I have written before that this was my first dream camera. It was the one I wanted when I bought my first camera, a Zenit 11. I couldn’t afford the OM4 at the time. Finally, in 2015, I had the money and the inclination to search for an example. I used it a lot after it arrived, but recently I stopped using it altogether. The camera had developed an issue; the spot metering buttons were no longer responding. They had become less responsive over time until, finally, they didn’t work at all. I had read it was a common issue and could be fixed. Unfortunately, and uncommonly, I was attached to the camera and didn’t want to attempt it myself. I wrote to one of my favoured repairers, but they didn’t service the OM4. I then remembered a friend who was very handy with cameras. He said he would take a look. I have a feeling he might be starting to repair cameras for a fee; if he does, I will share his information here. Until then, he will remain an unnamed friend so he doesn’t get inundated with requests.

A week later, my camera was returned. He sent me some photos and said:

“A significant factor was that one of the two plastic bosses for screwing the circuit board to the underside of the top cover had broken off – probably from the strain of repeated hard presses on the Spot button. The solution was a much longer screw going right the way up into a new hole in the button housing.”

I loaded it immediately with some HP5 and took it on outings to Widnes, Wakefield, Boston Spa, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I loved using it again, though I really need to refresh my knowledge of using it effectively. That is a constant problem when you have too many cameras.

Here are most of my results.

There are a couple of shots which are overexposed because I left the camera on manual by mistake. I left them here as I really like the shot of the pigeons over the pond; shame about the exposure, though.

The band in the photos is the Thingumajigs. I loved them and bought their album on Bandcamp.

A happy post, a fixed camera, and a fantastic soundtrack!

Happy Sunday!!!!

Oh, and expect a few more photo posts over the next few days. I am working through a bag of cameras which I have used recently. I need to sort the bag and store the cameras properly. Here is one camera going back to its favoured location, ready for its next outing.