This camera was in a right state when I found it. The seals had disintegrated, the batteries had been left in the compartment and leaked so badly I struggled to get them out. I spent ages cleaning out the compartment with vinegar and other things, but nothing I did would make the flash work again. Even the skin was in an awful state. So after trying to fix the flash I got to work on the skin and seals.

After all that, it didn’t look too bad. This was the last half frame camera Olympus released, in 1981. You can read more than I care to write at this great website. It is a real point and shoot. No zoning. There is a red flag that pops up and stops the shutter in low and high light situations and this one’s seemed to work as expected.

Now clean and tidy..did it work. I was expecting the shutter blades to be jammed or the speeds to be off. Here is the film I shot.

It worked great. I scanned the photos a bit dark, but other than that they are sharp and generally well exposed.

So, keep or sell? I can’t bring myself to keep something that doesn’t quite work. Every time I use it I will hear a little voice going, “The flash doesn’t work, the flash doesn’t work”. I put it on eBay and noticed all the other EFs listed say the flash doesn’t work either. I think I will stick to my PEN EE2, which apparently I have not tested yet as it is not on this blog….too many cameras alert!

Oh and here is another person who likes Olympus too.