Olympus E-M1 issues - shutter????

[pcrit]

I bought a brand new E-M1 a few months ago and have used it maybe 5 times due to time restraints. I remember shooting some portraits about a month ago where it kind of froze up (for lack of a better description) and I shut it off and powered back on and it was fine and continued shooting. Well I was shooting yesterday at the zoo really trying it out and believe I had a 75-300mm Oly lens on it and was zoomed all the way out and it totally froze and the image was stuck on the EVF and no buttons would respond or no affect pressing the shutter again. I powered back off and on again - the image was still there and I was able to shoot fine the rest of the day. I am wondering if I should send it in for repair as this does not seem normal. I have owned close to twenty different cameras (mostly Nikon DSLRs) and never experienced anything like this. I am going to update the firmware and see if that helps.

On a side note I also noticed battery life is really short, shot for maybe 150 frames all through the EVF w/ no flash and powered off between most of the shots and had to replace a full new battery. This seemed really low to me.

 

[lightmonkey]

sounds similar but better than the problem i had. sent mine for repair. its very anecdotal - no conclusions should be made on my account - but across multiple cameras and brands, ive had 2 olympus OMDs and theyve both needed repair, where none of the other enthusiast-prosumer (sony, fuji, canon) ever had a problem

 

[pdk42]

Here in the UK, there are several threads related to E-M1 lock-ups on the E Systems Group forum:

http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29612
http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31948

From casual observation (I don't have an E- M1), it seems that the latest firmware has improved things (v1.3).

 

[pcrit]

Thanks for the advice and I have been very fortunate and had one issue with an older Nikon D2x with the shutter but I expect that after years. This is a new camera and I can't chance problems so will probably send it in once I buy an E-M10 for backup/second body.

 

[pcrit]

lightmonkey - was it fine after repair from Olympus????

 

[pdk42]

Thanks for the advice and I have been very fortunate and had one issue with an older Nikon D2x with the shutter but I expect that after years. This is a new camera and I can't chance problems so will probably send it in once I buy an E-M10 for backup/second body.

I think the problems are software related and may now be resolved. I think the vast majority of users are very happy with them. For that matter, I've had a couple of lockups with my E-M5 (approx 1 a year!). These things are complex embedded computers!

 

[lombardispot]

Did you update your firmware?

 

[pcrit]

Not yet and plan to do so this week and test out as much as I can. I am hoping it's okay and I won't have to send it back for repair and agree that it's much more complex. I like the camera a lot but won't pay that much for something that doesn't work correctly either.

 

[heli-mech]

Check your shutter delay setting. If its set for quick (or fast, can't remember the term used) then it says right in the manual any bumps could lock up the camera. Also that same setting can reduce battery life.

 

[lightmonkey]

lightmonkey - was it fine after repair from Olympus????

i expected mine to return today (!) but its not here,so ill know tomorrow probably

 

[heli-mech]

Found it:

Custom Menu C, Setting: Release Lag time (options Short or Normal)

Warning in manual: (if set to Short)

This will shorten the battery life. Also make sure that the camera is not subject to sharp
impacts while in use. Such impacts may cause the monitor to stop displaying subjects. If
this happens, turn the power off and on again.

 

[pcrit]

Thanks so much and I will check the settings and change. I know it didn't bump anything as I am so careful with my gear.

 

[jnewell]

Check your shutter delay setting. If its set for quick (or fast, can't remember the term used) then it says right in the manual any bumps could lock up the camera. Also that same setting can reduce battery life.

Thanks for that and the follow-up post.

FWIW, it seems that the reports on the UK site have gone way, way down after installation of firmware v.1.3, although it's too soon to really conclude that v.1.3 addressed the lockup issue.

 

[pcrit]

I just did the update so we'lll see what happens. I will keep this updated.

 

[jnewell]

Found it:

Custom Menu C, Setting: Release Lag time (options Short or Normal)

Warning in manual: (if set to Short)

This will shorten the battery life. Also make sure that the camera is not subject to sharp
impacts while in use. Such impacts may cause the monitor to stop displaying subjects. If
this happens, turn the power off and on again.

Changing the default to 'short' seems like a no-brainer, but with those potential side effects, I have decided to leave mine at 'normal.'

 

[bredman]

Such impacts may cause the monitor to stop displaying subjects. If
this happens, turn the power off and on again.

Just to clarify things, the lock ups that have plagued many EM1 owners can not be rectified by turning the power off and on again. Only after the removal of the battery can the control of the camera be regained -- awkward when the battery pack is on. The lock ups seem totally random, but for mine the majority were when using CAF with low burst rate, but that probably means nothing.

Speaking with Olympus' techs repeatedly they informed me that each firmware update had attempted fixes, so i hope the latest got it, as it has been observed, the lock up reports seem to have died off somewhat since 1.3.

 

[pcrit]

Thanks for that advice, I never had to remove the battery but I do recall powering on/off to resolve it getting frozen maybe 2-3 times since using it with maybe 500 shots so far. I hope it's fixed with the firmware and not something else.

Just to clarify things, the lock ups that have plagued many EM1 owners can not be rectified by turning the power off and on again. Only after the removal of the battery can the control of the camera be regained -- awkward when the battery pack is on. The lock ups seem totally random, but for mine the majority were when using CAF with low burst rate, but that probably means nothing.

Speaking with Olympus' techs repeatedly they informed me that each firmware update had attempted fixes, so i hope the latest got it, as it has been observed, the lock up reports seem to have died off somewhat since 1.3.

 

[OzRay]

Sometimes the problem can be related to the memory card. I had problems with my E-1 with one card which caused camera lockup, and always the same card, until I twigged to what was going on. After ditching that card, I never had a lockup problem again. Formatting the card in-camera or on a PC made no difference, there was something corrupt with the card that caused issues.

 

[gems]

Has anybody experienced more lock ups since upgrading to 1.3? Since upgrading, I've had a lot more lock ups.


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