Home / Common repairs / Metering & CdS cell
Olympus XA series repair
Metering problems and long exposures
If the shutter stays open too long in daylight, or the XA's needle doesn't move, the CdS light cell or its solder joints are usually at fault.
Common symptoms
- Long, slow shutter in bright light, or the shake-warning LED stays on
- The XA's viewfinder needle doesn't move or reads well off a known-good meter
- Consistently over- or under-exposed negatives
What can be done
Some cells come back with cleaning and re-soldering, then an adjustment of the metering trimmers against a reference meter.
New replacement CdS cells are no longer made, so not every CdS fault can be fixed. I'm working on a replacement solution. If your camera has a CdS problem, get in touch and we can talk through the options.
Email me your camera model, its serial number and what it’s doing. I’ll reply with a diagnostic fee and an estimate before you ship. No work starts until you approve the written quote.
Get in touch