OM-4 slipping wind lever

I snapped up an Olympus OM-4 with a 50mm lens from a classified ad which claimed full working order. Once it arrived I found that every 5th or 6th wind of the film wind lever wouldn't completely advance the shutter curtain (it's not regular as far as I can make out). I'd have to "nudge" the wind lever again slightly or sometimes re-wind it as much as about 45° to get it to fully advance the shutter. The seller seemed like a nice enough person and claimed he'd never had trouble with it. Whether he did or didn't, it's my problem now.

First I took the bottom plate off the camera and it looked ok enough to me (in fact I think it looks rather beautiful) - I couldn't see any gunk or debris blocking or interfering with the advance. When I wind on I can see that the part ZJI7600 (figure 5/9 in the OM-4 repair manual) doesn't always get completely rotated and so stops with its teeth still engaged. It seems to me like the wind lever is slipping, particularly when wound slowly. If ZJI7600 isn't in the correct place then I have to bring the winder back a bit and then wind it forward again a bit, and then it's ready to go again.

My guess is that I need to have a look under the camera's top plate but I'm a bit scared of doing so, what with the circuits etc there. I made a start and took the wind lever off and the film rewind knob, but before I got in over my head I thought it'd be a good idea to ask here to see if anyone knew anything about my problem. I'm hoping it's just that something isn't sitting correctly but maybe I'm unlucky and some gear teeth have been stripped, or similar.

Additionally the exposure compensation/ASA dial is a bit stiff, as is the shutter speed selector (though this may be normal for an OM-4, I have no comparison). Maybe a very small amount of lubrication on these areas (exposure compensation/ASA is the worst offender, I could probably live with the shutter speed selector as is) will also improve things.

The camera is probably useable as is though it certainly isn't enjoyable and that to me is the draw to film cameras. In its current state I wouldn't want to use it.

Any tips?

Don't lubricate anything; clean it.

You will have a real mess if you put any form of oil on control dials and the oil will attack plastic parts inside the camera. Internal mechanical parts can take every so tiny much light grade watch oil on the bearing surfaces, but most often a brief cleaning with 99% Iso alchohol or a drop of naptha is your best bet.

Kino said:

Don't lubricate anything; clean it.

You will have a real mess if you put any form of oil on control dials and the oil will attack plastic parts inside the camera. Internal mechanical parts can take every so tiny much light grade watch oil on the bearing surfaces, but most often a brief cleaning with 99% Iso alchohol or a drop of naptha is your best bet.

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thanks, the lubrication is definitely lower on the priority list than the wind lever though. I received an email informing me that you'd repllied to my post. There was more information there than is listed here. Did something get lost in the ether, or did you decide the information was irrelevant?

After re-reading your post, I thought it might be counter productive advice.

If you've never attempted camera repairs, the OM4 is probably NOT a good camera for your first attempt.

Kino said:

After re-reading your post, I thought it might be counter productive advice.

If you've never attempted camera repairs, the OM4 is probably NOT a good camera for your first attempt.

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I've repaired (mostly successfully) a Pentax K2 that had a sticky ISO dial and an incorrectly assembled bayonet mount, but other than that I've just replaced light seals. I'm definitely a beginner. I can certainly try what you suggested (after I remount the wind lever).

I say "mostly successfully" as the meter now meters 1 EV under. I know how to fix it but I just can't be bothered as I find the ISO/exposure on that camera very annoying.

I have done a lot of mechanical camera repairs for myself, but dislike working on electronics burdened later models. To me, there's just too much of a chance of cracking a circuit board or breaking a ribbon cable when tearing down into the top of one of these cameras.

On a whim I messaged the "OM-Doktor" Frank Timmann (http://om-doktor.de); his site seemed rather outdated and I wasn't sure he was still in business, but about an hour after I wrote the message via his site he called me back and we had a pleasant conversation. He used to work under Maitani. I've sent him the camera.

50mm said:

On a whim I messaged the "OM-Doktor" Frank Timmann (http://om-doktor.de); his site seemed rather outdated and I wasn't sure he was still in business, but about an hour after I wrote the message via his site he called me back and we had a pleasant conversation. He used to work under Maitani. I've sent him the camera.

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That's a good deal!

Unfortunately I'm not so sure any more.

He sent me a replacement camera with (and I don't know much about Olympus cameras, I only know that I wanted a spot-meter in a film camera) one of the older boards that drain the battery. As I wasn't sure whether that was even a problem, or just something I read on the net, I rang him to ask him about it. He said that there was no such problem, no such difference and that there was nothing to be worried about. He urged me to enjoy my new camera, which I duly tried. I wandered around the house (where else are you going to go with Covid) snapping bits of light and texture with some HP5+ at 3200 ASA, testing out the spot meter. I used the exposure compensation a bit and noticed that the ASA value in the little window was revolving, and not returning to 3200 once I reset exposure compensation, such that it was impossible to know at what ASA the camera was set at. After fiddling with it for a bit, it seems that the camera won't maintain its ASA setting above 1600. I rang and spoke to him again, and we troubleshooted the camera for a bit before he asked me to send it back, as it seemed defective. A few days later he rang me up, waffled a lot of unrelated information, admitted half way through that something was broken, but then backtracked and tried to fob me off with some more unrelated technical jingo. Long story short, we agreed call it a day; I sent him his camera back, and expect my camera & money back. Unfortunately I have still received neither. I rang him to ask what was up, and he says he's misplaced my camera. I asked where my money was, and he said that his account was broken into, but that he's gotten some new login details, and that he'll send the money out today (that was 3 days ago). Maybe the money is still in transit, but in any case it's not in my account yet.

I'll update here when/if the camera and the money comes in. I remain hopeful