too bad but I will check again. I wanted to change it anyway. But I wonder why it's only happening at 1/500 and not at 1/1000.

Perhaps the mirror is sticking to the mirror bumper at higher speeds. The rubber on the focusing screen has come from the mirror bumper, the foam strip at the top of the mirror box which cushions the mirror when it flips up. The foam will have deteriorated into a sticky mess by now. Try replacing it before going in too deeply.

 

I just checked the mirror but the bumper isn't the culprit. When the mirror and shutter hang open you can easily pull down the mirror to the closed position but it goes up again when you let it. So, it seems like the mechanism to close the shutter and bring the mirror back to normal position just won't work on the 1/500 setting (most of the times).

push the mirror up instead of pushing it down. I think the foam prevents the mirror to go all the way up.

push the mirror up instead of pushing it down. I think the foam prevents the mirror to go all the way up.

 

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately your suggestion doesn't help as well. So any other ideas are very welcome.

I took the camera apart and tried a few things but didn't find the error yet. Here are my findings so far, maybe it helps identifying the issue.

 

- Shutter tends to hang open only on the 1/500 setting, once also on the 1/250 setting

- Removing the batteries with the shutter hanging won't help

- Pressing on the mirror or pulling it won't help (the mirror will stay in the up-position and the shutter remains open)

- Loosening the timing-resistor board (under the time-wheel) and readjusting it didn't help

- Closing the Memory Switch while the shutter hangs open won't help

- Only thing that helps closing the shutter again and bringing the mirror back to the normal position is by mildly hitting the camera from below

 

If anybody has any more ideas, this would be great! I'd really like to find a solution for the issue, even though it's challenging. Does somebody know which part or whatever controls the movement of the shutter and mirror back to the normal position?

 

Thanks so far!

It sounds to me like you might have a combined issue having to do with the mirror box and the shutter. I don't know about the Minolta XD, but I do know that with other cameras the mirror box will have cushions that dampen the mechanism as it flips back and forth. These cushions will deteriorate over time and often crumble away to nothing. This could be why your mirror isn't returning as it should. Now as to why this occurs only with certain shutter speeds, this is the real puzzle. If it were me, I'd find a repair facility that was competent with the old stuff and have them service it. And be done with it.

Thanks for your reply. The mirror cushion looks alright. But you're probably right that there might be some parts of the deteriorated cushion somewhere inside the mechanics.

 

Surprisingly, the camera is working again now. I released it so often in the last days that it seems that the machanics are working as they should again.

 

However, I would like to check all the different shutter-speeds before I start shooting with the camera. Is there a way to do this in a quantitative way? Like recording the shutter with a camera and playing it in slow motion or something similar? From just looking at the shutter I can tell that there is about half of the light coming through the shutter with each shorter shutter-time. Any tips would be great. And if you have any more ideas about the issue I had trouble with, feel free to share them, I would like to check for any errors before loading a film.

Thanks a lot!

Actually the cushions I was referring to are inside the mirror box -- not the cushion sitting in front of the focusing screen. As for judging shutter speeds, I don't know of any visual measurements. I can usually tell by ear up to 1/60 second and I figure that is usually good enough for most situations. I've found that faster shutter speeds usually stay pretty close. It's the slow ones that go off -- often because the slow-speed escapement gets gummed up. Assuming a mechanical shutter, of course. But your XD's shutter is electronically timed, so chances are it's accurate.

Glad it's working again. The price of fully functional XD bodies is so reasonable that you might want to pick up a spare at some point. Although they do sometimes develop the problems mentioned they can last a long time. I have an XD-5 that I bought new in 1980 that still works like new and I use it frequently.

My favorite Minolta is the XD-11. I have a very pretty chrome one that is in perfect operating condition. I would like to add to my collection one day an equally clean black one. Talk about a beauty, black ones are magnificent looking.