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Gosh! SD card stuck in G1

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Itrofnoc

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Yesterday I tried to remove the SD card from my G1 and I found it was stuck in the slot. I am usually very careful and until now the card would easily unlock and slide out smoothly.

I managed to pull it out using some force, but the mechanical device inside the camera seems to be broken.
Fortunately I am still able to use the camera, but it is an unpleasant flaw.

I strongly suggest all G1 owners to be even more careful than me while inserting or removing the card, and maybe use the cable transfer more often.

Needless to say, I am disappointed on the build quality of this otherwise fine camera.
 
Itrofnoc said:
Needless to say, I am disappointed on the build quality of this otherwise fine camera.
Click to expand...
Stuff happens; even professional-spec cameras with exemplary build quality break now and then.

You can't really cite one instance of a mechanical failure as a generalised indication of poor build quality. No matter how annoying it may be to you (and I sympathise) I can't find any reports that this is a known problem. Just get it fixed and move on :-)

--
John Bean [GMT]
 
John Bean (UK) said:
Itrofnoc said:
Needless to say, I am disappointed on the build quality of this otherwise fine camera.
Click to expand...
Stuff happens; even professional-spec cameras with exemplary build quality break now and then.

You can't really cite one instance of a mechanical failure as a generalised indication of poor build quality. No matter how annoying it may be to you (and I sympathise) I can't find any reports that this is a known problem. Just get it fixed and move on :-)

--
John Bean [GMT]
Click to expand...
Have to say i agree, you cant site one instance of a card slot breakdown as poor build quality, this is definitely the first report of this kind of fault in the G1 i ever heard of, but i must say i am really sorry to hear of the OP's miss fortune.

Mark.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30657645@N03/

 
Loose strap lugs and the rubber peeling off the G1 and GH1, paint flaking off of the Olympus Pens, zoom rings on kits lenses that become loose after a while... the list keeps getting longer. The new kits lenses have plastic mounts, and you can't get a body without one.

Olympus and Panasonic see micro 4/3 as a platform that allows them to reduce cost and increase sales.

--
Jonathan
 
Itrofnoc said:
Yesterday I tried to remove the SD card from my G1 and I found it was stuck in the slot. I am usually very careful and until now the card would easily unlock and slide out smoothly.

I managed to pull it out using some force, but the mechanical device inside the camera seems to be broken.
Fortunately I am still able to use the camera, but it is an unpleasant flaw.

I strongly suggest all G1 owners to be even more careful than me while inserting or removing the card, and maybe use the cable transfer more often.

Needless to say, I am disappointed on the build quality of this otherwise fine camera.
Click to expand...
I recently took the back off my G1 to check the lugs (lots of loose lug threads on DPR!). The SD card holder is a complete assembly that I am sure Panasonic buys from a vendor. It does look quite flimsy, and is a way for dirt to get into the camera and jam up springs and such (which I would guess is the main failure mode), but should be quite simple for a Panasonic tech to replace. I noticed that Panasonic has moved it to the battery well in the G2, which probably isolates it better from the delicate innards of the camera.
 
FlashInThePan said:
Loose strap lugs and the rubber peeling off the G1 and GH1
Click to expand...
The OP was talking of the G1, which doesn't have any strap lug "issues" and from what I've read the peeling applied only to early versions - in other words it was picked up and corrected by Panasonic.

Let's try to stick to facts about the camera under discussion instead of generalised accusations of poor build quality.

--
John Bean [GMT]
 
John Bean (UK) said:
The GH1 certainly, but the G1? Not that I've seen.
PS: were the lugs loose when you checked them?
Click to expand...
The two cameras have identical lug assemblies as far as I can tell. Mine were tight, but I epoxied the screw heads anyway. I have the new lugscrew design, and each screw head had two small drops of varnish on it, so I think I would have been OK without the epoxy, but all the talk had me worried and I wanted to be sure.
 
In fact no lugs problems so far, but I didn't mention the peeling that appeared on the lower part of my G1 within 1 month from the purchase. OK, bad luck again, but shouldn't a reliable brand avoid speculating on the good luck of his customers?
 
StillHaveMyDiana said:
StillHaveMyDiana said:
The GH1 certainly, but the G1? Not that I've seen.
PS: were the lugs loose when you checked them?
Click to expand...
The two cameras have identical lug assemblies as far as I can tell. Mine were tight, but I epoxied the screw heads anyway. I have the new lugscrew design, and each screw head had two small drops of varnish on it, so I think I would have been OK without the epoxy, but all the talk had me worried and I wanted to be sure.
Click to expand...
I doubt it's anything to do with design, the problem appears to be one of QA and/or production methods on the GH1 assembly line, that's why I asked about your G1.

As far as I can determine the G1 doesn't (and never has) suffered from a similar problem.

I don't blame you for checking, it's a fact of life that if the same misinformation is repeated often enough then people start to believe it.

--
John Bean [GMT]
 
John Bean (UK) said:
I doubt it's anything to do with design, the problem appears to be one of QA and/or production methods on the GH1 assembly line, that's why I asked about your G1.

As far as I can determine the G1 doesn't (and never has) suffered from a similar problem.

I don't blame you for checking, it's a fact of life that if the same misinformation is repeated often enough then people start to believe it.
Click to expand...
IMHO it has everything to do with design, and I saw at least one G1-loose-lugs post on DPR. The only thing that appears to stop that screw from working itself loose is the bead of varnish, which appears to be manually applied. So I can see how the operator could sometimes miss and drop a bead that does not overlap both the screwhead and plate. In manufacturing, "design" includes the design of the manufacturing method you refer to.

That said, I think the new design (with the flush screw) is much superior to the original (raised nut), and my advice to other G1/GH1 owners is to periodically test that the lugs are completely frozen, not worry if they are, but stop using them immediately if the lugs are loose or rotated.
 
StillHaveMyDiana said:
IMHO it has everything to do with design, and I saw at least one G1-loose-lugs post on DPR.
Click to expand...
One more than I saw then, but still compares well with lots of similar GH1 fault reports. People bunch the two cameras together despite the considerable evidence to indicate it's a production issue affecting the GH1 rather than design issue affecting both.
StillHaveMyDiana said:
That said, I think the new design (with the flush screw) is much superior to the original
Click to expand...
Sure. That's how product design changes work. The original design was open to faults caused by poor assembly, the new design much less so. But the original design worked fine if assembled correctly, as the (almost) zero incidence of the fault on the G1 has proved.

--
John Bean [GMT]
 
John Bean (UK) said:
Sure. That's how product design changes work. The original design was open to faults caused by poor assembly, the new design much less so. But the original design worked fine if assembled correctly, as the (almost) zero incidence of the fault on the G1 has proved.
Click to expand...
You are kind. I think it is a horrible design, and the new version only marginally better. Relying on a screw that is constantly under torque load (camera hanging from the strap) not loosening over time by using a manual varnish drop on the head is very poor industrial design. I see a pattern here (not just loose lugs but peeling rubber and paint). Panasonic appears to have superb optics designers but their industrial design is not impressive. I am very fond of my G1 but will treat it with greater care than I should have to, given its cost.
 
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