Success! Thanks to John whose recollections were as valuable as my bitter
experience. It took a while to find tools long and thin enough to snap the
front edge of the thin plate over the base - but that was the key.
Now, the trap - it is *only* the F280 which has this problem, as far as I
can tell. On the T20 and T32, the black plastic 'claw' on the shoe does
lift the OM-specific metal 'claws' flush into the body of the shoe. On the
F280 it doesn't (I assume it isolate them electrically). And yes, I did try
both T20 and T32 on the M645, they dismounted with no problem.
Thanks again John
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Piers Hemy
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 10:42 PM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [OM] Don't do this at home :-(
John is absolutely right - although I did manage to cut a piece of spring
steel to fit in the channel which 'leads' to the centre contact of the hot
shoe (and I can see it poking out under the front of the flashgun). Still
locked in place. That tells me that - unlike the T flashes - the centre
plastic 'claw' on the F280 shoe does not lift the OM-specific metal 'claws'
flush into the body of the shoe.
Which is a shame.
So I am now working on a way to get at the lip on the front edge of the thin
plate.
More later!
As I said in the subject line - don't do it!
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of John A. Lind
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 5:39 PM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] Don't do this at home :-(
Importance: High
Piers,
I got a T-series shoe cord foot stuck in an M645 prism hot shoe some time
ago. The pins on the bottom of the F280 foot are hung up on the metal plate
that surrounds the center contact on the M645 hot shoe. Be
patient. It took me a while to extract it. I found it impossible to
insert anything under the foot from the back or front of the hot shoe.
Looked at the shoe on my M645 prism to refresh my memory. The metal plate
the flash pins are hung up on is a very thin one that is held in place with
a vertical metal pin at the front of the shoe. IIRC, the first step in the
extraction process required removing the vertical metal pin at the front of
the hot shoe, which allows the plate . . . and your flash . . . to be backed
out of the hot shoe. The silver pin has a slot in the top of it and can be
removed using a small flat-tip jewler's screw driver. [The pin's other
function is keeping a flash foot from sliding too far into the shoe.] The
thin plate has a lip at the front which has to be worked up over the base of
the hot shoe. It also has two u-shaped tabs that hook over the back of the
hot shoe base.
Don't worry about the rest of the M645's hot shoe coming apart on you.
There are other screws under the thin plate that hold it onto the prism.
After you get the flash backed out, slide the plate back into the hot shoe
and replace the pin that holds it in place. Ensure the u-shaped tabs are
properly hooked under the back of the shoe base and that the short lip on
the front end is hooked over the edge of the shoe base.
GL,
-- John
Who doesn't put any T-series flash feet into his M645 any more . . . once
was enough!
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