Olympus E-P5 dial malfunction and warranty questions

Koshou wrote:

Thanks Guy, wolfychi, traveller_101, and Allen for your replies. It gave me good material to ponder about over the last few days.

I have tried to rotate the dial fast forward and backwards, and that did improve it much. I conclude that the problem is dirt on the contacts of the rotary dial. I decided to get some more experience with the E-P5 and then figure out what to do.

From your replies I conclude that Olympus has figured out how to repair the defect effectively, and some blogs in Japan appear to confirm that. However, Olympus will charge me at least 12,000 Yen (more than US$100) for the repair, so if I decide to repair, I will first try to disassemble my E-P5 and clean its contacts. There are some Youtube videos on disassembling other but similar Olympus cameras, so I can figure out how to do this, and it will be much fun anyway.

From your replies I understand that you applied some fluid to the dial without disassembling, but I wonder how I can get a drop in. WD40, for example, comes in spray cans, and I am reluctant to spray it in the opening next to the dial. Did you use some kind of pipette to apply fluid? I figure whatever fluid I use, it is best to open the camera in order to apply it.

What I did was spray some of the Deoxit into a small dish then use a small screwdriver to pick up a drop and apply it to the dial between the dial and body. I applied two to three drops (dial facing UP). I then turned the camera over and rotated the dial to spread the drops.

Opening the camera to do this, to me, would be a last resort. I have opened cameras before but some of them used Pozi screws rather than Phillips.

https://bsfixings.uk/the-difference-between-phillips-and-pozi-screw

If you don't have the right screwdriver, you can damage the head making it extremely difficult to remove.

I don't know if Olympus uses Pozi Drive screws. It is difficult to say with such a small screw.

Finally, I noticed that my E-P5 is less snappy in its operation than my OMD M10 Mark II. This extends to AF operation, and reaction time to any button press. Is this your experience too? It looks to me that technology advanced a lot in the few years between the launches of the E-P5 and the M10 II. Any experiences to share?

I do not have an EM10 II but, compared to my EM5II, the EP5 is so much more responsive. It just gets things done while the other camera is still thinking about it.

Make sure you have the latest firmware installed on the EP5 as there were quite a few important changes.

Allan