Olympus OM4ti help needed - new owner

I've recently picked up an Olympus OM4ti along with a few accessories. There were a couple of issues when I inspected it, so I've spent some time hunting out information, but can't find much on the problem I have.

I know the camera has a 'manual' no battery use mode for B and 1/60th of a second.

In the no battery 1/60th of a second mode, the camera operates normally - and can even be fired by the winder, which the instructions say it can't.

Press the button - up goes the mirror, down goes the mirror, wind on. Perfect.

Now when I take the camera back into 'Normal' operation mode, Auto or Manual - doesn't matter what shutter speed or aperture, I wind on, activate the shutter, the mirror goes up, and stays there.

The only way I can get it to drop, is by pressing the lock button, and sliding the shutter speed ring back to the manual 1/60th setting.

The batteries are new this evening. I've checked the manual. I've searched online. Am I supposed to do anything when new batteries are inserted? Any kind of reset?

Has anyone come across a similar issue?

I find it unsual that in 'non-battery mechanical mode' it operated normally - but in normal mode with fresh batteries the mirror sticks up on every exposure... They are SR44 batteries by the way not LR44 batteries - as I believe this can also make a difference...

Any ideas from the technical wizzes? Thanks

Sounds like the electrical current isn't getting to the mirror magnets in the regular mode. Do you have lit viewfinder info in Auto after using Bulb and 60s? I wouldn't use the winder in no battery mode. As I understand it, the winder places a substitute charge through the camera system when used. There's probably a good reason why Oly says you can't use it. Or shouldn't... Those manuals are pretty sparse and simple with information and I usually take the translations with a grain of salt. I think 4T users are better off with the motor drives anyway, rather than the winders...

Hi Beegee - someone else suggested it might be a power issue, and that although it has new batteries, the cables from the battery housing could have corroded, causing only a limited amount of power through, which was enough to trigger the battery test and the the LCD, but not enough for the mirror drop, as this takes a fair chunk of instant power when its needed apparently... I'll take on board your comment around the winder It happened to come with the package... So it looks like it'll be off to a specialist repairer next - let's hope its the battery cable, and not the circuit board... Thanks for the reply

..

Just a thought before you send it out for repair (those pc boards can run $250+ if you can get them these days)..
Check to see if the baseplate screws are all snug tight (not overly so), and if you have a silver battery cover. Olympus used to ship 4's with black painted ones and had to replace them because of contact problems, but most 4T's have silver (unpainted)... unless they got replaced somewhere don the line...
-BG

Or someone might have painted the cover black and unknowingly got paint in the threads.

The motor drive cover is the same so you can try switching them.

I've checked the baseplate - and it's totally tight - and it's a titanium model, so no black bits in sight... Thanks both for the suggestions. Between the responses here, and on another forum, it's been sent to a specialist repair man in the South East of England who has a good reputation.. I'm hoping it'll be the corroded battery wire rather than a circuit board though... Once I know for sure I'll post up the answer here - so if anyone else ever experiences the issue - they can see what I've been through to get to the solution... Thanks again both