Hurts almost as bad as breaking a pen... camera death

[KBeezie]

^ Great photo! I love the design of the Pilot MR Rex. It's rather simplistic/minimalist, so the marbled background is a nice contrast. Excellent lighting too.

I used to own an Olympus OM-10. It was a terrific camera for its day. The digital world turned everything upside down. Far more sophisticated programming involved. Very surprised to hear what happened to your E-M5. I would think that such a catastrophic failure would give Olympus good reason to replace the camera.

I'm still lugging around an old Olympus C-8080, which has endured plenty of abuse and still works. But it's tired... and only 8MP. I need to get a new camera and had been toying with going DSLR. Then started to hear about these new mirrorless cameras. I think the C-8080 may have a primitive version of that, because both the viewfinder and back panel displays are direct LED.

The E-M5 looks to be discontinued by Olympus. Does the E-M10 replace it?

The E-M5 Mk 2 replaces it (though not a huge difference other than a 40 megapixel mode that requires a tripod, and has a fully articulated LCD screen).

Also similarly the E-M10 Mk 2 replaces the E-M10.

Of the O-MD line, the E-M1 is the top of the line, the E-M5 is middle, and E-M10 is the low end of that line (more consumer oriented, especially as it's wifi and smartphone connectable).

The two major difference that makes me choose the E-M5 over the E-M10 is : 5-axis Image Stabilization instead of 3-axis, and a Weather sealed body (the E-M10 doesn't have this).

A lot of my camera club friends (myself included) have switched to the Olympus/Panasonic micro 4/3rds system. Most of us have went with either the E-M5 or E-M10 as our primary camera. The only problem to date is one had a strap lug come loose. My back loves the camera system, the bag with all it's toys weighs eight pounds compared to 30 pounds with equivalent lenses in my Nikon bag. Hopefully they can fix it at a low cost. If so, I would consider trading it for the Mark II since yours has had two shutter box issues.

For kicks, I have used my Leica 35mm lens with an adapter. I just wish it were a 35mm angle of view instead of 70. It was my favorite Leica lens. Panasonic makes lenses under Leica's guidelines and uses that knowledge on their own branded lenses. I think they edge out Olympus in the lens department but both are very good lenses.

The flat rate out-of-warranty repair price right now for an E-M5 (mk1) is $168 (including return shipping).

The lug strap issue seemed to be specific to the black coated E-M5.

[pepsiplease69]

You have some awesome pictures.

If I was in your spot I'd try to find someone who fixes cameras and deals in the used market.

Sending it off to olympus or a fancy place would be too costly.

We have a used camera show/market that convenes in the Bay Area (SF, Hayward, San Jose) and if I'd take it there I might find someone who was willing to fix it.

It does seem though that this is more like a mechanical issue rather than the circuitry getting fried.

At the Hayward show I see tons of vendors who would maybe even want to buy it off you for parts because they are repairers.

Maybe you could find something like that in your area. Cliff and Faith in Las Vegas are probably the first people I'd call. And a lot more folks at the show as mentioned.

[KBeezie]

You have some awesome pictures.

If I was in your spot I'd try to find someone who fixes cameras and deals in the used market.

Sending it off to olympus or a fancy place would be too costly.

We have a used camera show/market that convenes in the Bay Area (SF, Hayward, San Jose) and if I'd take it there I might find someone who was willing to fix it.

It does seem though that this is more like a mechanical issue rather than the circuitry getting fried.

At the Hayward show I see tons of vendors who would maybe even want to buy it off you for parts because they are repairers.

Maybe you could find something like that in your area. Cliff and Faith in Las Vegas are probably the first people I'd call. And a lot more folks at the show as mentioned.

Given the nature of it (and it is an electronically shutter not a mechanical one) any local place is going to just send it off, and tack on an extra charge on top of Olympus' cost.

I can always look around but even among most of the micro-4/3rd and olympus based forums, they all agree that sending to olympus is the best route due to the cost (under 200) and because for that price they don't just repair the part at fault, but they basically do a whole refurb of the camera and include a 6 month repair warranty.

PS: The replacement body is here, an E-M5 of the same silver color, but much 'fresher' as it seems barely used, with about 2,400 shutter clicks on it. A May, 2013 model (my previous is a 2012) that was was part of a 12-50 lens bundle since he shipped it in the original box, he probably purchased the kit and just stuck the black lens onto a black body, and kept the flash unit (which I already have) So far everything checks out and there's no damage code listed on page 4 of the hidden menu.

This will allow me to continue doing what I do while evaluating my options with the broken one, I still have my 5 year old e-P3 that works as a backup even though I racked up over 34,000 shutter clicks on it. Ideally if I take on a job it'll be good to have both of the newer bodies.

[pepsiplease69]

My mirrorless sony Nex-5n has an electronic first curtain and a mechanical second curtain which emits the loud clunk.

I was thinking your olympus was the same way and maybe some mechanical component just ceased up amid the actuation.

But it sounds like sending it to Olympus might not be such a bad deal if they are going to service the entire unit at that cost.

Well. Good luck with everything.
Let us know how it all worked out for you.

[KBeezie]

The replacement I purchased in the meantime arrived earlier today, took it out for some testing, felt pretty new, buttons all springy and mount crisp/firm, etc.

So probably in a couple weeks I'll send in the other one once I am confident I'll have enough in paypal or card to cover the charge when they're done.


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[KBeezie]

And tried out my usual long exposure and infrared photography today.
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[ac12]

Glad you got a replacement.
My Nikon D70, went out one me, and I've been limping by with my Canon P&S for about a year. I finally got a D7200
I handled the Olympus cameras at the camera shop. The Olympus rep was there and gave me good info on the camera. It was much LIGHTER and smaller than both my old Nikon D70 and my new D7200. It was really tempting to switch systems for the lighter weight. My aging back would really like a lighter kit.