Fuji GX 680 - I power pack???

[Jim Andrada]

Just picked up a GX680 I. Camera is in nice clean shape and it has the 250mm lens. Problem - so far I haven't been able to get it to power up. I charged the included battery pack but when I checked the voltage it's only at about 5.2V, which I'm thinking isn't enough to power the camera. Not sure if it's a charger issue or a battery issue. Whatever - the camera won't power up when the battery pack is mounted.

I'm going to try to power it from a 6 AA battery pack that should be here tomorrow and see if that does the trick. I do have one question - in addition to the + and - contacts, there's a small button that will depress when the battery pack is mounted. I've heard that it's supposed to be in the un-depressed state for the camera to function, but the battery pack depresses it.

Has someone got experience with the function of this small button? Is it in an innie or an outtie???

By the way, the seller is trying to be helpful but I want to clearly diagnose the problem before letting him know what I want him to do.

 

[removedacct3]

The camera is very picky about the voltage. If I use my AA battery pack using regular, rechargeable AA batteries the camera will not power up. A regular rechargeable AA battery only provides 1.2V, using 6 of those in series you only will get 7.2V and that is not enough for my GX680 III. So be sure to either using proper non-rechargeable AA's to get a total of 9V or look on eBay for Li-ion AA batteries. They are not the cheapest and they do require a dedicated charger, but they work very well.

I'm afraid I can not help you with the button. Had a close look at my battery holder (model III), but I was unable to find a small button. Perhaps something specific for your model?

 

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks much. The button is on the camera - it's a little closer to the front of the camera than the two contacts and closer to the top of the battery attachment area. I looked around on ebay and see that some of the battery holders have a little slot cut in the right place to NOT depress this button when mounted. so I'm starting to believe the person who said that a depressed button cuts the power, and the power pack that came with the camera does NOT have a slot - so I'm guessing that maybe the little (about the same size as the contacts) metal button was only on the first (or maybe first and second) model.

Edit: I wonder why they put such a switch on the camera - unless it's to distinguish between a 7.2V rechargeable battery pack and a 9V AA battery pack. Does anyone know for sure???

Edit 2: I picked up a6-cell AA battery holder and some alligator clips and was able to get the camera working. I've ordered a somethat more cosmetic solution but all functions seem to operate as expected.

 

[grat]

Edit: I wonder why they put such a switch on the camera - unless it's to distinguish between a 7.2V rechargeable battery pack and a 9V AA battery pack. Does anyone know for sure???

I found the answer this weekend-- I've always coveted the gx680, and took a chance on an untested unit this week. It's not here yet, but I was reading the repair manual, and that switch is to tell the camera whether it has a battery pack, or the DC power supply (which is called the DC power supply, but it's really an AC power supply that supplies power via a battery pack shaped connector). If it's the power supply, the camera uses a different check list for the battery check procedure.

It's the power supply which has the slot-- I would guess that any battery pack with the slot in the base was cannibalized from the PS.

I found a working PS for cheap, and my intention is to 3D print a power-pack using the 18650 rechargeable batteries (2x batteries for 7.4v total).

 

[Jim Andrada]

Funny - My power supply didn't have the slot and all the battery packs I've found DO have the slot. Oh well...

Let me know how those batteries work out for you. I might give them a try. Right now I'm just using non-rechargeable batteries in the pack. Camera works great - I found a cable release for it and picked up a couple of more lenses including a 65mm. My biggest challenge right now is picking the camera up!

 

[grat]

Yeah-- Did some more reading. There's a good site here: https://www.galerie-photo.com/fuji-gx-680-boitiers-et-accessoires.html (requires translation) with some discussion about that switch. If I'm understanding it correctly, the 8v (power supply) and 9v (gx680 III) packs should *not* depress the switch. The switch should apparently(?) only be used with 7.2v battery packs (gx680 I/II). In addition to more stringent battery checks, it also activates the 15 minute auto-power off.

The power-supply I bought does have the cut-out, so it doesn't depress the switch.

 

[Jim Andrada]

I have the GX680 I. I believe they made changes to the power system on the model III. They also switched to a removable / replaceable battery in the film back. I had to disassemble the backs and solder in new batteries. Not really difficult just a PITA. Anyhow, I'm 80 so I suspect the batteries will last longer than me. I'll take a look at the link. I speak Italian and Spanish and Japanese and a little German but no French. But I think I can figure it out.

 

[grat]

Chrome's auto translator did a pretty good job.

You're right on the changes to the III.

 

[Jim Andrada]

Thanks for the link. It was really informative and complete. Snd lots of photos. I was able to read it roughly. French is close to Spanish and Italian - at least written French. Spoken French on the other hand... I tend not to trust Translate because it does such a horrible job with Japanese - English. My clients use it and then ask me to "clean up" the English but I can't make much sense out of it unless they send me the Japanese original as well.