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Dead X300s

P

peter1972

Member
Hi I've just bought some old cameras, among them a X-300s wich is dead.

There are no batteries and no film in it.
The problem is the shutterrelease-button and the winder.

When I try to wind the film, the winding-knob only moves 30 degrees as descriped in the manual.
When I press the shutterrelease nothing happens.

Does anyone have a clue what to do?
 
R

rmac

Member
The shutter is electrically actuated;
no battery, no nothing.

You cannot wind further because the shutter is already cocked
and you must take a picture before proceeding.
 
P

peter1972

Member
Thanks a bunch, Robert!

Actually I did think that it might be the reason but I didn't wanna buy batteries if the camera was completely dead.

Now I'm going down to the batterystore...
 
P

peter1972

Member
Well, now I've put batteries in the camera but it's still almost dead.
The only sign of life is the exposure info in the viewfinder when I press the shutter halfway down after turning the camera on. But the light disappears when I press the shutter and doesn't reappear untill I turn the camera off and on again.

What to do now?

I'm not afraid to open the camera and try to fix it myself but I won't bother if it's not worth it and I don't want to turn it in for repair, as it's surly an expensive operation compaired to the value of the camera.
 
A

arizona

Member
Peter, Minolta X300 was one of the first SLRs with electronically controlled shutter. It has a capacitor that enables the operation. The bad thing is that those capacitors have limited life - when they die (read: unable to collect enough electricity) your shutter button is of no use. It is relatively simple procedure to replace them. Check on the eBay - I was able to buy the repair manual and capacitor for around $10 and fix it myself.

Good luck.

Nusret Agovic
 
P

peter1972

Member
Hi Nusret

If I turn on the selftimer and press the shutter the selftimer counts down (the red light on the front flashes) but no picture is taken.
So the button does actually work in some way.

Can you tell me exact name of the capacitor?

Thanks
 
A

arizona

Member
I did my repair time ago (and traded that camera for some other service work). I checked the eBay and couldn't find anything better than this

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Good luck!

Nusret
 
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