Minolta Lens....stuck....

Hello! First off, I want to say I'm excited to be a part of this forum. I've never shot film before (unless you count disposables ) and I picked up a Minolta Maxxum 400si the other day from a yard sale. I was super excited and I managed to get a hold of a few different Minolta lenses. While I was waiting to get batteries and film, I continually interchanged the lenses while I was playing around with the camera so I know the lens release button works flawlessly. Every lens I have I have easily attached and removed from the body several times. However, whenever I finally got the battery for the camera and got it up and running, the lens release button is not working like it should. Yesterday I had my 70-210 AF Zoom attached and it took me about ten minutes to get it off the camera. I attached a 35-80 AF Zoom and that one also got stuck and I have currently been unable to remove it. Whenever I attempt to remove the lens, it moves maybe a quarter of an inch counter-clockwise then it won't budge any further. When I stop struggling with it, it just clicks back into place. This is incredibly frustrating and discouraging. Any tips? The Maxxum 400si is fairly cheap so I'd be perfectly willing to buy another body if needed (that hopefully would not be so problematic)....but I want to make sure I'm trying everything I can to fix this issue....

Welcome to APUG

I have no suggestions for your problem.

Download the instruction manual here: http://www.vikenk.com/minolta_manual.htm
Did you turn the camera off before attempting to remove the lens?
Have you tried removing the battery then trying to remove the lens if turning the camera off doesn't work?

I've read all through the manual. I found out the issue has to do with one of the lens locking mechanisms.
The mechanism on the left does not descend fully into the body of the camera when the lens release button is pushed, so it catches and the lens is then only able to be removed with force (and sometimes even then I'm unable).
The metal on the left is what the aforementioned locking mechanism clicks in to. The problem arises when the lock doesn't descend into the camera and so the metal remains caught and due to the force used to remove the lens, a dent was formed in the plastic (as you can see right below the metal).

I don't know what to do about this....I managed to push the mechanism into the body of the camera and place a piece of tape over it so it could net ascend into place and get caught, but unless that part of the lens is locked correctly, the camera will not shoot. I am not opposed to taking the camera apart, but I wouldn't know where to begin.

I managed to push the mechanism into the body of the camera and place a piece of tape over it so it could net ascend into place and get caught, but unless that part of the lens is locked correctly, the camera will not shoot. I am not opposed to taking the camera apart, but I wouldn't know where to begin

Click to expand...

That mechanism is the screw for the auto-focusing. Have you tried putting the camera into manual focusing before putting the lens back? You'll see the screw will go down. Just press the button that you can see on the first photo.
BTW, all Minoltas after the Dynax 7000i (I'm using the international names, the Maxxum was only used for the US market) have a mechanism when you shutdown the camera, the lens will retract to the infinity position automatically.

Ahhhh....that makes sense! I have not tried to put it into manual before removing the lens, but I will definitely try that when I get home! Ahhhh, If that is the solution I am going to be incredibly happy haha. I'll update tonight and let you know!

sleighr said:

Ahhhh....that makes sense! I have not tried to put it into manual before removing the lens, but I will definitely try that when I get home! Ahhhh, If that is the solution I am going to be incredibly happy haha. I'll update tonight and let you know!

Click to expand...

good luck, I hope that works. If worse comes to worst, be advised that camera bodies for film cameras such as that are going for, maybe, $20. Someone just gave me a Canon EOS 650 that is so nice I was feeling guilty until I found out what it was selling for at KEH.

so, if that body misbehaves, used it for a hocky puck and get a replacement for the price of dinner at a medium-good restaurant.

Well...that actually works, but now the problem is the manual focus button does not stick like it should, so unless I'm holding it down, it won't go into manual focus mode. SO. I think I will. But instead of this body I'll make an "upgrade" to a better Minolta SLR body. I'd like to eventually get the sony DSLR body that works with the minolta lenses, but....I really want to learn film haha.

It seems like a lot of work and headache for a cheap camera. I'd ditch it.

I'm posting this here so it's public:

If you're in the US, I will send you a working Minolta body (I'll give you a choice among many) for $10.50 shipped. I think that may even be better then garage sale pricing. PM me if you're interested.