Repairing Olympus 14-42mm R (bad cable? instruction?)

Hi,

My friend's lens, already off warranty. The cameras won't properly recognize the lens, they either see as it is not extend or not recognize the lens at all. Olympus Thailand said it probably the bad cable and wants to charge a lot for fixing it (~$180!). So, I'd like to try fixing it for her. Any suggestion?

markintosh13 wrote:

Does the camera recognize other lenses?

Have you checked the pins / cleaned the lens contacts?

I would buy a replacement (if I really used a kit lens very much, which I don't) off ebay for about $50 - 70 usd before bothering with off-warranty work at those rates. Given that the lens seems to add only about $50 to the price of a body...

Maybe this is a good excuse to go lens shopping.

Heck. . . I'm using this as an excuse to go lens shopping for myself.  

John_of_LA wrote:

Hi,

My friend's lens, already off warranty. The cameras won't properly recognize the lens, they either see as it is not extend or not recognize the lens at all. Olympus Thailand said it probably the bad cable and wants to charge a lot for fixing it (~$180!). So, I'd like to try fixing it for her. Any suggestion?

Sure you can try to fix it by yourself. Buying a new or used replacement lens is not very expensive.

Sorry to say, but I do not think you can fix the problem. It could be a faulty cable, and it could be faulty identification chip (at the end of the cable). Anyway, you need spare part.

But, if you can find a aftermarket chip and cable for the lens, things look different.

If you're going to throw it out anyway, you might try opening the rear end with a #00 Philips screwdriver (put it on a paper plate first to reduce loss of screws) and see if any of the flex cable connectors have popped up and released the flex contacts.  Be careful - those flex cables tear easily - try not to panic when you see how tiny everything is, and get your tweezers.  Of course, try cleaning the contacts first before opening anything.