LucaM
Newbie
Hello everybody, Luca here.
Please forgive me for any mistake: it's my first time posting on here.
I'll try to keep this short and simple. I have an XA which was gifted to me last yearfrom my father, it has been in used from the 80s more or less untile the early 2000s and has been inside of its case in a drawer ever since. He never recalls having had trouble with it, although when I picked it back up, even with silver oxide batteries the thing had an annoying problem. The shutter fires fine, and the light meter that regulates the shutter doesn't have any trouble. On the other hand the needle in the viewfinder worked fine, but seemed to be a constant 2 stops slower in the indication of the ****ter times if compared to the actual shutter time and any other light meter (both handheld and other cameras). Easy fix I though, so I went ahead and opened the camera following some online posts and the XA repair manual. i mechanically adjusted the needle to have a correct reading, and it does indicate the right shutter speed now. But whenever I move the focus ring, the needle bounces up and down as if there was some bad connection or a short under the focus ring. What I actually did find out though, as I opened the camera, is that probably someone else tried to fix it, and as they pried up the top of the camera, which houses the buzzer, by pulling too hard they separated two of the pads on the breakout pads of the soft circuit that sends out connections to the buzzer and the needle electromagnet. Since two of the pesa that send out the red cables are actually coming from a single track, i ended up soldering both red cables for the buzzer and the needle on the same pad. The electromagnet still works, still reads fine and still bounces. I also noticed the the grey cables on the bottom of the camera were unsoldered from each other, due to a cold solder joint and maybe too much handling. I did resolder them, don't know if I did any good though. Also whenever I move the focus the buzzer emits a scratching sound.
This is it for now.
I really hope that someone can point me in the right direction, I know many people here are far more skilled than I am, and I know that Mr Hermanson replies to posts on here.
I would send it to a repair shop in Genova, Italy where I live but unfortunately non of them are really used to repairing them anymore. There's a good one in Rome but sending it to Rome and having it shipped back would probably cost me just as much as buying a couple of new XAs.
Thanks in advance to anyone who will reply
Please forgive me for any mistake: it's my first time posting on here.
I'll try to keep this short and simple. I have an XA which was gifted to me last yearfrom my father, it has been in used from the 80s more or less untile the early 2000s and has been inside of its case in a drawer ever since. He never recalls having had trouble with it, although when I picked it back up, even with silver oxide batteries the thing had an annoying problem. The shutter fires fine, and the light meter that regulates the shutter doesn't have any trouble. On the other hand the needle in the viewfinder worked fine, but seemed to be a constant 2 stops slower in the indication of the ****ter times if compared to the actual shutter time and any other light meter (both handheld and other cameras). Easy fix I though, so I went ahead and opened the camera following some online posts and the XA repair manual. i mechanically adjusted the needle to have a correct reading, and it does indicate the right shutter speed now. But whenever I move the focus ring, the needle bounces up and down as if there was some bad connection or a short under the focus ring. What I actually did find out though, as I opened the camera, is that probably someone else tried to fix it, and as they pried up the top of the camera, which houses the buzzer, by pulling too hard they separated two of the pads on the breakout pads of the soft circuit that sends out connections to the buzzer and the needle electromagnet. Since two of the pesa that send out the red cables are actually coming from a single track, i ended up soldering both red cables for the buzzer and the needle on the same pad. The electromagnet still works, still reads fine and still bounces. I also noticed the the grey cables on the bottom of the camera were unsoldered from each other, due to a cold solder joint and maybe too much handling. I did resolder them, don't know if I did any good though. Also whenever I move the focus the buzzer emits a scratching sound.
This is it for now.
I really hope that someone can point me in the right direction, I know many people here are far more skilled than I am, and I know that Mr Hermanson replies to posts on here.
I would send it to a repair shop in Genova, Italy where I live but unfortunately non of them are really used to repairing them anymore. There's a good one in Rome but sending it to Rome and having it shipped back would probably cost me just as much as buying a couple of new XAs.
Thanks in advance to anyone who will reply
RobinWinter
Established
Hey Luca, sorry I doubt this will be much help, but as I understand it, the needle in the viewfinder is controlled by a separate meter from the one that operates the shutter, and having taken my XA apart for repairs after a bike accident, and from the fact that my shutter works fine while my viewfinder needle doesnt move, I can attest to this needle being part of another assembly. I unfortunately dont know how to fix the viewfinder needle, but if you take the top off, there is an electro-magnet with a tiny needle to the left of the rangefinder assembly. You could start there.
LucaM
Newbie
Thank you for your reply, RobinWinter, like I said any help is appreciated!
I do know that there are two meters(fortunately) one for the viewfinder and one controlling the shutter. I did manage to mechanically adjust the needle by adjusting its "position" on the electromagnet like it's indicated on the XA repair manual. The problem is that after the adjustment the needle "bounces" up and down in the viewfinder , probably due to a loose connection somewhere; I can't seem to figure out where though...
I do know that there are two meters(fortunately) one for the viewfinder and one controlling the shutter. I did manage to mechanically adjust the needle by adjusting its "position" on the electromagnet like it's indicated on the XA repair manual. The problem is that after the adjustment the needle "bounces" up and down in the viewfinder , probably due to a loose connection somewhere; I can't seem to figure out where though...
seany65
Well-known
Hello LucaM and welcome to the forum. Unfortunately I can't help as I know little about anything at all.
R
rick oleson
Guest
Hi Luca: I'm afraid I am not familiar with this particular camera's meter either. Is there a variable resistor involved in either its adjustment or its coupling to the shutter and aperture controls? These can get dirty and erratically nonconductive over the years, and cause this kind of symptom. A drop of lighter fluid followed by cycling the wiper through its range several times may clean the surface and bring some improvement.
rick
rick
LucaM
Newbie
Hey Rick, thank you for your reply.
The camera has technically two cds cells and two meters, one coupled with the shutter and one controlling the indicator needle in the viewfinder
This is the schematic for the needle in the viewfinder that can be found in the olympus xa repair manual. As you can see there are 3 resistors, and the actual needle itself is some sort of electromagnet but it does seem to have some built in variable resistors. When the camera was first gifted to me the needle was indicating a constant 2 stops too low of a reading. to adjust it i messed a bit with a screw that was on the electromagnet. i actually, judging from the repair manual, think it's a built in trimpot. the erratic behaviour started to happen after the adjusting. what's weird is that it happens when i focus the camera. i can't reallt understand why. there are no connections on the focus ring, the flexible circuit that has all the parts for driving the needle electromagnets receives current straight from the battery, without running into any other sort of logic board or anything, as you can sorta see from this
I'll try bringing the trimpot to its initial condition and run some lighter fluid in the needle assembly and see if gets any better. thank you for your insight Rick, and also thank you for the many great articles on your website. I might recall it wrong but there was a great one on how to collimate a lens by using just a reflex camera. great stuff.
Luca
The camera has technically two cds cells and two meters, one coupled with the shutter and one controlling the indicator needle in the viewfinder
This is the schematic for the needle in the viewfinder that can be found in the olympus xa repair manual. As you can see there are 3 resistors, and the actual needle itself is some sort of electromagnet but it does seem to have some built in variable resistors. When the camera was first gifted to me the needle was indicating a constant 2 stops too low of a reading. to adjust it i messed a bit with a screw that was on the electromagnet. i actually, judging from the repair manual, think it's a built in trimpot. the erratic behaviour started to happen after the adjusting. what's weird is that it happens when i focus the camera. i can't reallt understand why. there are no connections on the focus ring, the flexible circuit that has all the parts for driving the needle electromagnets receives current straight from the battery, without running into any other sort of logic board or anything, as you can sorta see from this
I'll try bringing the trimpot to its initial condition and run some lighter fluid in the needle assembly and see if gets any better. thank you for your insight Rick, and also thank you for the many great articles on your website. I might recall it wrong but there was a great one on how to collimate a lens by using just a reflex camera. great stuff.
Luca
R
rick oleson
Guest
Thanks Luca! I'm afraid electronics is not my strong area, so beyond cleaning or replacing a Pot I'm not much help.
DwF
Well-known
Hi Luca and welcome to the forum, It is fortunate that the movement of the needle doesn't adversely affect exposure. I was just out with my dog for a walk and the XA in my pocket. The light is low in the sky here (sun already set) and I was shooting Portra 800 in my camera. I hadn't read your thread but noticed after a couple of the exposures I made, that I was oblivious to the shutter reading as I lowered and closed my camera each time. I noted by the sound of the shutter, that I was at 1/15th. And often in difficult light, it is tough to see the needle anyway.
All of which to say it might be good to keep shooting with this camera until you can send the it off and maybe get a CLA. It might cost a bit to repair, but at least if you repair the one you have, and get a CLA, it should be more reliable than one you might purchase.
All of which to say it might be good to keep shooting with this camera until you can send the it off and maybe get a CLA. It might cost a bit to repair, but at least if you repair the one you have, and get a CLA, it should be more reliable than one you might purchase.
LucaM
Newbie
thank you for your reply. I ended up messing a little bit too much with the electromagnet and it's now out of order. thankfully i've found a working XA sold for parts for a reasonable price. i'll swap out the component ans take it from there.