When the 4 first came out they had no idea there was such a battery drain
problem, so heading the problem off at the pass by issuing strict battery
requirements was not built into the instruction book. At first (as I
recall) there may have been a separate sheet packed with the 4 saying that
alkaline, lithium or silver oxide batteries could be used. AIR, the 4
originally came new packed with alkaline batteries.
After lots of testing, discussion and consensus, that was later over-ruled
to the nth degree by customer service advising upset customers that ONLY
silver oxide batteries could be used. Later production may have come with a
slip saying to use S.O. batteries only. I don't know. OM-2N came with a
pink slip stating same as the 2 was designed around them and before alkaline
and silver oxide batteries were available.
I personally exchanged dozens, if not hundreds, of OM-4s for slightly newer
versions as Olympus made them available.
Another test to tell you if you have the oldest type 4: Put body cap on
body, set camera to "auto". Fire shutter on AUTO, shutter stays open.
While shutter is open, switch lever to MANUAL position and remove body cap.
If newer type, shutter should have closed as soon as you switched to MANUAL.
If oldest type, shutter will stay open even though switch is on manual and
body cap is off.
_________________________________
John Hermanson www.zuiko.com
Camtech, Olympus Sales & Service since 1977
21 South Lane, Huntington NY 11743-4714
631-424-2121 For Free Olympus manuals,
please call 1-800-221-3000
_________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: <lamadoo@xxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] In Defen[s,c]e of the OM4[] [was] plain OM4 questions
> Olympus itself may have some responsibility for this. As I recall the
OM-4 manuals (Part "A" and Part "B") are not models of clarity or
completeness. I'll bet a dollar that they don't say anything about the
REQUIRED chemical composition (Silver Oxide) of the batteries for the 4.
>
> By the way,
> 1. I gave one of my brothers a OM-G and a tele a few years ago. When I
visited after a couple of years, I asked about the camera and he told he
"It's jammed. I couldn't rewind it." I pushed down the rewind button and
rewound it then asked him if he read the manual I provided. "Well, no."
>
> 2. At a wedding, my brother's father-in-law said his clamshell Olympus
was broken. It wouldn't fire. I suggested he replace the batteries. He
said, "It worked just before I left the house. I really love this camera.
I took it to China. I hope it's not broken." In my wedding clothes, I
walked across the street to a pharmacy, bought the battery, and "fixed" it.
"You're a genius," he said.
>
> 3. At my other brother's house, I had a conversation with my brother's
mother-in-law said. It was the first birthday party of her first
grandchild. "How do I use this digital camera?" I said, "Gees, I don't
have any idea." She said, "But you're good with cameras." I said, "Oh,
that. As soon as I get a new camera I read the manual..... Every word of
it...... Have you read the manual?" Ms. Huff, "Well.... no."
>
> When I was a mechanic, I picked up an expression from a guy who was in the
military. RTFM. It means "read-the-stupid-manual" except the appropriate
'military' substitution must be made. Yeah, I know, I'm preaching to the
choir. I know.
>
> Lama
>
> Have you guys noticed that the T32 manual doesn't tell you how to
calculate exposure for the Quarter-power manual mode? It also doesn't call
it "Quarter-power". I labeled the switch position "Q" so I'll know at a
glance it's two stops, the same as the ND4 panel.
>
>
> > From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > I also believe the OM-4 issues are blown out of proportion compared to
the
> > occurrence rate (sorry Tom). The 357 silver cells last about a year in
> > mine. I replace them during my birth month, whether they need it or
> > not. I've had my OM-4 overhauled (thank you John H.), but the reasons
had
> > nothing to do with battery or circuit problems.
> >
> > IMHO a very sizeable percentage of the "battery eater" reputation is due
to
> > the owner not knowing its sensitivity to battery voltage. Those who
insist
> > on using alkalines or the double-cell battery in one package (it's not
an
> > AgO) are doomed to replacing batteries very often. Likewise, those who
> > throw all their batteries loose into a drawer when they pull them out of
> > something are also destined to keep trying to use old batteries that are
> > near end of life.
> >
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