The site moderator asked the question; " Is the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens Fragile?"
The answer, unfortunately, is YES. The lens may be weatherproofed but it's too fragile to survive normal use.
The plastic lens frame/housing which is breaking in these lenses is not repairable and must be replaced requiring complete disassembly as shown in btw's photos. The plastic frame itself is probably as cheap as dirt, but the disassembly and complete rebuild of the lens to install a new housing evidently costs about $130. This repair should ONLY be done by Olympus, at their factory, in a dust-free environment with ALL the proper tools and instruments to adjust & check it's accuracy. And it should be done at no charge to the consumer.
When repairs are completed, the questions about it's fragility remain.
If I am correct in my evaluation, Olympus will need to redesign the lens mount/frame/housing. I would hope that Oly changes it's specs for the material used to form the frame/lens housing. I am not impressed with plastics in a critical structural function. It even appears weak, and if we are honest with ourselves, most of us are probably shocked to see how poorly this lens is constructed. It resembles a custom home, attached to its footer with just a few Tap-con screws. Beautiful until the wind blows it away.
I would not blame Oly's engineers and designers for this . . . they are among the best in the world. This looks like the handiwork of marketing and bean-counters. Using plastic for such a critical function would NEVER occur to an engineer.
The auto-focus system is hogging up space where there should be structure, so much in fact, that the designers couldn't even use 6 attachment screws rather than 4, (which might have helped). Not only are the plastic bosses too few, too small and too brittle, but plastics, in general, are known to deteriorate and change dimensionally over time, shrinking, cracking, and becoming more brittle, etc. In other words, this lens will grow increasingly fragile as it's structural plastic decomposes. Unlike Titanium or brass.
I would be willing to pay a couple hundred dollars more (for a Titanium lens housing rather than plastic), just for the confidence that the lens would be rugged enough to withstand ordinary use. My Pany 35-100mm f2.8 cost $1500. Most PRO zoom lenses cost much more than this. Olympus may be trying too hard to shave cost and weight by sacrificing quality to get to a certain price point.
In an earlier post I referred to this unfortunate development as a "fiasco". My sloppy use of that word was immediately challenged. Actually, it is beginning to look more like a full scale disaster. Even as Olympus continues to say nothing, owners of broken lenses are beginning to speak out in fora and in buyer reviews. This has the markings of a Public Relations disaster for Olympus and for the m43 system. My fear is that Olympus has shown a lack of corporate wisdom in the past and will not have the wisdom to navigate through this setback. If Oly decides that profitability is king, (rather than customer satisfaction or Corporate reputation) then this will be worse than a mere fiasco.
