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[OM] OM1 shutter problem - advice?

Subject: [OM] OM1 shutter problem - advice?
From: Dylan Sutton <dsut4392@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 17:58:08 +1000
Hi OMers,
A few months ago I bought my girlfriend an OM1 as an anniversary present (I like
giving presents I can play with too;-). She hadn't used it much, having only run
through one roll of velvia, until recently. That first roll came out perfectly. 
A couple of weeks ago, we were fortunate to go on a sailing holiday in the
whitsunday islands on the great barrier reef, where her camera got a more
thorough workout since the light seals in my OM1 had gone. Unfortunately this
workout has made evident some shutter problem at high shutter speeds (1/1000 and
possibly 1/500, I'm not sure). Having only shot velvia before, these shutter
speeds never got tested (it's a bright day when you can shoot ISO 50 at 1/1000s
& f8!), but on this last trip I was trying out some E100VS pushed to 200 ISO (so
that I could play with my 500/8 reflex;) I _would_ have got some nice shots
looking down at our yacht from a hill on South Molle Island, with a great big
eagle (no idea what sort, it was mainly reddish brown with white neck & head) in
the foreground, were it not for the problem described below:-(
A selection of shots, all taken on the same day (with either 100-300/5.6 or
500/8) are underexposed _on the right hand side of the frame only_. I'm guessing
it's a shutter speed thing because it only shows up in shots with my long lenses
- in particular in a  sequence I know I was shooting at 1/1000 with the 500/8.
All of the affected pictures would have been at 1/500s or 1/1000s (most of the
time it was too dark and stormy to use fast shutter speeds, or the pictures were
taken on the boat so I was stopping down to get good DOF at short range).
My guess from this is that the first curtain is sticking in the middle before
moving completely across the frame. Is this likely? I suppose I needn't bother
asking if I could fix it myself! If the technical gurus of the list (JohnH?)
could give me some advice on causes and solutions, it may help in getting the
problem fixed when I take it in for repair. 
Sadly the camera only came with a 3 month warranty, but I'll take in the films
and explain the situation...the shop is fairly reputable. Hopefully they will
agree that it was sold as faulty and fix it, but I won't hold my breath!

Dylan

PS While I was in Brisbane last week, avoiding a dull medical conference, I
popped into a few camera stores and priced some zuiko stuff, just for fun. My
500/8 (which some may remember I picked up for A$155 a few months ago:-) is
priced at a cool $2100 wholesale (~$2500 retail) and the 350/2.8 (which I sadly
don't own, but will happily accept as a donation!) is a crushing $12300
_wholesale_. Yikes!

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