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Yet another problem with zuiko lenses!!

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luisflorit said:
Gregm61 said:
Well, my 12-60 is.....again....on it's way back to me. This time they REPLACED 1G FRAME UNIT AND AF SWD UNIT. ADJUSTED , CHECKED ALL FUNCTIONS AND CLEANED.

I think it's almost brand new on the inside. Even a new SWD AF unit....that could not have been inexpensive. We'll see when it gets back if it actually works right.
Click to expand...
Great! Believe me, you're lucky!

Oly said they have to change the aperture unit of my 12-60.

They told me it will cost $ 440 to pre fix my 12-60 (that's 55% of the cost of the new lens). Prefix because it may cost more if there is something else to be done (!!!???). And only 90 day warranty! And it will take about 3 months just to import the part (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

Of course it is pointless to fix the lens with that cost, time and risk.
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Woah! That is steep. I told myself if they tried charging me any more on mine I was going to forget it and go find an 11-22. I have no doubt had they replaced the SWD motor fhe first trip in with everything else they did, the cost of my repair would have easily been in that neighborhood too.

As it worked out, they didn't charge me anything this time and I didn't get around to shipping the lens back to them until just this past Saturday and it's coming back via 2 day UPS, so I should have it Thursday....less than a week in all.
 
Gregm61 said:
As it worked out, they didn't charge me anything this time and I didn't get around to shipping the lens back to them until just this past Saturday and it's coming back via 2 day UPS, so I should have it Thursday....less than a week in all.
Click to expand...
Now that is pretty reasonable. My cost and times are not.

I am in doubt if going for a 9-18, or just totally forget about an Oly WA. Because if the supposedly robust 12-60 has such common problems, what to expect from a consumer 9-18?

:(

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
luisflorit said:
luisflorit said:
As it worked out, they didn't charge me anything this time and I didn't get around to shipping the lens back to them until just this past Saturday and it's coming back via 2 day UPS, so I should have it Thursday....less than a week in all.
Click to expand...
Now that is pretty reasonable. My cost and times are not.

I am in doubt if going for a 9-18, or just totally forget about an Oly WA. Because if the supposedly robust 12-60 has such common problems, what to expect from a consumer 9-18?

:(
Click to expand...
The 9-18 is what I have in my bag right now alongside the 50-200. It's light as a feather but extremely well put together with a much better feel to it than either of the two kit lenses that have the similar exterior look, except for the plastic mounts vs. the chrome mount of the 9-18.

Definitely frustrating to experience it first-hand....I hate having to ship anything somewhere to be worked on, but you read similar posts from users of other brands. I've seen Pentax users of lenses with the SDM motors referring to the SD part standing for "sudden death". I've bought tons of Olympus gear over time, never had any complaints and just figure I got unlucky on this one and hope it's good to go this time.
 
Gregm61 said:
The 9-18 is what I have in my bag right now alongside the 50-200. It's light as a feather but extremely well put together with a much better feel to it than either of the two kit lenses that have the similar exterior look, except for the plastic mounts vs. the chrome mount of the 9-18.
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Yes, the 9-18 has impressive reviews. It seems its only fault is lateral CA (DPR), and of course no weather sealing.
Gregm61 said:
Definitely frustrating to experience it first-hand....I hate having to ship anything somewhere to be worked on, but you read similar posts from users of other brands. I've seen Pentax users of lenses with the SDM motors referring to the SD part standing for "sudden death". I've bought tons of Olympus gear over time, never had any complaints and just figure I got unlucky on this one and hope it's good to go this time.
Click to expand...
I haven't had good luck with Oly from day one. After 3 months with the E3, I tested the sensor dust and found 'strips' on it below the filter (so I cannot clean it):

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=29960880&q=sensor+E3+strips&qf=m

My two lenses with 2 problems each, service center loosing my lens, focus problems after FW1.4, extremely expensive and long repairs... My experience with Oly is quite bad.

:(

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
...that, even if the experineces with Olympus products and support that we personally get is good, we are aware of and concerned about experiences of people like Luis in other places.

After all, many of us enjoy travelling with our camereas, and it is not at all reassuring to find out just how poor Olymnpus "world" service can apparently be.
--
erichK
saskatoon, canada

http://erichk.zenfolio.com/

http://www.fototime.com/inv/7F3D846BCD301F3

underwater photos: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?
cat=500&ppuser=5567
 
My lens came back and appears to be working perfectly compared to the first trip back where it was underexposing everything.

They did however, manage to scratch up the shroud surrounding the front lens element pretty good. The lens itself is undamaged, but there are some good toolmarks left from where they opened it up. One tiny, tiny area of the shroud around the circumfrance of the front element is actually bent upwards, so even doing good, they did bad. I'm gonna email images of it to someone at Olympus and fill them in on my story from start to finish.
 
nada
 
erichK said:
...that, even if the experineces with Olympus products and support that we personally get is good, we are aware of and concerned about experiences of people like Luis in other places.

After all, many of us enjoy travelling with our camereas, and it is not at all reassuring to find out just how poor Olymnpus "world" service can apparently be.
Click to expand...
I've already contacted Oly Japan. They told me that they asked Oly Brazil to take some action.

Anyway, most of my thread is not related to Service, but to my experience with the quality of Oly products. So far, I have had 7 problems:
  1. Camera: strips in sensor below the filter (came with the camera, but are thinner than dust so don't appear in images)
  2. Camera: focus problems after upgrade to FW1.4
  3. 12-60: unreliable focus for landscapes, so much that I usually have to take 4 or 5 shots to ensure one in focus
  4. 12-60: aperture blades stuck (this thread)
  5. 50-200: Ruber seal ring get twisted inside the lens and makes it quite hard to zoom and hence use
  6. 50-200: small oily ring inside the lens near the barrel (came with lens, but it never affected IQ, though)
  7. 50-200: Two big oily smudges coming from the above ring, but now extending almost to the center of the lens (never saw it affecting IQ, but I am not sure to what extent this affects focus).
As you may suspect, this is becoming increasingly irritating...

But I appreciate lot your words!!

Thanks,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
Gregm61 said:
My lens came back and appears to be working perfectly compared to the first trip back where it was underexposing everything.

They did however, manage to scratch up the shroud surrounding the front lens element pretty good.
Click to expand...
You're kidding...
Gregm61 said:
The lens itself is undamaged, but there are some good toolmarks left from where they opened it up. One tiny, tiny area of the shroud around the circumfrance of the front element is actually bent upwards, so even doing good, they did bad. I'm gonna email images of it to someone at Olympus and fill them in on my story from start to finish.
Click to expand...
Do it. But I would do it directly to Oly Japan.

Good luck!! (again...)

L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
Back in the day, my problem was with Nikon. Failure after failure after failure. Then less than helpful service... Sound familiar? I moved on to Canon (and lived there happily in the film days which much more then paid for my gear with gigs) then Oly (just recently). So, unless Oly comes to the rescue, move to another brand. Fate has spoken. Heed her word.
 
Unlike Nikon or Canon or Sony or even Pentax, they can hardly hope to dazzle us with the latest in sensor and body technology. They need to hang on to the base of serious photographers that they still have if there is going to be any future the 4:3rds at all.

It is, of course, statistically possible that poor Luis got a bunch of bed products. This may also have been aggravated somewhat by the temperatures and humidity his kind of shooting exposes his equipment to. They might well cause lens defects - a bit too much lubricant, an imperfectly-mounted seal, an unevenly glued subcomponent- to "express" themselves, much in the way that Danil K,s very active outdoor hiking and scrambling in Sweden has tended show the weak points of the E-3 body and swivel LCD.

However, there is no excuse for the combination poor service and poor customer support that he has had to deal with. If the thinness of Olympus infrastructure in Brazil makes service difficult and time consuming, then, especially in view of the history of problems he has had, they should surely have simply sent him a new lens - or at least cur him a really good deal on a refurbished one.

I am sure that his tale and a few others like it have already cost Olympus much more in lost sales than any reasonable accommodation of his needs would have.

--
erichK
saskatoon, canada

http://erichk.zenfolio.com/

http://www.fototime.com/inv/7F3D846BCD301F3

underwater photos: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?
cat=500&ppuser=5567
 
erichK said:
Unlike Nikon or Canon or Sony or even Pentax, they can hardly hope to dazzle us with the latest in sensor and body technology. They need to hang on to the base of serious photographers that they still have if there is going to be any future the 4:3rds at all.
Click to expand...
Absolutely.
erichK said:
It is, of course, statistically possible that poor Luis got a bunch of bed products. This may also have been aggravated somewhat by the temperatures and humidity his kind of shooting exposes his equipment to. They might well cause lens defects - a bit too much lubricant, an imperfectly-mounted seal, an unevenly glued subcomponent- to "express" themselves, much in the way that Danil K,s very active outdoor hiking and scrambling in Sweden has tended show the weak points of the E-3 body and swivel LCD.
Click to expand...
True that I use my equipment always outdoors in long hikes in rainforests. That implies perhaps a higher amount of humidity, but not temperature. My rainforests are always between 1000 and 2300 meters, so even in the hottest days the temperature in my rainforests are always between 10 and 30 degrees celsius. A perfect temperature.

It may sound contradictory, but I even go shooting to run out from the hot summer in Rio de Janeiro.

But I don't know the impact of humidity. However, all my Oly lenses are weather sealed, and stored with lots of silicagel...

Cheers,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
luisflorit said:
I've already contacted Oly Japan. They told me that they asked Oly Brazil to take some action.
Click to expand...
That's what I did last time, did not help much. Service Belgium then just repeated the same statement that led me to contact Olympus Japan in the first place. And Olympus Europe did not react in any way to my written letter.
luisflorit said:
  1. 12-60: unreliable focus for landscapes, so much that I usually have to take 4 or 5 shots to ensure one in focus
Click to expand...
I am still trying to figure out if it's the lens or just my inexperience. I suspect the latter ... but you are more experienced at taking images than myself.
luisflorit said:
  1. 12-60: aperture blades stuck (this thread)
Click to expand...
That was solved eventually.
luisflorit said:
  1. 50-200: small oily ring inside the lens near the barrel (came with lens, but it never affected IQ, though)
  2. 50-200: Two big oily smudges coming from the above ring, but now extending almost to the center of the lens (never saw it affecting IQ, but I am not sure to what extent this affects focus).
Click to expand...
That's what I got now. Though the smudges are more "delicate".
luisflorit said:
As you may suspect, this is becoming increasingly irritating...
Click to expand...
Yep, it is.

Cheers

Claudius
--
Member of the LAGIMESCE

(local action group for introduction of mandatory environmental sealing in consumer
electronics)
 
ShatteredSky said:
luisflorit said:
I've already contacted Oly Japan. They told me that they asked Oly Brazil to take some action.
Click to expand...
That's what I did last time, did not help much. Service Belgium then just repeated the same statement that led me to contact Olympus Japan in the first place. And Olympus Europe did not react in any way to my written letter.
Click to expand...
I don't have much hope...
SpiralTower said:
SpiralTower said:
  1. 12-60: unreliable focus for landscapes, so much that I usually have to take 4 or 5 shots to ensure one in focus
Click to expand...
I am still trying to figure out if it's the lens or just my inexperience. I suspect the latter ... but you are more experienced at taking images than myself.
Click to expand...
Well, I can focus my 50-200 + EC20 at 400mm without problems (sometimes even handheld). With the EC14 it sometimes gives problems, but I already know more or less how to handle those. There is no excuse why a lens cannot focus reliably on something like this, when you use center point AF and place it in the boundary of the mountain (strong grey-green-blue contrast) and it gives a AF lock:


SpiralTower said:
SpiralTower said:
  1. 12-60: aperture blades stuck (this thread)
Click to expand...
That was solved eventually.
Click to expand...
Apparently (and only apparently), this can be solved if I pay 55% of the total cost of the lens... in 3 more months...
SpiralTower said:
SpiralTower said:
  1. 50-200: small oily ring inside the lens near the barrel (came with lens, but it never affected IQ, though)
  2. 50-200: Two big oily smudges coming from the above ring, but now extending almost to the center of the lens (never saw it affecting IQ, but I am not sure to what extent this affects focus).
Click to expand...
That's what I got now. Though the smudges are more "delicate".
Click to expand...
REALLY?? I thought I was the only one with this! Could you please post a picture of your smudges?

Thanks,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
After all the issues I had with the 12-60, I decided to write a page about all the problems I faced with Oly gear, and sent an email to Oly Japan pointing them to the page and to this thread. This is the page I created:

http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos/myexperiencewitholy.html

The reaction of Oly was fast and smart. Instead of 3 months, they fixed my 12-60 in 3 weeks (I have no idea how), and they decided not to charge me!! :)

I have done exactly this 15 years ago with a Toshiba sound system that they were unable to fix, and the end of the story was even better: Toshiba changed my system.

The moral of the story is what we already know: the Internet is a great tool in may ways.

Thanks for the support,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
luisflorit said:
After all the issues I had with the 12-60, I decided to write a page about all the problems I faced with Oly gear, and sent an email to Oly Japan pointing them to the page and to this thread. This is the page I created:

http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos/myexperiencewitholy.html

The reaction of Oly was fast and smart. Instead of 3 months, they fixed my 12-60 in 3 weeks (I have no idea how), and they decided not to charge me!! :)

I have done exactly this 15 years ago with a Toshiba sound system that they were unable to fix, and the end of the story was even better: Toshiba changed my system.

The moral of the story is what we already know: the Internet is a great tool in may ways.

Thanks for the support,
L.
Click to expand...
Now...that's what I call greasing the squeeky wheel. Way to go! I'm glad it got results. It should have.
 
That has more or less been my experience over three decades of using Olympus cameras. They really do not have the resources of Canon or Nikon, so their coverage, especially in some countries can be imperfect. Too often, such improvised solutions as trying to rely on third parties - contracted distributors or generic camera repair shops - do not work for their more sophisticated equipment.

It is really good to hear that you stuck with it Luis. You are a talented and dedicated photographer who deserves the best support Olympus can possibly give you in continuing top make your excellent images.

It is also good for all of us to know that they are still really trying, even sometimes from a continent away, to really support us, their customers.
Gregm61 said:
luisflorit said:
After all the issues I had with the 12-60, I decided to write a page about all the problems I faced with Oly gear, and sent an email to Oly Japan pointing them to the page and to this thread. This is the page I created:

http://w3.impa.br/~luis/fotos/myexperiencewitholy.html

The reaction of Oly was fast and smart. Instead of 3 months, they fixed my 12-60 in 3 weeks (I have no idea how), and they decided not to charge me!! :)

I have done exactly this 15 years ago with a Toshiba sound system that they were unable to fix, and the end of the story was even better: Toshiba changed my system.

The moral of the story is what we already know: the Internet is a great tool in may ways.

Thanks for the support,
L.
Click to expand...
Now...that's what I call greasing the squeeky wheel. Way to go! I'm glad it got results. It should have.
Click to expand...
--
erichK
saskatoon, canada

http://erichk.zenfolio.com/

http://www.fototime.com/inv/7F3D846BCD301F3

underwater photos: http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showgallery.php?
cat=500&ppuser=5567
 
erichK said:
That has more or less been my experience over three decades of using Olympus cameras. They really do not have the resources of Canon or Nikon, so their coverage, especially in some countries can be imperfect. Too often, such improvised solutions as trying to rely on third parties - contracted distributors or generic camera repair shops - do not work for their more sophisticated equipment.

It is really good to hear that you stuck with it Luis. You are a talented and dedicated photographer who deserves the best support Olympus can possibly give you in continuing top make your excellent images.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for your lovely words!! They are always appreciated.
erichK said:
It is also good for all of us to know that they are still really trying, even sometimes from a continent away, to really support us, their customers.
Click to expand...
Yes, I also thought that. At least it seems they are trying...

Cheers,
L.

--
My gallery: http://w3.impa.br/~luis/photos



Oly Ee3 + 12--60 + 50--200 + EeC-14 + Oly EfEl50R
Pany FZee50 + Oly EfEl50 + TeeCon17 + Raynx 150 & 250
Nikn CeePee4500; Cann SDee500
 
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