Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] Which camera?

Subject: Re: [OM] Which camera?
From: "John Austin" <j_austin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 10:39:35 -0700
Lee Hawkins wrote:

>>The OM-2SP also did NOT have the infamous "circuit" problem of the OM-4.
Of

>
>Where did you get this idea?  AFAIK, the OM-4, -2S, and -PC *all* could
>suffer from battery drain problems due to the circuit board design.


I will be happy to stand corrected if I'm wrong on this. In fact, I've been
wrong on lots of things in the past. :-) After talking to John H.,
Photosphere in Dallas, and Olympus America, I came to the conclusion that a
normally operating OM-4 and OM-2S both have a slightly higher normal current
drain (10 uA) than the OM-4T(i) (5 uA). In addition, an unmodified OM-2S
uses the camera batteries to illuminate the flash ready light in the
viewfinder, and this will be a problem only if you leave a flash turned on
for long periods of time.

In addition the OM-4 only, not the OM-2S, can develop a defective circuit
("famous circuit problem"), wherein the current drain goes up dramatically
(40 uA). This can only be repaired by replacing the main circuit, which are
in very short supply and very expensive. Note that even if the high current
drain situation develops in the OM-4, the camera will still function
normally. It will just eat batteries at a prodigious rate.

Naturally, the OM-4, OM-2S, OM-PC, and for that matter, the OM-4T(i) can all
develop complete circuit failure of the main circuit board, at which point
the circuit would have to be replaced. This would have nothing to do with
high battery drain. The cost of replacing the circuit board in any camera
but the OM-4T(i) would probably exceed the value of the camera.

Regards,
John Austin


< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz