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[OM] Whirring sound of death & other IS questions

Subject: [OM] Whirring sound of death & other IS questions
From: "Mike Williamson" <mikew@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 08:31:57 -0600
I bought an IS-3 on eBay several months ago and have been very pleased with it.
 Recalling some comments on the list that some users consider the IS-1 lens
a little sharper, I bought one last week on eBay.  It arrived yesterday, so
I checked it out last night. I would appreciate any comments on the problem
I found.

When I turned on the IS-1, everything seemed normal as far as noises and lens
movement compared to my IS-3.  When I attempted to zoom, it wouldn't go past
50mm or so.  I turned it off, wondering if there was a macro mode I had 
inadvertenly
entered that limited it to 50mm or less.  I turned the camera back on.  This
time the lens would zoom normally.  I pointed the lens at various objects at
various distances and tried to focus.  It focused fine (but slowly as I was
aware it would).  I popped up the flash but several seconds later put it back
down.  (I didn't notice any charging sound, but I wasn't really listening for
one.)  At some point I shot a pretend (filmless) picture.  No problems.  Then
I turned it off.  The lens did not retract but stayed zoomed out to 135 or so.
There was some play in the lens.  Over the course of several minutes I turned
the camera on & off several times.  Using the zoom controls I was eventually
able to get the camera to retract to 35mm.  It still didn't make the final 
retraction
upon turning off the power as best I recall.  Now when I turn it on, it makes
a whirring sound for 3 or 4 seconds and then goes dead.  The sound stops and
the back panel goes out. While the whirring sound takes place, I can't zoom
the lens.  There is no weak battery shown on the LCD (nor was there one there
previously).  I loaded a fresh set of 123 batteries but got the same results.
 I'm going to pick up another pair of batteries today & try them out in my local
camera store.  

1. Assuming that batteries don't do the trick, any thoughts on the whir of 
death?


2. Has anyone had such a problem repaired before?  If so, do you recall the
approximate cost?

3. Has anyone been tracking IS-1 prices?  If so, what's a fair price on a 
working
IS-1?  (I've alerted the seller as to the problem.  Depending upon the answers
to my questions and what the seller has to say, we might agree on a partial
refund.  I want to be sure I don't shoot myself in the foot if I do.)

I appreciate any comments or answers anyone has to contribute.  If you've got
followup questions I can answer, I won't see them until I get home tonight (in
roughly 9-10 hours).  I will post tonight to let you know if more new batteries
fixed the problem.

Thanks much.

Mike W.

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