OM10 faulty: help please

B

boogie man

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,747
Name
Larry
Edit My Images
Yes
I've been given an Olympus OM10 in very nice condition. One problem though: the mirror's stucks halfway up, also the wind on lever won't move.
I've put new batteries in, thinking that might be the problem. The battery check lights up and the metering works but no dice otherwise.

I can make the mirror drop into it's proper position by pushing down the metal lever at the side of the mirror housing (presuambly part of the DoF preview mechanism?) , but when I press the shutter release the mirror only goes half way up and then sticks. The shutter blind isn't going across either.

Any ideas folks? Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Ahhh right. I bought one a while back that lasted for a couple of rolls then did this. Took it to my local olympus shop and they looked at it for ten seconds and pronounced it dead on arrival.
However, my replacement did the same thing last week shooting a test roll for a shoot i did on Saturday! Just for the record i **** myself as its the only decent 35mm i have lol. This was cured with fresh batteries however and has run fine since.
This is another option
gonetopiecesresize.jpg

(edit)
This image is of the dead one before you all come round my house with pitch forks lol i love my cameras and treat them with the respect they deserve. I was surprised to see that the top plate is actually plastic!
 
Last edited:
Hey, that's a great pic Simon!

I've done some googling and I'll try cleaning the electromagnet, which seems to be a common shutter problem. Otherwise I guess it's a write-off. Which then causes me another problem....do I buy another body now I've got a couple of nice Oly-fit lenses? Could be a slippery slope. :(
 
Last edited:
yup !

I for example slipped and now have 3 om's . just after I got the om10, which I've now sold. probably will sell the om30 as well though. which would leave me with om2n and sp :love:
 
Why not get it serviced and/or repaired? I've got a couple of OM10s and looking for a mint OM2..............

Al
 
To be fair the om 10 was mass mass produced and consumer level grade but some are still battling along, im sure they weren't even built by olympus, was it cosina? Either way the ones in circulation are getting on a bit now so they won't be without problems. i would however love one of the single digit om's, that would be nice
 
Al1944 said:
Why not get it serviced and/or repaired? I've got a couple of OM10s and looking for a mint OM2..............

Al
Click to expand...

I already spend far too much money on Canon digital stuff to justify sinking more dosh into a professional repair job. Specially as it's only worth £30-40? :lol:
 
I would happily spend £30 for a service/light seals etc.

Al
 
Al1944 said:
I would happily spend £30 for a service/light seals etc.

Al
Click to expand...

For a camera that's got a sentimental attachment (it was your first, or was a parent's and passed down to you) maybe so. But factor in postage at a Fiver each direction, and I do wonder what kind of actual service you'd get for a £20 - call it a fiver for parts/consumables (lightseals, cleaning fluids, oil etc.) leaving £15 - that's barely going to cover the time to unwrap the parcel, parcel it back up and take it to the post office, never mind actually stripping, cleaning, re-assembly and adjustment...

:shrug: Of course, some people may well do this kind of work because they enjoy faffing around with this kind of kit, and not for commercial gain...
 
So what's best - buy a camera for, say, £40 and get it working fior another £40, or keep buying £40 cameras until you find one that works perfectly?

Al
 
Servicing an OM10 is not going to make it reliable, best off getting an OM2.
 
Al1944 said:
So what's best - buy a camera for, say, £40 and get it working fior another £40, or keep buying £40 cameras until you find one that works perfectly?

Al
Click to expand...

erm depends on the camera ;) But if you buy from here or someone reliable on ebay or shop...it will probably last for years. If you know roughly about the workings of film cameras then boot sales are the places to pick up bargains.
 
single digit OM's are so,so much better than double. the om10 especially seems of very low quality.

it's cheeky but I have just what you're looking for in the classifieds ! :naughty:

I'm planning to leave only om2n and when the adapters come for my gh1 , compare the lenses minolta vs olympus and keep the one I like most. as for cameras - there is something I love in both . If the minolta stuff wasn't rare and amazing there wouldn't be a question which one I would choose to keep.
 
I love my little OM-10.... Of course it's not as swanky as a 1 or a 2 but it was never aimed at the same market as those. The OM-10, when coupled to its manual adapter, is a very capable camera with some serious glass available. Even the stock 50mm lens is pretty nice.

As with many things mass produced at that time, there will always be plenty kicking about that are on their last legs and it's sad that they seem to end up on for sale on ebay. There are plenty of good ones on there too though and the bigger sellers are always a safer bet. Mine was about £20 (if i remember right) including case, 50mm lens, manual adapter and new batteries all in very good nick.

There are almost as many opinions on 35mm cameras as there are cameras themselves which makes it difficult to gauge what's actually good and what's not. In the end, it's a personal choice. One person's princess is another's abscess. I've got quite a few different cameras now from various manufacturers but only two that I keep going back to. One is the OM-10 because it's compact and easy to use. The other is a Canon EOS 50e which, at £30 for the body only on ebay is a lot of camera per pound. It may be plastic but it does exactly what it says on the tin and does it very well.

My point? Well, it shouldn't cost the earth to get a half decent camera in good condition from whatever source so I wouldn't waste £40 on having a dubious one repaired. In fact, you mention earlier that you've got Canon digital kit so why not give up on your existing OM-10 get a Canon film body that can use your existing lenses?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top