E-M5 mkII screen broke off!

[Scott G]

I'm currently on the other side of the world from where I reside and will very soon make a 4 day trip to Iceland on my way home. The whole idea is to use my camera ... but the screen fell off in my hands yesterday!

I discovered that both tiny screws on the flip & twist screen had come out - I found one. But the screen hung down in my hands, pulling the tiny cable further out. I got a camera repair shop to very quickly return a similar screw into the other hole before they closed, but the screen no longer works at all. This SEVERELY limits my ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc I was planning in Iceland. Yes, the viewfinder works.

I bought the camera on line from Olympus Canada, but i reside in Norway.

In desperation, I am tempted to carefully open the screen and attempt to carefully re-connect the wire - the repair guy was quite sure it would be a little plug that had loosened slightly due to being pulled. Obviously I don't want to void the warranty, but I'm on this photo trip and can't wait 6 weeks to send the camera away somewhere.

Advice?

thanks!

 

[OrdinarilyInordinate]

My Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 was purchased from Henry's Canada, and it came with an international warranty card, which I was pleasantly surprised by. You should double-check your camera box to see if your warranty is also international. Then perhaps you could send it to some European Olympus repair center (is that in Portugal?) or something more local to you. Best of luck sorting this out.

Only you can answer the question regarding possibly voiding the warranty by opening up the camera. Personally I'd wait and just stick with the viewfinder. But then again, Olympus might decide that the screen failure was a result of improper operation and charge you for the damage--I don't know how that would work and how much it would cost. Hopefully it'd just be covered by warranty.

 

[Adamant]

Bad deal. But the EVF still works, no? Rather than stressing about the trick photos you're missing because of the LCD, why not focus on making the best pictures you can using the EVF only? I can understand that this is a source of stress for you. It would be for any of us. The trick is not letting it ruin or interfere with your Iceland visit. Your state of mind is more important for your photography than any panorama or other fancy feature. Focus on making the best of the situation. You can still compose beautiful photographs through the EVF.

Shoot raw so you have plenty of PP options, then just focus on composition and enjoying yourself.

Then when you get home, you can and should give Olympus hell.

 

[Dan]

Scott - Quite the bummer...won't the Mk II sync to your phone? My EM-1 does and it wouldn't be my first choice but I think this would work for your pano shots.

I've even taken many pano shots without even looking through the viewfinder or lcd. Depending upon the lens give yourself plenty of overlap, put things in manual and then just rotate as needed.

If shooting pano from a tripod it's easy to get 6 very equal rotations and not too hard to get 12...and if needed go back to your phone for direction indicator broken out in degrees and rotate accordingly.

For my serious pano's I have a MK panohead that works great and is fairly light weight but I'm assuming you don't want to purchase one.

In the worst case just rotate very small amounts and toss out the ones not needed once home...in this case go back to the store and get another card and maybe an extra battery!

Good luck...sometimes things going wrong lead to some creative thinking and things you'll never forget!

Dan

 

[Joseph Broz]

Scott this is horrible - all due to poor design and workmanship.

Go into a store and buy a cheap camera. Maybe the camera store has a used camera you can buy. Don't risk further damage to the expensive camera.

I just checked my Olympus OM D EM-5 Camera was made in China!!! I was told by my friend a cable sports TV engineer - builds the portable recording studio Simi trucks - buy DROP and REPAIR insurance on any camera/electronic equipment that your can't afford to pay cash for in one week. Because that Chinese factory worker may answer his cell phone and FAIL to put your camera/electronic equipment together correctly. Also he said: The first week you own that new camera/TV/computer etc. Leave the device on for 24 hours and us it as much as possible - that way if it was not assembled correctly you can return the device. I took a new Panasonic camera and recorded slow motion video for hours - the camera got hot and the case melted. Store replaced it on the spot.

 

[OrdinarilyInordinate]

Scott this is horrible - all due to poor design and workmanship.

Go into a store and buy a cheap camera. Maybe the camera store has a used camera you can buy. Don't risk further damage to the expensive camera.

I just checked my Olympus OM D EM-5 Camera was made in China!!! I was told by my friend a cable sports TV engineer - builds the portable recording studio Simi trucks - buy DROP and REPAIR insurance on any camera/electronic equipment that your can't afford to pay cash for in one week. Because that Chinese factory worker may answer his cell phone and FAIL to put your camera/electronic equipment together correctly. Also he said: The first week you own that new camera/TV/computer etc. Leave the device on for 24 hours and us it as much as possible - that way if it was not assembled correctly you can return the device. I took a new Panasonic camera and recorded slow motion video for hours - the camera got hot and the case melted. Store replaced it on the spot.

No offense, but you seem to be a special case for looking for trouble and creating trouble. That explanation is pretty bogus too--any factory employee can get distracted, in any country. Humans are human. All cameras have some percent with problems, even those made in Japan. And the melting case story is something special. Note that E-M1 is made in China, and Panasonic GX8 is made in China--both flagship cameras. Oh and Fujifilm X100 cameras suffered from sticky aperture blades for the first batches released--made in Japan! Lots of other examples.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3895770

 

[clifford37]

Happened to mine too ... A couple of weeks after purchase .. Returned to dealer .. Repaired .. No further sign of trouble

 

[Joseph Broz]

Not causing trouble just stating the FACTS. You need a back up protection plan for electronics regardless where they are made. The manufactures warranty is useless in most cases.

 

[OrdinarilyInordinate]

ou need a back up protection plan for electronics regardless where they are made. The manufactures warranty is useless in most cases.

That is true, without the story about Chinese factories and cell phone use. Some home owner insurance policies allow for itemized lists of personal goods, like jewelry and electronics. My camera and lenses are itemized on my home insurance for that purpose, to cover some of the cases like getting stolen.

 

[Aberaeron]

Not causing trouble just stating the FACTS. You need a back up protection plan for electronics regardless where they are made. The manufactures warranty is useless in most cases.

While I acknowledge that electronics have a burn-in period when new where they are most likely to fail, I have to point out to you that this is a mechanical failure.

The warranty is very useful and would have the camera repaired free of charge. The issue here is whether the warranty is valid and whether the timing of a repair, which will probably take a week or so, is convenient.

 

[Martin Ocando]

Bad deal. But the EVF still works, no? Rather than stressing about the trick photos you're missing because of the LCD, why not focus on making the best pictures you can using the EVF only? I can understand that this is a source of stress for you. It would be for any of us. The trick is not letting it ruin or interfere with your Iceland visit. Your state of mind is more important for your photography than any panorama or other fancy feature. Focus on making the best of the situation. You can still compose beautiful photographs through the EVF.

Shoot raw so you have plenty of PP options, then just focus on composition and enjoying yourself.

Then when you get home, you can and should give Olympus hell.

This are the one of a time situation in where your skills and your creativity should come into play to achieve what you want. Imagine it would have happened the moment you arrived to Iceland, when there there were nothing you could do. The chance of voiding the warranty, in my opinion, is not worth the risk.

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

Advice?

Use the viewfinder for everything, even long exposures.

Heck for panoramas I always use the viewfinder!

 

[Sergey Borachev]

I wouldn't waste any time trying to get it repaired or to fix it yourself while overseas and getting more stressed. I suggest you just make do with what you got and make the most out of your trip.

 

[G1Shooter]

OrdinarilyInordinate wrote: Some home owner insurance policies allow for itemized lists of personal goods, like jewelry and electronics. My camera and lenses are itemized on my home insurance for that purpose, to cover some of the cases like getting stolen.

I have been touting the benefits of insuring my camera gear for several years here. My coverage, a rider to my homeowners, is all risk, no fault, full replacement coverage and my equipment does not need to be itemized. I only pay $25 per year for $2,500 coverage. It is cheap piece of mind for me which recently paid off. I had some luggage stolen which had a body and lens inside. Other than the hassle of filing a claim, I received full replacement cost for them, no problem.

Since I don't have to itemize my gear, I don't insure the full value of everything on the premise that a 100% loss is highly unlikely and any loss would likely occur when I was traveling, which was in fact the case recently. The camera and lens in my luggage was a loss, while the M1 & 12-40 in my backpack was not.

The way my coverage works is that any loss is covered, hence the all risk, no fault, designation. It would not have mattered if I had dropped it in the ocean rather than be stolen. It still would have been covered.

 

[Big Ga]

This SEVERELY limits my ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc I was planning in Iceland. Yes, the viewfinder works.

I'm sure a whole bunch of us here are curious as to how not having use of the rear screen SEVERELY limits your ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc

??

 

[jeffharris]

This SEVERELY limits my ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc I was planning in Iceland. Yes, the viewfinder works.

I'm sure a whole bunch of us here are curious as to how not having use of the rear screen SEVERELY limits your ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc

??

Agreed.

Limitations can be real creative catalysts. The OP can learn a lot. Stretch a bit. Discover things ha may never have tried or learned otherwise. I know that's what I'd do in a similar situation. Make it work.

 

[Joseph Broz]

The other hat I wear is professional magician. I have the same coverage on my magic equipment and this brings real peace of mind. A drunk wandered on stage and knocked over two bird cages falling on top of them - $6,000 plus damages. I got my equipment repaired/replaced and he got charged by the police. The insurance company took him to court and he had to pay damages.

 

[Scott G]

Indeed. I am on a trip for the purpose of a 20yr reunion and photo-trip to Iceland. These are big "bucket list" things with photography at the core. I'm only in Canada for another 2 days and in Iceland for only 4. No chance of warranty repair.

 

[Scott G]

This SEVERELY limits my ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc I was planning in Iceland. Yes, the viewfinder works.

I'm sure a whole bunch of us here are curious as to how not having use of the rear screen SEVERELY limits your ability to shoot the panoramas, long exposures etc

??

I'll admit I'm really surprised at how many are recommending that I simply make do with the viewfinder! I wonder how many recommending this have multi-angle screen. There are things that are virtually impossible with viewfinder only. I had an old E-620 years ago and fell in love with the multi-angle screen. I was stunned at what I could accomplish and never looked back. I went to the GH2 and now to the E-M5 II both with the multi-angle screen - it gets used ALL the time for high and extreme low angle shots, as well as shots where I'm crammed into a corner holding the camera up against a wall and viewing the flip-out screen. I cannot count how many times I've done this.

Case in point: I was just on a daysail onboard a frigate that I served on years ago (extraordinarily rare opportunity). When the screen broke I was forced to use the viewfinder. Virtually all of my random high angle (guessing where to point) shots were incorrectly focussed and off-level, as were the shots in very cramped spaces where I jammed the camera into a corner or up against a bulkhead to shoot as wide angle shot as I could. Guessing level and focus point simply did not work - severe limitation. I shot most of the high angles over peoples' heads trying to capture some young kids looking at a machine gun, bridge helm or looking through binoculars; I had no choice but to guess and shoot a lot. I tried also to take a few extreme low angle shots - again guessing where to point the camera because I didn't want to or couldn't lay on the deck.

Another ex. I shot an event for the 20th reunion at my old university. In order to capture a speaker with a newly installed flag-staff in the background I needed an extreme low angle. I subtlely positioned myself, but could not lay on the grass in my suit to get the angle - I needed the multi-angle screen. I tried my best to guess for composition, level and focus and shot a bunch. Not ONE shot worked well.

Iceland: Here I will undoubtedly be working on extremely unlevel terrain (as I've often done in Norway), trying to capture lava rocks or beach where low angle offers a real creative advantage. In some cases like this I'll want to shoot with the camera high on a tripod and pointing down. I would obviously like to avoid laying on wet rocks or surf-soaked sand with my head pressed into the dirt to get the shots! That's what the multi-angle screen is for!

I've used these screens extensively to capture all kinds of shots like this for years. So it really is from experience that I say I'll be limited. In fact to anyone who isn't familiar with them I'd very highly recommend trying a camera with one - you'll be astonished at what you can capture when you have that extra freedom!

 

[Scott G]

I spoke with Olympus Americas support and they told me it would need to go back to Pennsylvania (if I recall correctly) for repair. But they admitted that there is no way it could possibly get back to me at any stage of my trip. They recommended I try a local repair shop but couldn't even guarantee that the cost would be covered! Really?!

The repair shop that first helped me just before closing said they'd never seen such tiny screws holding such a vital hinge. The screws are so short that they only grip for 2 turns of the screw! Even with locktite they fell out.

Olympus also said they have no mechanism/policy in place to cover the cost of a replacement camera (damaged camera returned to them to keep) - the only option that would guarantee that my photo trip continues as planned.

I've called around and almost certainly can't get another repair shop to look at it in time. If I'm really lucky I might find someone who can open the screen up and try to re-conned the wire, but there's more...

Now I noticed that when I press the menu button, the viewfinder goes completely black. I no longer see the menu at all. This seems to be a degradation but I have no idea if or how it's related to the screen issue. No idea how I might get the menu back. I've tried powering off/on, batt out etc, but the menu is simply gone. Is there really a connection between the rear screen wire and display of the menu in the viewfinder?!

So my camera is even more impared than before. This is really a sinking feeling!