Tilted E-3 Viewfinder, what did you do?

Please, for those of you who actually have/had this issue with E-3 or any camera:

My dilemma is what to do about this. I got an incredibly clean E-3 with 1687 shutter actuations from Cameta, but immediately noticed the infamous tilted viewfinder the first time I brought it up to my eye. After a few shots, I realized that I subconsciously rely on the viewfinder frame to align shots.

After researching this, most people seem to be living with it and a minority have either sent in their camera multiple times until it was resolved or sent in one time and gave up after it was not resolved.

I'm sure that Cameta would do an exchange for me, but this is no guarantee of getting one with a straight viewfinder. Do I take a chance with a Cameta exchange, exercise my Olympus 90 day warranty, or live with it?

BTW, my E-410 and E-510 do not have this issue and I'm very disappointed that Olympus would even have this issue with their top of the line pro camera. I almost made the switch to a Nikon D90 until I realized how much it would cost me to get the equivalent lenses that I have now. The lenses really do keep you with Olympus.

Thanks,
-Chuck

I sent my E-3 to Oly Service with the note that its VF was tilted by 1 degree and that was adversely affecting my use of the "professional-class" camera. I was sent a replacement body which was very satisfactory. Like you, my other E-bodies I had and am still using, E-1/330/420/500 had no such tilted VF issue.

If I am in your shoes, I will first try a Cameta exchange. Failing which I will do Oly Service Center. Cameta exchange first because Oly Service may decide that the VF tilt is within manufacturing tolerance and opt not to service/replace it.

IMO, if the tilt is affecting your ability to take level shots, such that you have to put in a tilt correction in PP for almost all your shots (like I had to), then you should not live with it.

Good Luck!

f4ichuck said:

Do I take a
chance with a Cameta exchange, exercise my Olympus 90 day warranty,
or live with it?

BTW, my E-410 and E-510 do not have this issue and I'm very
disappointed that Olympus would even have this issue with their top
of the line pro camera.

Click to expand...

--
Leon . http://picasaweb.google.com/travelfotografer



E-3-420-330-1 918.1122.1260.1450'rit.25'lux.25.50.50200SWD 14.20.25 50R B+W FEISOL LEXAR

Aftern 1 year of trying to compensate for the tilt when shooting, I sent it to the west coast service center. They fixed it. It's fine now.

I would try a swap first. The only ones I've heard of actually being fixed I think went back to Japan. It's probably got to be a degree or more out before they'll do that or swap. Mine was 0.3 degrees out, enough to be annoying on some shots.

After multiple returns to Portugal (for repairs to a drop too), with it not being fixed, they agreed to swap the focus screen for an FS-3 gridded screen. I'm now happy with it, as I can reliably compensate against the grid lines, which are fairly unobtrusive.

I would avoid this game if possible with a swap, but it sounds like US repairers are more competent.

Bruce
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruce-clarke/
Flickriver - view large on black as a stream:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/bruce-clarke/

I just correct the image in PhotoShop. It is not a problem for me.
--
Dave
Welsh Photographic Federation Judge
UK Photo Safari Group Member
Vice-Chairman Cwmbran Photographic Society
http://www.pbase.com/benvendetta
pbase supporter

Dave Bennett said:

I just correct the image in PhotoShop. It is not a problem for me.

Click to expand...

I shoot Raw+JPG, and quite often am happy with the JPGs, so don't want to be forced to edit shots just for the twist. You lose some image area and maybe a tiny bit of quality if you edit the twist, apart from the hassle. Fine if you are happy though : )

Bruce
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruce-clarke/
Flickriver - view large on black as a stream:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/bruce-clarke/

You are correct about losing image area and quality.

f4ichuck said:

My dilemma is what to do about this. I got an incredibly clean E-3
with 1687 shutter actuations from Cameta, but immediately noticed the
infamous tilted viewfinder the first time I brought it up to my eye.

Click to expand...

Are you sure? It is my understanding that the problem lies with the viewfinder being slightly out of alignment with the sensor. Not something you can assess just by looking through the viewfinder.

Simon.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonhollingworth/

Thanks for the responses.

I called Cameta and they were really nice about it. They're going to do a cross ship for me, by charging me for another camera and issuing a refund when they receive my camera. They are going to pick up the shipping both ways also. The rep said that this problem should not have passed their QC.

I'm feeling a lot better and am looking forward to being satisfied.

-Chuck

Hi Simon,

I'm fairly sure. If I draw back a bit, I can see both the bottom or top of the viewfinder and the edges of the eyepiece simultaneously. The edges are not parallel and I see a definite deviation. Using the Live View to align the screen edge with something straight produces the desired result.

When using the viewfinder and aligning a straight line with the viewfinder edge, the camera produces a rotated image where the straight line is not parallel with the edge of the image. I used my E-410 and tried the same test to be sure.

While I don't know if the sensor is out of alignment also, my assumption is that I should be able to rely on the viewfinder. It's funny how 1 tiny, almost imperceptible, defect can take the enjoyment out of anything.

-Chuck

konicky said:

f4ichuck said:

My dilemma is what to do about this. I got an incredibly clean E-3
with 1687 shutter actuations from Cameta, but immediately noticed the
infamous tilted viewfinder the first time I brought it up to my eye.

Click to expand...

Are you sure? It is my understanding that the problem lies with the
viewfinder being slightly out of alignment with the sensor. Not
something you can assess just by looking through the viewfinder.

Simon.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonhollingworth/

Click to expand...

That's the smoking gun. Good luck with your exchange!

f4ichuck said:

When using the viewfinder and aligning a straight line with the
viewfinder edge, the camera produces a rotated image where the
straight line is not parallel with the edge of the image. I used my
E-410 and tried the same test to be sure.

Click to expand...

--
Leon . http://picasaweb.google.com/travelfotografer



E-3-420-330-1 918.1122.1260.1450'rit.25'lux.25.50.50200SWD 14.20.25 50R B+W FEISOL LEXAR

Bruce Clarke said:

I would try a swap first. The only ones I've heard of actually being
fixed I think went back to Japan. It's probably got to be a degree or
more out before they'll do that or swap. Mine was 0.3 degrees out,
enough to be annoying on some shots.

Click to expand...

How did you figure that number ?
How were you able to establish for a fact the tilt of the viewfinder
I am mighty curious
H

Harold66 said:

Bruce Clarke said:

I would try a swap first. The only ones I've heard of actually being
fixed I think went back to Japan. It's probably got to be a degree or
more out before they'll do that or swap. Mine was 0.3 degrees out,
enough to be annoying on some shots.

Click to expand...

How did you figure that number ?
How were you able to establish for a fact the tilt of the viewfinder
I am mighty curious

Click to expand...

Lined up the optical viewfinder top edge (and also bottom edge on another shot) carefully on a solid tripod with a clear straight edge. Switching on live view, I could see the tilt. Took the shots into Photoshop CS3, and used the Distort/Lens Correction filter to see how much rotation was needed to straighten the line. It is controllable to hundredths of a degree. Doing multiple shots confirmed a consistent twist.

That doesn't tell you if it's the sensor or the viewfinder that's twisted from the horizontal, but shows clearly they are twisted relative to each other.

Bruce
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruce-clarke/
Flickriver - view large on black as a stream:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/bruce-clarke/

I received the replacement from Cameta today. It looked a little more "worn-in" with shiny/buffed areas where it has been handled, but in decent shape. Took a quick look at the shutter count. 4000+ actuations. Roughly double of the original camera. Firmware was v1.2 so I updated it to v1.4 and started testing it out.

The viewfinder was seemingly perfect. It seemed to be taking pictures just fine. I then configured the settings to my preferences and continue testing. Everything seemed fine except I had not tried IS yet. Turned on IS and tried shooting in burst mode and it locked up. The power switch had no effect so I had to pull the battery. After re-inserting the battery, all of the settings except the clock were reset. OK. Maybe that was a software fluke. I again set my preferences, turned on burst mode and then IS. Same thing! Pulled the battery again and the settings were reset. Tried IS with no modifications on the settings and it did not lock up. Must be the combination of my preferences and IS.

I called Cameta and they want both cameras back. They are sending me a new call tag tonight to ship everything back. Now, the bummer is that I'm going on vacation on Sunday and don't have my new E-3 to take along! Since they only have a 2 week exchange policy and I won't be home to receive the 2nd replacement, I have to just get a refund on both cameras. At least they are making me whole on the deal. But it inconvenient for me and kind of ruins my photography plans for vacation. Customer Service A+. Quality Control F. It doesn't look like the $300 I saved on a refurbished camera was money well saved in this case. Maybe I'll give it another go around when I get back from vacation.

Oh well, I got the old E-510 back out of the closet and dusted it off. At least I have the E-410, E-510, 50-200, 14-54, Sigma 24 1.8, and 25mm pancake for the vacation. I rented a 7-14 and EC-14 which should be arriving today. I guess I'll be able to make use of the lenses, but it just won't be as nice.

-Chuck

f4ichuck said:

Customer Service A+. Quality Control F. It
doesn't look like the $300 I saved on a refurbished camera was money
well saved in this case.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I wouldn't blame Cameta for this, though. The E3 is a camera with a lot of QC problems. The VF tilt in particular is so common that Olympus were telling people who complained that it was a "characteristic" of the camera, until they finally came up with a way to fix it.

Some copies have focus problems that make them unreliable and/or unusable.

Several people have reported power lockup issues like yours, but most of them occurred with the battery grip attached. If that's the case with your copy, maybe you could detach the grip and still use the camera for your trip. I wouldn't necessarily expect Cameta to catch this during normal testing, because as is usually the case with the wonky AF, the problem is intermittent.

I'm very aware of these problems because I've had two E3s, and they've both been flawed. I've also owned an E1, two E500s, an E510, two Oly digicams, and a bunch of lenses, and I've never had a single QC problem with any of them. I bought the E1 through Cameta, and I also bought my mother an E500 refurb from them and helped a friend here in Japan order one. All the Cameta products function perfectly. I think they do the best they can with what they have to work with. After your trip, I would give them another chance.

Good luck with your camera and your trip.

Julie