Help with my new Olympus E420

JRH

JRH

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Josh Howard
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Basicly just got my first SLR for christmas, a Olympus e420 now i have tried taking photos but the live view is just black and blury, and even when i use the eye thing and not live view the photos i take are just of a black background, so its taking the photo but not showing it and i can't figure it out, ive taken the lens cover off so thats not blocking it but something is wrong.

Any help is appreciated cheers, Josh
 
Have you downloaded any images of the card onto the pc, to see if it actually taking and recording an image, could be the lcd on the cameras faulty.
 
Yeah i plugged it into the pc and the images are just a black image nothing else.
 
i've not got an olympus so can't really help other than what i can see of the camera on dpreview

make sure the lens is attached to the body properly, i.e take it off and then put it on again (you could even just loosen it then click it back in place)

make sure you've got your lens cap off, and then put it on auto or p and point it at a reasonably bright light source (christmas lights/lamp etc) and take a pic

let us know how you get on with that...there is also probably a camera reset thing somewhere but you'll have to read your manual to find that :)
 
Basicly i've just took the lens off and there is a thing in the back of the camera like a black paper thing and i moved it up and down and image appeared on the live view, but when i take the photo that black paper thing goes and it takes the photo but it's still just a plain black image.
 
What is this black paper thing, describe it more, all you should see when removing lens is an oblong mirror.
 
sbowler579 said:
What is this black paper thing, describe it more, all you should see when removing lens is an oblong mirror.
Click to expand...

Sometimes i do, but then sometimes there is some black things that goes away when you shoot something, but when i put it up a image came onto the live view so it looks like this black thing is blocking my photos, so i can take them but can't actualy see them becuase of this black thing.
 
Is it attached in anyway inside the camera, hinged ect.
 
yeah it goes up and down but most of the time it's covering the actual thing that shows the image, so the black thing is preventing from the image appearing i don't know if its a fault or what but for some reason i can't get my images up as its just a black background.
 
Are you sure this black thing is made of paper? If so it doesn't sound likely that it's any integral part of the camera. Is it possibly some sort of mirror protector meant to be removed before you take the camera into use?

Is there any way you can show a picture of it?
 
Maybe it's some kind of protective thing, does it mention anything in the manual/start up guide?

You could try taking a photo of the black shutter thing with another camera and posting it here to see if anybody can identify it.
 
I'll get a photo now guys just hang there
 
CAMERA11325.jpg


If you can see that black thing at the back
 
The only black thing I can see is the shutter at the back which is as it should be. The shutter is right in front of your sensor. Why is the mirror in the 'up' position?
 
CT said:
The only black thing I can see is the shutter at the back which is as it should be. The shutter is right in front of your sensor. Why is the mirror in the 'up' position?
Click to expand...

Because camera is turned on, that shutter is preventing me from taking the images i think it must be faulty.
 
Well it's hard to tell from this image if that's actually the shutter we're seeing or the shutter is open and that's the sensor we can see.

Can you see the paper thing you referred to in that image? If you've been trying to move the shutter blades with your fingers, you could have unseated the shutter.
 
CT said:
Well it's hard to tell from this image if that's actually the shutter we're seeing or the shutter is open and that's the sensor we can see.

Can you see the paper thing you referred to in that image? If you've been trying to move the shutter blades with your fingers, you could have unseated the shutter.
Click to expand...

I havn't touched it only just now it was doing it before i even noticed this.
The black thing that i can move up and down is preventing me from seeing the image.
Somethings wrong i can't figure out
 
Well it's possible you may have a faulty camera which is annoying so I'd get it back to wherever you bought it from.

Just forget Live View for a moment - put the lens back on and put the camera in a fully auto mode and try taking a pic where there''s some bright light just using the viewfinder in the normal way. Let us know what happens.:thumbs:
 
Visit your local camera shop and ask there advice, take the cam for them to look at, am sure they will be happy to help.
 
CT said:
Well it's possible you may have a faulty camera which is annoying so I'd get it back to wherever you bought it from.

Just forget Live View for a moment - put the lens back on and put the camera in a fully auto mode and try taking a pic where there''s some bright light just using the viewfinder in the normal way. Let us know what happens.:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Just flashes, takes the photo, but then i go to view it and it's just a black background.
 
JRH said:
Just flashes, takes the photo, but then i go to view it and it's just a black background.
Click to expand...

It sounds like something is amiss tbh. If you don't have a knowledgable friend who could look at it for you then taking it to a camera shop for help is good advice.
 
There seems to be something amis.

My advice is seeing as you have just gotten it, stop trying now as you MIGHT do it some harm and take it back to the shop it was bought from and get them to take a look, it will be under warrentry so will be replaced fixed in no time
Spike
 
I will get it checked out by someone i know.
if not i wil ltake it back to Argos
 
Annoying and disappointing on today of all days I'm sure, but I'd leave well alone. It seems to me the black thing you're referring to can only be the shutter which is actually meant to move up and down and you shouldn't touch it with your fingers under any circumstances - it's a very delicate mechanism.
 
The shutter does move up and down, like when i use viewfinder etc.
But the images just don't show up on live view or on the computer
 
you haven't set mirror up have you? and if you're on live view then i expect the mirror will be up for that also, make sure lv isn't on (if that cam has it) but like peeps have said maybe a trip to the retailer will help :)
 
Can you use the LCD to change camera settings ?

If so it might be worth seeing if there is a 'reset to factory settings' option. Just in case something has been set accidentally.
 
Stupid question no doubt. Have you charged the battery?
 
I don't know if there is a reset button this, can anyone help me out with that?
 
Another silly question. Have you inserted the memory card?

On some cameras you can take pics without the memory card installed.
On most you can disable this feature
 
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