So I have a long tradition of destroying Olympus cameras. Everything from a C740 point & shoot to an E-410 dslr, and now... an E-P1.
So I was going out motorbiking and I wanted to take my camera with me. Unlike my previous bike (2003 R6) this new one (2007 R6) has a tiny tiny trunk... it's not big enough for my camera. As a result, I made sure I tied the camera bag down tight to my back seat. I had the velcro strap locked in and clipped in the 2 D rings on the side of the bag as well. There was pretty much no way the camera bag was coming off the seat.
So after riding around for over an hours, possibly on some quite bump and rough terrain, and possibly going a little faster than the posted speed limit and inflicting slightly above average swinging and tossing motions to the camera & camera bag.... As I come around one corner I felt and heard something that just was not right... Sure enough there was no way the camera bag was coming off my bike. The camera itself however, had made it's way out of the bag. The little E-P1 went straight while me and my bike took the corner. The guy behind me said it looked like I threw a can of pop across the road, it bounced and spun and skidded.
I went back to pick up the remains. Surprisingly enough it wasn't nearly as destoryed as the E-410 although admittedly the E-410 was run over by about 1000 cars before I was able to retrieve it - or more likely ignore the remains.


The battery cover had been ripped out and flung some where in the bushes. The battery was gone (but I have a spare), the SD card I found lying near by.
The lens had separated between all the layers and as you can see is missing the outer most ring.
So... I push the sd card back in, I put in another battery, I push the lens back together (yes highly technical and delicate lens repair). And guess what, it actually works. There actually appears to be nothing electronically wrong. So... I might just have to check ebay for some parts to try and fix the battery hook so the battery stays in - no one needs a battery cover
That does bring a bigger issue into my mind though. I love the E-P1 but, I'm not a photographer nor do I really "take pictures" I always just take snap-shots of my own moments to help explain and share with my friends. Most of the pictures I take and upload to this site is more or less just practising photography so I can get better - i.e. I have no real love or attachment to the subject being photo-ed nor the photo itself. As a matter of fact most of the photos I've uploaded here I don't even save in my personal set of pictures. In all honesty I bought my first camera to take pictures of ... my motorbike
(you wouldn't understand unless you're a motorbiker) and all this practise is so I can take better motorbike and snowboarding pictures
.
So... if I can't really take my m43 camera with me motorbiking... and I already know I can't take it snowboarding... and I can't take it into the water surfing nor scuba diving... then the reality is I can't take a m43 camera anywhere where I want to actually take photos.
Now if that's true... then why don't I just buy an olympus Tough 8010... which I've been eyeing for the last 4 months already... and get out of the m43 system all together. I know a lot of the answer is image quality and manual controls... but the point still is, if I can't take my m43 camera on excursions where I want to take photos...
I guess this is just me thinking out loud. We already know that the best camera is the one which you have with you - and isn't broken
. It pains me to think that pragmatically speaking I have no use for a m43 camera... because I want one.
P.S. does anyone know where I can get a spare plastic hook and or battery hatch? the plastic hook is just screwed on so if I could get another that's easily replaced, the hatch is just clippped on so it's just as easy to replace too... ebay has no scrap e-p1 parts...
So I was going out motorbiking and I wanted to take my camera with me. Unlike my previous bike (2003 R6) this new one (2007 R6) has a tiny tiny trunk... it's not big enough for my camera. As a result, I made sure I tied the camera bag down tight to my back seat. I had the velcro strap locked in and clipped in the 2 D rings on the side of the bag as well. There was pretty much no way the camera bag was coming off the seat.
So after riding around for over an hours, possibly on some quite bump and rough terrain, and possibly going a little faster than the posted speed limit and inflicting slightly above average swinging and tossing motions to the camera & camera bag.... As I come around one corner I felt and heard something that just was not right... Sure enough there was no way the camera bag was coming off my bike. The camera itself however, had made it's way out of the bag. The little E-P1 went straight while me and my bike took the corner. The guy behind me said it looked like I threw a can of pop across the road, it bounced and spun and skidded.

I went back to pick up the remains. Surprisingly enough it wasn't nearly as destoryed as the E-410 although admittedly the E-410 was run over by about 1000 cars before I was able to retrieve it - or more likely ignore the remains.


The battery cover had been ripped out and flung some where in the bushes. The battery was gone (but I have a spare), the SD card I found lying near by.
The lens had separated between all the layers and as you can see is missing the outer most ring.
So... I push the sd card back in, I put in another battery, I push the lens back together (yes highly technical and delicate lens repair). And guess what, it actually works. There actually appears to be nothing electronically wrong. So... I might just have to check ebay for some parts to try and fix the battery hook so the battery stays in - no one needs a battery cover
That does bring a bigger issue into my mind though. I love the E-P1 but, I'm not a photographer nor do I really "take pictures" I always just take snap-shots of my own moments to help explain and share with my friends. Most of the pictures I take and upload to this site is more or less just practising photography so I can get better - i.e. I have no real love or attachment to the subject being photo-ed nor the photo itself. As a matter of fact most of the photos I've uploaded here I don't even save in my personal set of pictures. In all honesty I bought my first camera to take pictures of ... my motorbike

So... if I can't really take my m43 camera with me motorbiking... and I already know I can't take it snowboarding... and I can't take it into the water surfing nor scuba diving... then the reality is I can't take a m43 camera anywhere where I want to actually take photos.
Now if that's true... then why don't I just buy an olympus Tough 8010... which I've been eyeing for the last 4 months already... and get out of the m43 system all together. I know a lot of the answer is image quality and manual controls... but the point still is, if I can't take my m43 camera on excursions where I want to take photos...
I guess this is just me thinking out loud. We already know that the best camera is the one which you have with you - and isn't broken
P.S. does anyone know where I can get a spare plastic hook and or battery hatch? the plastic hook is just screwed on so if I could get another that's easily replaced, the hatch is just clippped on so it's just as easy to replace too... ebay has no scrap e-p1 parts...