Olympus EM5 freezing with 20mm 1.7 II

I've had a problem recently with my Em5 mark I freezing completely when using my Panny 20mm 1.7 mark II. Every time I brush against the shutter, even half press, it takes a shot and then the camera just locks up, no buttons responding at all. Starts working again when turning the camera off and on, but then as soon as I touch the shutter, same problem. I've noticed the aperture on the lens stays locked open when this happens too, so I think it's a miscommunication between body and lens. I've cleaned all the contacts, updated all the firmware, even done a full reset, no joy.

This body+lens combo is my go to for discreet street shooting, so this is annoying to say the least. Wondering whether to sell on the lens and switch to the Oly 17mm if this keeps up (better AF but I would really miss the size and IQ of the Panny...)

Anyone else had this issue?

Both lens and body?

Wrengale wrote:

I've had a problem recently with my Em5 mark I freezing completely when using my Panny 20mm 1.7 mark II. Every time I brush against the shutter, even half press, it takes a shot and then the camera just locks up, no buttons responding at all. Starts working again when turning the camera off and on, but then as soon as I touch the shutter, same problem. I've noticed the aperture on the lens stays locked open when this happens too, so I think it's a miscommunication between body and lens. I've cleaned all the contacts, updated all the firmware, even done a full reset, no joy.

This body+lens combo is my go to for discreet street shooting, so this is annoying to say the least. Wondering whether to sell on the lens and switch to the Oly 17mm if this keeps up (better AF but I would really miss the size and IQ of the Panny...)

Anyone else had this issue?

Don't switch the lens switch the camera Joking aside { sorry!} have you tried other lenses  , changed anything recently , new sd card etc

The 20mm f/1.7 was my favorite lens on the E-M5 (from 2012) until the 12-40 came out. So I used it a lot and never had such a lockup problem. Maybe cleaning contacts may help?

bluevellet wrote:

Both lens and body?

Yes, sadly both

Maybe cleaning contacts may help?

One of the first things I tried, no luck!

have you tried other lenses , changed anything recently , new sd card etc

Have tried other lenses, this is the only one that does this.

No new SD or anything. The camera just started playing up about two months back and this has been happening on and off since (again, only with this lens, no others)

Maybe some internal contact or cable is loose. The 20mm isn't known for that but many other lenses are. Something inside that moves while focusing may cause some electrical connection to fail, and that might cause the camera to freeze due to lost communication.

Unless you can test on another body you can probably assume it's in need of repair.

That's the really weird bit: lens works fine on my EM-1!

I initially missed that you have the mark II of the lens. My combination of the E-M5 with the 20mm f/1.7 (mark I) has never locked up. The mark II may have slightly different firmware than the mark I.

Update: no longer just this lens. Froze up with my Oly 25mm too, must have just been chance that it had only happened with the 20mm previously.

Thanks to everyone that's responded

A few years ago my PL 25mm f1.4 strangely rattled on the E-M5. Then I found this somewhere on the internet:

"The PL 25 is a wonderful lens and well-balanced on my E-M5ii, but its rattle snaking was both annoying and embarrassing until someone showed me how to eliminate it on Olympus bodies.

Under the gear menu D, Disp/Sound/PC, select flicker reduction and turn it to 'off.' Problem solved!"

OK, I admit yours is an entirely different problem, but it's always worth a try.

Leen.