Ali pointed you to John Hermanson of Camtech on Long Island for possible
service. John is for-real Olympus service tech and regular contributor
to this list on service tips (including when not to try it yourself).
We haven't heard from him recently but another list contributing Olympus
service tech is Clint Rumbo of PhotoSphere in Dallas.
Here's an old post from Clint on the subject of stuck frame counters:
The original poster's question is below Clint's response.
Chuck Norcutt
-------------------------------------------------------------
From: "PhotoSphere Olympus Camera Service" <olyfix@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Re: Broke my picture-number-dial-thing
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 18:15:19 -0600
Sometimes the arm that starts the film counter counting gets stuck. If
you open the back of the camera and look at the upper slot where the
edge of the back cover fits into the body you should see a small opening
in that slot just above and between the sprocket and the take-up spool.
(If the foam seals have recently been replaced, the opening might have
been covered up -- that's a no-no, and likely to be the problem!) In
that opening should be a silver tab. When the back is open, that silver
tab moves out into the opening, letting the counter return to "S"
(Japanese for "Start" ;^). When the back is closed, it pushes that
silver tab in, causing the counter to begin moving each time the camera
is wound, from "S" to 1,etc. If that arm is hung up, you might be able
to dislodge it by gently wiggling it with the end of a paper clip. Or not.
Next, the counter dial itself may be gummed up. If so, the only
solution is to remove the top cover and remove and clean the moving
parts. That's something I wouldn't recommend for an amateur technician.
And hey -- you got all the letters in the right order! That's better
than most of us! (Thank you, spell checkers! ;^)
>>
>> Some time ago the dial that tells you what picture
>> you are on stopped working on my OM-1. More specifically,
>> it didn't reset after changing out a roll of film,
>> and is now stuck at the end. Does anyone know how
>> to fix this, or can point me somewhere that has this
>> information? I'm hoping its an inexpensive (read:
>> free) fix; otherwise, I'll probably just continue
>> to live in that semi-fearful state of never quite
>> knowing which picture is my last.
>>
>> Please try to disregard my total lack of knowledge
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Rich
----------------------------------------------------
Melanie Chang wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm a rangefinder user who recently got interested in OM SLRs because
> of their excellent build quality and handling similarities to my
> favorite camera, a Leica M3. Unfortunately, I've had a bit of bad
> luck with the OM bodies I've purchased and was wondering if anyone
> might have some advice for me.
>
> The first, a chrome OM-1 I found at a camera show for $25 (with
> 50/1.8 silvernose lens) suffered a jammed film advance/shutter about
> halfway through the first roll. It's extremely clean and in almost
> perfect cosmetic condition. I have attempted taking off the bottom
> plate and repositioning the gears near the battery compartment, but
> it didn't work (I may have been doing this incorrectly -- I am not
> afraid to do mechanical things but I don't do them often).
>
> Then I received a beautiful black OM-1n as a gift. It appears to be
> in perfect working order (and I just got the first roll back from
> it), except that the frame counter does not work. It remains set at
> "E" even as you advance the film. This is more an annoyance than
> anything else but if there is any way to fix this I'd be much obliged
> to hear about it. I'll never be able to keep track of what frame I'm
> on without the counter.
>
> The third OM body I have is an OM-G (OM-20) I received essentially as
> a freebie with a Vivitar 28-210mm macro zoom lens. The camera show
> seller considered it a rear cap for the lens and sold me the whole
> shebang for $10 because, he said, "it isn't a very good camera."
> Ironically this is the one body I have that is working flawlessly.
> OK, it doesn't have the build quality of the OM-1 and the shutter
> sounds a bit plastic and floppy, but hey, it takes pictures just fine
> and the meter is bang on.
>
> Shameless camera pr0n shots of my OMs are here:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/miranc/image/70076095
> http://www.pbase.com/miranc/image/70076094
> http://www.pbase.com/miranc/image/70076379
>
> And some shots from my first OM rolls are here:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/miranc/image/69889518
> http://www.pbase.com/miranc/image/69889520
>
> I'm pretty smitten with these cameras (although I never thought I'd
> say that about SLRs, I'll admit) and I'd love to get the OM-1 bodies
> back in perfect running order. They are so solid and beautifully
> made and a pleasure to handle.
>
> Thanks and nice to meet you, Melanie
>
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