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frank
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 08:45 pm: | 
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I opened up my XA just to take a peek inside to see if I could find a way to adjust the infinity setting of the rangefinder. I couldn't get to the point of removing the top cover so I put everything back (shield around the lens, small side front cover, sliding front cover, bottom cover). Everything went okay but I think I lost something which slides with the front sliding cover, under its top section which turns the camera on/off. What does this thing look like? Am I likely to find it on my carpet around the table I worked on, or is it too small? |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 08, 2004 - 11:17 pm: |
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Hello - The XA is a nice little camera, not too tough to work on except for the electronics. Here's how to get inside (from memory, but I got one to peek at...)
1) Remove rewind knob. 'Pop' the back open before this step, then unscrew the rewind knob by holding the fork prong inside and unscrewing the knob counterclockwise.
2) Remove bottom. There are five screws, two are longer, please notice which holes they come out of... One screw is 'hidden' under the little arm you move for battery-check and self-timer setting, you can see it by moving the lever to 'self-timer'. Once you remove the screws gently wiggle the bottom some to disengage the sliding front door at the bottom.
3) Remove the sliding front door. Slide it slightly left, until it is midway open, then lift the bottom front up and forward, pivoting it up as if you were flipping it over the top towards the back upside down. Note that there is a small cylindrical metal roller that sets in a notch on the top. This provides the 'click' as you slide the cover, and I think this is what you lost. It is about 3mm diameter by 4mm length, silver colored metal (probably magnetic if that helps hunt it up.)
4) Remove the top. There are several visible screws... two in the rewind knob recess, one to the right of the viewfinder are necessary to remove. The screw in the center of the top, near where that cylinder sits is NOT necessary to remove. That screw holds the piezo speaker, and you should leave it alone. On my XA's it is a chrome screw. One hidden screw is under the shutter release (the orange square). Pry up the orange square with a stiff pin or small flat screwdriver. There are two screws visible... the one in the middle of the revealed switch mechanism is left alone, that adjusts the shutter switch release travel. The screw under the shutter button but off to the side is the one to remove. Lift the top cover wiggling from the ends to remove it... note that the wires to that speaker will be connected, so don't rip the out.
5) You can remove the back (which is handy for redoing the foam) by grasping the silver pin at the hinge end, pushing it down slightly toward the bottom of the camera, then pulling it out from the bottom. The back will come off complete. The pressure plate removes by pivoting it up or down at the latch end then sliding it loose... its pretty obvious. Note that it is NOT necessary to remove the top to take the back off...
6) Remove the front panel covering the lens area. There are some screws that become visible once the sliding cover is removed, and again this is pretty obvious. Watch out when taking this off, as there is a linkage and a little pivoting cover piece that covers the rangefinder window when the sliding cover is closed... watch out for this to come loose and note how it is retained.
That gets you pretty deep into the XA, and this procedure is similar for the XA-2, XA-3 and XA-4 models I believe. I think the XA-1 is different, but I've never dug into one of those. I hope this is correct, I didn't take one apart to get this listed, but if I've missed something I'm sure others can correct me... Apologies for the lengthy post... I really -like- these little cameras...~! |
Sean OKeefe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 07:32 am: |
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Frank,
As Jim points out, you lost the cylinder that looks exactly like the picture in the link. It is easy to lose if you're not expecting it. I imagine you might be able to find a round wooden toothpick and make a piece of the proper dimensions that will fit. Sorry for the poor scan.
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/okeefes/XAcylinder.jpg
Good luck
Sean |
frank
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 04:37 pm: |
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Thank you Sean and Jim,
It was that screw under the shutter release that I didn't know about that kept me from getting to where I was headed! Thanks. Once I get there again, is the rangefinder infinity adjustment obvious? Also, would wood be a strong enough material for my lost cylinder/pin? |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 09:15 pm: |
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After I posted I realized I left something out... like my post wasn't long enough already!
When removing the front panel (step #6 above) there is a screw that needs to be removed from the back. Inside, next to the film takeup spool, on the left about 2/3 down from the top, there is a cross-head screw visible in a small recess. That screw threads through to hold the front panel on, and needs to be removed along with the two (I believe its two...) on the front of the camera front panel. Sorry about this omission, I wasn't looking at it step by step, just trying to remember from the last one I worked on. |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 09, 2004 - 09:29 pm: |
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To further follow up, I realized that I didn't tell you anything about adjusting the rangefinder... there is a screw on the RF acuating linkage, it is visible from the back under the viewfinder. This turns back and forth to adjust the horizontal alignment. There is a round element in the secondary image path that is rotated to adjust the vertical alignment, this is visible in the logical place once you remove the cover from the top of the rangefinder optical mechanism... it looks like a star-wheel, turn ccw/cw to move the vertical image.
I'm not sure if changing one affects the other, but often that is the case. I believe the thing to do in such circumstances is set the vertical alignment, then adjust for the horizontal alignment at 'infinity'. With such a short rangefinder base length I don't know how much accuracy the XA rangefinder is capable of anyway, but it sure makes it 'feel' more precise . |
Sean OKeefe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 06:15 am: |
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Frank,
I think the wood would be good enough as a temporary fix anyhow. I lost the same part and carved a piece of toothpick that worked in the interim until I found the cylinder hiding in the corner. The piece has to fit in the groove in the underside of the top cover to allow the switch to function properly. As long as the part is the correct dimensions, I think you would be good to go.
Sean |
frank
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 06:21 am: |
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Thanks Jim,
I did find that screw inside the camera, as I said, I had all those pieces off except for the top deck because I didn't know about the screw under the shutter release cover.
I was impressed with all the metal gears inside the XA, it looks all plasticy on the outside.
Thank you for your help! |
Vito
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 02:16 pm: |
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Good instructions...I'll try it to fix a sticky meter needle,camera works fine otherwise.I just want to know speed chosen by camera.Any suggestions once I get it opened? |
Sean OKeefe
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - 03:55 pm: |
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Vito,
Your problem has been discussed here before. If you look to the left and do a Keyword Search under Utilities for XA METER you will see a thread from last summer on Olympus XA Shutter Speed Needle that discusses this issue.
Good luck,
Sean |
Zsolt Kovats
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 27, 2004 - 11:58 pm: |
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Hi:
This is sort of along the lines discussed here. I acquired a used XA and found that the aperture slider refuses to move above F8. Otherwise, the camera seems to take decent pictures, even though the needle indicates a much slower shutter speed than would seem correct (I gather this has something to do with the dual light meters).
So the question is, would disassembling the camera as per the above instructions get me to the source of the aperture slider problem?
Zsolt |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 12:53 am: |
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Yes. You need to remove the front panel... the aperture slider mechanism is readily visible once you take off that panel. |
Nicholas
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2004 - 02:26 pm: |
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Hello everyone. A few months ago I accidentally dropped a perfectly working XA about 3 feet 
Since then I've noticed that the aperture size no longer changes (in the lens) when moving the slider on the right (although the light meter and shutter speed still respond correctly).
The distance control is also incredibly stiff and impossible to move.
Sounds like a pretty simple thing to fix but I wouldn't mind getting some of your expert thoughts before I go about unscrewing things like the instructions above.
Any comments would be much appreciated. Thanks! |
Jim Brokaw
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 01:44 am: |
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Dropped from 3 feet... ouch! Sounds like something got disconnected or loose,or jammed. That about covers the possibilities. I think what you have to do is remove the covers until you can get into the front, its in my steps above. Both the aperture and focus mechanisms are all worked from the front, so any disconnected or bent bits should reveal themselves when you get the front off and get into the mechanism a bit. Other than the internal focusing on the lens, which from the factory service manual can be hard to set, the XA's construction is pretty self-evident when you look at it. |
Scott
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 04:05 am: |
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3 feet? That's nothing!  I dropped my XA2 TWO STORIES. It landed on a tin roof, bounced, and sprung the film door open. But no substantial damage; it still works fine. Amazing. I just had to bend the door back into shape so it would stay shut. |
Nicholas
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 02:02 pm: |
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Wow. Thanks a million for the speedy replies. I will attempt to remove the covers very shortly. Wish me luck and I hope to return here with positive news.
Thanks again. |
David
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 06:15 pm: |
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I just purchased an Olympus XA and noticed that the foam inside the back is dry and crumbling off. Please tell me what to do about this. Thanks in advance. |
