Failing E-3

[Brian Small]

My aging E-3 is starting to have back-focusing issues (consistent on all lenses). Are there any tricks that I could try to clear up this issue? Given what E-3s are selling for these days it's hardly worth sending it out to be serviced.
Thanks

[Michael Meissner]

Well, you might try taking your lens off, and using a rocket blower (http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1910...+rocket+blower), try to blow a little air in case some dust is in the AF points. I've seen warnings to not use compressed air cans, as that can damage the sensor.

You might also want to enable single point focus mode, and go through each of the focus points, to see if a particular one is back focusing, or whether they all are. If its only one, possibly select a different AF point.

Another thought is your VF might have become slighly mis-aligned, and you might be able to determine whether you need to manually move the camera slightly in a particular direction to get consistent focus.

Unfortunately, Olympus did not add the tuning option that you could adjust the camera for using lenses if you had front/back focusing until the E-30/E-620 generation.

My E-3 ultimately failed auto focusing, and I sent it in for repair under the extended warranty. It is the only camera I've had where AF failed. However, I don't recall if it was front/back focusing before it failed.

[Godfrey]

My aging E-3 is starting to have back-focusing issues (consistent on all lenses). Are there any tricks that I could try to clear up this issue? Given what E-3s are selling for these days it's hardly worth sending it out to be serviced.
Thanks

I haven't looked at E-3 prices lately, but IIRC Olympus will do an overhaul and service for a flat fee on most of the single digit E-system SLRs these days, and it's not unreasonable (something in the $180 to $225 range, I think). My friend dropped the E-5 I sold him and damaged the LCD; he sent it in, they repaired it and did a complete tune up. When he got it back two weeks later, it seemed like a brand new camera for a trivial amount of money.

G