Ahoy!

Well my treasure chest of Min 7D DSLR, Min 24-105mm (D) and Min AF 80-200mm f/2.8 APO HS G arrived today. Boy did I get the deal of a lifetime on this lot.

The Min 24-105mm (D) is missing a front lens cap and the lens hood (though in the centre of the outer front lens element there is a 1mm-2mm circle of scribble scratches. The 7D has a Jessop's battery and battery charger/mains lead, KM neck strap and body cap (nothing else, though the external flashgun cover is missing (ordered a cheapo from eBay) - not on neck strap clip), and is in excellent condition. The Min AF 80-200mm f/2.8 APO HS G is complete with case and front/rear caps, CPL filter and is in immaculate condition (almost as good as new) as it was owned from new by the vendor as was the 7D, though not sure about Min 24-105mm (D), though if anyone knows where I can source a 62mm petal or telephoto hood for it (not a screw on), please let me know.

THE PROBLEM

The 7D battery self ejects, or at least the battery is self ejecting and the battery cover opens. Either way, the battery won't stay in the battery compartment properly. The battery retaining clip is in place as are the battery cover clips, so I'm at a loss to know what to do or why this is happening.

I need some help with this if anyone can advise of this anomaly as it's driving me mad. Any additional menu and dial setup advice would be welcome as well. I've yet to wade through the .pdf user manual. Firmware is current v1.10e version.

The image posted is a .JPG reduced version of the .MRW taken with the Min 24-105mm (D) and 7D using on-board flash simply as one of many test shots to see if the front element scratch would affect images. I can't see any effect of the front element scratching at all in the images though I need to source a lens hood for it (I've got a generic front cap and UV filter on order). Is there any way to find out the shutter count? My 7D seems to have started from zero.

Thanks in advance for your guidance and advice.

I wonder if that is the problem? Maybe the non-Minolta battery is of a slightly different size or shape.

It's possible, can you email me a couple of genuine ones to try?

No problem. Check your email.

you can probably find the part (the battery cover) on ebay.
Otherwise, find a vertical grip
Enjoy your "new" camera

Thanks, but I really can't see a problem. One potential cause could be that the battery retaining clip doesn't go far enough over the battery to hold it in place. I've tried moving the retaining clip and there is at least another 1mm of movement it could go thereby holding the battery more securely. There are no broken or missing clips, lugs etc, so what I might do is cut a small plastic spacer and super-glue a thread to it and push down behind the battery retaining clip and coil the thread on top of the battery.

The battery cover should then have no pressure against it, so as and when the battery needs re-charging, just open the access cover and pull the thread to remove the spacer and the battery should come out after the retainer clip has been moved back further.

I'll have to make this gizmo, but it seems like a reasonable theory as to why the battery tends to get ejected from the camera. I've ordered a spare generic battery as another means of testing. If all else fails, there's always heavy duty tape.

It makes me wonder how much difference there is in the dimensions of makers and generic batteries there is.......

I have 3 generic ones for my 7d, one I bought at the time of purchase from my local Jacobs, the other 2 are from 7day shop, I use the vertical grip so have not come across this problem.

BY the way, where did you get this bundle from Pirate?,always fancied some G glass........

Ahoy!

I trawled the UK free online classifieds and hit paydirt bigtime

Pirate are you saying you use the battery cover door to push the battery up or what, I'm not getting it? the little grey retainer should snap accross when you push the battery all the way in, if it doesn't do that and retain the battery it's operation is defective or you have an incorrect fitting battery. Is it an NP-400 battery?
Greg

Hi Greg,

It's a Jessop's NP-400 battery. The retaining clip does snap over the centre of the battery when inserted into the chamber, but there appears to be enough room or play that if the battery moves just a fraction away from the retaining clip side, the clip no longer retains the battery and the spring at the bottom of the chamber ejects the battery even with the battery door closed.

Hi Pirate, I didn't think you'd be up so late, looks like you got yourself a great deal. If you like I'll take a pic of the position of the grey retainer on my KM5D so you can check if it's in the same position on your KM7D.
Greg

Granddad is on night babysitting duty . . . I'm knackered! Send the pic directly to: pirate77[at]virginmedia[dot]com. Seems my battery has too much forward movement, so am thinking of making a plastic wedge to put behind the clip super-glued to a thread so I can release the battery. The thread will be coiled on top of the battery under the battery flap.

Ah babysitting, how delightful ha ha. I'll post it here to start with as a ref. for anyone else who may be interested. I can always send it too the other as well if you want.
Greg
ps. I've got doubts about the 'fit' of that battery, either that or the battery compartment has suffered a knock and is slightly deformed as a result....
A100 KM100Macro

Cheers Greg. The battery compartment fitment in the 7D is totally different to yours (more akin to Alpha series). Mine is a wedge plastic snap clip so as the battery is placed into the chamber the clip just snaps over the base of the battery, but because of the amount of free space, the battery can become unlocked by the clip and thus launched out of the chamber.

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/Konic ... ment01.jpg

It doesn't show the retaining plastic spring clip, but it's not a twist lever like yours.

Ah I never thought they would be different, actually both my Sony cams (A100 & A700) have a similiar lever too the KM5D, albeit both have theirs a tad more shrouded under the overlapping body ledge than the KM5D's, though Sony may have changed it in successive models of course.
I still think there is a problem with the battery dimensions, I think the battery is not conforming to the proper KM dimensions.
Greg