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[OM] Auction Woe

Subject: [OM] Auction Woe
From: Ross Orr <voxbongo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 15:26:11 -0500
Hi all,

I wonder if I could ask for the collective wisdom of the group on how 
to proceed with an auction that seems to have gone wrong on me.

I'm quite new to e Bay,  and joined specifically to pick up some OM 
gear. I won an auction for an OM-2N where the seller represented that 
the camera had "recent servicing with focus, shutter speeds, and 
meter perfect, and new foam light seals."

The camera looks decent outwardly (though someone has cheesily 
repainted over chipped paint on the reminder frame). But the foam 
didn't really look new to me--it actually looked a bit tired 
(flattened but not crumbling).

Worse, my test roll seemed to show that the higher shutter speeds 
were lagging seriously and overexposing. Slow speeds and long 
auto-exposures were OK.

I carefully shot a second test roll using fresh Duracell 76S 
batteries, kept the camera scrupulously warm (a challenge at 16 
degrees out!), tried different lenses, etc. Same result. (I was 
shooting my gray porch floor in diffused light, checking e.g. if 
1/1000 at f/2.8 gave the same negative density as 1/125 at f/8, 1/30 
at f/16, etc.)

My current theory is that whether on manual or auto, the shutter is 
topping out at 1/60 or 1/125, no matter what higher speed is 
selected. That is certainly the way the shutter sounds. (I have a 
good 2N here for comparison.)

I also tried connecting a generic non-auto flash to the PC socket, 
and looking into the back of the camera as I fired the shutter at 
various manual speeds. Even set at 1/1000 the entire frame was 
illuminated. Can someone remind me whether a 2N set on manual 
automatically senses a flash connected to the PC socket and limits 
the shutter to 1/60?

(I didn't want to take film out of my good 2N to test that; but on 
manual that camera happily fired the flash at the beginning of a 1/2 
sec exposure.)

All my communications from the seller have been a little terse, and 
he did not respond to a quick note saying "I think I have a problem, 
let me get back to you." Naturally I am starting to experience some 
bad vibes here. Any hard-won suggestions on how best to open 
negotiations with him?

Is this a common symptom for a 2N?

Any guesstimates on what a fix would cost?

Thanks for listening,



   --Ross

~~~~~~~~~~~~
42.2855 North
83.7497 West

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