Hi,

I have a Minolta 9000 that I bought around 1986-87. I tried to power it up, and couldn't. Does anyone know if film has to be in the camera to power it up, or if there is something else that I have forgotten?

The reason I want to use it is this: I have one roll of Kodachrome 64 left, and I thought a good use would be to run a test of the same shots with my old Minolta lens on the 9000 and Kodachrome and the Sony 850.

I'm accepting ideas on this too.

The 9000 can be fired without film. If I remember rightly, it does not have a built-in clock lithium cell like the 7000, but relies on the loaded batteries to recharge a NiCD which runs the camera when the batts are removed. If left for a very long period without batteries, this can become completely flat and the LCD display can become inoperative. You may need to leave a set of batteries in the camera for a day to restore normal operation.

Try cleaning the contacts in the battery compartment, and remember that this camera was not intended for use with rechargeable AA cells. They do not provide enough voltage, you should load up fresh alkaline (Duracell type) 1.5v batteries.

Also, remember you do need to cock the shutter.

The 9000 also has (unless my memory is wrong) a default mechanical shutter speed of 1/90th which operated only with the camera set to Manual, without AA batteries. But I can't find a 9000 instruction manual in my pile of old manuals, or any reference to this in some of the old books I have; I may be confusing it with another model.

David

You can download the 9000 manual here :

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/man ... index.html

First post and with a helping hand. Welcome to the forum Malcolm.

That's an awful scan of the manual! Glad I do have a stack of genuine original manuals.

No mention of any default shutter speed unpowered, so it must have been another camera which had this feature - definitely a camera I owned, maybe not a Minolta. Can't think what.

David

Canon AE1?
Or it was the Canon F1?
Or the Nikon FA?
Or the Minolta CLE?

The Minolta XK had an electronic shutter so needed a battery to operate, but if you set the shutter speed dial to X then it would operate with its one mechanical speed of, I think, 1/80 second.

Yes, it could be the XM/XK I am thinking of - I had a kit at the same time as the 9000.

You know what is really funny, odd - when I visualise the XM/XK, I can feel the exact action of the wind-on lever, the noise it made, the resistance and feel of the mechanism. and also the feel of the shutter button. I just tried imagining the XE-1 and XD-7 and exactly the same thing, also for Pentax, Praktica and other cameras. It's like I can feel them in my hand.

David

Yes, for my old XK I can too. In 2000 I sold mine on ebay to a collector in Japan for $500. I still had the original boxes for the body and finder, manual, etc. I bought it in 1976 along with a 50mm f1.4 for $476, I think. Used it some, but not all that much -- big and heavy. In 1983 I got an X-700 and used it more so the XK got packed away until 2000.

Re David Kilpatrick and Bakubo above; I owned two XD-7 DSLRs and both were worn out. Unfortunately Minolta ran out of spares and I had to make do with a number of X700s. The shutter on these XD-7s were just wonderful and silky in their action. I understand they were originally made for Leica. I always thought that a "proper" camera would have M, A and S settings and the replacement of S with P on the A700 was a retrograde step. You either need sufficient aperture or a high enough shutter. Regrettably I have regressed into using P on my A350/700 and regret the omission of P A/S dial adjustment on the A550. Actually I think I will return to A & S settings because I have experienced some frantic moments trying to get the correct setting in P when things are happening quickly and the camera re-sets itself to a slower speed. I tend to switch off and on too much and lose settings.

Before the XK I always used M mode with stop-down metering. That is all I had and about all there was in those days. With the XK there was also A mode and I used that often. With the X-700 I also used A mode a lot. Funny, but I have never used S mode in all these years even though I have had several SLRs/DSLRs since 1988 that have had it. Don't use P mode either except for a couple of times many years ago just to try it out. I found that with P mode probably 95% of the time I would use program shift to get a different shutter speed/aperture combination though so A mode is usually better for me. Still, there are occasional times when things are happening so fast that P mode might be useful.

The big problem I found with the 9000, is that on the three body I have able to get, all are scrap . I think the 7000 is way better solid than the 9000. The big problem after a long time is the magnetic system that control the Aperture who is finishing by not opening or partially opening.

I don't know if you camera has the same problem has my last one, but even with battery or not ... the camera level is not able to move enough to engage a new picture. The final decision for the 9000 now is to be a object on my desk shelf as a piece of collection .

Regards,

Frank

Frank, you were not on the forum for quite some time. I remember you expecting your baby by this month. Could we all congratulate you?

Yes you ca n

The baby was targeted for the 26 of April. Following is father for beeing lazzy and not to stress, soo the baby has to be forced on May 7th friday.

His name is Evan , beautiful healty boy of 7.2 pounds.

Thank you for having thinking of him.

Regards,

Frank

wonderful news Frank. Wish you and your family the best.