Olympus OM-D E-M1 rear control wheel update

Epic Clouds over Greymouth. OM-D E-M1 with 12-50mm EZ. f/6 @ 1/100th, ISO 200

In my last post I discussed an 'issue' I am starting to have with the rear control dial of my E-M1. Unfortunately, this is a known issue with the camera (although it was news to me), and really needs to be 'fixed'. Yes, you could work around it maybe, and simply not use the rear control wheel - but what a pain in the a** that would be! As customisable as the E-M1 is, I use the rear control wheel constantly as a way of changing the exposure compensation. Not being able to use it would drive me crazy! As crazy as it would drive me if it didn't work properly...

So I have contacted the camera store I purchased it off in October last year (second hand), to let them know that I have started having the issue. As I mentioned in my previous post, the camera is definitely out of any limited 'warranty' that comes with secondhand goods - so the camera store are certainly under no obligation to help me out in any way. 

And in my email to them I didn't suggest that they do. I simply told them the issue I was having, reminded them of when I purchased (thereby acknowledging that it was out of the warranty period), and asked if they had a camera repair service on-site.

The reason I buy from a reputable camera store - and why you should to - is because they are 'invested' in looking after their customers. If the store is any good (and this one is), they don't see you as a one-off sale, but as a life-long buyer who will be loyal to them if they are loyal to you. So I knew that if I explained my situation to them, they would a) care, and b) want to help to do something about it. And that's exactly what they are doing.

Greg (the owner of the store) got back to me immediately and said two things straight away that illustrate my points above. First he said - yes, of course I remember selling you the E-M1. And then he said - we will certainly help you out with the repair. And that, good people of the internets, is why you shop 'local'.

Long story short, they do have a camera service center they use, they don't expect it will cost a lot to repair, and they are willing to go 50/50 with me in the cost of said repair. I can't really ask for better than that...

So yes, I'm going to get the E-M1 repaired. As I also said in my previous post - I do love using it, and don't really want to change systems (ironically for me). When I was considering what they had that I might change to, nothing really jumped out at me - not even the Nikon gear. The more I mulled it over, the less happy I was returning to a fixed screen DSLR with no EVF (and very poor live view implementation). Seems like such a huge step backwards!?

Now I just have to be able to afford to send the camera off to them, and then pay my share of the repair bill. I'm 'guessing' it might be around $100NZ? But that really is just a complete guess. I'll be happy if it's cheaper - and not too thrilled if it turns out to be much more? But I guess it will be worth it as long as I get the E-M1 back in 100% working condition. I'll keep you posted.