E-3 IS starting to malfunction?

[cjtune]

Today I witnessed my E-3's IS malfunction.

After 200+ shots, suddenly the next 20-30 IS mode 1 pics all turned out blurry, even when the 1/(2*f) reciprocal rule shutter speed threshold was met with good margin. I could feel and even hear the moving sensor frame knocking sharply sideways towards my right hand/battery compartment at the end of every shot. "Thock!" it goes. Shooting in IS mode 2 was OK so it might be only the horizontal IS servo movements that went haywire. Turning off and on the power switch on the E-3 so that the IS servo motors do their 'reset dance' before shutdown couldn't make it well again - I tried this multiple times. Switched off IS and continued shooting for the next 40-50 pics or so, and to my surprise later, mode 1 IS recovered and it went on to function fine for the next couple of hundred shots (quite a number were small aperture for large DOF and thus low shutter speed) and still remains OK as of this time of posting, without any noticeable degradation in performance (can still hit the lowest usable shutter speed I can remember given focal length, eg. 1/15 sec at 54mm).

Wasn't knocking it around, battery wasn't low, didn't get it wet, wasn't cold, didn't expose it long under sunlight (it wasn't a hot day anyway), wasn't under high-tension electrical wires, dunno if there's any solar flare or not... but I was shooting at an elevation of about 1500 above sea level (Fraser's Hill in Malaysia). E-3 total shutter count about 6600.

Not sure if this is a one-off problem, or the first of many-to-come intermittent IS failures for my E-3. It should have just failed permanently on the spot today so that I can easily just pass it to Oly support as a definite proof and they can as easily diagnose and fix the problem and less likely to return to me later with a NTF (No Trouble Found) conclusion.

Let this be a heads-up for all owners of E-3's, in case you experience the same sort of IS failure in the future.

[dorts]

I've only experience once where the E-3 didn't do its IS resetting when after I powered off, even though IS is on. Nothing as serious as yours. Maybe the IS motor went unaligned?

[cjtune]

Originally Posted by dorts I've only experience once where the E-3 didn't do its IS resetting when after I powered off, even though IS is on. Nothing as serious as yours. Maybe the IS motor went unaligned?

Dunno, but I tried power-cycling the body many times for it to do the prior-to-shutdown reset. I could feel the jiggle of the 'reset dance'. The feel and sound of it like trying to burst through my E-3's body "Thock!" every shot when it was malfunctioning is disturbing enough.

[Blu-By-U]

Send it in cj...maybe you have a lemon there...Think of it, they may give you a new E-3 in exchange.

[microcosm]

Better to be safe than sorry... keep us posted as you discover more about the issue here...

[cjtune]

Originally Posted by Blu-By-U Send it in cj...maybe you have a lemon there...Think of it, they may give you a new E-3 in exchange.

I'm been mulling about this... but I am not confident that my effort spend going down to the service centre will be fruitful. They might just shrug and say "I see nothing wrong, sir" and I dread something else may not be put together in the right manner after disassembly during checking. From my own work experience, intermittent problems are a PITA to reproduce for diagnosis and enough times to think of a fix. I'll just use it a bit longer to surface up the problem or maybe get it to stay that way. Being an auxiliary roaming photog in a wedding next weekend will help me expend another few hundred shots to try and surface it, and is also why I don't want to hand in my E-3 yet.

Good news is that I could stop its ill effects if you turn off IS or switch to mode 2.

[dorts]

But there is a chance they might spot something. I would still send it to them. Maybe they will loan you another E-3 while yours is with them.

[drakon09]

Which, if you guys remember, is why I'm not enamoured by IS.

Good thing that it can be turned off.

[diCam]

Originally Posted by cjtune I'm been mulling about this... but I am not confident that my effort spend going down to the service centre will be fruitful. They might just shrug and say "I see nothing wrong, sir" and I dread something else may not be put together in the right manner after disassembly during checking. From my own work experience, intermittent problems are a PITA to reproduce for diagnosis and enough times to think of a fix. I'll just use it a bit longer to surface up the problem or maybe get it to stay that way. Being an auxiliary roaming photog in a wedding next weekend will help me expend another few hundred shots. Good news is that I could stop its ill effects if you turn off IS or switch to mode 2.

Report the issue. My experience with the service centre is good so far. It's concern my 12-60mm SWD. The customer service officer/service engineer did not shrug and say "I see nothing wrong, sir". I'll post my opinion once things are sorted out.

[diCam]

By the way, mod, can you make this thread sticky? I also suggest to rename this thread "Problems with E-3". Also, can we merge all E-3 relating issues, including HLD-4 to this thread? It should make the life of Olympus easier if you know what I mean...

[cjtune]

Originally Posted by diCam Report the issue. My experience with the service centre is good so far. It's concern my 12-60mm SWD. The customer service officer/service engineer did not shrug and say "I see nothing wrong, sir". I'll post my opinion once things are sorted out.

Heh heh, our experiences differ then... I have had my E-330 returned a few times in the past due to sensor malfunction. It was readily accepted but was also as readily returned the first couple of times with NTF concluded. 3rd and 4th times the finally decided to change the sensor, and then finally a new unit swap when the problem still persistent. But one very courteous thing they did during that time was that they loaned me another E-330 body for my personal usage while they tinkered with my faulty one.

I'll probably see them after next weekend and see how it goes. If they have a spare E-3 to loan me, then I'll leave mine there. If no spare loaner body, then I will not hand in my E-3 but instead use until the IS decides to malfunction again, to catch it in-the-act.

[cjtune]

Originally Posted by diCam By the way, mod, can you make this thread sticky? I also suggest to rename this thread "Problems with E-3". Also, can we merge all E-3 relating issues, including HLD-4 to this thread? It should make the life of Olympus easier if you know what I mean...

Maybe as an 'index' thread where it has links to the original but not the originals themselves. Otherwise the replies and updates of different issues simultaneously will make it rather messy too as readers need to make sense of the head and tail of each issue and who's replying to whom or updating what.

[microcosm]

Originally Posted by diCam By the way, mod, can you make this thread sticky? I also suggest to rename this thread "Problems with E-3". Also, can we merge all E-3 relating issues, including HLD-4 to this thread? It should make the life of Olympus easier if you know what I mean...

Originally Posted by cjtune Maybe as an 'index' thread where it has links to the original but not the originals themselves. Otherwise the replies and updates of different issues simultaneously will make it rather messy too as readers need to make sense of the head and tail of each issue and who's replying to whom or updating what.

Will leave this thread as it is, and then post this link inside ARCHIVES.

You should be able to look this up easy... sort of a sticky within the stickies... else there will be too many stickies...