Dead E-M5 Mark III

[Mack]

Bad luck!

Does sound like a hardware failure. If it's software related, Olympus should be posting something soon on their firmware update page for the E-M5 III which is absent so far.

 

[n3eg]

Well, the title says it all. My brand new E-M5 Mk III lasted 2 days. I took the battery out to charge it, once full put it back in but the camera won’t turn on anymore . I tried with 3 batteries all of them work fine with my E-M10. Is there any hard reset or something I can try before returning it? Maybe it is worth to mention I set the Fn lever to work as power switch.

I'll be watching this closely. I also plan to set the Fn lever as a power switch.

 

[animanic]

I had no plan to use it as power switch but the other functions available were of no use for me. And the Fn lever itself feels sturdier than the power switch and is so easily accessible so I thought it will be better to lose one useless function and use it as power switch.

 

[n3eg]

I had no plan to use it as power switch but the other functions available were of no use for me.

That was one of the "surprise" features that I found in a review. I never liked the power switch on the "wrong" side of the E-M5 II because I do a lot of one-handed shooting (another reason I like micro four thirds.) On the E-M5 II I had it set up for video/still mode switching.

 

[MichailK]

I had no plan to use it as power switch but the other functions available were of no use for me. And the Fn lever itself feels sturdier than the power switch and is so easily accessible so I thought it will be better to lose one useless function and use it as power switch.

when doing so, the original power switch lever changes function as well or is just redundant? if tripped does it cause an ON or OFF to take place?

 

[werephotographers]

sounds like excessive power draw by the cr@pped out memory card during power up

I believe you are correct!!


Lazarus seems more likely!

 

[animanic]

when doing so, the original power switch lever changes function as well or is just redundant? if tripped does it cause an ON or OFF to take place?

Neither. It doesn’t do anything

 

[pake]

Neither. It doesn’t do anything

What a waste...

 

[animanic]

Here’s the promised update- I got a new body, the lens is the same. As I understand the store has no direct contact with Olympus so no chance of getting any info about the issue.

 

[saladin]

And it was not on the em5 mkiii only it happens on my old em10 too.

So they didn't replace the lens? Hopefully it all works as it should for you.

 

[animanic]

No I didn’t mention anything about the lens as I was not sure if it has any problem. And later I found other people describing the same behavior so I guess it is fine.

 

[Armand Di Meo]

This is one of the risks of buying a product, especially a car or a camera, when it first comes out. I usually wait at least six months to give them a chance to iron out all the bugs. The price usually goes down too.

 

[KBeezie]

Hi and welcome,

you can try the procedure at http://www.ayton.id.au/wiki/doku.php?id=photo:olympusem5_reset

Not sure how a hard reset will work if the LCD doesn't even come on when you turn it on (I pulled out my dead E-M5 Mk1 just to try since it's been without a battery in it for almost a year), only thing that will happen in my case if I hold "OK" , the LED amber in front will flash in two blink intervals.

 

[hoggdoc]

Neither. It doesn’t do anything

Is the original power switch programmable to another function after the change?

 

[hoggdoc]

Here’s the promised update- I got a new body, the lens is the same. As I understand the store has no direct contact with Olympus so no chance of getting any info about the issue.

You didn't mention if the new body is working as designed?

 

[animanic]

Hello. The new body is working fine for now
And no, the original power switch is not programmable. It becomes non-functional once you set the Fn switch as power switch.

 

[pake]

This is one of the risks of buying a product, especially a car or a camera, when it first comes out. I usually wait at least six months to give them a chance to iron out all the bugs. The price usually goes down too.

I have been waiting for the new main camera for 4-5 years already so waiting a few more months was out of the question. Even if it meant paying more (for nothing). ´Sometimes the risk is worth taking.

 

[Ross the fiddler]

Yes I tried another lenses, also tried without lens. I tried the hard reset procedure and it didn’t work. I left the battery out during the night and it didn’t help too. But yeah software glitch was one of my first thoughts (and my hope).
I made a little experiment- I drained a bit one of the batteries, put it back and connected the camera to usb charger. The led lit and I guess it means it started charging. Then tried both the power lever and the Fn lever. Both stopped the charging so I guess it means the levers are fine.


No it’s not the ibis, I know the humming sound that it makes. The noise I’m talking about was just like an old hard disk - “scratching” and “rattling”. And it was not on the em5 mkiii only it happens on my old em10 too.

I’m heading to the camera store in an hour and will keep you updated. But I’m afraid they had only preordered cameras so I doubt they’ll give me replacement today.

The lens sound could be from "Anti-Flicker"setting in the camera where it is the sound of the aperture blades frequently changing settings. It's a function of the camera setting, not the lens.

 

[RAH]

I have been waiting for the new main camera for 4-5 years already so waiting a few more months was out of the question.

I thought for sure you were going to say "I have been waiting for the new main camera for 4-5 years already so waiting a few more months was not out of the question."! I am in the same boat but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Waiting 6 months is definitely too much for me, but I am thinking about say February just so some of the bugs will have been reported.

 

[pake]

I thought for sure you were going to say "I have been waiting for the new main camera for 4-5 years already so waiting a few more months was not out of the question."! I am in the same boat but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Waiting 6 months is definitely too much for me, but I am thinking about say February just so some of the bugs will have been reported.

Yeah. That would have been the more sensible option but enough is enough. I'm done waiting, The package should arrive any second now and I'm constantly looking through the window to see if the postal guy has arrived.