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Gds506
Tinkerer
Username: Gds506
Post Number: 2
Registered: 12-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 04:41 pm: | 
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Hi
I have a really nice Olympus XA that worked fine for a while but now the exposure meter indicator is doing strange things.
Sometimes it doesn't work, then starts to move up and down and after a while it stops and shows the right speed.
I have the repair manual and have already opened the camera several times to check if it is something with the cables or galvanometer, but I still don't have any clue of the cause of the problem.
Do any of you have some experience with this kind of issue and give some advice of where the problem can be?
thanks |
Markus
Tinkerer
Username: Markus
Post Number: 107
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 - 09:02 pm: |
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On my XA I don't get any response from the needle in the view finder at all. Actually, this doesn't matter at all (to me anyway), as this camera has separate circuits to display and to set the exposure time. You can check whether you still get good exposures by running a test roll, and if so, then disregard the in-viewfinder display. I just use sunny 16 to guide me in the proper setting of the aperture. |
Chenard
Tinkerer
Username: Chenard
Post Number: 27
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 09:58 am: |
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The circuit for the exposure meter in the view finder is very simple--the battery, cds cell, calibration resistors. I would first check the attachment of the wires from the meter to the flex circuit board between it and the rewind knob. This board is also where the buzzer attaches to. There may be some errant solder on those connections when the buzzer was attached/detached as the top of the camera was removed/replaced.
Next, I would check the fingers on the switch on the bottom of the camera for good contact with their circuit board, and check the wires on that circuit board. Why? Remember the calibration resistors I mentioned? When the switch is placed in the +1.5 stop position, another resistor is switched into the circuit to make the needle read 1.5 stops slower.
Now that I think of it, that switch is also responsible for all of the other buzzer functions, battery check and self timer. I wonder if the fingers on this switch are bent & misconnecting, and making the meter act like the buzzer.
Paul |
Vinzenz
Tinkerer
Username: Vinzenz
Post Number: 23
Registered: 06-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 15, 2009 - 05:15 am: |
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Paul, you seem to be very familiar with the XA. My camera has a working exposure meter, but the shutter always runs at the maximum of about 8s. The magnets are clean, so what is your guess for the problem? Strangely, the shutter does not even function correctly, if the aperture is set on flash sync. |
Chenard
Tinkerer
Username: Chenard
Post Number: 28
Registered: 11-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 - 09:30 am: |
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I have not got any direct experience with this fault, but much of what I have read on line indicates that this is caused by a failure of the ic, or the ceramic circuit board on the front of the camera. My understanding is that both of these are nla. I would suggest first checking all of the wire connections that you can see, and there are a lot, but you're best bet might be a parts camera. |
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