OM-1 reliability (sticking / jamming mirror problem)

mnemosyne · May 26, 2016

What is the prognosis/forecast for the jamming mirror problem on the OM-1? Can it be reliably sorted out by a repair or is it an inevitable glitch on these 40 year old cameras? Background: I have bought an overhauled OM-1 from our domestic OM repair "guru". After only half a dozen shots on my first roll the mirror got stuck/jammed in the up position and will not come down, so I have to send the camera back. I had read about this problem before, but was under the impression that it was typical for cameras that suffer from lack of care and was corrected with an overhaul.
Now my case seems to indicate that this disease can also strike cameras that haven been freshly overhauled. Of course the repair person will take either care of the problem or give me a refund. I am pondering which way to go. Let him correct the issue and pray that it will not return in the middle of my next holiday or mountain hike or just get my money back and think about alternatives to the OM-1 or the OM system in general?

Dali · May 26, 2016

Every camera can jam. OM cameras are not the most reliable but they are not the worst neither.

Of course, a CLAed camera has a higher chance to work as it should than a non-CLAed one especially when speaking of 40 year old cam. Does it mean it is 100% guaranteed? Certainly not.

For the last 35 years, I owned and used OM cameras and only the OM10 shutter gave me trouble. Never complained about my OM1 and OM1n.

Take care.

Ricardo Miranda · May 26, 2016

Hi,
Are you sure it isn't the mirror lock-up switch that is in the wrong position?

mnemosyne · May 26, 2016

Ricardo Miranda said:
Hi,
Are you sure it isn't the mirror lock-up switch that is in the wrong position?

Yes, unfortunately. Problem is not connected to the mirror lock-up switch. I checked and it is/was in the horizontal position when I triggered the shutter. The shutter is now closed, the mirror stuck in the up position. I can press the shutter release (no resistance). The advance lever will not move. Playing around with the mirror lock-up switch makes no difference. Will phone with the tech person later.

Ricardo Miranda · May 26, 2016

Well, I've only been using OM cameras for the last 2 years and rarely seen that.
I've seen similar in a OM-2N where the person using it didn't advance the film fully, the interlock was cleared and the shutter fired, mirror went down but film advance leaver wouldn't move nor shutter button would fire again. remedy was to open bottom and advance a dented reel a few millimetres.
It seems to me that the shutter/mirror mechanism wasn't charged properly and the "firing sequence" isn't complete.
Try give the advance leaver a few gentle notches to see if that brings the mirror down.
Don't open the bottom plate unless you know and have done so before.
There's a lot of springs that will fly away.

nsurit · May 26, 2016

Could it be the foam bumpers are sticky and should have been replaced. I can't imagine this sort of problem coming from the Guru I've used for years. I have a couple of dozen of the single digit OM cameras and have never experienced this problem. Have you emailed your Guru? I'd probably do that and send it back to them to sort it out and wouldn't give up on OMs from this one experience. If you want to PM me, I'd be happy to compare notes on Gurus. Bill Barber

Les Sarile · May 26, 2016

I have only repaired a handful of cameras - and only with very simple to me issues, but I have worked on countless other electronic-mechanical products and I can say without reservation that all products are bound to fail - mitigated by design, materials, workmanship, maintenance, environment, age and user. A repair job is always a compromise of cost - labor and materials, and regardless of guru status, additional failures will continue to occur. Most uninitiated always feel the failure is because of poor workmanship when most of the time - unless the repair person is not knowledgeable, it may not even be remotely related to the previous repair.

I believe the OM single number series is well made with good materials but I cannot qualify the other factors that can affect it's reliability especially with respect to any others.

thuggins · May 26, 2016

The bumper foam can get sticky with age and I have heard mention of this causing the mirror to stick, but in 40 years of shooting OM's have never seen this occur. It would be very obvious if this were the case as the foam gets very gooey when it has degraded.

Send it back to whomever CLA'd it. This is certainly not a known or common problem with OM1's.

MattKing · May 26, 2016

thuggins said:
Send it back to whomever CLA'd it. This is certainly not a known or common problem with OM1's

And if it is the foam, it absolutely should have been at least diagnosed as part of the CLA.

albada · May 27, 2016

In all SLR cameras that I can think of, as the second curtain closes, it pushes a lever which causes the mirror to drop. I saw a Minolta X-700 once where the second curtain did not close quite far enough, leaving the mirror stuck up. An easy check is to remove the lens and open the back, and gently press the curtain toward the closed position. Use one finger on each side of the curtain, so that your two fingers are pressing against each other. If the curtain moves a bit and the mirror drops onto your finger, you know what happened.

Mark Overton

mnemosyne · May 27, 2016

Thanks everyone for your insights and input. It is reassuring to know that the mirror problem is not some kind of endemic mechanical weakness of the OM. I will send the camera back to the techie and have it checked. I had also noticed some irregularities with the light meter, which is supposed to be converted to 1.5V. Maybe it was simple human error that he picked a camera from the "wrong drawer", thinking it was already overhauled.

ciniframe · May 27, 2016

Have and used several OM-1 cameras over the years and never had a mirror stay up. Dead meters, yeah, got a body now that overlaps frames, other than those issues they have been trouble free, at least in my limited experience.

John Koehrer · May 27, 2016

under the bottom cover, wind side: there's a silver disc that has to rotate freely
if it hangs up I believe it'll cause this.

Keep in mind, my memory isn't always the best.

OM-1 reliability (sticking / jamming mirror problem)

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