In a message dated 7/27/99 8:29:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Tim_Grange@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> am still not wholly convinced I wish to spend (or can afford) the
> --------------------
>
> £450 minimum
> needed in the UK to buy a user condition OM4Ti. I'm tempted to go for a
good
> example OM4, provided I find one where the battery drain is manageable. Am
I
> right in thinking that some examples are better than others, or should
they
> all
> be tarred with the same brush (those modified with Ti circuit boards
> excepted)?
Tim,
Sometimes I feel that the problems with battery drain in the OM-4 are a bit
overstated. I suspect most of th ebad ones have been weeded out already
(although you need to be wary of people trying to pawn their junk on you). I
get a minimum of 6 months out of a set of 357's in my OM-4 (with my OM-2S,
maybe a little less, but I use the -2S more for flash, and it has the green
LED). To quote John H (hope you don't mind, John):
"A 4 must go through the entire "meter on" cycle with ammeter leads attached
before drain can be measured. Use a quality DVM that will read microamps
accurately. Plus lead to battery, negative lead clipped to lens mount.
Make sure ss dial is not on mechanical B or 60. While holding plus lead to
top of battery sitting in battery box, in one continuous motion, push meter
switch to battery check and then immediately to auto.
Now you must wait 90 seconds (not sure) for the meter to turn off
automatically. You'll know the meter turns off by the sudden drop in your
ammeter reading. Thgis last reading is your idle or standby drain.
A high drain 4 will be around 35 micro amps (Or .035 milli amps). A better
4 is 10 microamps or less."
I suspect if the drain on an OM-4 looks OK based on John's test, it is a low
risk buying the camera.
Paul Schings
Coventry, Rhode Island USA
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