Hi,

I got a Minolta XG1 from a friend, he basically gave up on it because "it doesn't work". I put some batteries in it, and the shutter seems to fire just fine, but no LED's come on in the viewfinder - I am assuming that the meter or any automation does not work. I was wondering if any of you know wether this is a common problem and if there is a simple fix that I could perform myself. The camera is a throw-away, so if I get it working, bonus, if not - oh well, a case where I am willing to risk fiddling with it myself since there is no real loss if I "fix" something until it doesn't work anymore...
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am sure someone here has had one or dealt with one in the past.
Thanks in advance!

Peter.

two questions-
are you using the right Battery?
are you metering in the "Auto" mode?

As the previous poster said, are you in automatic mode? This camera does not meter in manual mode. Here's a link to download the manual. http://www.photozone.nu/filemanager/fileview/41/

You can also go to: http://rokkorfiles.com/Cameras.html

Great info on manual Minoltas.

two questions-
are you using the right Battery?
are you metering in the "Auto" mode?

I skimmed over the manual (I was a bit pressed for time so I was not as in depth as I would like), but yes to the batterires - they are the 76's recommended, and no, nothing lights up in auto mode either. I know that with my AE1 (from a fellow APUG'er - thank you!) there are some susceptible connections that may need attention. Is there such a spot on these? Thanks for the responses!

Peter.

I still own one and shoot with it, great camera. I'm sure you know this but I thought I'd mention it anyway, your finger must be touching the shutter button to complete the circuit before any lights show in veiw finder.

I have an XG1 that intermittently has the same problem. Sometimes the led lights come on and sometimes no. Also, sometimes, even in full manual mode, when I release the shutter nothing happens unless I gave the camera a little tap or sometimes a little slap... which obviously leads to some interesting compositions and occasional blurry-ness. I've also got an x-700 which doesn't suffer from this same problem so it's more of a nuissance than anything as I can always just use the other body.

Make sure the batteries are fresh. On my Minolta X-700, the warning sign of dying batteries is the LEDs stop working, but the camera continues to take auto-exposed pictures for sometime afterwards.

Not sure on the XG-1 , but on the X-700 there are a couple of capacitors that were, I believe, initially of tanatlum construction (expensive type, last a very long time), but in later iterations of this model were electrolytic (cheaper, last like a decade or more if the camera never lived in a hot place for a long time- dry out and get flaky with time). Replacement is not for the faint of heart. It takes the steadiness of a neuosurgeon to also solder the tiny things into place without burning up anything else you weren't supposed to touch.

I am sorry, but the problem sounds like it could be caps going flaky. The battery can supply enough power to trip the shutter, but perhaps not the added draw ( which the capacitors build up to release in the short time that on average the LED's in the view finder are lit) to run the LED's

I go with Mike M on this one. The batteries could be low and, as gets to be the case with my XG-M from time to time, some dirt or grease could have built up on the shutter button, preventing the LED circuitry from closing.

BATTERIES FOR XG1
I've got a Minolta XG1 which look beautiful, it came without battery. what kind of battery do I have to buy?
do you think maybe I can get it on Radio Shack?

if it is not an srt, which used a mercury batery originally, the rest of the minolta manual focus line lived on lr44's - this is a very common battery in all sorts of electronic things today. Take the camera with you to Radio Shack/ The Source, buy a battery that looks to fit, then the second one once fit is confirmed.

I use Duracell D375B (2 batteries).