livewire
Contributor
For those of you out there like me who are shooting an Oly 5050, you may have come across an issue in it's now older age where the camera doesn't retain time and date settings (and I think other settings) when you change the battery. This is due to a bad capacitor on one of the print circuit boards internal to the camera. Ordinarily the only way to repair this is to send it back to Olympus and their flat rate is $185. If you're in this boat like me, I have good news for you, as it turns out there are two solutions:
1. Get it fixed FREE by taking advantage of the Olympus service advisory. Olympus posted a service advisory on the 5050 having some issues with gray or purple tone pictures. If your 5050 falls within a certain range of serial numbers, they'll fix it no charge. Call them up, find out if your camera qualifies, they'll fix this issue and the capacitor problem, too. Olympus' phone number is 888-553-4488.
2. Buy a new capacitor online for $9.00 and fix it yourself. Bear in mind that taking apart your camera voids any warranty you might have and there is some risk involved here, BUT, my handy friend, it CAN be done. You'll need small screwdrivers, a soldering iron, maybe a little experience with soldering small items. Thanks to some genius Oly 5050 lovers at dpreview.com below links to pictures with instructions on how to do this!
C-5050 Photo Gallery by Richard Ociepka at pbase.com
The initial disassembly can be a little tricky, so here's another link that can also help you with that:
Replacing C-5050Z Mode Dial
Finally, if you DO take the DIY route, label all your screws and mark where you got them from so you'll be able to re-assemble the camera properly. They're almost all different! And a standard disclaimer: Take your camera apart at your own risk. I take no responsibility if you break it!
1. Get it fixed FREE by taking advantage of the Olympus service advisory. Olympus posted a service advisory on the 5050 having some issues with gray or purple tone pictures. If your 5050 falls within a certain range of serial numbers, they'll fix it no charge. Call them up, find out if your camera qualifies, they'll fix this issue and the capacitor problem, too. Olympus' phone number is 888-553-4488.
2. Buy a new capacitor online for $9.00 and fix it yourself. Bear in mind that taking apart your camera voids any warranty you might have and there is some risk involved here, BUT, my handy friend, it CAN be done. You'll need small screwdrivers, a soldering iron, maybe a little experience with soldering small items. Thanks to some genius Oly 5050 lovers at dpreview.com below links to pictures with instructions on how to do this!
C-5050 Photo Gallery by Richard Ociepka at pbase.com
The initial disassembly can be a little tricky, so here's another link that can also help you with that:
Replacing C-5050Z Mode Dial
Finally, if you DO take the DIY route, label all your screws and mark where you got them from so you'll be able to re-assemble the camera properly. They're almost all different! And a standard disclaimer: Take your camera apart at your own risk. I take no responsibility if you break it!
