Minolta MD 1 battery compartment

[Jake Mongey]

Hey,
I'm soon to be given a Minolta x700 with an MD1 and a few lenses from a family friend who happens to have had two sitting around and the MD1 had a corroded battery compartment. Now I am a sucker for a slr with a huge battery pack on the bottom and I was wondering if anyone can help me find a replacement battery compartment? Thanks

 

[Tim Murphy]

Try cleaning it first

Try cleaning it first

Dear Jake,

Here's to hoping a gift battery compartment lands in your lap.

In the meantime you can do a lot with vinegar and baking soda. If you don't want to get that aggressive an old toothbrush and maybe some cotton swabs doused with denatured alcohol might do the trick.

You're convinced it's shot so what do you have to lose if your attempts fail?

I've resurrected more battery powered items than I care to mention by just carefully cleaning up the crud so it's definitely worth a shot.

Regards,

Tim Murphy
Harrisburg, PA 🙂

 

[Jake Mongey]

Dear Jake,

Here's to hoping a gift battery compartment lands in your lap.

In the meantime you can do a lot with vinegar and baking soda. If you don't want to get that aggressive an old toothbrush and maybe some cotton swabs doused with denatured alcohol might do the trick.

You're convinced it's shot so what do you have to lose if your attempts fail?

I resurrected more battery powered items than I care to mention by just carefully cleaning up the crud so it's definitely worth a shot.

Regards,

Tim Murphy
Harrisburg, PA 🙂

Thanks for the reply but when I was sorting through any battery compartments that were corroded got binned - the owner didn't want It there and disposed of it so unfortunately that's not a possibility. However, it was so corroded I couldn't remove the batteries or disinguish some of them

 

[ellisson]

Jake,
The MD 1 drive is a great addition to the X-700 and other X-series cameras that take it.
In addition to the auto wind function, the MD 1 grip is solid and comfortable and the second (bottom) shutter releases let you shoot portrait mode easily without reaching around to the top. It adds some heft with the batteries loaded, but I find it helps balance and steady the camera with longer lenses.

Prices seem to average $50-70 on eBay for good-excellent condition MD 1s, but if you need the MD 1 battery compartment, it may be best to replace the entire drive with one less "excellent" but functional without corrosion. I've seen some user condition MD 1s listed for $25-35.

Good luck
Gary