EP-2 nearly broke?

[raid]

Today, and suddenly, no picture would show in the VF after taking a photo. I removed the abttery, I removed the card, I checked the card, I tried all settings on the camera, I used MENU .... nothing worked.

Then I removed the battery, and I chose RESET on MENU. Then I chose RESET 1 on MENU ..... and then it worked again!

I was about to write here to ask whether it was worth repairing or not and if so, where would I get such a repair for it.

No clue what happened.
Could it have been an impact on the camera?

[ColSebastianMoran]

Sorry to hear. Hope it keeps working for you.

[Contarama]

I too am sorry to hear this Raid luckily you got it working again...with that said welcome to the wonderful world of digital! Makes one want to take the Contax out for a stroll...

[t.s.k.]

This happens to me when I switch from adapter to an AF lens or vice versa.
Turning off the camera and remounting the lens have always worked.
Sometimes I have to remount a couple times.

Glad you got it working.

[raid]

Originally Posted by photomoof

You reset it, is what happened.

I meant to say that I don't know what happened to make it stop working for one hour. Your smart conclusion is regretably not in place.

[raid]

Originally Posted by t.s.k.

This happens to me when I switch from adapter to an AF lens or vice versa.
Turning off the camera and remounting the lens have always worked.
Sometimes I have to remount a couple times.

Glad you got it working.

I tried the same, Tony. I had a Canon FD lens with adapter first, so I switched to an Olympus AF lens for the EP-2. I am learning.

[raid]

Originally Posted by Contarama

I too am sorry to hear this Raid luckily you got it working again...with that said welcome to the wonderful world of digital! Makes one want to take the Contax out for a stroll...

I have a Minox GT as back-up since problems can occur.

[back alley]

it's electronic...these things seem to happen, if not often then regularly...it gets a hiccup and needs to be reset.

[FrankS]

This is the kind of thing that causes the bias that I have for mechanical cameras over electronic ones. Not to say that mechanical cameras don't fail, but it is often easier to understand what causes the mechanical failure, and what the fix is. I understand that this a personal bias in me with little basis in objective reality. But then aren't all of our realities subjective?

[raid]

Originally Posted by photomoof

You may not feel satisfied (not in place), or even miffed [insulted] but it is accurate.

The reason it did not work for an hour is because you did not reset it until an hour had passed.

If you are asking what sequence of actions brought you to this need for a reset, you would have to make a careful record of the events that brought you to the failure, and more importantly you would have to have the event occur again. Until it repeats you cannot even begin to determine if the problem is -- 1) software based - 2) hardware based - or 3) external [impact] based.

Debugging software or hardware is not easy, since you have no access to the code involved, and remembering what leads up to a failure is not a normal function of our use of these devices.

Thus, because total debugging is so difficult, the manufacturers put in a hard-reset, to return the device to a known state which normally has a chance of working.

If manufacturers waited until all bugs were removed before sales, nothing would be on the market. All we can hope for is devices and software which seldom need a hard-restart. Yesterday after using my iPad for about 4 hours straight, while sick with a cold in bed, an app froze and I had to reboot. I admit there was a part of me that thought, "this only happens when I have a cold."

There are no hurt feelings; I just meant to say that I do not know what caused the "hick-up", as Joe called it. Thanks for the detailed explanation of the event. I am new to digital, so such an event really surprised me. I did reset the camera within minutes, but only when I reset it again another 45 minutes later, then only the problem vanished.

I have no cold .... but it was cold here in Boston a few days ago.

[back alley]

Originally Posted by FrankS

This is the kind of thing that causes the bias that I have for mechanical cameras over electronic ones. Not to say that mechanical cameras don't fail, but it is often easier to understand what causes the mechanical failure, and what the fix is. I understand that this a personal bias in me with little basis in objective reality. But then aren't all of our realities subjective?

the other side of that coin though is that the electronic camera is usually more accurate than a mechanical camera...you win some you lose some.

[Eric T]

Did Microsoft make the software for the EP-2?

[raid]

Originally Posted by photomoof

I would worry a bit about having to do two resets, and despite the lack of a specific reason I would let Olympus know if you do not end up having to wait too long on the phone. There might even be email. While it is not that unusual for two resets to be needed, it is not a "feature" I would like to encounter too often. It is a shame camera manufacturers do not have a "debug" mode to report what happens, directly on the internet (maybe some do?).

After taking maybe 30 photos or so, it happened again. I have reset and reset and reset .... and am still waiting to have the camera "wake up".

[krötenblender]

Don't know what wrong with you camera, but as a professional programmer, I can say, that software tends to add metaphysical behavior to an otherwise pure physical machine...

If you still have warranty for your cam, continue using it, and log the exact steps, when it happens. Try to make it reproducible. If you got that, send it to Olympus and ask for removing the metaphysics... In my experience (here in Germany) Olympus-service is very good and quick. (not the Leica type of service with 7 weeks waiting for nearly nothing...)

[raid]

I removed the lens and I can see that the curtain is down. The sensor is hidden.

[back alley]

howse the battery?

[raid]

Battery is fully charged. I have removed it now.

[ssmc]

Originally Posted by raid

I removed the lens and I can see that the curtain is down. The sensor is hidden.

That is definitely not normal. The sensor is supposed to be exposed whenever the lens is removed. It only closes to make an exposure (open for LV - close/open for shot/close - open for LV)

Do I understand that you were using an FD lens on an adapter when this failure occurred? Or was it with an Olympus lens?

Check the lens mount and see if the contacts look clean or if there's any debris floating around in there (possibly from the adapter) that could short the contacts.

Hope you get it sorted out!

Scott

[nighstar]

wish i could help but this has never happened to me as i don't use a VF (or legacy lenses yet) on my E-P2. i have, however, had the camera freeze on me before.... when this happens the aperture reading on the LCD (in A priority) or the shutter speed reading (in S priority) completely blacks out and i am left being able to do anything including fire the shutter. sometimes i can turn off the camera with the power button but other times i'm forced to take out the battery to turn it off.... *shrugs* it has only happened a handful of times, so i don't really worry about it. it probably isn't even related to your problem, but hopefully your problem isn't serious.

edit: on a side note, i have never had to reset my camera.

[raid]

Originally Posted by ssmc

That is definitely not normal. The sensor is supposed to be exposed whenever the lens is removed. It only closes to make an exposure (open for LV - close/open for shot/close - open for LV)

Do I understand that you were using an FD lens on an adapter when this failure occurred? Or was it with an Olympus lens?

Check the lens mount and see if the contacts look clean or if there's any debris floating around in there (possibly from the adapter) that could short the contacts.

Hope you get it sorted out!

Scott

Hi Scott,
The problem occurred first with one FD lens, followed several hours later with another FD lens. Sounds suspiciously like the adapter played a role here. Thanks for the tip to check the contacts.

[Nikon Bob]

Just out of curiosity, was the power off on the camera while changing lenses? It can supposedly happen sometimes that with the power on removing and/or replacing a lens may cause the mount to short the contacts. I have only heard that this may be so take that with a grain of salt. Personally with electronics I like to turn the power off when changing lenses or flash units just in case.

Bob

[ssmc]

One other thing - check which firmware version your camera has. There have been 2 updates (1.1 and 1.2) and sometimes "undocumented features" get fixed along with the stuff they actually tell you about.

Also I agree with Nikon Bob about turning the camera off when removing/attaching lenses and accessories (especially flashes). I've personally never had anything bad happen when I've forgotten and left a camera on but it's a good practice to get into.

Scott

[raid]

Originally Posted by Nikon Bob

Just out of curiosity, was the power off on the camera while changing lenses? It can supposedly happen sometimes that with the power on removing and/or replacing a lens may cause the mount to short the contacts. I have only heard that this may be so take that with a grain of salt. Personally with electronics I like to turn the power off when changing lenses or flash units just in case.

Bob

Hi Bob,
It happened while taking photos, so I got images, and then with the same lens, the camera died. Still, it may have happened after changing the lens, and in that case, I do not recall if I made the mistake to keep the power on.