Minolta Maxxum 9xi Questions

I have a question re: my newly acquited Minolta Maxxum (Dynax) 9xi.

I installed a new battery, loaded a roll of film and went out this morning to shoot a roll. Short story shorter, didn't work.

Film loaded up, shows frame 1 is waiting to be exposed. When I press the shutter button the lens makes noises like it is focusing but there is no indication in viewfinder that it has. Press the shutter the remainder of the way, nothing.

I'm still fiddling. Need a copy of the manual to help. Does the camera have to lock focus? Does it have to have a card inserted?

Any ideas would be gratefully accepted.

Works on Manual

It does work on manual. So I put it back on Program with Auto Focus. It fired once and says HELP in the LCD display. The viewfinder is no longer bright.

Does it work in A or S mode?

No. I haven't tried S mode but it does the same thing on Aperture Priority. Tries to take the shot and then locks up with HELP flashing on the display.

When I pull the battery it resets.

Works great as a manual camera.

I did find a copy of the manual online but didn't find anything very helpful in it. No troubleshooting section or anything to explain the "HELP" message.

Try another "new" battery.

I'll give that a try. Will have to pick one up tomorrow as I only had one at hand.

I am suspecting that the DOF preview button may be hanging up. When I first switch the camera on after I do the battery pull/reset. The viewfinder is very dim. When I switch to manual mode and shoot a frame the DOF goes away and the viewfinder clears up and everything works great. The minute I switch to a Program or other auto mode everything looks great until I fire the shutter. At that point the aperture stays stopped down and the HELP message comes up. It is not really the end of the world as I got the camera at a VERY low price.

That seems a failure of the aperture mechanism. You would then get the "help" message.
See here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/What-To-L...olta-Maxxum-Cameras-/10000000002809033/g.html

Have you tried with a different lens?

Ricardo Miranda said:

That seems a failure of the aperture mechanism. You would then get the "help" message.
See here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/What-To-L...olta-Maxxum-Cameras-/10000000002809033/g.html

Have you tried with a different lens?

Click to expand...

Excellent advice. I have some non-Minolta lenses that will make my 9xi go haywire.

Thanks for the link. I do have two other Minolta AF lenses that I'll try. They are not xi lenses but that shouldn't be an issue.