white blobs in view finder after rain 1.2

[Imjinman]

Hi

I have just been away and took my camera out in the light rain. I noticed that evening (I was camping and so no radical temp changes) that there were white blobs in the view finder. By the morning they had disappeared.

Should I be worried? I had assumed the weatherproofing on the OMD 1.2 would prevent this?

Thank you!

BC

 

[archaeopteryx]

It's probably a good idea to review whatever you're doing for post-rain drying and look for ways to reach lower humidity. Checking readily visible seals may not be a bad idea but I have suspicion there might not be an obvious issue.

An underappreciated aspect of weather sealing is it keeps moisture in as well as out. Some amount of leaking is inevitable and there's no way of avoiding internal condensation when temperatures within a camera drop below its dewpoint. Since the move to weather sealing is still kind of recent-ish there isn't good data on the implications for long term reliability (and, given the nature of the issue, it wouldn't surprise me if there never is). However, I'm not aware of any ILC manufacturer indicating they've given any consideration to sealing's dual-sided nature and designed for increases in internal humidity.

For as much as Olympus hypes their sealing's ability to keep water out it's probably not in their interest to mention this corollary. If they anticipate eventual humidity-related failures will lead to new camera sales it also wouldn't be in their interest to avoid them.

 

[Imjinman]

It's probably a good idea to review whatever you're doing for post-rain drying and look for ways to reach lower humidity. Checking readily visible seals may not be a bad idea but I have suspicion there might not be an obvious issue.

Thank you- not as straight forward as I'd thought. Might get my camera checked out/serviced by Olumpus

 

[Ghostbuggy]

I wish I could help, but I've never even heard of such an issue before elsewhere, so I'm not sure what caused these "blobs". There was a somewhat uncommon problem on the E-M1 Mark I with bright yellow blobs, however these were caused by direct sunlight into the EVF, which in combination with stronger diopter settings caused the light to burn the EVF panel, the blobs were actually permanent. The issue was solved in later cameras, beginning with the E-M5 Mark II.

I'd at least try to contact Olympus / OMD about the issue and see what they have to say.

 

[Imjinman]

I'd at least try to contact Olympus / OMD about the issue and see what they have to say.

Thank you- I'll do that

 

[Ghostbuggy]

I don't know how Olympus does service in Australia, but at least here in Europe we have a web based service system called "My Olympus", you can create an account, register all your Olympus products with their serialnumbers there and upload additional information like proof of purchase copies. If a product needs servicing, you can create a ticket right from the website, if your actual issue isn't listed, you can select an option to be contacted by Olympus for further help.

 

[retiredfromlife]

I don't know how Olympus does service in Australia, but at least here in Europe we have a web based service system called "My Olympus", you can create an account, register all your Olympus products with their serialnumbers there and upload additional information like proof of purchase copies. If a product needs servicing, you can create a ticket right from the website, if your actual issue isn't listed, you can select an option to be contacted by Olympus for further help.

Australia has something similar, and before the sell off had a really good name for service.

Hope that continues, time will tell

 

[Imjinman]

So far so good- dropped off no issues. Should hear back this week

 

[retiredfromlife]

So far so good- dropped off no issues. Should hear back this week

It will be good to hear what they say

 

[Imjinman]

It will be good to hear what they say

Seems there was "detected slight moisture under bottom plate, no damage to main board or
connections" and they suggested replacing the EVF frame. I actually have asked them to go one step further and replace all seals (it's 3.5 years old now), and that means replacing top and bottom plates. About A$680 and will take three weeks. As always great service from teh Sutrlaian olumpus team, who talked me through options