stephen_haynes

Fond though I am of my OM-1N and 2N, I find I can no longer trust them

because the film transport keeps slipping - the lever moves normally but the

film does not advance. The trouble usually starts mid-roll, after a dozen or

more successful exposures, and because there are no obvious symptoms it is

very easy to carry on shooting for quite a while before you realize that the

rewind knob is no longer turning, or the frame counter has gone past the end

of the roll.

Both cameras have been overhauled (by different firms, both of whom needed

2 attempts to get it right), but the 2N has already given up again after only 7 or

8 rolls; it is too soon to tell whether the 1N has been fixed properly or not. I

have been told by 2 different people that this kind of behaviour is 'a feature' of

Olympus cameras.

So: is there a long-term cure for this problem - and is there a firm in SE

England that can be trusted to fix it - or must I consider switching to a more

reliable make?

The other cameras I use regularly are TLRs which are twice as old as the

Olympuses, and, though these have their foibles, they have never let me

down without warning.

Thanks for these suggestions. The camera is now back with the repairer and

I'll be interested to hear what he says. I showed it to a friend who used to use

TLRs professionally, and he also thought a mirror problem was the most likely

explanation, but he had never seen anything like it before.

Many thanks to those who recommended repairers for my seized-up Autocord

a few months ago. In the event, Jessops Classics kindly agreed to fix it for me,

even though it was a few days out of warranty, and it is now back in action.

But you know how camera repairs always seem to have side effects . . .

The repairer has cleaned the mirror, making the already bright (original)

focusing screen brighter still. However, when focusing on light-coloured

objects in good light I now see a faint but distinct ghost image just above or

below it, almost like the double image in a rangefinder camera. This does not

prevent accurate focusing, but it certainly is distracting. Any suggestions,

please?

I bought an Autocord with a 28-day guarantee, and sure enough after 30 days

or so the film advance has started to seize up. Who should I take it to? I am in

Sussex, within easy reach of London.

I'm very impressed by the pictures from this camera (very sharp lens, focus

and exposure spot-on) and I'm keen to keep it working.

The problem is that the handle locks at about the 2 o'clock position. I can still

take pictures, but only by rocking the handle back and forth until the next

number appears, then using the double-exposure mechanism to cock the

shutter.