How tough is the Em5 iii?

cba_melbourne wrote:

Bassam Guy wrote:

cba_melbourne wrote:

Bassam Guy wrote:

cba_melbourne wrote:

Bassam Guy wrote:

cba_melbourne wrote:

Bassam Guy wrote:

cba_melbourne wrote:

...

This is not a heavy duty camera. Nor is it an adventure/sports camera as it was originally advertised for. You have to pamper it if you want it to last.

Are you aware of practical body weaknesses apart from the tripod socket? I've found mine to be extremely resilient, suffering several blows that would have dented or scratched a metal body.

Yes. The extreme body flexing on a tripod is a body weakness. And it has nothing to do with the tripod socket itself, nor with the plastic body, but with the way this camera is constructed internally.

You see, the type of plastic used is PCGF20, PolyCarbonate reinforced with 20% Glass Fibers in a powder like form that is suitable for injection molding. Cameras made with this rather weak low cost material should come out heavier than Magnesium bodies for the same size and rigidity. But the EM5.3 (and the identical OM5) is lighter than the EM5.2. Likely it is this weight saving that dictated the marginal thickness of body panels, as well as the way it is constructed internally (with undersized or altogether missing metal reinforcements in critical places, that the very similarly built EM10 line has).

Think about it, the EM10.3 is slightly smaller than the EM5.3, and it does not have the innards from an EM1.2 inside nor is it weather-sealed, same PCGF20 build, yet the two cameras are almost exactly the same weight. Where the EM5.3 should definitely be some 10-15% heavier, if it was to be as rigid as the EM10.3 with the exact same plastic type and construction method. To make the EM5.3 as small and light as it is, yet as rigid as it should be, would have required a much more expensive Magnesium body.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Let me rephrase: are you aware of practical body weaknesses unrelated to tripod use?

This is my first line in my first post in this thread:

"I feel it is actually pretty tough to normal daily handheld use. It holds up well. Even with my 100-400"

But to answer your new rephrased question: are you aware of practical body weaknesses unrelated to tripod use?

The correct answer is yes, absolutely. The camera breaks catastrophically within a few hours if used with a PD clip or a similar clip, as widely used for hiking and adventure/outdoor use of cameras.

Don't those attach to the tripod socket? Pedantry at its finest

You have been here long enough to know exactly the problem, no need to ask silly formulated questions to force the untrue answer that you would like to hear. You will not get it from me.

Your agenda to trivialize this major design fault, is a disgraceful disservice to any potential buyer of an EM5.3 or OM5 camera that seeks advise on this forum. They deserve to be told the truth before spending their hard earned money.

You see, your cars trailer hitch can not only be used to tow trailers, despite it's use specific name. Many use it to attach a bike rack to transport their pushbikes. Some use it to attach a winch. Some use it to tow other cars. Some use it with a rack to carry equipment. There are spare wheel holders and jerry-can holders that attach to the trailer hitch.

Thanks, I was1 a little alarmed when I read your comment, "this is not a heavy duty camera. Nor is it an adventure/sports camera as it was originally advertised for. You have to pamper it if you want it to last".

So, I guess "it" means the tripod socket, not the camera itself. I can now rest peacefully!

No, no no. You still try to twist the facts.

There is nothing wrong with the metal tripod socket. It gets ripped out of the body completely intact and undamaged, in one piece. Undamaged screws included.

It IS the plastic camera body itself that breaks

Think about it, if it was just the socket breaking, you could replace that yourself for $10. For another $20 you could replace the whole base plate too.

As it is, the repair costs around US$450. Because it's not only the base plate that breaks. It is both the front and rear body halves that break too. To most people $450 is well worth it to be pedantic:

That black plastic you can see around the tripod nut, that is ripped out from the front and rear body cover halves. To replace them the whole camera needs to come completely apart. That is why it is such an immensely expensive fix.

So let me repeat once more:

This is not a heavy duty camera. Nor is it an adventure/sports camera as it was originally advertised for. You have to pamper it if you want it to last. And this is unlike all other cameras past and present in m43 (only exception is the OM5 which has the exact same body as the EM5.3, and hence suffers from the exact same design fault). Here a pic of an OM5 before you ask another rephrased question:

There is no point in saying if you never use the tripod socket, the camera is solid. It's a self serving lie.

This camera comes with a tripod socket, and people are going to use it.

They need to be aware that they have to be very careful.

Because if they break the camera, this is not covered by warranty, and it is a very very expensive repair bill, that likely exceeds the value of a 2-3 year old camera.

Seriously? I was just trying to learn something new about potential problems with a camera that I have used for four years for "adventure/outdoors".

Hmmm, for the past 3 months you mean. Because just 3 months ago, you wrote this yourself:

"...but I was a fool back when my E-M5 II was my primary body. I carried mine with a tripod while hiking and hopping over boulders to get the best angles for cliffs and waterfalls. I would have used it to beat back bear attacks but I never even found a bear that I could try to taunt into attacking me.

All that recklessness ended when I steeply upgraded to the E-M5 III four years ago. Now I am gentle with cameras mounted on tripods.

Unlike its photographically superior but plastic bodied successors, the E-M5 III and OM-5, the E-M5 II's metal body has a sturdy and durable tripod socket."

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67436773

So, you actually confess that you do pamper your plastic EM5.3. I do too of course.

But your old metal EM5.2 you could carry on a tripod while hiking and hopping over boulders. Well, of course, because that is what people do with a real outdoors/adventure camera.

The EM5.3 (and the identical OM5) is cursed by a design fault, that prevents it from ever being an outdoors/adventure camera. No OM marketing blurb will ever change that.

E-M5 III body - I do not treat it any gentler than any other camera body I have ever owned. It has suffered some severe falls onto hard surfaces (concrete, boulders, slate sidewalk) and still looks brand new.

E-M5 III tripod socket - I have treated mine very gently for four years and asked you if you knew of any other body related problems with this camera, after you had implied that you had. Of course you'll find E-M5 III tripod socket warnings in my forum history. I make an effort to inform potential and new E-M5 III/OM-5 owners - like I did as my first reply to the  OP above.