Micro 4/3 Olympus build quality?

Turbogirlie

Regular
Location
North West Herefordshire, UK
Name
Karen
I bought my Olympus OM-D E-M1 II Kit (F2.8 12-40 pro lens) back at the beginning of January this year, new from HDEW. Imagine my horror tonight when I realised the seal had torn & come free from the lens - so much for it being a Pro lens too! Have emailed HDEW as will be covered under warranty, but not the quality I know from Olympus. I'd put the lens into manual focus, it felt gritty when using the focussing ring for a moment, but then seemed to be ok. Took several photos after, came home & found the seal had worked itself out of the camera & had ripped... Will see how HDEW respond next week...
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Similarly, my experience of the Olympus EP cameras was not good neither was my copy of the 17mm F1.8 although in the latter case sample variation happens with all gear. Having said that, the original digital OMD cameras still seems to be working fine.
 
Sorry to hear that, Kaz - I hope you'll get a replacement soon!

My experience has been very postive overall - I've never had any real trouble, and I was using the 12-40mm PRO for years as my main lens when my go-to camera was the E-M10. The PRO lenses have an excellent reputation for sturdiness, too, and my 12-40mmm PRO doesn't even show any major marks (except for the hood and cap).

Duds are out there, I guess, so it's just a fluke ... but I agree it's truely annoying and shouldn't happen with a piece of pretty expensive kit.

M.
 
That is really an annoying experience.
Like Matt I've only had very good experiences with Olympus.

My OM-4 supplied my with great shots for over 16 years. It still works fine but I don't shoot film any more.
The E-M5 has been my companion for the last nine years. First with the complete set of all the old lenses except for the kit lens. For several years now the primes (1.8/75, 2.8/60 macro, 2.8/12-40) have replaced them and I haven't had a single problem so far. And I still take one of the old lenses for an outing from time to time. No problem without autofocus: I still prefer to set the focus manually exactly where I want it to be.

So I hope you'll get it replaced and have as much joy with the new one as I've had with mine.
 
As a one time member of the photographic trade I know that all gear, old or new, eventually causes problems.
The Olympus brand is no exception.
With my EP 2, E-M5.1 and E-M5.2 the sensor had to be replaced, when guarantee had expired and I had to pay for it each time. The E-M5.3 is still working faultlessly after a year, but I expect the same problem to come up.
I have used the cameras for concert photography extensively(about 150 concerts a year).
My lenses are all manual from various brands (Leica R, Tamron, Ricoh, Ssamyang etc.) and so far I have had no failures.
I am set to never buy a lens from Olympus, because I don´t trust the mechanical quality in the long run.

I trust you will receive a new faultless replacement lens, everything else would be quite shabby.
 
Definitely expect more from a Pro lens. I know cosmetic bits have fallen off my Oly 17mm f2.8 & my Pana 12-32 also has a loose front ring - neither affects the operation of the lens. My E-P1 won't pick up an SD card after several years of use (otherwise fine but kind of rendered useless now). My Pentax K-01 has the same sticky shutter issue as the K-30/50 which is super-annoying - if I'd known Pentax had a bad run of solenoids I would have steered clear.

Touch wood, I haven't had any issue with my Nikon or Pentax DSLR's or other m43 bodies & lenses. I figure almost all of my m43 stuff is disposable and will stop working after 10-15 years (if not earlier) - probably why I rarely buy anything new (& technical advances year on year mean there is little point keeping up with the new models.
 
Sorry to hear about your problem, Karen.

However, I've used Olympus cameras for over 50 years.

After only 30 years, I had to have the cocking lever on my OM1 fixed.

My E-M1 MkI had the rear wheel problem, which was fixed under warranty. Strap lugs checked and sensor cleaned at the same time.

That's it.

I have five other Olympus digital bodies, 5x mFTs lenses, 9 (or more?) FTs lenses, 8+ OM lenses and another couple of OM bodies.

Never had a problem other than described above.

However, sh!t happens, no matter what the brand. My Rolleiflex needed a full service when 'only' 40-50 y.o. ...
 
Thanks for your replies. I've used Olympus for the past 14 years without any issues (other than my 12-60mm Zuiko Four Thirds lens developing a fault with the aperture, which is a common issue with that lens). I was completely shocked at this happening to a lens used for 3 months, from new. HDEW have given me the address to post it to for evaluation, as it's a 'grey import' so Olympus UK won't pick up the warranty. I'm sure it's just an unfortunate issue I've suffered.
 
Thanks for your replies. I've used Olympus for the past 14 years without any issues (other than my 12-60mm Zuiko Four Thirds lens developing a fault with the aperture, which is a common issue with that lens). I was completely shocked at this happening to a lens used for 3 months, from new. HDEW have given me the address to post it to for evaluation, as it's a 'grey import' so Olympus UK won't pick up the warranty. I'm sure it's just an unfortunate issue I've suffered.
Let's hope this can be resolved - that's really unfortunate.

M.
 
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