E-P5 #2 - Problem #5

I had my new E-P5 (reconditioned from Olympus) for five short days. Then I went out birding on world-renowned Sanibel Island with this new body, 75-300mm lens, and tripod. I made maybe 250-300 exposures of a group of roseate spoonbills and white pelicans. I also snapped some fun shots of a tricolored heron and an alligator in the pond near my home.

I loaded the SD card into my computer last night and attempted a download into Lightroom. There was nothing on the card! What??? Try as I might, I could recover nothing. I suspected the card, so I put another one in my E-P5 and tried to format it. It seems to format OK, with 441 raw photos available (8Gb). I can snap the shutter without an error message, but nothing shows up on the card. I do notice that the number of available photos does not change as I make exposures. I guess I should have been looking at that yesterday. Based upon this little test, I presume the original card is OK. I don't want to touch it yet on the off chance I can still recover some photos, but I'm not encouraged.

I reset the camera and get the same results. It appears to format OK, but will not record a photo.

So, I'm left with E-P5 #2 and problem #5 since mid-August. I know I can send it back to Olympus for a repair, but that is not why I own a camera. It does not matter how well (or poorly) Olympus supports it customers, if the camera is in the shop, it's not in the field or the hands of the photographer. I'm certainly not inclined to have a backup E-P5 at the moment.

On the other hand, my Lumix LX7 continues to plug away like a journeyman for two years now. I just no longer care for the really small 1/1.7 sensor.

Any suggestions beyond sending it back to Olympus?

Are the universe and the good Lord trying to tell me something? If yes, I have little idea what that is.

Jim Pilcher
Bonita Springs, Florida, USA