Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

[Alpha1]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

I have just taken a look and yep, mine has got the same hairline crack in the centre screw hole. I bought mine in late August and it had only come into the shop earlier that same morning!

I don't think that I will bother taking it back as to be honest if I hadn't noticed this thread, I would never have seen it!

However I will notify the shop (in writing!) as they are a good stockist, and then if it does develop into something more serious at least I have mentioned it in advance.

[peak4]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Mine is crack-less. I think it was one of the first in the country. Maybe this has some bearing on the build quality?

Yep, add me to the list, it was also one of the first available.


Thanks for your comment Mark, it doesn't look like it will cause any issues in the short term.
I'd be more inclined to leave it until towards the end of the warranty period. That way the whole camera would get a check over by your service technicians whilst still under guarantee, and any other unnoticed but developing problems would be rectified too.
Also if it is a general issue which demands a modification to the plastic moulding, much like the similar E-3 problem, I may as well wait until the new moulding is available.

[jamsa]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

yep, add me to the list, it was also one of the first available.


Thanks for your comment mark, it doesn't look like it will cause any issues in the short term.
I'd be more inclined to leave it until towards the end of the warranty period. That way the whole camera would get a check over by your service technicians whilst still under guarantee, and any other unnoticed but developing problems would be rectified too.
Also if it is a general issue which demands a modification to the plastic moulding, much like the similar e-3 problem, i may as well wait until the new moulding is available.

good suggestion

[JonSchick]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Mark - thank you for your offer of taking a look at one of the affected cameras. Like others, I'm inclined to hold off for now as I have plans for mine until the new year. But depending upon whether there has been any more general type of announcement after that, I may get in contact and send you my camera sometime in Jan/Feb when it tends to get used a little less!

Thanks again,

Jon

[cliff]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

To get an idea of the scale of the problem could everybody inspect their own cracks, please.

one more crack on the centre mounting of my one , it was new in September this year, I don't think its going to be a big problem, unless it lets water in or something, I've tried to upload a pic to the gallery and it says upload successful but I can't find the pic anywhere to post it...maybe I'll try an older camera phone

[PeterBirder]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

I may be wrong (I usually am ) but this may be a case of mass hysteria.

Like everyone else I couldn't resist checking mine. Guess what? I eventually found the reported "crack" although it took a bit of finding with a magnifying glass.
As David Morison says this appears to be a metalic component, feels like a diecasting to me, rather than a "plastic moulding". The "mark" seems to be too straight and precisely positioned to to be a stress crack and I could easily be persuaded that in fact it is not a crack but but a raised ridge. In either case this could be explained by a minute mark in the die used for casting. This (and the fact that some of us have better eye sight than others) would explain why some cameras have this "fault" and others don't as I'm sure Olympus have more than one die to their name.

Personaly I'm going to ignore "The Crack " and carry on taking photographs with the camera in the vain hope that I may eventually become a good enough photographer to fully exploit its capability before I actually wear the thing out.

Regards.


ps.DONT use superglue. The surgeon who did my hernia op a while back used superglue and little bits of sticky tape and I nearly fell apart.

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

I may be wrong (I usually am ) but this may be a case of mass hysteria.

Peter, you may be right!
This an earlier photo (not with a sharp macro lens) that seems to show it was probably there back in July which might(?) indicate a moulding line rather crack. Either way, I'm not worried about it. You have to look real carefully.



This could be like the original 'noise' from the IBIS which also turned out to be 'a storm in a tea cup'. A response from Olympus on what it is will give us all piece of mind (for those that are worried about it). It is good of Mark Thackara to start the follow-up.

[DJMC]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Mine's OK, no crack. Purchased June 2012.

There's a suggestion on DP that tripod mounting and/or over tightening an add-on grip may somehow have caused the cracks. Not sure how that could be?

[OM USer]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

If I understand it correctly, the thinking here is that an overly large tripod plate will extend beyond the camera baseplate and touch the bottome edge of the screen, exerting some upward pressure on it. There have been some cases of people being unable to flip their screen upward once mounted on a tripod.

[Zuiko]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

If I understand it correctly, the thinking here is that an overly large tripod plate will extend beyond the camera baseplate and touch the bottome edge of the screen, exerting some upward pressure on it. There have been some cases of people being unable to flip their screen upward once mounted on a tripod.

Ah, I do use a large tripod plate and I've just fitted it to see what happens. It does apply pressure to the screen and stops it from flipping out. Also, if I flip the screen out before fitting the plate, then the screen won't flip back in by quite a significant margin.

Can anyone recommend a good Q/R plate of the correct size?

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Ah, I do use a large tripod plate and I've just fitted it to see what happens. It does apply pressure to the screen and stops it from flipping out. Also, if I flip the screen out before fitting the plate, then the screen won't flip back in by quite a significant margin.

Can anyone recommend a good Q/R plate of the correct size?

Yeah, the one I made for mine, but sorry, you can't have it. Well, you still need to attach a tripod plate to it but since it gets in the way of the battery access, I rarely use it. There are a few others now on the market, ranging from cheap to expensive.

[bredman]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

FWIW there is no cracks on mine at all. It was one of the first in the country.

When i rub my finger over the 3 screws the middle screw is slightly raised compared to the other 2, only slightly. I don't know if it's supposed to be.

[Zuiko]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Yeah, the one I made for mine, but sorry, you can't have it. Well, you still need to attach a tripod plate to it but since it gets in the way of the battery access, I rarely use it. There are a few others now on the market, ranging from cheap to expensive.

Thinking about it, all I need to do is make a spacer out of thin rubber or something similar, then I can continue to use my existing plates.

[Harbrimar]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

For what its worth I have just bought the EM-5 (3 days old). I have examined the area and cannot see any cracks (yet!). I will keep an eye on it though. I have attached some photos. I do not have anything that looks like a moulding mark in the area.

[Gwyver]

Re: Anyone else got this with their EM-5?

Ah, I do use a large tripod plate ...

Can anyone recommend a good Q/R plate of the correct size?

John,
I use a model 'B9' Acra compatible plate from Really-Right Stuff. It is square and has a shallow anti-rotation flange. You can fit it with the fllange at the front or back - so it wouldn't interfere with the viewfinder deployment. See here for details: http://reallyrightstuff.com/Items.as...pusEM5&key=cat

They also make some smaller Acra compatible Q/R plates - which are intended for P&S cameras but would probably be OK with an EM-5 or the PENs unless you were using a heavy lens.
See here: http://reallyrightstuff.com/Items.as...t&code=BodyPnS.

Some words of caution are relevant