Electronic cameras - do they just die?

Huss · Nov 30, 2020

I have two Cosina CX-2 cameras. (The one Lomo copied for the LC-A). Both with the motor drive, one with the totally awesome CX-M marine housing. Both pretty much look like new.
Took the batteries out of both, put one away in a drawer, one in a dry box with other gear.
Today, after maybe a year or so of not using them, I found the one in the dry box is unresponsive. No signs of life. I tried several different sets of batteries (all of which work in the other CX-2) and even swapped around the battery caps. No luck. Cleaned the already clean battery chamber. Nada.

Of note both motor drives work. Even in the 'dead' body. It will click and wind merrily away but the leds in the VF do not light, nor does the shutter open.

So is this the inglorious fate of electronic cameras? I've had similar death knells to Contaxes, and Minolta CLEs (2 of them!).

Any other tips?

Paul Howell · Nov 30, 2020

I've had several electronic driven bodies just die, worked one day passed on to it Karmic reward the next. Just make sure that it not as simple as a dirty battery connector.

ic-racer · Nov 30, 2020

I also do vintage HiFi repairs have multiple 'wins' re-flowing cold solder joints.
Sure, if a component goes bad in one of those cameras, it may be permanently un-repairable, but I did have two recent successes bringing cameras or flashes back to life by re-flowing cold solder joints.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/rollei-metz-sca-356-adapter-repair.178703/

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/nikon-n55-f55-dx-sensing-repair.179617/

ic-racer · Nov 30, 2020

Also found a disconnected wire on the on-off switch for a Rollei 6008 that I successfully re-soldered.

ic-racer · Nov 30, 2020

Here is another loose wire. This Rollei 120 magazine was rendered in operable by a wire that had come loose. Easily re-attached to bring it back to life.

Huss · Nov 30, 2020

nice work!

flavio81 · Nov 30, 2020

Huss said:
So is this the inglorious fate of electronic cameras? I've had similar death knells to Contaxes, and Minolta CLEs (2 of them!).

In my own experience with electronic stuff, including cameras, when they fail the causes are, in order of most likely:

1. corroded terminals in battery chamber or on connectors
2. corrosion on switches (same as #1, really)
3. bad contact on connectors or switches due to dirt etc
4. "cold solder joints"
5. bad contact on the wiper of a potentiometer (same as #3 really)
6. mechanical problem (i.e. on the AE-1 the shutter speed dial is linked to a potentiometer by means of a tungsten wire, the wire often breaks rendering metering inoperative. This isn't an electronic problem although will appear as one).

and much less likely:

10. electrolytic capacitor failure (tantalums are the worst)

even less likely:

20. Faulty IC or transistor.

Humidity is your enemy for electronics. Keep your electronic cameras out of damp places.

shutterfinger · Nov 30, 2020

Capacitors can dry out after non use, switch contacts can tarnish with no use from oxidation, solid state devices can deteriorate with age with or without use in addition to the cold solder already mentioned.
Work the switch several times, install the batteries and turn the camera on then check it after an hour or two.

Huss · Nov 30, 2020

flavio81 said:
Humidity is your enemy for electronics. Keep your electronic cameras out of damp places.

The one that failed was stored in a dry box.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 30, 2020

Huss said:
I have two Cosina CX-2 cameras. (The one Lomo copied for the LC-A). Both with the motor drive, one with the totally awesome CX-M marine housing. Both pretty much look like new.
Took the batteries out of both, put one away in a drawer, one in a dry box with other gear.
Today, after maybe a year or so of not using them, I found the one in the dry box is unresponsive. No signs of life. I tried several different sets of batteries (all of which work in the other CX-2) and even swapped around the battery caps. No luck. Cleaned the already clean battery chamber. Nada.

Of note both motor drives work. Even in the 'dead' body. It will click and wind merrily away but the leds in the VF do not light, nor does the shutter open.

So is this the inglorious fate of electronic cameras? I've had similar death knells to Contaxes, and Minolta CLEs (2 of them!).

Any other tips?

that's why some people just love mechanical cameras. On the other completely dead usually means a simple problem such as a broken electrical connection somewhere. It may be worth to have it serviced.

Ai Print · Dec 1, 2020

Fear of an irreparable electronic death was the main reason I sold my Xpan kit. I had it since buying it new in 2003, put tons of film through it and decided it was time to avoid very expensive and discontinued electronic cameras.

albada · Dec 1, 2020

RalphLambrecht said:
that's why some people just love mechanical cameras.

I'm one of them. I've seen so many electronic cameras die from dry capacitors and whatnot that I refuse to rely on one.
The Olympus OM-1 is wonderful and reliable.
Mark Overton

perkeleellinen · Dec 1, 2020

Ai Print said:
Fear of an irreparable electronic death was the main reason I sold my Xpan kit. I had it since buying it new in 2003, put tons of film through it and decided it was time to avoid very expensive and discontinued electronic cameras.

I did just this with a Ricoh GR1s, sold it while still working after reading so many threads about this camera dying, I will no longer touch electronic P&S cameras. On an interesting note the only camera of mine to ever fail in the field was a Nikon FM2 on a mechanical fault! I fear electronic failure but have never had it, and favour mechanical cameras even though I've had one fail!

AgX · Dec 1, 2020

ic-racer said:
Here is another loose wire. This Rollei 120 magazine was rendered in operable by a wire that had come loose. Easily re-attached to bring it back to life.

View attachment 260714

I likely would have substituted the wire for a more thicker, flexible cable, or at least, after resoldering put a drop of hot-glue (more flexible: silicone rubber) at the end to take bending-stress off the naked part of the wire.

halfaman · Dec 1, 2020

perkeleellinen said:
On an interesting note the only camera of mine to ever fail in the field was a Nikon FM2 on a mechanical fault! I fear electronic failure but have never had it, and favour mechanical cameras even though I've had one fail!

Same thing here.

I have several cameras with electronics and also purely mechanical. One of each category has a seriously fail over the years and the only one that couldn't be repaired was the purely mechanical. For the record the electronic camera was a Pentax 67II and the purely mechanical an Arax-60 (not the best example of mechanical precision, I know).

The Pentax 67II was still usable with the problem (advance lever worked but not the frame count), the Arax was completely jammed and imposible to use.

Autonerd · Dec 1, 2020

I have bought several older cameras (1970s-90s vintage) and so far none have died on me. I did have one that I thought was dead when I got it (Nikon FG) that miraculously came back to life.

Sirius Glass · Dec 1, 2020

RalphLambrecht said:
that's why some people just love mechanical cameras. On the other completely dead usually means a simple problem such as a broken electrical connection somewhere. It may be worth to have it serviced.

That was one of the great attractions to my Hasselblad 503 CX and 903 SWC. No electronics nor batteries.

Huss · Dec 1, 2020

RalphLambrecht said:
It may be worth to have it serviced.

A $200 repair on a $100 camera that I hardly use is not really worth it.

Huss · Dec 1, 2020

Ai Print said:
Fear of an irreparable electronic death was the main reason I sold my Xpan kit. I had it since buying it new in 2003, put tons of film through it and decided it was time to avoid very expensive and discontinued electronic cameras.

I sold my Xpan 1 and TX-1 (same camera) because of the power switch. It just uses a detent and this is a common point of hardware failure. It gets harder and harder to turn and eventually needs to be replaced. That part is getting harder to find if it is still available. My higher mileage Xpan definitely was harder to turn on than the barely used TX1.
I kept the TX-2 as Fuji saw the error of their ways and changed the design of the on/off switch. Just shot a bunch of film through it, love it. And mine is maybe the last one on the planet with completely intact paint! (What's up with Fuji's paint not sticking?).

4season · Dec 1, 2020

Among other things, I have seen electronics fail due to faulty aluminum or tantalum electrolytic capacitors, cracked flexible PC, corroded battery wire caused by previous battery leakage (common), faulty soldering (Chinese-made Lomo LC-A+), contamination by dust, dirt (USSR-made Lomo LC-A), worn-out ring resistor (Pentax MX). Capacitors seem to be a bigger problem with lower-priced equipment where the manufacturer was attempting to save a penny or two (Minolta X700)

R.Gould · Dec 1, 2020

I have a number of electronic cameras, from Minolta dynax 70001 to the 800si, plus AE1 program,A!, Pentax me super, and I have only ever had one die, it was one of my Dynax 700si's, first of all one of the focus points started misfocusing, then even with the camera switched off,the battery dies in a few weeks, still, if all else fails I have Leica's and other old cameras, and 2 SRT101's with a range of Rokker lenses, they won't let me down

Autonerd · Dec 1, 2020

Huss said:
A $200 repair on a $100 camera that I hardly use is not really worth it.

I had a Nikon FE that would not work at variable shutter speeds. Repair was <$100 and included a general CLA and new seals. Well worth it. Or at least it would be if I liked the camera...

Aaron

Huss · Dec 1, 2020

So even though the battery contact looked clean, it wasnt shiny. I remembered I had one of those glass fiber bristle brushes that is meant for cleaning stuff like that.
Used it until the contact looked shiny. Et voila! It works again. Sigh of relief. Didn't think that contacts would be this sensitive but the -ve contact on the Cosina has a unique 'feature'. The -ve mark is stamped on the metal, but raised.
So pretty much the battery contact is made with just a very thin strip of metal, not the entire face as one would expect. If this raised edge is not as clean as it should be - and this is very hard to see as it is so thin - then there is no contact!

I guess the only electronic cameras that have just dialed on me are down one. Only my Contaxes... (RTS, RTSII)

wiltw · Dec 1, 2020

I have a Beseler Topcon Auto 100 since I was 15 (now 70). It continued to work fully, including the TTL trapped-needle AE meter. But just a few years ago, the meter STOPPED working. It is otherwise fully mechanical, the only thing powered by the battery is the meter. The prior message makes me think that an erase taken to the contacts might be in order, to see if the Auto 100 in fact is still operational.
As for electronic cameras, I have a dSLR, Canon 5D that stopped working in the middle of a photo shoot. Replacement of the main circuit by a repair shop got it working again...I do not know what the failed component actually is, as few repair to the component level any more, but it was fully dead when i sent it in.

flavio81 · Dec 1, 2020

albada said:
The Olympus OM-1 is wonderful and reliable.
Mark Overton

The film transport mechanism on the OM1 disagrees...

Electronic cameras - do they just die?

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