My Em1 died.

[adamgrin]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

 

[jalywol]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

Sounds like the shutter failed. Maybe take the battery out and let it sit for a few days and then try it again. I assume you tried a different lens, also?

-J

 

[drj3]

The shutter stuck. Sometimes removing the battery and putting it back in will cause it to release. If you can get it to release the shutter cleanly, then you could use the camera with the Electronic shutter. If your camera is the E-M1.1, then that will be limited to stationary targets since the sensor readout is about 1/13 second.

I have read posts saying gently bumping the camera turned on sometimes allows a stuck shutter to release, however, one could cause damage to the camera with too hard a bump.

My E-M1.1 shutter stuck closed (over 170,000 shutter activations), but I got it to release by removing and reinserting the battery and I used it with the Electronic shutter until it was repaired under an extended warranty.

 

[adamgrin]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

Sounds like the shutter failed. Maybe take the battery out and let it sit for a few days and then try it again. I assume you tried a different lens, also?

-J

Ok thanks, I'll give that a try. I've tried with another lens, no good. The worrying thing is there's no life in it at all. When i turn it on, no sound, nothing like it's trying to open the shutter, nada

 

[adamgrin]

The shutter stuck. Sometimes removing the battery and putting it back in will cause it to release. If you can get it to release the shutter cleanly, then you could use the camera with the Electronic shutter. If your camera is the E-M1.1, then that will be limited to stationary targets since the sensor readout is about 1/13 second.

I have read posts saying gently bumping the camera turned on sometimes allows a stuck shutter to release, however, one could cause damage to the camera with too hard a bump.

My E-M1.1 shutter stuck closed (over 170,000 shutter activations), but I got it to release by removing and reinserting the battery and I used it with the Electronic shutter until it was repaired under an extended warranty.

 

[drj3]

The shutter stuck. Sometimes removing the battery and putting it back in will cause it to release. If you can get it to release the shutter cleanly, then you could use the camera with the Electronic shutter. If your camera is the E-M1.1, then that will be limited to stationary targets since the sensor readout is about 1/13 second.

I have read posts saying gently bumping the camera turned on sometimes allows a stuck shutter to release, however, one could cause damage to the camera with too hard a bump.

My E-M1.1 shutter stuck closed (over 170,000 shutter activations), but I got it to release by removing and reinserting the battery and I used it with the Electronic shutter until it was repaired under an extended warranty.

Thanks, yep it's an Em1.1. Have tried removing the battery, no luck. Also tried bumping it but again nada. There is no life in it at all when i turn the on switch on, no sound, nothing on the screen, nothing

When my E-M1.1 shutter stuck, the camera froze and nothing indicated that it was still on. I tried turning it off and on and then thought the battery had probably failed, but since I was outside shooting I decided to remove the lens and saw the closed shutter. I cannot remember if it took multiple or single battery removals, since I went to get a different battery and the shutter suddenly released when I either put in or removed one of the batteries. I thought initially it was a battery problem, so I stopped using the battery that was in it, but then it stuck again a few shots later and I got it to release by removing and reinserting the battery. I stopped using the mechanical shutter and Olympus replaced it.

 

[mikero]

As it is the E-M1.1, maybe time for an upgrade. It's clearly quite old. Second hand E-M1.3?

Mike

 

[adamgrin]

As it is the E-M1.1, maybe time for an upgrade. It's clearly quite old. Second hand E-M1.3?

Mike

Funny you say that, luckily I picked up a refurbished Em1 III a couple of months ago on a trip to the US as I'm currently travelling/living in South America and feared the day that my old Em1.1 might die on me and i'd be left far away from a replacement!

I still really appreciated having the Em1.1 as a backup/take with me anywhere camera so would be great if I could get it going again.

 

[Bobapingu]

Sounds like the shutter. I've had to have the shutter replaced on my E-M1.1. I was surprised at the low quote so went ahead with it.

 

[Bassam Guy]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

There is nothing special about the Olympus supplied USB cable. It is only a USB cable. Use any that you may have but one with ferrite chokes is preferable.

 

[Henry Richardson]

If you can get it to release the shutter cleanly, then you could use the camera with the Electronic shutter. If your camera is the E-M1.1, then that will be limited to stationary targets since the sensor readout is about 1/13 second.

I have been using the electronic shutter since 2015 with my E-M10 II (readout 1/20), PEN-F (readout 1/20), E-M1 II (readout 1/60), and GX7 II (readout 1/10). It is not just for use with stationary subjects. Even with the GX7 II subjects can be moving fairly fast and still be fine as long as the shutter speed is appropriate (people walking, cars and motorbikes that are not going fast, etc.). Here is an explanation of this stuff because many people seem to confuse readout speed with shutter speed.

This post I made on 2016/1/1 was about the 1/20 second used in the E-M10 II, PEN-F, etc. The E-M1 II is much faster using 1/60 second.

1/20 readout analagous to old X-sync speed?

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/57018661

Since the Olympus silent, electronic shutter has a readout time of about 1/20 second isn't that analogous to the X-sync speed of focal plane shutters? Back in the 1960s and early 1970s most 35mm SLRs had cloth focal plane shutters that traveled horizontally with an X-sync speed of 1/60 second. For those who don't know, the X-sync speed was the maximum shutter speed you used for electronic flash because that was the maximum speed at which the whole film (sensor) was exposed to light at the same time. In other words, it was the maximum speed at which the leading curtain of the focal plane shutter had just arrived at the opposite side of the film aperture and the trailing curtain of the focal plane shutter was just about to begin its travel across the film aperture.

Everyone may recall that shutter speeds higher than the X-sync speed were also available and worked well. My Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL that I bought back in those days had a horizontal cloth focal plane shutter with an X-sync of 1/60 and shutter speeds of 1 - 1/1000 plus B. My recollection is that the Nikon F2 had an X-sync speed of 1/80 and my Minolta XK (aka X-1 and XM) had a horizontal titanium focal plane shutter with an X-sync of 1/100 and shutter speeds of 16 - 1/2000 plus B. Around the mid-1970s Copal vertical metal focal plane shutters with an X-sync of 1/125 started becoming common (I also seem to recall the sound was a bit louder and of a different character).

If there was fast subject movement (such as a racing car) then in rare cases you might get a tiny bit of distortion at high shutter speeds because of the 1/60 X-sync -- although I never experienced it. With faster X-sync speeds that was reduced even more. See here for a famous example with a very slow focal plane shutter (slower than 1/60):

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56461228

So, even with a 1/20 second readout I still think that using A mode, auto ISO, and the silent electronic shutter Olympus should continue to follow the reasonable 1 / FF-equivalent-focal-length algorithm, as it does when using the mechanical shutter.

Rolling shutter is nothing new.

I remember 50 years ago seeing this famous photo by Jacques Henri Lartigue taken in 1912: Grand Prix de Circuit de la Seine. Taken on a 4x5 glass plate with f4.5 lens. Focal plane shutter and panning at the same time.

 

[john isaacs]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

I had shutter failure on one of my E-M1.1's. Sent it to Olympus for replacement of the shutter mechanism. Eventually sold it and moved on to the E-M1.2.

If you want to keep using the E-M1.1, then send it in for repair. Even if you can get it working again by some of the suggested solutions, it could just freeze again when you need it most.

E-M1.1 prices are consistent with repair costs, so if you plan to move on I would just junk the camera and move on.

 

[Henry Richardson]

Funny you say that, luckily I picked up a refurbished Em1 III a couple of months ago on a trip to the US as I'm currently travelling/living in South America and feared the day that my old Em1.1 might die on me and i'd be left far away from a replacement!

I still really appreciated having the Em1.1 as a backup/take with me anywhere camera so would be great if I could get it going again.

Fortunately you also have your E-M1 III with you. As others have suggested, as a last resort you might try the hack to only use the electronic shutter. Good luck.

 

[adamgrin]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

There is nothing special about the Olympus supplied USB cable. It is only a USB cable. Use any that you may have but one with ferrite chokes is preferable.

It's not that I don't have the Olympus one, I don't have the right one that fits in the camera. I think it's USB-A? I only have a usb-c and the one for my phone which neither fit the slot in the camera. I guess I could find one although not sure how easy that is here in Peru.

 

[adamgrin]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

I had shutter failure on one of my E-M1.1's. Sent it to Olympus for replacement of the shutter mechanism. Eventually sold it and moved on to the E-M1.2.

If you want to keep using the E-M1.1, then send it in for repair. Even if you can get it working again by some of the suggested solutions, it could just freeze again when you need it most.

E-M1.1 prices are consistent with repair costs, so if you plan to move on I would just junk the camera and move on.

Yeah the problem is I'm not going to be anywhere near an Olympus repair place for a long time as I doubt they exist here in South America. I'm sure I could find a random tech person on the street to have a go at a more rustic repair job... nothing to lose I guess.

 

[Hexlord79]

My E-M1.1 shutter stuck closed (over 170,000 shutter activations), but I got it to release by removing and reinserting the battery and I used it with the Electronic shutter until it was repaired under an extended warranty.

So just to clarify, 170k shots via the mechanical shutter right?

Mine's less than 10 or 20k, just want to make sure since its the Mark 1 XD

 

[agott123]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

I had shutter failure on one of my E-M1.1's. Sent it to Olympus for replacement of the shutter mechanism. Eventually sold it and moved on to the E-M1.2.

If you want to keep using the E-M1.1, then send it in for repair. Even if you can get it working again by some of the suggested solutions, it could just freeze again when you need it most.

E-M1.1 prices are consistent with repair costs, so if you plan to move on I would just junk the camera and move on.

Yeah the problem is I'm not going to be anywhere near an Olympus repair place for a long time as I doubt they exist here in South America. I'm sure I could find a random tech person on the street to have a go at a more rustic repair job... nothing to lose I guess.

Some of us who live in South America have survived many years without a official Olympus repair center...

 

[Henry Richardson]

Yeah the problem is I'm not going to be anywhere near an Olympus repair place for a long time as I doubt they exist here in South America. I'm sure I could find a random tech person on the street to have a go at a more rustic repair job... nothing to lose I guess.

Some of us who live in South America have survived many years without a official Olympus repair center...

It is not clear if he is traveling in South America or planted in one place and living in South America. If he has mentioned that then I missed it. There is a TREMENDOUS difference when it comes to trying to get support and repairs done. I know from years of experience. So, like him I always carry a backup body.

Currently I am about 12 weeks into some traveling from Japan -> U.S. -> Europe (Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina) -> Thailand -> Malaysia -> ???. I am carrying my E-M1 II, E-M10 II, along with 5 lenses. And also my Panasonic TX1 (ZS100). I am using them all, but the E-M1 II and E-M10 II can use the same lenses so they are backups for each other.

 

[adamgrin]

Hi all,

I was out shooting today and suddenly my Em1 packed it up. I clicked the shutter button and it was taking the shot when it kinda froze so I turned it off and it won't turn back on. When it take the lens off the shutter is closed. Have tried different batteries and still no luck. Unfortunately I don't have the right USB cable to connect it to my laptop to see if that revives it.

Any ideas or has its life finally come to an end?

Cheers Adam

I had shutter failure on one of my E-M1.1's. Sent it to Olympus for replacement of the shutter mechanism. Eventually sold it and moved on to the E-M1.2.

If you want to keep using the E-M1.1, then send it in for repair. Even if you can get it working again by some of the suggested solutions, it could just freeze again when you need it most.

E-M1.1 prices are consistent with repair costs, so if you plan to move on I would just junk the camera and move on.

Yeah the problem is I'm not going to be anywhere near an Olympus repair place for a long time as I doubt they exist here in South America. I'm sure I could find a random tech person on the street to have a go at a more rustic repair job... nothing to lose I guess.

Some of us who live in South America have survived many years without a official Olympus repair center...

 

[adamgrin]

Yeah the problem is I'm not going to be anywhere near an Olympus repair place for a long time as I doubt they exist here in South America. I'm sure I could find a random tech person on the street to have a go at a more rustic repair job... nothing to lose I guess.

Some of us who live in South America have survived many years without a official Olympus repair center...

It is not clear if he is traveling in South America or planted in one place and living in South America. If he has mentioned that then I missed it. There is a TREMENDOUS difference when it comes to trying to get support and repairs done. I know from years of experience. So, like him I always carry a backup body.

Currently I am about 12 weeks into some traveling from Japan -> U.S. -> Europe (Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina) -> Thailand -> Malaysia -> ???. I am carrying my E-M1 II, E-M10 II, along with 5 lenses. And also my Panasonic TX1 (ZS100). I am using them all, but the E-M1 II and E-M10 II can use the same lenses so they are backups for each other.

Definitely not perched in one spot that's for sure. It's more a living whilst travelling situation so lots of moving around, never in one spot for too long. Kinda makes the sending away for repairs a little tricky.