Rant'ish: minolta 50mm f1.7 af

Starastin

Starastin

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got a problem with 50mm f1.7 :(

was about to take it out today.
switched the camera on. and a shock - af seems to not be working

put it on other camera , nothing. then I put it on cameras that use different batteries (all film cameras so cr2, 4x AA, etc)

then it worked, but still - I suspect it should've been faster. what might be the problem ?
could the high humidity be the issue here ? should I just let it dry ?
Just got it yesterday ! :bonk: . already left a feaddy to seller and it was : no returns accepted.


I'm confussed and P*ssed :(
 
Unless you were out in the rain with it I don't understand how humidity could affect it, it's only a set of cogs in the lens. Use a small screwdriver on the little thingy on the lens to see if you can move the focus ring freely. I can't say I remember my 50mm being particularly fast at focusing but then when the focus is driven from inside the camera body rather than the lens it is always going to vary from one camera to another.
 
Kev M said:
Unless you were out in the rain with it I don't understand how humidity could affect it, it's only a set of cogs in the lens. Use a small screwdriver on the little thingy on the lens to see if you can move the focus ring freely. I can't say I remember my 50mm being particularly fast at focusing but then when the focus is driven from inside the camera body rather than the lens it is always going to vary from one camera to another.
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focus ring moves freely + the screw twists as well, with no setbacks.

yeah, but the 28mm f2.8 seems to be faster with the same camera.

don't know what to do :(

this ruined my day totally .
 
could it be that the chip is the problem ?

I could use the one from tokina but I'm not sure if it will fit + don't have a good small screw driver.
 
Dodgy contacts first, dodgy batteries second, dodgy lens last. Minolta lenses are not the fastest out of the gate when it comes to AF.
 
are the chips generally the same size ?

do you have a pro small screw driver I could rent out ? :( mine is rubbish .
 
Aren't the chips only used to control the aperture? If the autofocus detection and drive is in the body why would you have AF contacts on the lens?
 
aperture control is pretty dodgy on those cameras the lens seem to work. I think the chip is for all information the lens can give you.
 
Ambermile said:
Minolta lenses are not the fastest out of the gate when it comes to AF.
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Used mine for the first time with a film today. Four shots in slightly overcast daylight with 200ASA film and it allowed me to take one! It quickly went onto MF where it'll stay.
 
They are a little pessimistic - but hey, you want easy then go digital
whistle.gif
 
sent an email to the seller. there is no way he didn't know about this problem. as he had a battery in the camera etc.


where could I get good screwdriver to swap the chips if the seller refuses to refund.
 
How much was it? Much under £50 and you still got a good deal I reckon - not counting the body... I am after a 1.7 and upwards of £70 is the current going.
 
Ambermile said:
They are a little pessimistic - but hey, you want easy then go digital
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Pessimistic! My Minolta is on 24 hour suicide watch! The focus is in a different calendar month to my equally down-market Nikon AFs. It's like the old F401 an erstwhile work colleague drop kicked into a waste paper bin after becoming an early autofocus adopter and chopping in his Nikon FM :lol:
 
I found the 505si and the kit lens and the 50mm Ok in focussing. Are you trying to focus action shots? I have even used it inside a church. Are you sure its not a problem camera body with your particular camera body ?
 
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Mine's a 404si but I also have a 500si and a 500si Super. Bought as a job lot, I haven't tried the last two as they take a different style of battery, though I have a couple spare. Maybe the 404 was a known dog? Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread.
 
Nah, I have a 404si as well; and it works fine. Might wish to check the connection pins.
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
I found the 505si and the kit lens and the 50mm Ok in focussing. Are you trying to focus action shots? I have even used it inside a church. Are you sure its not a problem camera body with your particular camera body ?
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doesn't work on 505si at all, even worse - the camera itself stops working, only showing the shutter speeds and aperture
404si - aperture dial bad, doesn't scroll properly, AF slow and not precise
7000 - seems to work best but not close to good.
700si - doesn't recognise the camera, works only as a all manual.
7000i - the camera doesn't turn on at all.

I'm pretty sure it's the contact.
 
Hmm, strange that the same contact is creating dif problems for diff bodies. Do other lens work on the bodies?

How do you check that the focus is not precise? Is the focus confirm light coming on?
 
ujjwaldey8165 said:
Hmm, strange that the same contact is creating dif problems for diff bodies. Do other lens work on the bodies?

How do you check that the focus is not precise? Is the focus confirm light coming on?
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all the bodies are fine by themselves or with a lens. I know that 404si af is a lot slower than 700si or so. but with 50mm it seems like it's not catching the focus at all. 7000 confirms the AF but still, it must be faster and better.
 
Get hold of a rubber (one for rubbing pencil out, not the contraceptive :D) take the lens off and gentle rub the gold contacts on the back of the lens.

Then do the same thing on the camera bodies.

Gunk on the contacts is usually the cause of AF woes. If that fails and all your other lens work ok, then it maybe a dodgy lens
 
Knikki said:
Get hold of a rubber (one for rubbing pencil out, not the contraceptive :D) take the lens off and gentle rub the gold contacts on the back of the lens.

Then do the same thing on the camera bodies.

Gunk on the contacts is usually the cause of AF woes. If that fails and all your other lens work ok, then it maybe a dodgy lens
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thanks, will have a go tmrw ! :)
 
Still trying to figure out how to use it, its really kinda odd, like a Pioneer tape deck circa 1990, looks nice but not that ergonomic..:shrug:
 
guys !

He offered a refund. do I get any postage fees etc back ? or I loose his and my postage ?


cheers,
D.
 
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