Need advice on lens service infested with fungus.

[georgeer]

Hi,
I am a true blue SLR amature who purchased a Minolta Dynax 9 from the auction at a nice price. Camera came with AF 20-80mm lens and recently it was found to have "black-out" and I cannot see clearly the forused object in the view finder anymore. I suspect it is fungus from the last Tioman trip.

Need some advice on lens infested with fungus service here. I called up Minolta service center and was told the Dynax 9 is a old model and the lens is no more in production. Servicing is also not a good option as recommended by the person who answered my call at the service center. She mentioned it will be cheaper to get a new one as the one lens may have parts that are obsolete and replacement is not available.

So my dilemma are:
1. To send in for service, but where? ODM or camera shop? Please recommend

2. To buy..... from where and who is cheap and good. Don't intend to spend a lot as there is a budget constraint. If it is more than SGD300, then getting another one from the auction is better bang-for-buck.

Thank you to anyone who answer to my distress.....

 

[andylee]

Hello, you call up and they tell you the lens is no longer in production?? can you make yourself clear??camera is it Dynax 9 or Dynax 9Xi?? old lens sometimes parts is not available.as for Dynax 9, it's the latest camera. as for 20-80mm, we don't have such range of lens.

 

[georgeer]

Geee, as I said I am true blue amature and I think I had made a mistake in the AF lens type. It is the standard AF lens that can reach 80mm with the old Dynax 9xi. The type that has memory card function.

So do you have any recommendtion to help out here?
Appreciate if you have any good advice.........
Thanks.

Hello, you call up and they tell you the lens is no longer in production?? can you make yourself clear??camera is it Dynax 9 or Dynax 9Xi?? old lens sometimes parts is not available.as for Dynax 9, it's the latest camera. as for 20-80mm, we don't have such range of lens.

 

[andylee]

Is the filter size 55mm? then this lens is too old.go for the 24-85 instead. wonderful lens. you better take care of your 9xi for this a discontinued camera. that means japan has stop producing the spare parts.

 

[georgeer]

opps, I made a big boo boo again. It is not the 9xi but rather the 7xi. Body is ok condition. Bought from auction site at torn down condition, last owner was a professional photographer, sent in for service once at Minolta and was fitted with a new hand grip rubber.
Tested last night and is confuse now with the problem, not sure if it is the lens or the body that has problem.

The symptom of the problem is that the view finder looks dark and the AF will zoom in and out to focus. The shutter is not able to close for any shooting. But if I use manual adjustment, the shutter will close for a shot. Result is unknown yet since film not developed still.

Any expert here can analyse if this is a lens isue or body issue??

Thanks for the great advice provided so far.
Appreciate much!

Is the filter size 55mm? then this lens is too old.go for the 24-85 instead. wonderful lens. you better take care of your 9xi for this a discontinued camera. that means japan has stop producing the spare parts.

 

[Zerstorer]

opps, I made a big boo boo again. It is not the 9xi but rather the 7xi. Body is ok condition. Bought from auction site at torn down condition, last owner was a professional photographer, sent in for service once at Minolta and was fitted with a new hand grip rubber.
Tested last night and is confuse now with the problem, not sure if it is the lens or the body that has problem.

The symptom of the problem is that the view finder looks dark and the AF will zoom in and out to focus. The shutter is not able to close for any shooting. But if I use manual adjustment, the shutter will close for a shot. Result is unknown yet since film not developed still.

Any expert here can analyse if this is a lens isue or body issue??

Thanks for the great advice provided so far.
Appreciate much!

I believe that there may not be a problem at all.

The symptom of the problem is that the view finder looks dark and the AF will zoom in and out to focus.
This is generally to be expected of kit lenses with smaller apertures. When you test at night at low light levels, there will definitely be a certain degree of hunting if the target is out of range of the AF illuminator.

The shutter is not able to close for any shooting. But if I use manual adjustment, the shutter will close for a shot.
The camera is preset to have focus priority. It will not fire the shutter unless sharp focus is achieved. In manual focus, the camera acts in shutter priority and fires the shutter regardless of whether the object is in focus.

Try testing it out in daytime and see the results.

 

[andylee]

opps, I made a big boo boo again. It is not the 9xi but rather the 7xi. Body is ok condition. Bought from auction site at torn down condition, last owner was a professional photographer, sent in for service once at Minolta and was fitted with a new hand grip rubber.
Tested last night and is confuse now with the problem, not sure if it is the lens or the body that has problem.

The symptom of the problem is that the view finder looks dark and the AF will zoom in and out to focus. The shutter is not able to close for any shooting. But if I use manual adjustment, the shutter will close for a shot. Result is unknown yet since film not developed still.

Any expert here can analyse if this is a lens isue or body issue??

Thanks for the great advice provided so far.
Appreciate much!

Hello, can you make a trip down to the service center?sometimes it's hard to explain on the phone..........