the electronically timed exposure. You
can't use the " X " setting, the " B " set
ting, or the " 0 " setting for automatic ex
posure control. To help prevent a possible
operator error, the LED display refuses to
indicate a shutter-speed or diaphragm
calibration at the " X , " " B ," or " 0 ” set
tings, Rather, the overrange LED always
turns on.
OTHER FEATURES OF THE XD-11
The XD-11 and its spinoff, the XD-5,
both use the Seiko MFC modular focal-
plane shutter. W ith a modular focal-plane
shutter, you might expect the XD-11 to
have a modular design. It does. But the
XD-11 is even more modular than most
cameras using similar shutters. You can
remove the front plate, mirror cage, shutter,
and flex circuit as one unit. Reaching the
shutter takes a minimum amount of time.
Practically all of the electronic com
ponents mount to the flex circuit. In many
cameras, the flex circuit causes repair
problems; you must delicately lift aside
portions of the flex circuit to disassemble
the camera. However, the XD-11 elimi
nates such problems. Since the flex cir
cuit comes o ff w ith the fro n t assembly,
Fig. 6, there's little chance of damage.
As is typical, the flex circuit covers the
pentaprism. Fortunately, you don't have to
lift aside the flex circuit to clean the focus
ing screen. For that matter, you don't even
have to remove the top cover. To remove
the focusing screen, take out the two
screws that hold the plate at the top of the
mirror cage, Fig. 5. Lift out the cover plate
and the focusing-screen retainer. You can
now drop out the focusing screen from in
side the mirror cage, Fig. 7.
Most of the remaining features are
pretty typical of modern SLRs. Notice
that the film-speed dial allows you to set
intentional overexposures or underex
posures, Fig. 2. W hen you select the film
speed, the film-speed dial rotates a brush
along the film-speed resistor. Moving the
compensation lever for intentional over-
exposures or underexposures rotates the
entire film-speed resistor w ithout moving
the brush.
The XD-11 also accepts a power winder,
the Auto Winder A, and the Minolta series
of dedicated flash units. The 132X, 200X,
and 320X dedicated flash units automatic
ally program the camera for the flash
speed of 1/100 second. When the flash
unit charges, the overrange LED flashes on
and off in the finder.
CIRCUIT AT THE BOTTOM
OF THE XD-11
The battery-compartment cover screws
into the bottom plate. So, once you
remove the bottom plate, you can't power
the camera w ith its own batteries.
However, you can connect a 3V DC power
supply to the battery compartment, Fig. 8.
Connect the positive power-supply lead to
the battery-compartment terminal and
connect the negative power-supply lead to
ground (any metal part on the camera). All
the test voltages we'll be giving are
positive w ith respect to ground.
As you cock and release the shutter,
notice the actions of the tw o levers at
tached to the transport cam — the mirror-
cocking lever and the shutter-cocking
lever, Fig. 9. The clockwise rotation of
the transport cam drives the mirror-
cocking lever left to right in Fig. 9. The
end of the mirror-cocking lever then
comes against the roller on the mirror-
tensioning lever to charge the mirror. A t
the same time, the transport cam draws
the shutter-cocking lever from left to right
to charge the Seiko shutter.
The transport latch, Fig. 9, now drops
into engagement w ith a notch in the
transport cam. Consequently, you can't
advance the wind lever a second time.
A fter the exposure, the mirror-tensioning
lever swings from right to left, Fig. 9, and
strikes the transport-release lever. As the
transport-release lever
rotates in a
clockwise direction, it disengages the
transport latch from the transport cam.
A spring attached to the transport latch
and the transport-release lever provides
the switching contact for the power
winder. W ith the shutter released, the
power-winder switching contact moves
into the power-winder locating bushing.
Fig. 9. The locating bushing receives a pin
on the power winder. So, with the power
winder attached to the camera, the
power-winder switching contact touches
the pin.
The power-winder switching contact
now connects the power-winder pin to
ground. As a result, the power winder
goes into action; it advances the film and
cocks the shutter by rotating the power-
winder coupler, Fig. 9. When the shutter
reaches the cocked position, the trans
port latch drops into the notch in the
transport cam. The transport latch now
drives the power-winder switching con
tact away from the power-winder pin.
Since the power-winder pin no longer
connects to ground, the power winder
stops running.
A t the other end of the camera, you
can see the circuit board which contains
the mirror-release and diaphragm-control
components. Fig. 8. Locate the tw o capa
citors — C5 and C6. These are the capa-
I R A N S P O R T -
RE L E A SE
LEVER
M I R R O R - C O C K I N G
LEVER
L O C A T I N G
B U S H I N G
L O O S E
D U S T
S E A L
S H U T T E R C O C K I N G
LEVER
P O W E R - W I N D E R
S W I T C H I N G
C O N T A C T
P O W E R - W I N D E R
C O U P L E R
T R A N S P O R T
C A M
P O S I T I V E BA T T E R Y
Figure 8
Figure 9 S hutter Cocked
