OM2 and shutter/Mirror sticking issue - An interesting one

Hi all,

 

I have an OM2 with what seems to be a more uncommon issue with a sticky shutter, I'll explain as best as possible below:

 

Fresh silver oxide batteries installed

Battery check switch has s nice solid red light

Inserted test film without a lens attached

Shot 36 frames with switch set to auto and no sticky shutter

Shot 36 frames with switch set to manual and no sticky shutter - cycled through all shutter speeds and not one shutter stick

 

So feeling confident at this stage

 

Attached a Zuiko 50mm f1.4

Set switch to Auto

Inserted test film

Shot 36 frames in landscape with lens attached and 31 of the frames resulted in the shutter not completing it's sequence, the mirror would remain up, if I turned the camera to portrait or even upside down the shutter sequence would complete and the mirror will return!

I repeated the above steps in manual mode and almost exact results bar a couple of frames!

I next installed a test film and switched alternatively between auto and manual, held the camera in portrait position and every frame shot perfectly

 

Bottom line - shutter/mirror never sticks in either manual or auto without a lens attached

 

With a lens attached nearly every frame whether on auto or manual and in landscape position the shutter/mirror sticks or does not complete, by turning the camera to portrait the shutter/mirror sequence will complete

 

 

Like I say an interesting one, I know I could send to professional repairer and I'm tempted to as this OM2 is beautiful with not a mark on it, the black paint also still has nice new lustre to it.

 

I am a hobbyist though and really enjoy the challenge of fixing anything Olympus but in this case would appreciate any kind suggestion d on potential places to start with repairing or even if someone has encountered this before.

 

Kind regards

Wow.

 

I'm sure you have a lot more experience fixing OMs than I have.

 

Will the shutter always fire if the aperture is all the way open? The only thing I can think of that's different with a lens on is that the aperture is closed when the shutter is fired. Maybe that little extra resistance is enough to cause a intermittent problem? Is there something loose getting caught in the mechanism when the camera is turned a certain way?

 

Good luck.

When you trip the shutter, the camera closes down the lens aperture and swings the mirror up (which happens first? I can't remember offhand), then the shutter blades move. Then the aperture opens back up and the mirror swings back down (again, I'm not sure which happens first).

On my cameras (not Olympus) the iris is spring-loaded so the camera has to push a lever in the mount to close it down, and it opens itself when the camera stops pushing the lever. So I wonder if your lens is the problem; maybe the iris doesn't quite finish opening, and the camera is just waiting for it. Have you tried it with a different lens?

Good luck with it!

Hi,

 

So found a little more time to look a my poorly OM2, @ Dustin - You gave me an idea on the mirror, long story short further tests have led me to the following, everytime the shutter stick, or the second curatin does not fire across is because the mirror does not quite make it to the top of the cage, if i gently push the mirror with my finger to the top the second curtain fires and

Mirror goes up, without lens, then shutter fires. With lens mounted, mirror goes up, shutter doesn't fire. Could be a defective lens that has jammed diaphragm coupling lever in the back, or if camera jams with ALL lenses, then body could have a broken spring in the mirror mechanism.