This post is as a public service. WARNING – an Olympus E-PM1 camera has some LEFT-HAND thread screws. I’ll show you where these blighters are later.
Manufacturers really seem to hate people taking their gear apart, but I’ve never come across Olympus’s sort of craftiness before. There’s no good reason for them to make these screws left-hand thread, other than to make you strip the soft plastic they’re set into if you have the temerity to try to take your own property apart. Evil bastards. It’s not like a bicycle crank on the left-hand side, where there’s a damn good reason for the left-hand thread.
I quite liked this camera, despite the plastic battery door hinges breaking off after a year. It’s pocketable, but can take a decent EVF if necessary, I have a VF-4. I recently dropped the camera, and on power-up I hear this noise (recorded form about 2cm away). The clunk is fine and has always been like that, the death rattle is new.
Which does not fill me with confidence that this camera is long for this world, although the pictures are fine. I can almost count the plastic gear teeth wearing, and it’s loud enough to draw attention, which is a drag for photographing people. I suspect it’s slower off the mark than it used to be, too. So I thought I’d pop the back and take a look to see if something is obviously wrong. Continue reading “Olympus E-PM1 camera left-hand thread screws to catch fixers out”