Manual Focus -- GOOD NEWS from Oly

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Click to expand...

This is encouraging. My E10 has been at the California facility for a week to correct this problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
-Tom

krmidas said:

This is encouraging. My E10 has been at the California facility for
a week to correct this problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
-Tom

Click to expand...

Tom,

Please keep me posted as to what results you get. Now that we have gotten the attenion of the VP, I want to follow-up if there are any more problems getting these cameras fixed.

You can e-mail me at [email protected] (please put E-10 or E-20 somewhere in the subject).

Thanks,

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Hope this applies to the UK too since I have just sent mine back for repair and firmware update.

--
LCD

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

Click to expand...

My thanks to you and everyone else who complained about this very important problem and got something done. Any word on what was wrong, and what the fix is?

Gary Eickmeier

LCD said:

Hope this applies to the UK too since I have just sent mine back
for repair and firmware update.

Click to expand...

LCD,

I don't know if it applies to the UK as I was dealing with Olympus America, Inc. I was advised earlier that a tech from Tokyo was working on the second camera I sent back, and that a decision had been made to send the camera to Tokyo for further analysis. If this information is correct, it would appear that it was being addressed at a high enough level that the fix should filter down to the UK as well.

If you detect any problems when when you get your camera back, please send me an E-mail. I could help you figure out where you might complain there.
--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

It has oftem been said that knowledge is power, and I believe that has proven to be true in this case!!!!

Without the knowledge we have been able to share on this forum, and others like it, each of us would have been fighting the battle alone. Without the ability that the web gives individuals to share information, it is likely that very few of us would have gotten our cameras fixed.

I also would like to add a big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the discussion.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Hi Phil

Thanks for the offer. However, it might not ever be needed since the Royal Mail here seems too have lost the camera via its Special Delivery service. It should have arrived the next day before noon but falied to do so. If this is the case, then I will get its price back as compensation. How long that will take is anyone's guess. That should make the purchase of a D60 easier but I did want to keep the E10 as a backup. I might buy a used one later.

I agree about the use of the Net for promoting consumer rights. It puts some power in our hands. No so long ago in tis forum some people oddly saw no sense in complanining publicily about noise, focusing issues etc. Most firms have only their 'name' to trade on; if that goes they go.

LCD

LCD said:

No so long ago in tis forum some
people oddly saw no sense in complanining publicily about noise,
focusing issues etc. Most firms have only their 'name' to trade on;
if that goes they go.

LCD

Click to expand...

I was following some of those discussions. As I recall, you were getting "dumped on" rather heavily at one point. I had thought of several things I wanted to say to the people who were dumping on you, but I don't think that I mustered the nerve to say what I was thinking. You were expressing reasonable concerns about product quality and reliability, and they seemed to be attacking you for it. Thanks for helping to stick up for all of us who were havings problems.

Hope you can get your D60 soon and that you really enjoy it.

Phil

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

LCD said:

I agree about the use of the Net for promoting consumer rights. It
puts some power in our hands. No so long ago in tis forum some
people oddly saw no sense in complanining publicily about noise,
focusing issues etc. Most firms have only their 'name' to trade on;
if that goes they go.

LCD

Click to expand...

I think this is changing a little bit if not a new policy for some. Olympus definitely seems to have started listening as, as a result of the Internet information exchange Worldwide – and importantly information that was NOT exchanged between the same company’s departments in different countries and NOT even within the east/west coast of the USA – but E10 customers sent back their E10s en masse Worldwide for fixes that the tech supports around the world knew nothing about.

This may have been a wake up call for Olympus as thee things occurred – one – tech centres closed because of the backlog – and Olympus post a profit warning – mainly based on the service costs (overruns – presumably).

This shows the Internet as a very powerful tool and one that can turn a goldmine into a waterloo in one 24hour period.

And the third thing to change – the heretofore, categorically denied firmware update – is offered at a cost and is even include in some services – but the main thing here is the company took a slap in the face and reacted.

By the by – my own complaints with another company suggest that they were very aware of my internet postings – just a few months ago a technician did not even know what the Internet was let alone Dpreview!

Phil,

Thanks for all your efforts with Olympus and for your emails keeping me informed. Maybe, I will send mine in again for the manual focus to be adjusted. I don't use it much, but I would like it to work, especially when I go to sell it or trade it in.

Frank B

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Click to expand...

Gary,

Maybe they actually take a photo using manual focus and then check to see if it is in focus. If they had done this, they would not have returned my camera with the note that the manual focus was in order.

Frank B

Gary Eickmeier said:

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

Click to expand...

My thanks to you and everyone else who complained about this very
important problem and got something done. Any word on what was
wrong, and what the fix is?

Gary Eickmeier

Click to expand...

what about the cost?

since this problem existed from day one and my guarantee period has now expired, do I need to pay to have this manufacturing problem fixed?

Ludwig

I don't know what Olympus will do. In my case I sent mine in during the 12 month period and it is less than 6 months since they checked it so I expect there will be no charge. However, I think they should refund my cost of shipping it to them a second time.

Frank B

Ludwig Beck said:

what about the cost?

since this problem existed from day one and my guarantee period has
now expired, do I need to pay to have this manufacturing problem
fixed?

Ludwig

Click to expand...

Ludwig Beck said:

since this problem existed from day one and my guarantee period has
now expired, do I need to pay to have this manufacturing problem
fixed?

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good thing to ask the Oly VP who wrote me. In his letter he said, "We consider seriously all comments, concerns, and complaints about our products."

I would suggest that you write him with that question and then post a messege here to let us know how he responds. We would all be most interested to see if he backs up his words with action that is fair to you.

He is:

Robert Guida
Vice President
Planning and Administration
Olympus America Inc.
Two Corporate Center Drive
Melville, NY 11747-3157
Tel (631) 844-5000

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Dear Mr Phil A

I'm a first visitor(korea). I appreciate this forum's and your efforts. I have also same problem and expect to be repaired mine as soon.

I would like to know whether the repair of olympus will be upgrading to version 1.33 in a firm ware or not. Some users told it seemed like the manual focus system might be improved after a firmware upgrading to version 1.33.

I continue to visit this forum and learn to drive my best camera E-10.
Thank you.

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Click to expand...

Hyun-Shin said:

Dear Mr Phil A
I'm a first visitor(korea). I appreciate this forum's and your
efforts. I have also same problem and expect to be repaired mine as
soon.
I would like to know whether the repair of olympus will be
upgrading to version 1.33 in a firm ware or not. Some users told it
seemed like the manual focus system might be improved after a
firmware upgrading to version 1.33.

Click to expand...

It's not a firmware problem! It's a physical (beamsplitter) misalignment of the focus plane as seen on the viewfinder groundglass compared to the focus on the plane of the CCD. The correlation between manual focus accuracy and (latest) firmware version would be accidental, IMO.

Phil (not A)

Hyun-Shin said:

Dear Mr Phil A
I would like to know whether the repair of olympus will be
upgrading to version 1.33 in a firm ware or not.

Click to expand...

I am not aware of any connection between the firmware and the Manual Focus problems. I believe that the MF problem is strictly a physical problem related to the positioning of the CCD and the Ground Glass in the Viewfinder. I hadn't even bothered to check the firmware versions on the cameras I had. Some users did report getting firmware upgrades when they sent their cameras in for other repairs, but I believe they usually had to ask for the upgrade and pay for it. In many cases, Olympus appears to be replacing the cameras with MF problems. The replacement cameras could possibly have newer firmware.

Please let me know whether or not the MF problem is fixed when you get your camera back.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Phil Arnold said:

I got a letter yesterday from the VP of Planning & Administration
at Olympus America. In it he said, "Our service department has
instituted new procedures to check the manual focus system of the
Olympus E-10 serviced and also ensure that they are repaired
correctly and in a timely fashion."

I am sure these this new procedures would be used for E-20's as
well. Hopefully, we will start seeing better results when cameras
are sent to Oly to have this problem repaired.

--
Phil A

http://www.jphilarnold.com

Click to expand...

Despite my efforts to avoid the gray market I got stuck with an E20 which also has this problem of MF - where in the US would Isend it and does anyone have a clue how much this will cost?

Gunter Pfaff said:

Despite my efforts to avoid the gray market I got stuck with an E20 which has MF problem - where in the US would I send it and does anyone have a clue how much this will cost?

Click to expand...

Here is the Web information on Olympus service:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

As to cost - it appears that Olympus has a flat charge of $385.00 (other than very minor problems) if it is not under warranty. Something like this on a non warranty camera - I would not be surprised if it would be higher. My suggestion is to call before you commit.

Ed Oliver