Begun by Michael Covington, semi-amateur photographer and writer Contributions by Paul Archer, camera repair technician Maintained and posted by R. Lee Hawkins <lhawkins@brashear.phys.appstate.edu>
This FAQ is (c) 1994-2006 By R. Lee Hawkins. It may be copied for personal use only as long as it remains unaltered and this copyright notice remains intact.
This FAQ may NOT be distributed in return for compensation of any kind, nor may it be copied to your website (but feel free to link to the FAQ!).
HTML version made possible by Christopher Biggs <chris@stallion.oz.au>
NOTE: If you have info you would like added to the FAQ, please don't hesitate to send it to R. Lee Hawkins <lhawkins@brashear.phys.appstate.edu>. I may or may not add it though, at my discretion.
Examples are:
1) Questions on repairing your camera. Contact one of the repair centers listed in the FAQ, not me.
2) Questions about how to get a manual for your camera. For Olympus cameras, look on the Olympus website at:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_brochuresmanuals.asp
In general, it's much better to post *any* question you have to the Olympus mailing list. You are almost guaranteed to reach someone who knows a whole lot more about how to answer your question than I do, and you may even learn more than you wanted to know ;).
R. Lee Hawkins (addresses at the end) and Michael Covington. We
also get lots of help and input from other Olympus users on the
net. See the end of this document for a (mostly) complete listing.
Note that RLH is solely responsible for the distribution of the
FAQ. Please don't bother Michael with FAQ requests.
[ top | contents ]
Yes. The more or less latest version of this FAQ can be found
on:
http://brashear.phys.appstate.edu/lhawkins/photo/photo.shtml
No one else currently has authorization from me to put copies
of this FAQ on their website.
I post a notice each time a new version of the FAQ comes
out to the following mailing list:
Note that updates have become very infrequent, either because
nothing of significance has been added to the FAQ, or I am
otherwise occupied with my real job :)
[ top | contents ]
In this FAQ, I will use the following conventions when listing
model names:
Single models will be listed by the OM model number, as in OM-1N.
Multiple models of the same camera, where the given information
applies to both models, will be listed like this: OM-1(N). This
means the info applies to both the OM-1 and the OM-1N.
For info that applies to several different camera models, I will
use a variation on the csh(1) listing convention. So data that would
apply, for example, to the OM-2S, OM-4, and OM-4T would be listed as:
OM-{2S, 4(T)}.
[ top | contents ]
Presuming you have never repaired cameras before, the answer is:
NO if the camera is expensive and you need 100% reliability;
MAYBE if the camera is not worth sending to a shop.
The rest of this file will address both situations.
Cameras that have been salt-water damaged are automatically BER
(repair term: Beyond Economical Repair). You may find that you can
get a shop to work on one IF you waive the warranty.
[ top | contents ]
About $50 to $100 in most cases, if no major parts are needed.
It's worth it; camera repair is delicate, labor-intensive work.
To save money, contact a repair shop yourself rather than having
your local camera store act as agent (and take their mark up).
Be aware that there are three kinds of repairs:
-Repair by the manufacturer, with the manufacturer's warranty.
Generally expensive, and available only for cameras that are
still in production or were discontinued less than 10 years ago.
-Full repair by a repair shop: they fix and adjust everything
to bring the camera up to full factory specifications, and then
give you six months' warranty. This is what most professional
photographers want. (The warranty of course does not cover abuse
or damage, such as dropping the camera or getting sand in it.)
-Limited repair: They fix only the problem you have pointed out.
This is cheaper. Bear in mind, however, that most cameras
over 10 years old _need_ a full cleaning, lubrication, and
adjustment in order to keep the shutter accurate. You may be
getting inaccurate and irreproducible shutter speeds without
knowing it.
[ top | contents ]
Ask around locally. Ask local camera dealers whom they recommend.
You will get better turnaround because you will not have to deal
with shipping.
(Even if you use a local shop, your camera should arrive accompanied
by a *written* description of the problem. One of us [MC] had a lot
of time wasted when a clerk at a repair shop failed to write down a
full description of what needed to be fixed.)
The following shops get consistently good reviews from many
sources:
Essex Camera Service
100 Amor Avenue
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
http://www.essexcamera.com/
201-933-7272
(Handles all kinds of cameras, including obsolete ones.
Well recommended. Ad says "Most cameras $35-$75.")
Photography on Bald Mountain
113 Bald Mountain
Davenport, CA 95017
http://www.baldmtn.com/
831-423-4465 [9-5 Wednesday and Thursday, 9-12 Friday]
(Repairs obsolete cameras no matter how old; can make parts.)
John Hermanson
Camtech
21 South Lane
Huntington NY 11743
http://www.zuiko.com
631-424-2121
<omtech@erols.com>
(Repairs only Olympus cameras, can repair older models that
Olympus itself no longer repairs).
K&S Camera Repair
364 W. Shaw Ave.
Fresno, CA 93704
559-222-3686
(specializes in older Olympus Pen and OM repair)
Photosphere
2510 Electronic Lane
Suite 907
Dallas TX 75220
http://www.olyfix.com
214-352-8448
Can still fix XA, XA-3, XA-4, OM-2S, OM-PC, and OM-4.
(I [RLH] have no experience with them, but several folks on the OM
mailing list have recommended them).
Camera Repair Japan (ex Camtronics)
5555 Oakbrook Parkway
Norcross, GA 30093
http://www.camerarepairjapan.com/
770-849-0555
In the UK, you can try:
Colchester Cameras
2 Barrack Street
Colchester
Essex
CO1 2LJ
Tel: 01206 790009
Camera Clinic
Turn Park
Station Rd.
Chester-le-Street
Co Durham DH3 3DY.
Tel 0191 388 7001
Luton Cameras Bristol
17 West Street
Old Market
Bristol, BS2 0DF.
Tel 01179 550541
Luton Camera Repairs
49 Guildford St.
Luton
Beds LU1 2NJ.
http://www.lutcamre.demon.co.uk
Tel 01582 458323
Thanks to Simon <ruralwales@yahoo.com>
H Lehmann and Son Ltd
247-249 London Road
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST4 5AA
http://www.lehmannsdirect.co.uk
Tel: 01782 413611
Fax: 01782 744579
Thanks to "Richard Linney" <Richard.Linney@silvertown.co.uk>
[ top | contents ]
A good general book is:[ top | contents ]Tomosy, Thomas CAMERA MAINTENANCE & REPAIR (1993) $24.95 ISBN 0-936262-09-5 Amherst Media, Inc. 418 Homecrest Drive Amherst, NY 14226
and
Camera Maintenance & Repair, Book 2 (1997) $24.95 ISBN 0-936262-58-3 Amherst Media, Inc. 418 Homecrest Drive Amherst, NY 14226 (Covers advanced techniques and more cameras)
Many books (including "Basic Training" and guides to specific cameras) are published and sold by:
Ed Romney Box 806 Williamsburg, NM 87942 864-597-1882 Email: <romney@zianet.com> http://www.edromney.com
I [RLH] have seen the Basic Training manual, and it looks excellent. Romney is very helpful, knowledgeable, and will go out of his way to help you. I encourge you to seek out his manuals if you can.
Thanks to <cmorris@dualinc.com> for some corrections
Reprints of manufacturers' service manuals (many on micro-fiche at $4 each), reprints from "Camera Craftsman" magazine (now defunct), and other useful materials are sold by:
Infotech PO Box 370884 Denver, CO 80237-0884 Ph. 303-752-9270
Their catalog is well worth writing for.
Other materials, tools, and junked cameras (for parts) are advertised in SHUTTERBUG magazine.
From INFOTECH or Romney (see above) or from the manufacturer.
As an example, Olympus body manuals cost about $40 each.
Factory service manuals are a crap shoot, at best. Some are fairly
informative, and some are so poorly written (actually poorly
translated from Japanese) that they are virtually worthless. Most
Olympus manuals fall into the former category, while most Canon fall
into the latter. (But the Minolta SRT-101 manual has nice cartoons!)
The best manuals are by SPT (Society of Photo-Technologists).
Unfortunately, you have to be a member to order them. (Minimum
membership is around $120/year.)
Society of Photo-Technologists
367 Windsor Highway
Suite 404
New Windsor, NY 12553
Phone: (914)782-4248
Fax: (914)782-2691
Exploded views of a number of popular cameras were published in
Modern Photography, mainly during 1974. They do not contain
disassembly or repair instructions, but they may be of some use.
[ top | contents ]
A good source for tools is:
Curt Fargo, General Manager Fargo Enterprise
P.O. Box 6505
Vacaville, CA 95696-6505
Phone: 707-446-1120
FAX: 707.446.3319
Web Site: http://www.fargo-ent.com
or: http://www.micro-tools.com
E-Mail: <curt@fargo-ent.com>
I [RLH] have bought a number of tools from Fargo, and they
are helpful folks. Their web page lists all sorts of useful,
hard to find tools and adhesives. Their full catalog costs
$10, but you can download the PDF version from their web
page. The toolkit below, along with prices, is based on
their web page as of 3/22/98.
Ed Romney (see above) also sells a few tools.
The "toolkit" I [RLH] recommend is as follows:
Lens vise for fixing dented filter rings: $35.95. You
will save the price of this tool on the first lens
you buy with a dented filter ring. This tool is not
trivial to use, however, so be sure to practice on
junk lenses. Perhaps a better tool for beginners is
the wood form and stick setup that Fargo sells for
$14.95. It's harder to damage the filter threads with
this.
Interchangeable tip spanner wrench: $55.00.
This seems like a lot, but good tools cost $$$. If you
only occasionally take off lens rings, you can
certainly get by with the cheaper set of two fixed-point
spanners for $30.00.
Screwdriver set: $30.95. I recommend the NIWA set from
Fargo. It is far superior to the cheap ones others recommend.
Lens wrench: $9.50 ea./$18.00 pr. Cheaper than a set of
Flexiclamps, by a factor of 10. Flexiclamps can also be
easily broken. If you really need Flexiclamps, buy the sizes
you need as you need them, or see Tomosy Book 1 for ideas on
how to make your own set. It is unlikely you will need a full
set.
Lens ring tools, gum rubber: $20.00/set. For removing lens
rings that have no slots or holes for a spanner wrench
(like the front lens ring of a 50/1.8 Zuiko). Like flexiclamps,
you are unlikely to need a full set of these, but you save a
fair amount by buying the full set.
Hand blower: $9.95 (medium). A rubber bulb for blowing
dust away. You can certainly get by with something
cheaper, like the blowers that come with a brush.
Dental probes: $8/set of 4. For pulling springs back into
holes, cleaning threads, and hundreds of other uses. Can
also be had cheaply at flea markets.
X-Acto type knife set: $5-$30 (or more). You really only
need a basic set with a few blades, but you can get as
complicated as you want here!
Tweezers: Dumont #7, $13.75. You can often find the
surgical equivalent of these for a dollar or two at
swap meets and flea markets. I also find the crossed
kind that locks together when released, instead of
springing apart, useful. A set of these at a flea market
will run $10 or less.
Hemostats, set of 4 small and large, straight and bent:
$10/set or less at a flea market.
Pliers: Long needle nose, needle nose, and side cutters. No
price given, the Sears Craftsman versions work fine and
cost less than those Fargo sells. The cheap pliers Fargo
sells should be avoided.
Needle file set: $6.50. For removing burrs and such.
Pliobond, 1oz: $1.70. For re-gluing leatherette and such.
Lens tissue: $1/pk. Kodak works fine.
Lens cleaner: $2/bottle?. Again Kodak or Edmund's works fine.
Asahiklin AK225 spray. For degreasing aperture blades.
Canned air: $5/can.
Shutter tester: Romney sells a book on how to make a digital
shutter tester, and Tomosy Book 1 includes plans on how to turn
a Commodore C-64 computer into a shutter tester. I plan to
turn my old SX-64 (a portable C-64 with built in floppy and
color CRT) into a shutter tester, and will report here how well
it works. While neither of these have the advanced features
of professional models, they are more than adequate for the home
camera repair person.
Tomosy Book 1 and 2: $45.95/set. One of the only sources on
how to "do it yourself". My biggest gripe with Tomosy is that
he recommends inferior tools which can easily cause more damage
than you are trying to fix. Use your judgement.
You also need a good, small flashlight and a magnifier. Your
work area should also have good overhead lighting, and I find
it is good to remove screws over a large tray to help keep
the little buggers from getting away from me :).
There are literally hundreds of specialized tools that you might
need in addition to these, but my advice, even with this basic
kit, is to buy the things only as you need them. If you
come to a point where you need a particular tool, and don't
have to the patience to order it and wait for its arrival before
proceeding, you have no business trying to repair your own
cameras! With all that said, the total cost of this
kit is only $280.00 (assuming the cheap hemos and tweezers, and
$5/pair of pliers). You will save that much or more in the
first 5 items you repair, and many of the items are "dual use",
so their price can be justified for more than just camera
repair.
Note that I have not listed any electronic testing/repair tools.
If you need that sort of stuff also, plan to spend an
additional $100 for a minimal DMM, low wattage iron, and
accessories.
[ top | contents ]
From the manufacturer's parts department; from a few suppliers listed in Tomosy's book; and from junked cameras. The Fargo catalog has an extensive listing of suppliers in the back also. By far the cheapest way to get common parts such as screws is to collect junked cameras (which people will sometimes give you for free).[ top | contents ]
-Never force anything; parts are easy to break. If something
looks like it should unscrew, but won't come off, it's
probably left-hand threaded.
-Never use tools (screwdrivers especially) that are not suited
to the job. (You will often have to re-grind cheap jewelers'
screwdrivers in order to get a good fit.)
If you use unsuitable tools, you will leave tool marks on the
camera, which will alarm the professional technician even more
than they alarm you. If a camera looks like it has suffered an
amateur repair, many technicians will insist on sending it to the
manufacturer ($$$) because they fear parts may be missing,
misplaced, or damaged.
If you strip the head of a Phillips screw, you will NEVER
get it out! Use a screwdriver that fits WELL, or make one by
re-grinding as needed.
-Never spray or squirt lubricants or cleaning solutions into
a camera. Use liquids only when you can completely control
where they are going. The correct way to apply oil is with
a toothpick.
-Never disassemble a mechanism if you're not sure you can get it
back together. Most shops are VERY UNWILLING to work on a camera
that arrives in several zip-lock bags and will charge a lot of
money to do so!
[ top | contents ]
Try:
http://www.fargo-ent.com
It is a comprehensive web site of information for camera repair
professionals, plus a directory of repair shops, manufacturers,
and parts suppliers.
Another resource is Ed Romney's homepage:
http://www.edromney.com
[ top | contents ]
-Electronic problems: Sometimes all that's wrong is that one wire
is broken, a printed circuit board is cracked, or the edge connector
that joins two printed circuit boards is making poor contact. The
edge connector is the easiest to fix: just undo it, clean the
contacts, and reassemble.
If you are good at miniature soldering, cracked boards and broken
wires are easy to fix using standard techniques. Everything is
_small_ and I [MC] find that wire-wrap wire and #28 enameled magnet
wire are useful.
-Corroded battery: If you're lucky, the damage is confined to
the battery compartment and all you'll have to do is clean contacts.
Use a liquid contact cleaner if possible, applying it with a cotton
swab, foam pad, or eye dropper, and then wiping it off. Abrasive
cleaning methods (wire brush, sandpaper, etc.) work, but the surface
is likely to tarnish again soon.
Do NOT let liquids or dust get into unknown parts of the camera.
-Dust on upper side of non-removable focusing screen: Remove the
top cover and see if you can use compressed air to blow it away.
-Foam rot: The foam mirror pads in cameras from the 1970s are now
turning to dust or goo. You can replace them with authentic black
foam from Curt Fargo's Micro tools:
Curt Fargo's Micro-Tools sells mirror foam under restoration
supplies:
LB132 Light Baffle, .03125" - 1/32" Mirror Cushion & Light Trap
Foam Available in 10" squares, with self adhesive peel-off backing.
LB116 Light Baffle, .0625" - 1/16" Mirror Cushion & Light Trap
Foam Available in 10" squares, with self adhesive peel-off backing.
LB332 Light Baffle, .09375" - 3/32" Mirror Cushion & Light Trap
Foam Available in 10" squares, with self adhesive peel-off backing.
LB-KIT Light Baffle, Kit - 5 Sheets Mirror Cushion & Light Trap
Foam The kit Contains 1 - 10" square each of all 5 sizes. Light
Baffle, 1/32", Light Baffle, 1/16", Light Baffle, 3/32", Light
Baffle, 1/8", Light Baffle, 3/16".
Or you can improvise. I [MC] made a nice mirror pad for a
Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL out of some brown foam furniture pads from
the hardware department of a Wal-Mart. Another possible substitute
is the pads sold for use on eyeglass frames; they are cream-colored
rather than black, but this should not be a problem since the
mirror pads are not in the light path when taking a picture.
-Jammed camera: (See above.) Sometimes, the jam is a one-of-a-kind
event and all you need to do is unjam the camera once. Unfortunately,
it's more common for the jam to recur.
-Sticky lens diaphragm: If you're patient, you can disassemble a
lens, clean all the diaphragm leaves, and put them back in place.
The leaves should have _no_ lubricant on them when you're done.
Paul Archer's recommended technique is to use a small spanner
to remove the rear element, put some denatured alcohol on the
blades, and work them in and out till the alcohol evaporates. This
usually does the trick. BTW, I [PA] would not recommend attempting
any repairs on zoom lenses. They are notoriously hard to work on,
and most shops will only have one person who is competent with
zooms, even though they might have 6 or 7 techs.
Keep compressed air handy for getting rid of dust. Resign yourself
to getting some dust into the first lens you work on, unavoidably.
It will not affect picture quality.
-As noted above, cameras that have been in salt water are considered
beyond economic repair.
Thanks to Covington and
Doug Clifford <fotopro@uswest.net>
[ top | contents ]
(CAUTION: Any camera that has built-in flash will contain voltages
as high as 330V. I [PA] have personally seen a technician shocked
so badly by one of these that he (involuntarily) threw the camera
across the room. If you're going to open one of these up, be VERY
careful, and use a 100-ohm, 1/2 watt (or larger) resistor, suitably
insulated, to short across the flash capacitor. Discharge it for 5
seconds, then use a voltmeter to check the voltage of the
capacitor, and, if necessary, discharge it some more. And always
do this with the batteries out. If the batteries are still in the
camera when you discharge the capacitor, you will run the risk of
at the least having the capacitor charge up on you again, and at
the worst, burning out the flash board.)
If at all possible, you should obtain specific instructions before
trying to remove the top cover of a 35mm camera. There are lots
of tricks, including the Mamiya-Sekor ungrippable button (that you
have to thread fishing line under and pull on) and the Olympus
door spring that jumps across the room.
Many specific models are discussed in Tomosy's book (see above).
For the curious, see Topic O2), below, for an example.
[ top | contents ]
Several things:
-If the camera is electronic, check the battery contacts and the
batteries. If silver oxide batteries are specified, USE THEM, not
alkaline and definitely not lithium (which gives lower voltages).
-Try resetting the camera by taking the batteries out for several
minutes or more and putting them back in.
-Verify that you aren't at the end of a roll of film.
-Press the rewind button and rewind the film into the cartridge.
That way, you will at least be able to develop your film, and
the camera _may_ unjam.
-If the jam is caused by an electronic problem (either weak
batteries or something else), you can unjam the shutter by
switching it to a manual (non-electronic) speed, if any are
available on your camera (e.g., M90 on the Nikon FE, 1/60 on
the Olympus OM-2 and OM-4).
With mechanical jams, the following techniques may work:
-Slam the camera down moderately hard onto the palm of your
hand. (This is said to work particularly well for Pentaxes.)
-With some cameras, you may be able to accomplish something by
very gently pulling slightly on the mirror (to move it toward
the "up" position) and/or by setting off the self-timer.
-If all else fails, remove the bottom plate of the camera and
see if you can trip the shutter or unlock the film advance.
Don't force anything; you're looking for a latch that is just
on the verge of tripping.
Several different options are possible:
-If the meter consumes the same amount of current whenever the needle is centered, regardless of light level, all you have to do is add some extra resistance in series with the battery. Try 2000 ohms as a start.
-Add a Schottky diode in series with the battery. That will subtract a constant 0.15 or 0.25 volts from the battery voltage (depending on whether you use a low-barrier or medium-barrier diode). Either way, you're much closer to 1.35V than you would have been without it, and the voltage drop is relatively constant regardless of current.
-A circuit using a National Semiconductor voltage-reference chip is given in the Jan./Feb. 1995 issue of Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques. This is a shunt regulator and consumes extra current, so it has to be placed after the switch in the circuit.
-Pentax apparently sells a field kit to adapt the K-1000 meter movement to the Spotmatic. This completely solves the mercury battery problem with this camera.
-Perhaps the cleanest and best solution is the C.R.I.S adapter. It not only drops the voltage of a silver oxide battery to 1.35V, it also adapts it to fit mechanically in a battery well the size of a PX625 mercury cell. $29.95 plus $1.50 shipping from C.R.I.S. Camera Services 800-216-7579, 602-940-1103 (outside US). Also try their website at:
I (RLH) have no experience either with this device or company, but if it works as advertised, it would seem to be the ideal replacement for PX625 cells.
One excellent cleaner for fungus (Olympus factory uses this) is Ponds Cold Cream (or facsimile). Really. Rub a tiny dab into the lens with your finger tip YES FINGER TIP, then clean off with denatured alcohol. If fungus "spider web" remains, reapply cream and rub harder, clean with alcohol again. I know this sounds funny, but this is how the FACTORY SERVICE STATIONS ARE TRAINED TO DO IT! Do this at your own risk, the faint at heart should not attempt this.[ top | contents ]Thanks to: John Hermanson <omtech@erols.com>
These instructions apply to a Zuiko 50/1.8, but probably work with many other standard lenses with little modification.[ top | contents ]First, remove the front ring with a rubber lens ring tool. Then, remove three small cross-point screws that hold in the front element assembly. Note that some models have a very small ball bearing that serves to engage the aperture click stops, so BEFORE you pull the front group out, make sure you are over a pan so if the model you are working on has the bearing, it won't get lost. After you have removed the group, stop the lens down to f/16, engage the DOF preview button, and flood the diaphragm with Asahiklin AK225. Work the diaphragm until the solvent evaporates, then reassemble the lens, making sure to get the small ball bearing in correctly.
If the problem persists, you will have to remove the lens mount and clean the parts there. Remove 3 cross-point screws on the back of the mount, and remove the mount. Take the mount lock and DOF buttons out and set them aside. Lift up on the chrome part underneath the two black parts, pulling the whole assembly out. Set the lens aside. Flood this assembly with Asahiklin AK225, and gently rub dry, being sure not to lose the attached spring. Reinstall in the reverse order, making sure to get the aperture actuating levers in the right slots, and that you don't get the DOF button in upside down. The recessed side goes towards the back of the lens. If this doesn't solve your problem, it's probably best to send the lens off to a professional shop, if it is worth repairing (Zuiko 50/1.8's aren't).
For PDF versions of some manuals, see:[ top | contents ]http://olympus.dementia.org/Hardware/
Alternately, Call 1-800-622-6372, and select the appropriate option for the parts department. Some representative prices as of 13 December, 1994, were:
OM-10 $35 OM-1(N) $40 OM-4 $44 T-32 $10 T-20 $10 Winder 2 $9
You can clean any switch, to some extent, by just actuating it over
and over. So just turn the switch through its four positions about
100 times and the contacts will be cleaner.
If you want to remove the cover to clean the actual contacts, or for
some other reason, instructions follow.
NOTE: We do *not* recommend do-it-yourself repairs of valuable
cameras. However, the cheaper OM's (OM-10, OM-F, OM-G, etc.)
nowadays have relatively low resale value and may not be worth the
cost of a professional repair.
Repair notes on Olympus OM-F (OM-30)
(probably also applicable to OM-{10, G, PC} *not* OM-{1-4(T)}
Removal of top cover:
1) Open back of camera (by pulling up on rewind knob) and attach a
piece of tape to ensure that the back does not get latched shut
again.
2) Unfold handle of rewind knob and remove Phillips screw.
(To do this, you will have to keep the shaft from rotating.)
(Note: If the camera back gets closed while the rewind knob is off,
here's what to do: Push the shaft into the camera, where it will fall
free. Then use a long pan-head machine screw as a tool to reach in
and pull up on the latch.)
3) Remove black retaining ring under where rewind knob was.
(Use spanner.)
4) Lift out switch, taking care not to lose the click-stop ball.
5) You have now exposed enough of the camera to repair electrical
problems caused by dirty contacts. Clean the contacts ad
libitum. NOTE: DO NOT use spray contact cleaner---you don't
know where else it might go!
I [MAC] have even found and repaired a circuit-board crack with no
more disassembly than this.
To proceed further:
6) Note the spring at the extreme left front of the camera,
visible through the round opening you have just exposed.
It is the door latch tension spring. When you remove the
top, it will probably jump across the room. Be prepared to
catch it, or carefully work it loose and pull it out now,
with tweezers.
7) Remove the obvious six screws that hold the top cover in place.
(The smallest two go in front.)
7) Remove the screw on the underside of the film advance lever.
Plastic part of advance lever comes off.
8) Remove the screw on the axis of the (metal) film advance lever.
9) Note setting of ASA dial and exposure compensation.
10) Using a sewing needle, lift the central part of the ASA dial
and pop it out.
11) Remove the Phillips screw and spring revealed by step 10.
12) Lift top cover off, taking care not to break the wires to
the beeper (which is attached to the top cover).
13) Before reassembly, check for dust on top of the focusing
screen (seen sharply in focus in the viewfinder). Without
removing the prism, you can have *some* success at removing
this dust by spraying compressed air at various points around
the base of the prism assembly.
14) To reassemble, reverse the above procedure.
Thanks to Michael Covington
[ top | contents ]
*** DISASSEMBLING M.15V CONTROL PACK 2 ***
To open the NiCad pack, you must remove the thin metal plate that
says single-off-sequence and the flat screw that holds a tensioning
spring. To remove it apply a solvent like chloroform with a cotton
tipped applicator (Q-tip) then use a piece of sticky tape (like
duct tape) to pull the plate off without damaging it. It can be
reattached using rubber cement.
First, take out the big screw you see there (unscrew ccw).
Next, holding the entire knob with a large pair of channellock
pliers, unscrew the entire selector knob. The bottom case should
pull open. The only other screw that has to come out is on the
bottom next to the tripod socket.
Now put a piece of tape on the lock slider for the fire button,
to keep it from falling out as you try and re-assemble the unit.
It might be wise to make a diagram of what you see inside:
1) Big flat chrome screw holds
2) spring down against brass ring with 3 black screws (do not
remove them)
3) Central nylon post (easy to break) rotates
4) printed circuit style switch underneath brass ring.
Clip the red and black leads close to the old battery and strip
the ends for soldering later on. Remove the old NiCad battery pack
and recycle it (some University Radiation Safety dept's will accept
old NiCad batteries). Keep Cadmium out of the environment: it's a
deadly poison. Solder new insulated copper wires to the red and
black leads that were clipped to remove the old NiCad pack. Check
for shorts.
Replace the black metal cover and screw in the switch rotator
(finger tight). Replace the spring and screw in the flat head
retainer screw.
The switch will have to be "re-timed" when you reassemble it.
Use the following procedure to re-time the mode select switch:
- set the switch to sequence mode.
- loosen (do NOT remove) the three screws holding down the
brass ring.
- while holding down the fire button, use a pair of needle nose
pliers to twist the centre post until the camera fires
continuously.
- tighten one of the screws which holds the brass ring.
- check that single fire mode works
- tighten the remaining two screws
- put the spring and the big screw back on and *gently* tighten.
- When you are certain everything is correct, apply some rubber
cement and reattach the thin metal plate.
That's all. It is now time to recharge the new Control Pack.
A later note from Hank Hogan:
Yesterday, I replaced the NiMh batteries in my M15V NiCd Control
Pack 2 with two Yellow, 9 Volt, EVEREADY Nickel Cadmium batteries
(No. CH22 7.2 Volts). I found that the NiMh cells had leaked
and were corroded where I had been a little overzealous with the
soldering iron. I had to remove the yellow plastic exterior with
my Swiss Army Knife and found that in the bottom there was a piece
of styrofoam which when removed gave me some extra space to fit
the cells. I wanted to minimize the application of heat to the
cells so I used a 25 watt soldering iron, left the connector
tops of the batteries intact, and used 9 volt battery connectors
that I purchased at Radio Shack. I did have to split one battery
into two pieces to fit it around the tripod mounting socket.
This time I carefully tore out a piece of the spot welded tin
to make a little nubbin and corresponding hole to solder some
light braided pre-tinned wire. This I hope will have minimized
heat dammage to any of the cells.
It appears to be working well! I now think that Nickel Cadmium
batteries are much better suited to the Motor Drive because
they can deliver more peak power than the Nickel Metal Hydride
(NiMh). Also I used all of the cells from both batteries
and this may also contribute to its working much better.
Thanks to Hank Hogan <flzhgn@ix.netcom.com> and
Mark Dapoz <md@dementia.org>
[ top | contents ]
(Compiled by Hank Hogan with advice from John Hermanson and Frank van Lindert)[ top | contents ]NOTE: See Topic O3) for how to disassemble/reassemble the Control Pack.
Also, see Topic O3) for why this might be a bad idea after all.
*** Making a New NiMH Battery for the M.15 Control Pack 2 ***
The batteries are VARTA NiMH batteries which look just like ordinary nine volt batteries of the type that are used in smoke detectors and 1960's era transistor radios. These batteries can be found at:
House of Batteries 16512 Burke Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92647 http://www.houseofbatteries.com/ 800-432-3385
(The price was about ten dollars each) Note: this company can build custom spot welded batteries
First, construct a new custom NiMH (nickel metal hydride) battery from the cells inside of two VARTA NiMH block batteries. {Rechargeable AccuPlus 9V, 120 mAh, No. 5522, E-Block V7/8H (IEC 6F22) Laden/Charge: 14h, 11mA, Fast Charge: 7h, 22 mA up to 1000 times rechargeable}
The block battery is black plastic. Dissect it with a pen knife by cutting around the top. Take all seven cells of the first battery and five cells from the second. Leave some tin on the cells for soldering.
Solder the two groups of cells together (7+5=12) using some insulated copper wire to connect the tin from the two groups. Wrap the new battery in shrink wrap or use plastic electrician's tape to wrap it.
*** Notes on Recharging ***
The Olympus charger performs a quick charge. The current is about 26-30 mA, although the specifications say 36 mA. Olympus recommends charging for 4-5 hours, and this is fine for NiMH cells.
If you want to know whether a cell is damaged or not, you must measure the voltage of each cell separately. A dead cell will always give 0 volts, as far as I know, or even a negative value (reversed voltage effect).
An automatic light switch timer will allow you to set a four hour charging time and prevent overcharging the new battery.
Thanks to Hank Hogan <flzhgn@ix.netcom.com>
An alternate method is: I did my NiMH conversion before the FAQ and other references now available. I used all cells of both Varta 9V batteries. The logic went as follows:
1) Motor Drive can use both M15v and M18v power supples
2) M18v uses 12 cells - either NiCad or Alkaline
3) Alkaline run as high as 1.6v when new
4) 12 x 1.6 = 19.2v
5) 7 x 2 = 14 (#cells in two 9v Varta's) x 1.4 (approx full charge voltage per cell) = 19.6v. I think "close enough".
6) With a little juggling, it fits (a big test)
7) It works ! (Mine about 2 years now)
8) This configuration gives more output (more cells) and is much more "user friendly" (NiMH cells) and weighs less. It sounds like a better fix to me.
Note: In step #6, one of the Varta's must have 2 cells "unfolded" for space configuration.
Thanks to "Rand E. Tomcala" <rtomcala@maxinter.net>
For those OM10 users who may want to rig up their manual adapter,
this may help.
The adapter is nothing more than 11 printed circuit (PC) resistors
on a PC board plugged into the camera with a sub-mini jack. There
are no speeds between marked settings as there would have been if
the selector dial were attached to a potentiometer. Resistors
will have some variance due to construction, but you can see from
the pattern that increasing resistance increases the duration of
the exposure.
You can build your own device if you or a friend is handy with
electronic components, and if you don't mind the appearance. Using
a potentiometer marked off in the proper settings can provide
continuous speeds. However, I would not recommend using a value
much less than the 8 k Ohms since that may damage the camera. Use
a fixed resistor in series with the potentiometer to provide a lower
limit. Increasing the value above 8M Ohms will provide exposures
longer than 1 second. Approximate values as based on measurements
taken with my Fluke 73 Series II Multi-meter:
1000 7.59 k Ohms
500 15.2 k
250 30.36 k
125 64.0 k
60 121.6 k
30 249.5 k
15 0.494 M Ohms
8 0.972 M
4 1.96 M
2 3.91 M
1 7.92 M
I (F. van L.) have done the same experiment Gary describes, when
a few years ago I couldn't find a manual adapter I needed.
Works well. Every step on the time scale means doubling the
resistor value. So better take a _logarithmic_ potentiometer in
series with that fixed 8k threshold security resistor!
I took a 500k pot.meter, because I did not need exposure times
over 1/15 sec. This gave me better performance (more precision)
in the shorter exposure time range.
Thanks to Gary L. Meador via Frank van Lindert.
[ top | contents ]
Here's a case report for the Camera Repair FAQ. Thanks to John Hermanson, who told me how...[ top | contents ]The patient: An OM-F that was over exposing. Shutter tester showed that all exposures were longer than they should be. Even on B, the shutter would hesitate before closing.
Diagnosis: Oil on the magnet.
Explanation: This camera uses a very weak electromagnet to pull on a lever and hold the shutter open. If the magnet gets oily, the lever will tend to stick to it and take a moment to let go after the magnet de-energizes.
Repair procedure (surprisingly quick): On this camera, the floor of the mirror box simply lifts right out. Remove the lens, hold the shutter open on B so the mirror stays up, then look carefully at the floor of the camera. You'll see a small notch near the front right. Using the notch for leverage, pull the floor up and out, exposing the magnet.
Clean the magnet with a degreaser -- I did this by packing a Kimwipe around it and then applying a couple of drops of a fluorocarbon solvent.
Check shutter for proper operation, then reinstall the floor. For this step it is useful to have the back of the camera open as well as the front.
It works!
Thanks to: Michael Covington
Here is a write-up of another contributor's experiences doing this:
Solving the sticky magnet by cleaning:- my experiences after reading the FAQ and contacting one of the contributors.
On my early model Olympus OM10 serial no. 869,323, the base of the mirror box did not seem to be held down by glue, but there were thin, light proof strips which ran along the bottom of the side walls of the mirror box, which had to be removed first. These had a sticky back. I removed them by very gently separating them from the side walls using a fine bladed jeweller's screwdriver. The inside of the mirror box is matt grey/black in order to prevent reflections so it is important not to scratch this covering, which can make it shiny. A permanent fine black marker has been recommended to touch up these marks, unfortunately these do not tend to give a matt finish. I would try to find something more suitable, perhaps a matt black/dark grey humbrol model paint would be better, very thinly applied to touch up any marks.
Looking in through the lens aperture (all references to LHS/RHS are with the observer looking from the front of the camera, with the camera the normal way up, sorry if this confuses anyone who is used to Ian Stewart's opposite terminology), I gently teased (levered) up the mirror box base, again with another jeweller's screwdriver, starting with the left hand corner, but working evenly towards the other edge, so as not to put too much bending force on any part of the mirror box base that was glued. (And lifting up the LHS in a hinge-like motion). There was some resistance. A tip whenever attempting anything like this is to observe the part in question for any signs of bending and try to move the leverage point to the flexure point and be extremely careful when applying pressure. If in doubt stop.
On the LHS of the mirror box base is a notch. The notch is there so that the base can pass the lever which protrudes from the LHS wall of the mirror box. In fact on my camera the notch in the base is covered from the underside by a piece of blind fabric which hinges downwards to allow the necessary movement of the base past the protruding lever. Once I had lifted the mirror box base up at an angle, I was able to slide it out diagonally, as described by Ian Stewart. With the mirror box out, just check that the foil covering part of the underside of the mirror box has not been disturbed. NB one part of the foil protrudes down peg-like just in front of a plastic locating peg (see Ian Stewart's more complete description of this part).
All the above was done, as recommended in the FAQ, with the camera set on B, and with the back of the camera and shutter open in very good illumination to give as much light as possible.
To get access to the electromagnet, the flex circuit has to be lifted up slightly. The flex circuit is a thin flat plastic ribbon with very fine electrical tracks embedded in it, which is located at the rear of the base of the camera. On my camera this ribbon was held to the LHS of the base by a small crosshead screw through its middle, which had blue resinous paint (glue?) on it. The electrical tracks (still within the ribbon) separate into two streams to pass either side round this screw without causing electrical grounding. Without lifting the flex circuit at all, it is possible to see the miniature coil for the electromagnet, just! The business end is at the LHS and unfortunately is angled towards the back of the camera. Lifting the flex circuit is fraught with danger, as it is very delicate. At its RHS it bends back upon iself and is attached to the ceramic PCB baseplate, following it from its attachment point there, moving towards the LHS, just beyond the electromagnet, it is held down on to a metal plate/arm by double sided sticky tape on its underside. In order to raise the flex ribbon sufficiently, the bond produced by this tape has to be broken. I edged nervously a suitable jewellers screwdriver blade in between the ribbon and the metal plate. Do this at your peril. Although the screwdriver I chose has a fine tip, it is not sharp, which reduced the considerable risk of fracturing a track, warning extremely delicate!!
After some considerable time, the ribbon and the metal plate were separated. I found that in very good light I could indeed lift the flex circuit suficiently to see the second shutter release arm, which is attracted towards the end of the electromagnet and held there. I could also see it looking in from the camera back, although with the shutter open, the arm is held tightly against the end of the electromagnet, as it should be.
To clean the magnet and tip of the arm, I chose high quality, laboratory grade Isopropyl Alcohol, simply because it was available. It may have drawbacks in this application (e.g. sometimes it does seem to leave a residue, but this may be what it has dissolved just moving to the perimeter of the evaporating liquid pool; and it evaporates slowly). I steered clear of other possible solvents (which evaporate much more quickly) because they are not plastic friendly. Freon was recomended and I assume is much better for this job, but was not readily available to me. As has been suggested I used a couple of fine synthetic, sable artists brushes to deliver the degreasant to the tip of the magnet and brush off the oil (the synthetic sable was checked to make sure it was compatible with the degreasant (i.e. did not dissolve)). I cleaned the magnet and the contact point with the arm with the shutter closed, just lifting the mirror up to facilitate access. In this shutter position, the lever arm pivots away from the end of the electromagnet, and the contact points were brushed gently, several times. I also wiped round the area a couple of times with the shutter open in the B positionfor good measure (arm held by magnet).
I allowed the solvent to dry, then reversed the procedure, although I managed to angle the mirror box base in (RHS edge in position first) under the protruding side lever (good job as the idea behind the notch covering blind material would not work in the reverse direction). The base was quite a nice snug fit, so I did not see the need to glue it down (also I might have to repeat the procedure in future). Did it work? It seemed to, but only time (i.e. a period of disuse) will tell. Although the fault had got so bad that I was having to take each shot twice and even then the shutter speeds often didn't seem to be right.
I attempted this repair only as an absolute (in financial terms) last resort, against the options of a relatively expensive professional repair, scrap value trade-in, a 'new' second hand body, or a modern point and shoot camera. (I do not have a great investment in Zuiko lenses which could have made a big impact on my decision). I have some training in optical systems and routine servicing (& basic electronics) which requires dexterity and care, but still think I was quite lucky to not have caused some terminal damage to the camera, particularly the flex circuit and to a lesser extent the electromangetic coil. Also I was probably very fortunate that the mirror box base was glued down, or that the glue become ineffective with age.
With care I think that the procedure will be much easier to repeat on this particular camera, because the flex has already been separated once from the metal plate, which seemed to be the hardest (perhaps most delicate?) step.
I agree with many others, that this is not a home repair and is best left to the professionals, and would not recommend anyone to attempt it who has not got some training/experience in this type of work or a similar field. Finally, I would like to thank John Hermanson for his direct input, the tips by Stuart Goggins and Ian Stewart in the Camera Repair Resource Guide, and the people who maintain these Olympus pages. I hope my experiences will help to maintain some old OM10 somewhere and not cause some owner to foolishly end its days prematurely by attempting this repair.
Thanks to John.Butler@corusgroup.com
I took an old, non-functioning A-11 flash, opened it, and removed about all electronics inside, just to create some room for making new connections. I left the flash tube and window in place, because it is part of the construction, so the sturdiness of the flash depends on it. Same applies for the on/off lamp/switch combination.[ top | contents ]I wired the two contacts on the bottom part of the camera side of the flash (which connect to the sync switch in the camera) to an old PC connector which I glued in a hole I drilled in the other side of the A-11. I wired the same 2 contacts thru to an old hot shoe I had lying around as well, and that one was glued/screwed on top of the A-11.
So now I can choose which connection to use, like with an OM-1 + shoe. The construction of the glued shoe is not suited, however, to fit a heavy flash gun on. One had better use a cable plus bracket for that.
I would have preferred to fit a PC sync socket on the camera itself, but found myself reluctant to open the thing. Therefore I did it the way I roughly described above. Positive side effect of that is that my self made adapter fits other XA's as well.
You can use all apertures and all film speeds when flashing, according to the tables that come with the actual flash. The special 'flash' setting on the aperture switch of the camera, providing a fixed aperture/time combination suited for the A11 or A16, is no longer needed. At this moment I do not remember which (if any) limitations there are to the shutter speed for proper sync'ing. Of course, once film speed and aperture are properly set, the flash can be used in 'normal auto' (non-TTL) mode, as it is called with the OM T-series flashes and the 310.
This all works for the XA. I have never tried for XA1,2,3,4.
Thanks to: Frank van Lindert <lindertv@knmi.nl>
It's not so much that the screws get stripped from their holes but that the posts into which they go have very little material surrounding the screw and pieces of the post simply break off the side, leaving nothing to hold the screw. You need only a small jeweler's-sized Phillips screwdriver (#0) for the 11 screws and a pen or utility knife to pry off the top. No wires have to be un/resoldered. The part that you request from Olympus Parts Dept. is the base (part number CB-2608) that connects the shoe to the main case. Four screws hold the case to this base and four more much smaller screws hold the base to the shoe.[ top | contents ]When you remove the batteries, you will be able to see a single screw going up into the flash. It holds the top in place- remove it. Remove the "Calculator Panel" from the back and you can now pry off the top with a thin-bladed knife. The top is held in place with four little tabs, two at the back 3/4" in from the sides and two on the sides 3/4" back from the front. The top snaps off fairly easily once the bottom screw is out.
To prevent electrical shock, discharge the capacitor by holding an insulated screwdriver across the terminals. The back circuit board must be lifted up and moved backwards. Note the little tab that fits into the slot of the "Mode Switching Slide" on the back. It has to go back in there upon reassembly.
The capacitor is stuck down with two-sided tape and has to gently pried upwards until free. It can be hung out of the way off to one side. The front circuit board can now be lifted up and moved forward.
Remove the two short screws at the bottom inside at the back. These are the ones that are causing the flash to tilt forward and down, as they no longer have any material to hold them.
There are two longer screws that have to be removed near the middle of the opening, a little further apart than the back-most ones, just back of where the capacitor was. This will allow you to pry out a flat black plastic plate just hooked under at its front end. That exposes the back battery terminals so you can see them from the top. After removing the joined middle pair of terminals (lift straight up) you can then see the last two small screws that hold the main casing to the base and can remove them. They are exactly the same size as the back-most ones.
The wires can then be gently pulled/pushed down through an opening in the main case to give you some working room to get at the four base-to-shoe screws. Carefully note where everything goes before you start removing these four screws. Remove the broken base. You can probably reassemble now that you've taken apart, but just in case- You can now screw the new base to the shoe, making sure the three tabs or slots go up through the tiny mica board. Reposition the metal two-pronged clip that goes down into the shoe at the back and the three-post "External Power Socket" that sticks out the front. Carefully 'shorten the wires' by pulling them back up into the main case, reposition the base and put back the four short screws that hold it. Put back the middle pair of battery terminals, reposition the flat black plastic plate which covers the terminals from the inside and put the two longer screws in.
Insert the front circuit board into its slots on the sides and place the insulating paper in back of the board. Stick down the capacitor with two-sided tape. Slip the back circuit board into its slots on the sides making sure the lights at its bottom aren't bent over and that the little tab and the slot of the "Mode Switching Slide" are lined up so they will fit into each other properly. Reposition the insulating paper ahead of the board. Get the wires out of the way and making sure they aren't pinched anywhere, replace the top. Screw it on from the bottom with the very long last screw.
If you don't have any parts left over, you're ready to flash again! Don't throw away the old base until you've pried off the "LOCK" sign and have glued or taped it onto the new base.
Thanks to <royrg@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> (Rob Roy)
To remove the screen:[ top | contents ]1) Pry up plastic trim right above mirror foam. It is glued on.
2) Remove the 1.4mm screw.
3) Lift out the metal clip, it will be stuck to mirror foam. Try to take the clip out without ripping the foam.
4) The screen has two clips at the back edge. Pry the front edge of the screen down. Clean the screen.
5) Replace the screen, dull side up, being careful to keep it dust-free.
Thanks to: John Hermanson <omtech@erols.com>
You will need some small, small two conductor coax with shield (I used Belden 8451, but if you can find something thinner, use it), a stereo 2.5mm phone plug, and a stereo 2.5mm in-line phone jack. These jacks and plugs can be hard to find, since neither Radio Shack, DigiKey, Jameco, or Newark carry them. I found mine at a local electronics hobby shop (You-Do-It Electronics in Dedham, MA. They do mail order if you can't find these locally). Once you have the materials, cut the length of coax you need, and strip each end. Then tin all the wires at each end, and the pins on the connectors. Then simply solder the pins to the wires, making sure not to cross the wires in the process. The shield wire should go to the base of the connector. It doesn't matter which of the two inner conductors go to the tip and which goes to the middle, but be consistent. Check for shorts, and you are done! Note that the third conductor is necessary for a pulse from the MD 2 which causes the controller counter to be decremented by one for each exposure in sequence mode. This feature doesn't work in sequence mode when using the Winder 1, 2, or MD 1.[ top | contents ]
Exactly the same way as the above extension is made, except that you only need 2 conductor plugs/jacks and single conductor coax with shield. Again, the shield should be soldered to the base of the connector, and the center conductor to the tip.[ top | contents ]
Parts: C&K 7105J51ZQE22 On-Off-(On) snap-in rocker switch. LMB Plastic Box #302 (1.85 x 2.40 x 0.925 in). 10 Ft. or more single conductor coax. 2.5mm mono phone plug.[ top | contents ]Assemble the phone plug and coax as described above, leaving one end bare. Make a cutout in the box for the switch, and and install it. Cut a small hole in the box for the cable to pass through, then pass it through and solder the wires to the switch. Finally, put a wire tie around the coax as a strain relief and close up the box. Viola! You now have an M.Remote Cord that will allow you to lock the winder/md on (in the On position) or will work like the Olympus cord (in the momentary (On) position). You can get the switch above from Newark Electronics, but they have a $25 minimum order. Any other On-Off-(On) switch should work, just make sure you get a box deep enough to accommodate the switch!
It isn't really necessary to do this, since you can just put a T-32 on a shoe that has a slave hooked to it, and connect your other flashes to the T-32 using TTL cords to the built in TTL socket on the T-32. However, if you need a cord that is longer than the longest TTL cord, do the following: Take a TTL Cord 0.3M, and a PC cord of whatever length you require, and cut them in half. Strip off some insulation and tin the wires that connect to the ground and flash sync pins of the cord. The pinout of the TTL socket is:[ top | contents ]Looking into the camera connection (pins, ie. male part of connector)
* Ground (camera chassis) > < Flash Sync Contact * * Viewfinder ready light
No Connection * * Flash Quench ^
where * are the pins, and <>^ are the alignment keys. Note that this is the socket pinout. The plug pinout is reversed.
Now tin the shield and center in the PC cord. You can cut the remaining wires off the TTL cord, since they will not be needed. Now slide some small pieces of heat shrink tubing over the wires on the TTL cord, and a larger piece over the outside of the TTL cord. Solder the shield of the PC cord to the ground wire on the TTL cord, and the center conductor of the PC cord to the sync wire on the TTL cord. Finally, move the heat shrink into place and shrink it down. Now you have two cords which will allow you to interface from PC-cord accessories (such as slaves) to TTL socketed accessories (such as T-32's and Type T Multiconnectors).
1) The camera part.[ top | contents ]Ingredients: 1 OM battery compartment cover 1 RCA jack chassis mount (1 hole mount with nut at rear)
Drill a centered hole of the same diameter as the RCA chassis mount in the battery cover and assemble the two ingredients together. If necessary the central soldering pin of the RCA chassis mount can be shortened by bending or cutting it. It should touch the little connector spring in the battery compartment when closing it with the converted cover. Now you have the camera part ready. You can apply 3 volts immediately to the jack through any RCA plug. Centre pin is negative, shield is positive (connected to camera body through cover).
I made this set to test the current drain in my OM bodies. Later I found out that it can serve as a means to apply voltage to the camera in adverse (cold) temperature conditions as well. For this you will need:
2) The battery part.
Ingredients: 1 battery or set of cells of any kind giving at least 4 volts (max 12 volts). 1 low drop voltage regulator, 3.0 volt type (as used in computers) 1 cord with male RCA plug on one end 1 case to build everything in to.
Connect the voltage regulator (pin connections depending on type, see instructions coming with device) with the battery and the cord in such a manner, that the central lead of the RCA-plug is negative and the shield is positive. I use one of my 6 volt battery packs for this purpose. It has two cables coming out of it now, the original one for 6 volts and the new one for 3 volts (fotunately with different plugs!). The little voltage regulator has found a place in the plastic top part that also contains the on-off switch. The 6 volt lead-gel battery in the pack is easily recharged when the camera has emptied it in a century or two...
If the voltage connector is hard to find, you could use a poor man's solution by only connecting two 1.5 volt alkaline cells (e.g. AA cells) together with the cord. Special 2-cell cases do exist. In this case you will have to check the voltage regularly, particularly when the kids 'borrow' your cells and put their empty ones in instead...
One drawback: this device cannot be used together with winder or motor drive. But I remember (from long ago) that another list member described how he (or she?) converted a winder and glued a connecting device on top of it, to fit exactly into the battery compartment. He had to sacrifice the 250 frame back cogwheel connection for this... He also used a voltage regulator, if I remember well. In cold weather the external (and kept warm) batteries used for powering the winder also provided the camera with energy. Maybe one of the other list members has better archives than I have and can give more details on this one...
Here is Hank Hogan's version, which is compatible with a motor drive or winder, is rechargeable, and has an on/off switch:
My OM2S is still a battery eater especially when I mount it on a tripod and use a remote trigger for the winder. Those batteries cost three dollars each. I think my local supplier's batteries are out of date because they not last as long as the ones John Hermanson put in my camera when I sent it to him for an overhaul.
I had some NiMh battery cells left over from my motor drive rebuild project. I read section O14) in the Repair Guide and decided to make this fix compatible with the Winder II and Motor Drive.
I tested with a V-O-M (meter) and some wires and determined that three cells would supply the camera with the needed current (two cells were not enough).
How to make the connector - I tried some water faucet valve seats, close but not good enough. I looked at my little tube of Kester Rosin core solder - I wonder if the little cap would fit into the battery receptacle of my OM2sp camera ? Voila, it's a perfect fit! The little polyethylene cap fits snug into the battery well and the little flange on the cap makes it flush with the bottom camera plate!
Next, I took a black tie wire of the type that are used to close large plastic bags, or bundle electrical cords and stripped of both ends of the black plastic ribbon. I tested the electrical resistance with the ohm meter. Yes, it will work fine! Does the Winder II fit on and operatate? Yes! Polarity of the OM2SP? Outside positive inside negative - just look at the little silver oxide batteries.
Put a kink in the bared end of the tie wire and hang it up in the spring that usually contacts the negative pole of the 357 battery. Put a piece of scotch tape on it to hold in place as it comes out of the hole in the plastice cap center.
For the outside positive connection I found a little screw that would fit into that threaded hole in the side of the camera body intended for the little black rubber grip that I have never seen in my life.
I soldered the positive lead into a small "solder-less" lug and put some tiny lock washers on either side.
Okay, solder the connections to the tin of the three NiMh cells (like Frank van Lindert explained a few years ago).
Put a Radio Shack style in-line power connector jack on the leads and an in-line plug into a hole that you melt in the plastic film canister lid. On the other put a hole in for a micro on/off switch.
It works great and if the leads are long enough it can be placed in your pocket to keep warm for outdoor photography in the winter. It can also be attached to the camera strap with some thick rubber bands with the long leads folded up.
For recharging, I set my little transformer's variable voltage switch to either three or six volts. It has a fourway male power connector of different sizes, one or two of which fit into the plug mounted into the plastic film can lid.
Okay now for the details: Kester Pocket-Pak rosin core solder with Kester's exclusive Servi-tube dispenser (it has a little shirt pocket clip like a ball point pen) I purchased it for $1.49 at MarVac electronics in Pasadena, last year, I think. There is an address on the tube: 515 Touhy Ave., Des Plainee, Illinois 60018.
Now I've got my OM2sprogram working on a rechargeable battery! I didn't spend anything because I already had all this stuff in my electronics projects box of junk cannibalized from old equipment.
There is a lot of extra detail in this description but I thought you guys would share in my joy of being back in business with my OM2S!
Thanks to <lindertv@knmi.nl> (Frank van Lindert) and Hank Hogan <hogant@earthlink.net>
TO REMOVE THE TOP COVER[ top | contents ]0) Set the ASA to 100 and LEAVE it there. Do not move it until after the top is back on.
1) Remove the rewind knob:
This was actually a little tricky, as I did not know how it was supposed to come off. The book just said unscrew it. It took a little time but I finally worked out that the whole knob just unscrews from the shaft, exactly what the book said.... You need some sort of implement to stop the shaft turning while you unscrew it. Don't use pliers as the rewind forks bend very easily. I ended up cutting a chop stick to fit as close as possible to the shaft, and avoided placing much pressure on the forks. There is a small screw in the centre of the rewind knob. John H mentioned that this should not be touched.
2) Remove the wind lever.
There is a black trim plate glued to a pin-faced nut that is then attached to the top of the lever. Using pin pliers it is possible to unscrew the entire assembly holding the lever on, but this will damage the black plate. I managed to remove the plate by using a piece of rubber sheet to grip it and wiggling it a bit. The plate loosened off and came away without damage, I then reglued it with a very small amount of contact adhesive after I had reassembled it. The wind lever then pulls off after the pin faced nut above it is unscrewed. There is a very thin washer under the lever that may fall off when the lever is removed. Next there is another pin-faced nut on the wind shaft. Unscrew this.
3) Remove the hot shoe and its retaining nut.
The pentaprism roof holds the flash shoe socket. There is a small silver retaining collar which needs to be unscrewed. Again this really needs a special tool. I did not have one so used a very fine pair of pin pliers. I would not recommend this as it is very easy to damage the collar. I was a bit lucky in that the collar was already a bit loose.
4) Under the rewind knob there are two screws, undo these.
5) Now very slowly lift the top cover off, straight up. There is a small spring in the left hand corner that may fall off.
TO FIX THE METER
The hot shoe is mounted on a silver strap. On the right hand side of this strap are two cross point screws. I found the one nearest the meter was loose. Tightening it solved the intermittent meter problem.
CAUTIONS
Watch out for the spring on the top left of the camera, it's the door latch spring and sits on a small stub.
Once the cover is off, make a note or mark the position of the cam that connects to the ASA button. This must not be moved. when replacing the cover ensure the shutter release rod goes into the shutter button.
If you have moved the on/off switch wiper, return it back to its original position before replacing the cover.
Under the rewind knob is a large spring with a plastic part sitting on it. There are some small washers that sit under the plastic part, against the spring. Try not to move these or lose them.
TO REPLACE THE TOP COVER
Reverse of the "TO REMOVE THE TOP COVER", but check the following:
1) Door latch spring is in correct position.
2) Plastic part under the rewind knob is lined up with its holes. 3) Shutter release rod goes into its button. 4) Wires are not pinched. 5) On/off switch is in the CORRECT position. 6) ASA knob is still lined up. 7) Guide the top cover behind the rewind release button on the front of the body.
Thanks to "Stuart Goggin" <SGOGGIN@au.oracle.com>
1) Remove Bottom Cover. Four screws.[ top | contents ]2) Within the camera body, near the battery compartment, the ribbon cable is soldered to two wires, one is ground the other I think is the x-sync contact from the flash circuit. Determine which wire is ground, this should be obvious from where the wires lead to. Looking at the flex circuit cable that runs to the back, trace the ground to the circuit track. You should be able to work out which of the two copper conductors on the QD back is connected to which wire on the camera body. Write this down. For example:
WIRE SIGNAL COPPER TRACK ---------------------------------- Blue Ground Top Trace White Sync Bottom Trace
whist looking at back from above.
3) Unsolder this connection and remove the broken stub of flex board. Keep this bit for practising on.
4) Solder the replacement cable to the wires in the camera body. Cover the soldered connections using heat shrink insulation.
5) Feed the new cable through the hole in the body that leads to the hinge (a little tricky).
6) Remove metal cover plate on QD back, as I remember there are two screws securing it. This is the plate nearest the batteries on the QD back.
7) The ribbon cable should then be exposed. It leads to the main pcb in the back.
8) Cut the ribbon cable on the databack and make sure the cut will be covered by the cover plate. Leave enough of the original flex board to work with. You should leave enough room for any mistakes you make.
9) Using some sort of tool like a knife or sand paper remove the plastic covering the copper tracks. Remove about 2mm of the covering to expose bright copper. One side of the flexible board is thick the other is just a thin covering, remove the covering on the thin side. Practice on the bit you cut off.
10) The copper will be now exposed on the QD flex board on the two tracks that originally led to the body.
11) Cut the new cable that was fed through the hole in the body casting to a suitable length. It should not be too long or it will get caught in the hinge.
12) Make sure cable is not twisted or kinked.
13) Solder to the exposed copper tracks. Test your soldering iron temperature on the excess flex board you chopped off. Just make sure it is not hot enoguh to burn the board. Make sure that you use correct electronic soldering methods. The iron should contact the board for a maximum of around 5 seconds. Refer to an electronics type book for more info.
FIRST TEST
1) Put new batteries in camera and the back.
2) Fire shutter whilst looking at the small cutouts in the film pressure plate.
3) If all is well there will be a small pulse of red light from each of the holes.
TO REASSEMBLE
1) Cover the exposed solder joints in the databack with some suitable insulator, I suggest a drop of epoxy resin.
2) When dry reassemble back.
3) Feed excess cable back into the body.
4) Make sure that everything fits correctly. The excess wire can be pushed into the area around the battery compartment.
5) Replace bottom cover.
FINAL TEST
1) Take a test roll of film.
Thanks to "Stuart Goggin" <SGOGGIN@au.oracle.com>
So here is my experience trying to improve the exposure timings. My first move, some months ago, was to try to assess the magnitude of the problem using the TV trick. Here in the UK we use a 50Hz refresh rate, interlaced for 25 frames per second. I know that it's different in the US and Canada, but I suspect that the differences will be slight. I found both bodies to have very sporadic problems with the exposure, and also found that my test technique was contributing to this. I did not have a manual adapter at that time and was relying on the brightness of the crt screen to produce fast exposures.[ top | contents ]I have now decided that for consistent results the camera needs to be a constant distance from the screen and the viewer a constant distance from the shutter curtains. I have found it best to mount the camera on a tripod with no lens fitted, about 18 inches (0.5m) from the blue screen generated by the AV setting with no input. Set the camera to manual and try the various speeds between 125 and 1000. View with the back open, at a similar distance from the shutter plane.
The faulty camera gave wildly varying results. The 'good' camera was OK except at the faster speeds. This body also had a faulty 'wake up' switch around the shutter release and sometimes does not trigger the exposure until some seconds after pressing the shutter release! The on/off switch was also very easy to turn with poor registration of the switch positions. Today I attempted repairs on both bodies.
My first patient was the faulty body, serial number 20172**. I had attempted to lever up the mirror box floor some time ago, and then got cold feet when it would not come easily. Neither would it go back down firmly and I was afraid I had broken it. Today I attacked it with more effort and great trepidation, and eventually I managed to remove it, following Michael Covington's method. The camera is set to B and the mirror held up and the shutter open with a locked cable release. All spatial references are to the camera itself looking forward, not as you look in from the front.
Lever up the mirror box floor starting at the front right. The underside of the floor is covered with a heavy aluminium foil which comes up with the floor. There are two double pegs moulded into the plastic of the floor which fit over two screws projecting up from the bottom of the camera. The one at the front right had been glued with a rubber cement, the other at the rear left had the foil wrapped over one of the pegs and the screw obviously serves to earth the foil screen. This was the anchorage which was resisting my first attempts to remove the floor and it yielded to a fine watchmakers screwdriver reaching back from the front of the camera to lever it up at the anchorage point. There are wires and circuitry below the floor so the tool has to be slid along over these, against the foil.
The left hand side of the floor has to be raised right up to allow the floor to be withdrawn, the right hand side is obstructed from being raised too high by a peg sticking out of the mirror box on that side. Once the floor is diagonally across the mirror box, it can be withdrawn.
I then ran into the same problem as noted by Stuart Goggin. The electromagnet is obviously the bright copper coil towards the rear of the camera, and is hidden below a flex circuit. The armature end is pointing slightly to the rear of the camera and very few tools will reach it. As recommended by Stuart I used a fine artist's paint brush to apply the degreasing fluid, but then followed up with a lens tissue, folded into a very fine point, to soak away the excess fluid. I was using alcohol based lens cleaning fluid. Testing followed, with the floor still out of the camera. Success! The 1000 setting does not look to be half of the 500 setting, and the width of the slanting stripe produced seems to vary with the position, broader to the left and narrower to the right. This may be due to the curtains travelling at different speeds. The other speeds appear consistent and I assume them to be approximately correct.
The mirror box floor went back surprisingly easily, after I had flattened back the rumpled foil. Simply manoevered into place and then pressed down at the two anchorage points. I have not bothered with glue, as I am aware of the situation and can always have another go if it ever comes loose. This body is now in use.
Now 'my' camera, serial number 21536**. This later model has a cross head screw down through the rear of the mirror box floor. I don't have a tool capable of releasing this screw. My jeweller's 00 cross head screwdriver is too long and cannot get the to correct angle, from next to the viewfinder. It appears to need a cranked 00 cross head screwdriver, which is a tool I have never seen.
Removing the bottom cover of the camera reveals a mass of very small mechanical components as tightly packed as in a Swiss watch. I could not identify with certainty the screws which project up into the mirror box floor. Removing the top cover, following the instructions in the repair FAQ, proved more risky than I imagined. The screw holding the rewind lever is for some reason very tight. On my camera the screw holding the plastic part of the advance lever to the metal part does not result in their separation, and if it did it would not be helpful. The film advance lever is held on by a screw with a large black flat head recessed into the top of the lever with two tiny holes near the perimeter. I used my smallest jewellers screwdriver and a darning needle in the holes to turn the screw. I have the scratch to prove an amateur has opened the camera. The ASA dial is a thin metal foil glued on top of a thin metal plate with the screw through. Be careful to separate the two, not lever up the thin metal plate. There are a considerable number of connections to things on the top cover, it will lift up and back but not very far.
The 'wake up' switch was repaired by releasing the collar, pressing in three plastic lugs from underneath the cover. There is a conductive plastic patch within the cam shaped part of the collar which responded to simple cleaning.
The on/off switch indents on my camera are on the plastic rewind shaft collar , with a captive lever spring acting into them. The indent corners have worn off and the spring is somewhat weak, but cleaning has improved the action. Watch for the gold plated 'finger' contacts hanging down from the switch rotor, they are easily bent, and I found it difficult to re-align them.
I have been unable to ascertain the cause of the delayed shutter release. The shutter release button presses down a long way before it accomplishes anything, but I cannot reproduce the fault. The shutter release button presses down a shaft which disappears down the right hand side of the camera, but not through to the mechanical bits in the bottom cover.
Once reassembled the camera again works, but testing shows that the highest speed settings are still somewhat erratic. I will have to locate that cranked screwdriver, or perhaps make one.
Thanks to Ian M. Stewart <ian@stewartim.freeserve.co.uk>
The first and easiest thing to look for is whether the wire going to the battery terminal is intact. Just unscrew the four small Phillips screws on the bottom and the bottom plate comes off easily. I found that the wire on mine had corroded away. This is an extremely thin wire (maybe 22 gauge), and clearly a mistake in Olympus engineering. When you see how thin it is, you will not be surprised by how common meter failures are in OM-1s (I notice on eBay that a good percentage of the ones auctioned have defective meters).[ top | contents ]Use tweezers to carefully pull up the end of the wire so you can strip the plastic coating on it. Get a small piece of similar wire, and solder (or just twist together the ends). Re-attach the other end to the terminal. This is all a bit harder than it sounds, since there is very little room to move around, so you have to work slowly and carefully so as not to damage the gear train that sits right beside this wire.
Thanks to "Peter S. Spiro" <peter.spiro@utoronto.ca>
This seems to be a rather common problem with the OM-2SP due to a change in the internal design of the shutter speed ring area (more simplified compared to an OM-1). Surprisingly it's quite easy to fix. The problem is the use of base metal for the shutter speed ring. After some years of use, the ball that causes the click stops grinds into the shutter speed ring making it hard to move due to the burring produced. Thus, the only thing you have to do is clean the shutter speed ring with denatured alcohol.[ top | contents ]Stepwise description follows:
1) Make sure you work in a well lit area.
2) Turn the shutter speed ring to B.
3) Unscrew the three tiny screws on the bayonet (Can be surprisingly hard, so only use a screwdriver that exactly fits...it's really worth buying one before starting).
4) Carefully lift the bayonet-ring, making sure the underlying shutter speed ring stays on the camera.
Now you can see the two-part shutter speed ring, consisting of the inner gear wheel and the outer shutter speed ring. The gear wheel transfers the settings of the shutter speed ring to another little gear wheel at the bottom of the mirror housing.
I found it most secure to lift the inner gear wheel out of the shutter speed ring in the next step. Be VERY VERY careful not to move the little gear wheel in the mirror housing, for this would cause the shutter speed indications to be wrong.
5) Now lift the outer shutter speed ring and keep an eye on the ball on a spring in the upper right of the mount. Do not loose this part.
6) Now you can clean the notches of the shutter speed ring with denatured alcohol (cotton balls are not bad), be sure to remove all of the burring. You should also clean the little ball on a spring and the guides of the shutter speed ring.
7) If you want you can lubricate the shutter speed ring and the ball on a spring before reassembling the mechanism. I used some Teflon-spray (apply with toothpick or cotton ball only!!).
8) Place the shutter speed ring on the mount, B position up, ball in last notch of shutter speed ring. Beware of the little widget that allows access to the red speeds. Get it back on the shutter speed ring not clamped underneath.
9) VERY carefully insert the inner gear wheel. Cover the whole thing with the bayonet ring and tighten the three screws.
After this procedure the shutter speed ring should move freely without any binding. Of course you will never have the fantastic feel of an OM-1.
Thanks to "Wolfgang Paster" <pasterwolfgang@hotmail.com>
Most of the string pulley light meter mechanisms of the OM-1 stay calibrated when removing the lens mounting ring, but there are some gear differential/string mechanisms that can give the repair person fits when moved. Good mechanical aptitude fails working on these cameras. While there is a minor mechanical adjustment directly on the meter case, it's not enough to compensate for the differential geared light meter movement when the gear assembly is disturbed. I saw a reference that saved the day for these OM-1s. The secret is to set the camera at ASA 1600, f8, and "bulb". With those settings and the light meter power OFF, the meter needle should be at the zero position. This mechanical string pulley/differential gearing no power meter setting works for all the OM-1 and (n)s I have seen to date. Using those settings gives an important reference point, the remainder for repair becomes just challenging mechanical aptitude and dexterity. This setting test is also useful to differentiate between light meter mechanical and electrical problems.[ top | contents ]Thanks to "Richard Mazzarella" <ssb73q@rochester.rr.com>
I recently purchased a cheap OM-1 that had some dirt or oil on the prism. My intentions were to use it for astrophotography and for that it wasn't a problem.[ top | contents ]After I got back the first film all of my images were partly out of focus. The left hand side would be out of focus while the right side was correctly focused. I examined the tension of the film inside the camera by putting it on B with a cable release and used an ice pick to check if the film was pushed firmly against the rails over the film plane. This was not the case.
Looking into the camera, from the bayonet side, the left side of the film plane was not against the pressure plate, in accordence with the same part of the film being out of focus.
Opening the back of the camera I noticed a difference with my other OM-1, OM-2 and OM-4. All cameras have four film rails, two at the bottom and two at the top. Now the latter three cameras have two small screws, one at the lowest rail and one at the highest rail, that keep the film from moving up or down. These screws are located at the canister side, the side with the ON/OFF switch. The camera with the problem has two other screws at the other side of the upper and lower film rails. My guess is that they also keep the film from moving up or down. The problem is caused by the pressure plate falling on top of the two screws at the right. Because of this the pressure plate does not touch the film rails, it stays 1 or 2 mm above it.
The OM-1 I'm talking about is an old one. It has 267319 as the serial number and is not an MD version. My guess is that these older cameras were originally equipped with a slightly smaller (about 3-4 mm in length) pressure plates that fell between the four screws. I think that one of the previous owners changed the pressure plate to make the camera better for sales, not noticing the problem he caused with it.
I thought of two solutions. The first was to remove the corners of the pressure plate so they would not fall onto the two screws. I haven't tried this and won't recommend it because you will likely create small irregularities that will scratch the film. My solution was to remove the two screws. If they really were just to keep the film from moving up or down these screws would not be long and keep other parts inside the camera at the right place. I removed the screws and they had some 1-2 mm of thread, so I was not worried that I had loosened something inside the camera.
I've tested the camera with the film and the ice pick and now there is no slack. After taking a couple rolls of film since the repair, I am convinced that this has solved the problem without introducing any new problem.
Thanks to Cees Bassa <c.g.bassa@phys.uu.nl>
Finally, here is a list of folks that have helped with the FAQ to date (i.e. sent me contributions or made useful editorial comments):
<Claude_Seguin@eureka.qc.ca> Dave Morein <dmorein@netcom.com> <Rsrrd@aol.COM> Hank Hogan <hogant@earthlink.net> <lindertv@knmi.nl> (Frank van Lindert) "STEVE MOSIER" <MOSIER@FAGAN.UNCG.EDU> <cmorris@dualinc.com> <royrg@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> (Rob Roy) John Hermanson <omtech@erols.com> "Stuart Goggin" <SGOGGIN@au.oracle.com> "Rand E. Tomcala" <rtomcala@maxinter.net> Mark Dapoz <md@dementia.org> Ian M. Stewart <ian@stewartim.freeserve.co.uk> Doug Clifford <fotopro@uswest.net> "Peter S. Spiro" <peter.spiro@utoronto.ca> "Mark L. Tyree" <mltyree@swbell.net> "Wolfgang Paster" <pasterwolfgang@hotmail.com> John.Butler@corusgroup.com "Richard Mazzarella" <ssb73q@rochester.rr.com> Cees Bassa <c.g.bassa@phys.uu.nl> "Richard Linney" <Richard.Linney@silvertown.co.uk>
Thanks, everyone!
Cheers, --Lee ________________________________________________________________________ R. Lee Hawkins lhawkins@brashear.phys.appstate.edu Observatory Assistant/Engineer hawkinsrl@appstate.edu Dept. of Physics & Astronomy http://brashear.phys.appstate.edu/lhawkins Appalachian State University Ph. 828-262-7331 Boone, North Carolina 28608 FAX: 828-262-2049 ________________________________________________________________________