Help - E-PL6 stuck shutter curtain!

Hello All,

A long time reader (10+ yrs) of this wonderful forum and created an account today to seek help for an issue I'm facing with my camera.

My 1.5 yr old pen E-PL6 suddenly started turning off when I try taking a picture. I took some pics on a trip this weekend and kept it in the bag and when I took it out after 15 mins the issue started. I did not drop the bag and the weather was pleasant 72 degrees. Upon some analysis I found that the shutter curtain comes up on pressing the button but doesn't open back. The camera waits for couple of secs before turning off.  Interestingly, if I take the battery out mid-way after setting a long exposure and insert back in, the curtain resets to open position. Now I know the default position for curtain is OPEN as I can see the live view when camera is turned on. So, it can't be the stuck shutter issue else the shutter would remain close even after turning the camera off.

I have tried the following with no avail:

1. Resetting to factory default

2. Updating to latest firmware (1.3)

3. Setting long exposure and taking battery out repeatedly.

4. Banging gently on a wooden table sideways.

5. Tried different lens, cleaning the lens and body contacts.

I can take videos just fine. Can I assume my beloved camera is dead for good :(?

Any help or tips to revive the camera would be greatly appreciated. Since its past warranty, Oly has quoted $150 to inspect/repair. Local shops quoted $140-$160. I don't know if I can justify spending that much for a $300 camera.

Thanks again for reading!

-Regds

Thanks Guy.

Yes, unfortunately this seems to be the conclusion from everyone. I would try selling it on ebay to cut my losses.

Not sure if I want to go back to Oly. I have seen similar issues reported with other Oly on this forum. Probably Sony is the way to go.

Any recommendations other than Oly under $600? Can I use my old stock lens with other m43?

Calvinhobbes wrote:

Thanks Guy.

Yes, unfortunately this seems to be the conclusion from everyone. I would try selling it on ebay to cut my losses.

Not sure if I want to go back to Oly. I have seen similar issues reported with other Oly on this forum. Probably Sony is the way to go.

One of those was probably my E-M1.1, but that was after 175,000+ shutter activations, so I had no complaint.  I had it repaired under the extended warranty.  You can generally find the extended warranty on sale at Olympus USA for $70 or so once a year, a good investment for two additional years of peace of mind.

Any recommendations other than Oly under $600? Can I use my old stock lens with other m43?

Guy Parsons wrote:

You hear the faults but never hear the good news here. I've used 7 Oly Pens over the years and never had any shutter problems. Two of those are E-PL5 (which really equals E-PL6) and they were heavily used for some years with no problems at all.

There's been more Olys sold and appear here on this forum so naturally the chance of more faults being reported for Oly simply due to the larger population.

Never had any issues with Olympus shutters either, but isn't the amount of posts reporting an issue indicative of its frequency? Assuming users of two different brands are equally likely to post given a failure, if one brand has more posts about failures than the other... I'd conclude (not with complete certainty though) that the brand is more prone to failure.

I always see the 'people won't post if they don't have issues' argument, but it bothers me because it doesn't actually address the issue: yes, the reported problem may not be as widespread as it seems based on forum posts, but its definitely more common than it should be. Prime example would be the D7000 focus issues, where many in the Nikon forums jumped to defend the camera with the above argument and the classic 'I've been using one for 2 years and no issues so you must be doing something wrong'. At this point, its pretty clear there was something unreliable/faulty with its focus system.

As for my bad luck, an E-PL1 had an intermittent button fault that Oly could not fix, so they gave me an E-P3 in place of it. And one of my E-P5 had front/rear dial death, fixed under warranty and been good for a long time now. The rest of my bunch, no problems.

Any recommendations other than Oly under $600? Can I use my old stock lens with other m43?

All M4/3 bodies handle M4/3 lenses, but basically that's only Olympus and Panasonic. All the other brand mirrorless cameras have different mounts.

Regards.... Guy

Guy Parsons wrote:

In defence of Oly I guess, I don't recall any great numbers of shutter problems over the 13 years of being involved with Oly cameras on various forums here.

Agreed, me neither. I was referring to how we should regard posts that complain about breakages/failures on cameras, but I haven't seen many for Olympus.

Consumer focal plane shutters may have a 30,000 click life plus/minus 100% and the pro grade shutters more like 150,000 plus/minus 100%.

For consumer grade which cameras would be a likely example? 30000 is concerningly low, but I could see that being a possible number on some of the budget cameras. Which is quite scary

Anyway there is no solution except to be prepared by always having a spare body available if some situation or excursion is important. With any complex electronic+mechanical equipment the rule is to be prepared for anything to happen at any time but of course the weird happenings can be far and few between if at all.

Indeed, having a second body is always a good idea. When it comes to buying a camera, it's always a good idea to read up on potential issues though. I read about the D7000 and I decided I would trust those who said that focus issues could be solved with AF fine tune and persuaded myself that the odds of getting a body with no issues would be decent based on the 'vocal minority' argument... I went through 2 bodies and both had significantly different focus in indoor and outdoor lighting. Sure, sample size is small. But I think that on hindsight, the probability of getting a body with issues was too big for my purchases to be worth the risk.

Regards........ Guy

jalywol wrote:

You can do very well with the Panasonic GX85 (they list for $799, but do go on sale for less) if you want a model with a viewfinder. If you want a smaller body without an EVF, the GX850 is a good choice, and is in your budget, even not on special.

Panasonics tend to be pretty reliable, and they have a 3 year warrantee if you send in their forms to activate it within 30 days of purchase.

You can use any M43 lens on any M43 body, so your Oly lenses will work just fine on the Panasonic bodies. Both the GX85 and the GX850 also come with a really terrific kit 12-32mm lens, so if you are using the stock 14-42mm Oly, you will be surprised at how much better the 12-32mm is.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

-J

Thanks for the suggestions. Would you recommend a bigger sensor (Sony alpha) assuming I can sell off my Oly lens? I read up a bit about Sony a5100 and have seen positive reviews. Will that be a better option over GX850 ?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and tips.

I called up Olympus USA and they quoted a flat rate $128.50 +tax for the repairs. I can also see an error code of D:8903 under service menu which is related to shutter failure.

The hard part is to decide whether spending almost half the original purchase price for repair is justified.

I can sell my stock lens to fund part of the repair costs and keep it as spare body. And buy Panasonic GX850 which comes with a better lens that I can use on both.

Or

Sell the stock lens (hopefully body too) and buy Sony a5100 which has a bigger sensor and better fps.

Which one would be a wiser decision?

I just sold my stock lens on ebay. Will move to a different format/system than M43.

I'm leaning towards Sony A6000. Thanks again for all the inputs.

Stephen Strangways wrote:

Before you get an A6000, read some tests of the lenses you are interested in. The Sony 16-50mm, for example, is FAR less sharp than the Olympus 14-42mm and your pictures, overall, will be significantly worse.

Don't just compare tests of the resolution of a camera body, which usually are done with the sharpest macro prime lens available. Compare the lenses you would actually be using.

Old thread... 2017.