"David Farber" wrote in message
...
I have a 7 year old Maxxum 7 film camera. Intermittently, when the shutter
is depressed the shutter doesn't click though you here some softer noises
instead. It's almost like the mechanism is staging for fire but doesn't.
When this happens, the lcd data display (remember it's film so there's no
image display) goes dead. Then I have to power cycle the camera and it's
fine. Usually it never misfires two times in a row. The only drawback
besides the inconvenience of missing the photo and the time that is wasted
is that after the power cycling, the film automatically advances to the
next frame leaving one frame unexposed. I've found a workaround for this.
This camera has an individual frame rewind feature so I can actually rewind
the film one frame back to where it was before the shutter misfire. Of
course all of this is a big p.i.t.a. Swapping out batteries, lenses, or
changing metering, flash, or programming modes makes no difference.

I was considering disassembling the camera in hopes of perhaps finding a
simple electronic or mechanical reason for this intermittent failure.
Perhaps a loose connector, a bad capacitor, or something that should move
easily but has started to get sluggish. Camera stores really don't repair
these anymore so I don't have much to lose. Anyone have any experience
with this?

Thanks for your reply.
--

David Farber
Los Osos, CA
I have seen this problem in other equipment, in circuits that require a
large burst of current to operate. An open or failing electrolytic cap is
usually the problem. Trace the power distribution to the shutter release
circuit, you'll probably find it there. A thorough cleaning of the battery
contacts is also a good idea.
Good luck,
Tom