Is a SCSI device have something to do with optical mirrors?lens?camera lens?

You cannot do that with this model camera. A digital SLR must have the mirror up (Liveview Mode) to expose the sensor to capture video. The mirror is what directs what you see through the lens through the viewfinder.

Sound like the focus screen and frame fell out

I found this camera available for purchase as brand new for $450. Spending nearly $300 to repair an older version may no be a wise choice. You may find there is a market for the camera in its current non-working condition on eBay.

With that said, to your questions. 1) It will be difficult to diagnose without seeing it, but I have a suspicion in mind.

The viewfinder picture is actually what the lens sees, bounced up via mirror to a prism that projects the image to the viewfinder. If the mirror has become dislodged and is stuck in an odd position, the image would not be projected in the viewfinder. You can see the mirror when you remove the lens from the body. The mirror should be centered in the opening but at about a 45 degree angle. If it is loose or otherwise in the wrong place, this could be the problem. If the mirror is stuck and preventing the image in the lens from projecting on the sensor (behind the mirror) no capture will be possible. Other than the optics inside the lens and the mirror, there are few parts that could obstruct the image in the lens from reaching the viewfinder. Is the aperture of the lens open? If not, there may not be enough light to see the image in the viewfinder. This would also indicate that the lens is not opening up to let you see, and may not get set to the correct aperture when taking a picture. The camera usually opens the aperture to allow you to have a nice, bright image in the viewfinder. When you press the shutter release, the lens stops down to what the program says (or your manual selection) and the mirror lifts up out of the way, and the shutter fires.

2) Can you fix it? Maybe. Again, without seeing it - its hard to know for sure what the problem is and I don't know your level of skill either.

My suggestion is to bypass the camera shop that "doesn't know what the problem is but will fix it for $270" (how is that even possible??) and deal directly with Olympus USA Service and Support by phone or email to get an estimate / factory trained tech perform the repair.

Good luck!

You can remove the lens and clean the mirror very carefully. This will not affect the image quality of the captured photo-- since the lens flips up and the image is transferred directly to the sensor.

The lens has probably got something in the retraction mechanism that is stopping it retracting. This can be something as simple as sand or grit or as a result of a drop or knock. In most cases the camera will need to be stripped apart to remove the lens assy before it can be repaired. This is best left to a professional camera repair shop.

For the very brave only! I had this problem on a Powershot a480 - lens error, restart camera, but the lens refused to budge. repair quotes were ridiculous, so, with nothing to lose, I carefully removed the back. Then the front. Not an easy job, not knowing where or how things were fastened. I couldn't see any obvious major problem, but figured the fault was something to do with the lens, and noticed the small motor drive had an optical sensor on the shaft, so I gently rotated it with a pin. It felt a little sticky, but did rotate, so I replaced the batteries and hit the on/off button. Surprise! It worked. Put it all back together, checking that things were still working as I went, and it seems to be fine. I don't know how long it will last. I would suspect that the camera had either suffered a bump, or maybe switched off at the wrong time, which caused the optical sensor thing to stop at an inopportune moment, putting it out of sync somehow. Took me about 2 hours to dismantle it, not really knowing what I was doing, and about 15 minutes to get it back together again.

there is a locking ring you have to remove and then the front optic may fall out if it sticks you may need to heat up the barrel that might work

Hey needacamera,
The range of an optical zoom lens refers to how wide angle to telephoto the lens covers. An example of a 6x optical zoom would be an 18mm-108mm lens, which covers wide angle to telephoto. An example of a 3x zoom lens would be an 18mm-54mm lens, which would provide a capability of capturing images from wide angle to normal views. To calculate the x factor of an optical zoom you would divide the largest number by the smallest number on your zoom. I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

The interface IC ( between the main CPU and the CCD sensor ) seems faulty . Camera should go to the Pentax agents unfortunately.