I got <delete>-happy, so missed some of this thread! Sorry!
One of Mr. Maitani's design perameters was that a professional-quality
camera must always be functional from the moment it's picked up. Hence,
you won't see a shutter-release lock on his designs -- losing a frame by
careless accident is a minor inconvenience to a professional, but losing
a once-in-a-lifetime shot because the camera is "locked" or "off" could
be a disaster. For example, note how the OM-2 and 2n operate in a
limited "Auto" function even when in the "OFF" position. (I know --
there's the OM-77/707. But I DID say "professional-quality".... ;^)
To allow the OM-4, OM-PC, OM-2s, etc. to be functional at any time, it
was necessary to design the camera so that portions of the circuitry
were active at all times -- ergo, the relatively minute current drain
seen on these later generation models, with spot metering, LCD displays,
etc.
If the normal 12 month battery life of a camera that's seldom used is a
problem, seems to me the most economical solution is just to remove the
batteries. (One can buy quite a few batteries for the time/cost/effort
of modifing the camera, not to mention the reduction in value it's
likely to suffer from such alterations. Plus it's a good idea to remove
the batteries from any device when stored for an extended period --
batteries _do_ leak!)
But, yes, I'm sure it's possible to adapt a "power" switch in series
with the battery's lead -- there's precious little extra space inside,
but I'm sure it could be done! Perhaps a pressure switch underneath the
leatherette so that the camera is activated when picked up, with a
by-pass so that the camera could be used on a tripod....
John Hermanson wrote:
>
> Clint would know more about it that I. Some people with OM-PCs had a tiny
> slider switch installed between the battery wire and the circuit. The
> plastic top cover makes this easy. When done turn the camera (truly) off.
> The 4 has something like 3 or 4 ICs and they're all with something like blue
> epoxy. Circuits were made for Olympus by Sharp after Oly invested tons of
> money trying to make them in house.
> I'll do it in my spare time......;-)
>
> John Hermanson
> ___________________________________
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> Camtech, Olympus Service since 1977.
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> ___________________________________
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Gomez" <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 1:41 AM
> Subject: RE: [OM] Older Battery Eating OM 4's? Serial Nos.
>
> | Since I own a 4, and it seems to be a battery-eating one, I've been
> watching
> | this discussion with interest. I understand the fix, and that it's either
> | very expensive or next-to-nonexistent. But I've been wondering...
> |
> | Has anyone tried troubleshooting the circuitry itself? It makes sense that
> | that wouldn't have been Olympus' choice many years ago; it's virtually
> | always cheaper for a manufacturer to simply replace the circuitry with
> newer
> | circuitry. As the saying goes, however, "That was then, this is now."
> |
> | John Hermanson, you seem like the guy who would know: is there a means of
> | interrupting current flow mechanically (?) that wouldn't be (assuming
> | properly engineered) a total kludge? Is there a circuit schematic
> available
> | for these? Maybe a bunch of us (theoretically) bright people can
> | reverse-engineer it and develop a fix.
> |
> | ---
> | Scott Gomez
> |
> |
> | -----Original Message-----
> | From: Chip Stratton [mailto:cstrat@xxxxxxxxxx]
> | Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 20:49
> | To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> | Subject: RE: [OM] Older Battery Eating OM 4's? Serial Nos.
> |
> |
> | There does seem to be a lot of variability in the drain characteristics of
> | the circuits that predate the '4T' type circuit. I've measured current
> | drains in OM4 bodies that definitely did not have a 4T circuit, and found
> | idle drains ranging from 15 to 30 microamperes. I think the 4T type
> circuits
> | run around 8-12 microamps.
> |
> | My first Olympus, an early OM4, sucks around 20 microamps.
> |
> | The idle current draw is a bit difficult to measure with precision since
> it
> | varies over about a 1-2 second period.
> |
> | As cheap as the silver cells are when bought in bulk, I don't worry about
> | it too much anymore, I just replace them before an important shoot if they
> | are more than two or three months old, or if the weather will be cold.
> |
> | Chip Stratton
> | cstrat@xxxxxxxxx
> |
> |
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> |
>
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