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Tinkerer
Username: Houstoncritic
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 01, 2007 - 11:43 am: | 
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Recently, I was given an Olympus E-10 by a friend who had purchased it couple of years ago on EBay. He was so flabbergasted at its complexity (not to mention tired of its heft) that he bequeathed it to me as a 'broken camera.' Gotta love a friend like that...
I took it to New York recently and in less than two days managed to snap over 600 pics with this beauty. It worked like an absolute charm: Never burbled, never failed me once. This is my first introduction into digital photography, (I’m accustomed with various formats in traditional, wet B&W) and I'm just thrilled as hell over this camera. The light gathering ability of that f-2 zoom lens just wonderful.
But as tough as this camera has proven to be, I also know that at times these electronic gizmos can simply shut down on their owners (perhaps it’s because most of them are putting maximum strain on the innards by using automatic settings, whereas I always use the Manual setting). And when these babies break they're more often than not pastured out as parts machines. This is ‘old’ technology, and it simply isn't worth the effort to pay to have them repaired.
So, what about doing it oneself? I'm mechanically adept, and familiar with various types of intricate machinery. With the right instruction manual I can certainly remove very small screws in proper sequence to get at the guts of this camera.
My question for you E-10 wonks out there is should I bother? Should I spend the money on EBay to scoop up two or three busted E-10s for replacement parts in lieu of a possible pig-in-a-poke 'clean,' back-up camera? The reason I'm asking this is because I'm taking this camera to Europe for a month next summer, and I don't want to have to drop a bundle on a new camera when this model, if easily repairable, would be impossible to beat for its price, durability, and versatility.
Are there any experienced repair wonks out there who would care to give me an equally windy response? |
Mikel
Tinkerer
Username: Mikel
Post Number: 24
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 02, 2007 - 06:21 pm: |
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I have taken the time to read your entire post.
While I can sympathize with your desire to repair your Olympus E-10 you must understand that you will absolutely need a repair manual but your chances (and anyone's chances) of getting one are nearly nil. You will not find one here. Only Olympus has them and they are not interested in distributing them. Why? Because most digital cameras which are out of warranty are never going to be repaired if they fail.
Toward that end, our Classic Camera forum moderators have wisely posted the following caution which I would ask you to go back one step and read- the basic and reasonable rules of this forum:
"And ESPECIALLY DO NOT POST questions about digital cameras. Probably all of us here have at least one digital camera. If it breaks we'll just buy a new one. You should do the same!" |
