Fuji GA645 Up/Down Dial operations problems (A and M mode)

[jice]

Hello,

I've just purchased a used GA 645 and would like to know if the camera is functioning

correctly. I'm running a roll of film through the camera; I don't have the results yet.

 

In P mode, operation seems as expected. In A or M mode, I have a problem.

 

In a good version of this camera, is the UP/Down dial precise. That is, does one click of

the dial correspond to one unit change in aperture or shutter speed?

 

On my camera, on click may do nothing, or it may jump 2 or three positions. In addition,

it sometimes seems to jump back to a lower position when it should increase, and

finally, just tapping the dial can cause it to jump. I notice a similar problem in the

ISO setting mode.

 

I believe that the up/down dial is broken. Or, is this behaviour typical.

 

Has anyone had this problem corrected by Fuji Repair? If so, what was the cost?

 

-John

[bob_moore1]

The Up/Down dial should be very precise and although I am new to the camera myself it seems adequately robust. Each click moves only one half stop. It may not keep up with very fast scrolling type movements but should not jump around as you describe.

 

I would contact Fuji understanding that they are not the most responsive group. Should you mail in the camera call to followup so it does not sit on the bench....

 

Bob Moore

[ryuji_suzuki]

John, I had the same problem as what you described. It seemed electrical

"chattering" that was causing erratic behavior. In my case, the problem went away after playing with the dial (the camera doesn't even have to be on) for a while on and off, whenever I got bored, for a couple of days.

[donald_madro]

Sounds like you have some dirt / corrosion on the electrical contacts. A repair shop should be able to clean the contacts and lube the surface to prevent this in the future. Sometimes you can get the contacts cleaned by spinning the wheel in both directions.

[jim_boon]

I met the same problem after about a year but after 3 years i found it anoying and asked my dealer to repair. A second camera in stock with my dealer showed the same defect. It is for both cameras perfectly well repared by Fuji Netherland at no costs.

 

jim boon

[gui_maranhao]

Yesterday I bought a GA645. I didn�t notice this at the store, but anyway, got home did a test roll and still then took me while to figure out what was happening.

The test roll was excellent, but the problem started to anoy me. I did a search and found this post. A few other pages, but no help at all to fix the thing.

 

I decided it should be very simple, since I�m such a crazy person to risk something I bought just yesterday, and this morning I managed to fix the problem. Here is how:

 

First it took me a while to discover how to crack open the Fuji GA645, but here it is: removed two screws from right side (looking at the camera as a photographer would, from behind), just by the door latch. Opened door, loosened four black screws holding front cover. Poped-up flash and removed a black screw under it, loosened plastic piece and removed it, that gave access to flash wiring, lifted wiring making it loose, but no need to unsolder or cut wiring at all, wiring remained intact, but not tucked in. Removed 4 screws holding top cover in place. Lifted black clip with X written on it from flash hot shoe, and slid it back and out. Removed only 2 screws closer to back of camera. Minding the slack on flash wiring, lifted top cover slowly, clearing locks at front of camera very carefully, no need to remove top completely, just enough to see the transparent wheel underneath up/down dial.

 

After all this, all I did was slide a dentist tool (flat long edge) under the wheel, turn the wheel a bit every time, until a nice piece of beach sand came out.

 

Was careful not to pinch any wires on the way back. Good luck if you decide to try it yourself!

[gui_maranhao]

Yesterday I bought a GA645. I didn�t notice this at the store, but anyway, got home did a test roll and still then took me while to figure out what was happening.

The test roll was excellent, but the problem started to anoy me. I did a search and found this post. A few other pages, but no help at all to fix the thing.

 

I decided it should be very simple, since I�m such a crazy person to risk something I bought just yesterday, and this morning I managed to fix the problem. Here is how:

 

First it took me a while to discover how to crack open the Fuji GA645, but here it is: removed two screws from right side (looking at the camera as a photographer would, from behind), just by the door latch. Opened door, loosened four black screws holding front cover. Poped-up flash and removed a black screw under it, loosened plastic piece and removed it, that gave access to flash wiring, lifted wiring making it loose, but no need to unsolder or cut wiring at all, wiring remained intact, but not tucked in. Removed 4 screws holding top cover in place. Lifted black clip with X written on it from flash hot shoe, and slid it back and out. Removed only 2 screws closer to back of camera. Minding the slack on flash wiring, lifted top cover slowly, clearing locks at front of camera very carefully, no need to remove top completely, just enough to see the transparent wheel underneath up/down dial.

 

After all this, all I did was slide a dentist tool (flat long edge) under the wheel, turn the wheel a bit every time, until a nice piece of beach sand came out.

 

Was careful not to pinch any wires on the way back. Good luck if you decide to try it yourself!

[vincent_martin]

If any of you still have your notification set and recieve this message perhaps you could off a little help. I recently had to take apart one of these to clean the shutter abd aperture blades. I did that succesfully but upon re assembly I forgot how the flash wires attatched to the circuit board. There are 4 wires that go to the flash and one that comes from the shutter button. They all solder to the board. Could someone take a picture of thiers so I can see the wire configuration? All you need to do is pop up the flash, remove the black screw under it then pop out the plastic piece (pull toward you) that it was holding down. This will give a view inside. Thanks. Also the wires that connect when you remove the bottom camera casting two( one white one black). Thanks feel free to email me at siracha-1337disp at yahoo.com.

[jeff_green2]

<p>If anyone runs across this again, I just finished this repair. I've dismantled a bunch of cameras and lenses before for cleaning, restoring and fixing so this was quite easy. If you haven't, just make sure you have the right tools and go slow. Put all of your screws in separate containers for each step so you don't get them confused, take pictures while you dismantle if you have to.</p>

<p>For this repair, follow <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=590273">Gui Maranhao</a>'s post above. A couple other things: The right rear screw on the flash shoe is longer than the others. When you get the screws out, the trick to removing the top is to go SLOW and make sure you have the excess flash wires pulled out, The are folded and shoved down next to the flash. This allows some slack to let you pull up. If you don't do this, you will be yanking on the soldered contacts on the main board.<br>

When the top is off, watch out for the AF and +/- buttons as they aren't really attached to anything and they will likely fall out/apart. Just make sure when you are done to get them lined up carefully with the top holes and you should be able to get the top back on over them.<br>

I cleaned under the command wheel with a blast of electrical contact cleaner /lubricant. I shot from the front side under the wheel, then worked a coffee filter (no fiber residue) under the wheel and spun it around many times to really scrub the contacts. After this, I gave a couple blasts with an air compressor to get any fluid out which was great, but it did spray some on the underside of the LCD window. I just cleaned it with alcohol and Q-tips and all was good. Reassembled and everything works as new. AWESOME fix for an awesome camera. I bought mine as 'parts, as-is' for $99. Because of the intermittent nature of the contact issue, people will assume it's an electrical circuit problem.<br>

Last tip: Before you open up the camera, find one place where the issue manifests itself regularly. For me I used the 'data / date / day' adjustment going from 1-31, because it was definitely flakey and jumping around. After you clean it, slide the top on, turn the camera on and go to wherever you decided and try cycling the wheel through the range. Then you have a decent test to make sure it worked before you button it all back up again.<br>

good luck!</p>