Planning to strip an OM2Spot down to the last nut and bolt

tikkathreebarrel

tikkathreebarrel

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Should I or shouldn't I?

Can I or can't I?

I picked up a very clean bodied OM2 Spot recently on too much of an impulse thinking that I might swap out the body, keep the pentaprism as a spare, hijack the motor drive cap from the bottom plate and so on. The body is so clean it might have been seized since day one. Oh yes, that's the issue, the film advance is is locked as if ready to fire but the shutter button doesn't go down. Batteries in, batteries out, no difference.

Thing is, I'm not an instinctive kind of engineer and I've never done it before but well, what have I got to lose?

I don't have a day set aside so it's going to be a slow job. Photo, remove a part, make notes, photo, remove a part, make notes and so on.

I'm going in, wish me luck!!
 
As in, you were originally buying it as a parts body anyway?

It would be a huge shame though, since often it might just be a case of the battery chamber connections becoming loose - a relatively simple fix - and you'd have a fully working OM2 Spot. Or if your investment in the body is low, then a CLA for £50 from Miles Whitehead would still mean your outlay is relatively little for such a capable camera.

That said, intrigue does get the better of all of us - I had a Pentax MG that was destined for the scrapheap anyway, and I decided to take it apart just to have a look. Very interesting!
 
The innards of an SLR are indeed interesting, and amazingly complex (to my mind anyway!). I'd be more inclined to get it serviced too, and if you want to dissect a camera for purposes of fun then get something less desirable to do it with! But good luck anyway, I'm sure you'll learn a lot from the process.
 
Too nice a camera, sell it to me and I'll hit with a mallet that normally does the trick :bonk:
 
TheGreatSoprendo said:
The innards of an SLR are indeed interesting, and amazingly complex (to my mind anyway!). I'd be more inclined to get it serviced too, and if you want to dissect a camera for purposes of fun then get something less desirable to do it with! But good luck anyway, I'm sure you'll learn a lot from the process.
Click to expand...


Well I've found it's just interesting looking at parts when something is not working, but seeing something work is more informative and I learn more. ;)
 
tikkathreebarrel said:
Should I or shouldn't I?

Oh yes, that's the issue, the film advance is is locked as if ready to fire but the shutter button doesn't go down. Batteries in, batteries out, no difference.

Thing is, I'm not an instinctive kind of engineer and I've never done it before but well, what have I got to lose?

I'm going in, wish me luck!!
Click to expand...

I bought an OM1 (with lenses and accessories) from a charity shop. Just like yours, mine had a stuck advance lever and shutter button.
I took the bottom plate off, had a look but touched nothing. Then I screwed the bottom plate back on. It's worked perfectly ever since!!
 
freecom2 said:
As in, you were originally buying it as a parts body anyway?

It would be a huge shame though, since often it might just be a case of the battery chamber connections becoming loose - a relatively simple fix - and you'd have a fully working OM2 Spot. Or if your investment in the body is low, then a CLA for £50 from Miles Whitehead would still mean your outlay is relatively little for such a capable camera.

That said, intrigue does get the better of all of us - I had a Pentax MG that was destined for the scrapheap anyway, and I decided to take it apart just to have a look. Very interesting!
Click to expand...

Wise words indeedy:rules:

RaglanSurf said:
Too nice a camera, sell it to me and I'll hit with a mallet that normally does the trick :bonk:
Click to expand...

Wait. I'll throw it out of an upstairs window and get back to you with a good price:bonk::bonk:

sparty said:
I bought an OM1 (with lenses and accessories) from a charity shop. Just like yours, mine had a stuck advance lever and shutter button.
I took the bottom plate off, had a look but touched nothing. Then I screwed the bottom plate back on. It's worked perfectly ever since!!
Click to expand...

That was lucky. I've had similar luck with an OM1 - maybe they're responsive to caring new owners??

Well the outcome of your interventions is that I'll continue to lift the top plate off and have a look at the pentaprism. As the mirror is in the "up" I've not seen through it but half expect to find gunge:thumbsdown:

Then it'll be a careful reassemble and put away for a few weeks whilst tossing a coin: heads for the Ebay, tails for CLA.
 
In all seriousness could it just be stuck due to the mirror foam being all sticky?

Also have you checked that it's not a battery problem

WARNING: The OM-2 can start functioning only after batteries are loaded (or loading correctly with the right polarity align inside the compartment). If you attempt to release the shutter without loading the batteries, this shutter is locked and the field of view becomes dark, stopping all the functions. You have to reset the shutter to return the mirror back to the upward position so as normal viewing through the viewfinder can be resume... No damages caused, but could cause some anxiety or panic to a relatively new OM automatic camera user.

Details from this website http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/olympusom1n2/om2/om2manual/
 
RaglanSurf said:
In all seriousness could it just be stuck due to the mirror foam being all sticky?

Also have you checked that it's not a battery problem

Details from this website http://www.mir.SPAM/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/olympusom1n2/om2/om2manual/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. As I can ease the mirror down with my finger I can tell it's not gunge'd up but is held there by spring tension.

It's a 2 Spot so the battery check is the forward position of the manual/spot - Auto - Program - Battery check lever rather than the red led on the back of the camera. I've got the base plate off but with new batteries I didn't get a tone but I may need to replace the baseplate to confirm that.

The B button reset has no effect with or without lens.

Should I take the baseplate off my working 2 Spot to compare the positions and movements of everything? That sounds like a plan.
 
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