X-700 won't power up

[jamesdak]

I did a search but could not find this specific problem. My son's X-

700 started blinking the red LED by the battery indicator in the

viewfinder. I assumed his batteries were dying and gave him a new

pair. We went out shooting the next day and he made a statement that

the light was still blinking. I looked at it and he was right. I

fired a test shot and the camera died. No LEDs of any sort. The

mirror is not locked up which I believe was a symptom of the

capacitor failure problem. I getting ready to open the camera up to

check the power circuit but would be glad to hear input from

others. I've never been inside a X-700 before. Any ideas what it

could be? Thanks,

[andykowalczyk]

Can you release the shutter? If it does then there is some power present.

<p>

Have you tried both "on" positions of the power switch (just in case there is some crud on one of the contacts.

<p>

Also see <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00FgFv">

Minolta X-570 display problem </a>

</p>

[simon_platt1]

Jim

 

The X-700 does not have a battery check indicator in the viewfinder. Can you say exactly which LED is blinking?.

 

There are LEDS for M,A,P modes,shutter speed values and two triangles one up and one down for over range settings.?

 

If you have never worked on a camera before I would strongly advise against attempting to open it up.

 

Everything that moves has to be removed from the top of the camera before you can even remove the top cover.

[bill_thorlin]

Why not buy another one as part of your collection and use this one as a paperweight or let your wife have it to beat you with :)

[jamesdak]

Ok,no LEDS, no shutter release, no film advance. I did try both power positions. I tried to clean the battery connectors with a pencil eraser right when it happened. But what we had it the car was a pencil with on of those larger replacable type erasers on it. It might have not been actually touching the contacts. I'll try again tonight if I get a chance to actually play with the camera. As to not opening up the camera, why not? It's already broke (maybe)and X-700's are a dime a dozen on Ebay. Plus, I want to check the power circuit and that starts at the bottom with the wires from the battery compartment. Ok, I only got a glimpse the other day before it died and I otherwise don't ever use this camera (it's my least favorite manual focus body) but the LED that was blinking was the lowest star like LED on the right side of the viewfinder. Bill, she's gonna conk me on the head when the 2 X-7A's show up a the door, LOL!! Thanks everyone for the input.

[jim_foley4]

That led always blinks when the exposure compensation dial (left side around the asa dial) is set off of zero. That is completely normal. Was it real hot or real cold? Could still be just dead batteries. Good luck.

[jamesdak]

Yeah, I finally took sometime to really look at it and figured that out. I also did a better job than I did the other day cleaning the battery connectors. The camera is back working again! That's the good new. Now to explain to my wife why I just bought two X-7A's off ebay (see series 7 sage continues posting for explanation). Thanks to all who provided input.

[bill_thorlin]

Take some really nice photographs of her with one of them - might earn you some brownie points and will at least prove you do actually use some of them for the purpose intended.

[jamesdak]

Bill - That's the only saving grace, see does see me shooting with all the stuff. Shooting too much for her sometimes, complains that I spend too much time playing with my cameras. I just mention my high blood pressure and how photography is my form of stress relief and she shuts right up, LOL!!