I just posted this experience over at DPR, because I thought I had seen a reference to a similar experience there. Just in case anyone here can offer some insight... I've noticed that sometimes my E-P3 becomes partially unresponsive. Some buttons work, some don't. Turning off/on doesn't help. Removing, reinserting battery doesn't help. The only thing that consistently cures the problem is removing the VF-2 (It's hard to use the word 'consistently' when it has happened so infrequently!) In the week I've had it, the problem has only come up 3 times. At first I just thought I had accidentally put it in a mode where it was expecting me to do something, but I'm now convinced that isn't the case: there just aren't any such 'modes' that can't be cleared with power down/up. I haven't found any way to repeat the problem - it just happens sometimes. Anyone else had this issue? Maybe it's my unit - or my VF-2. Or a FW bug.
Mystery Solved...it is a FW bug. Got the following response from Andy Westlake at DPR: "The E-P3 has a bug when using the VF-2 which is related to the touchscreen - if you touch the screen while shooting with the EVF, the buttons won't respond (despite the display itself being turned off). The reason why it manifests as strangely intermittant is because the contact is usually with your nose, and therefore depends entirely on how you're holding the camera and what control you're using. Once you know this, it's easy enough to 'unlock' the camera by moving it away from your nose. If you want to prevent it completely, you can disable the touch screen (Custom J menu, 'Touch Screen Settings' to 'Off'), and perhaps store this as a MyMode for EVF use. (Note this isn't the same thing as turning touch focus and shutter off using the little touch button, which won't work.) The good news is that Olympus are fully aware of this bug, so hopefully it willl be fixed via a FW update soon." A big relief! Mystery solved.
I actually noticed the same thing yesterday, but it didn't occur to me that it was related to the touch-screen. I just tried it by just turning off the touchscreen AF or AF/shutter but that doesn't solve the problem - I guess you have to fully disable the touchscreen in the menu, which would be a minor PIA every time you want to use the VF2. I would think this should be a very simple FW fix so that anytime the VF2 is turned on, the touchscreen would be automatically disabled (perhaps except in review mode, which is where the picture shows up anyway). In any case, thanks for the explanation. I may take the camera to the baseball game tonight and I'd be using a telephoto and the VF2, so I'd probably have gotten very frustrated with it in that situation. I'm not using the touchscreen that much anyway, so I think I'll just disable it for a while. -Ray
Good question, Art. Not sure why not. Obviously there'd be a hit to batter life, but the question remains. Not been a problem for me, as I'm happy with a simple press of the VF-2 button to switch. The GH2 solution is the most elegant: eye sensor.
Wow, Thank you Tom I'd already got the dealer to send a returns package - I though it must be an issue with the VF2 - it was happening to me all the time - every time I used the VF2 . . . . . and I've only a small (but perfectly formed) nose! all the best
lol. EVF + Touchscreen = Conflict. It's obvious when you realize it, but that's not something I would have thought of! I guess this is good incentive for Olympus to implement the automatic sensor to switch between EVF and OLED screen, like the Panasonics used to have.
Now I know it's so totally obvious - nose touching screen and thumb dial doesn't work - take nose off screen and it does - it doesn't really need turning off in the menus once you're aware of the parameters.
