problem with 5060 keypad

I'm shooting an Olympus 5060 in the PT housing with a Sea & Sea Auto DX90 strobe with the fiber-optic connector. The camera worked beautifully for a land-based vacation, but the last few times I went to use it - with no explainable cause - it began malfunctioning (on land and underwater).

Sometimes the camera takes pictures & zooms fine, but the arrow pad and OK/Menu buttons do not respond. Also, the Mode and Control dials will not work occasionally. At other times, the camera displays a rotatable option (like the focus selection mode), as if I was continually pressing the button when I was not. In playback mode, it will start cycling through all of the images as if I’m pressing a forward/back key when nothing is pressed, and will also randomly lock protect images when I did not touch the protect key.

Has anyone else experienced this problem before? Its obviously very frustrating to get the perfect shot all set up, then not be able to change shutter speed or switch "my modes" during the dive. The only solution I could find was to continually power the camera on and off.

Any info would be appreciated!

PS: Incidentally, when the camera cooperated, it did excellent. I found the best way to tweak exposure was to change shutter speed, rather the fiddle with the Sea & Sea f-stop adjustment.

Hi

Don't feel alone - my FOURTH 5060 has just malfunctioned !!!! :x Olympus have replaced it every time , but it's getting frustrating .The symptoms it shows are exactly the same as yours . I have seen this problem on other forums before , I will post you the links as soon as I can find them .A club mate of mine ordered one over the net from the U.S.A. nand also had the same problem.

Good luck in getting it replaced .

Andrew

Found them links :

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...message=7152091

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...message=7070226

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...message=8537411

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp...message=8428061

Hope they are of some use/support !

I will be collecting my FIFTH 5060 tomorrow :roll: .

I don't hold out too much hope - it's probably from the same batch as the others.The agent tells me it's the last one he has , so maybe I can start on a fresh batch .

Andrew

http://www.digideep.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=822://http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/r...topic.php?t=822

http://www.digideep.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787

Thanks for the links - it looks like I'm about the join the ranks of the customer support!

Perhaps this was a manufacturing and/or electronics glitch, which will be corrected in newer models. Given the popularity of this camera, I can't see Olympus ignoring the problem, simply from the cost of continualy replacing defective models.

I appreciate the info, I'm both glad and sorry to see I'm not alone.

Philip

I had the same problem with my 5060 last month in Cozumel. The 4 way buttons would stop working correctly as would the mode dial, random menus popping up.

I didn't have any trouble before taking it out of my Ike housing and keeping it in the room (in the air conditioning) over night, recharging the batteries.

After that, I had to use a hairdryer and dessicates to pull the moisture out of it to get it working correctly again.

Since I came back home, I've had no problems with it taking dry photos or with it in the housing in the pool at 15 feet.

I'm going to take it to the lake with me this weekend and see if it still acts up after another deep plunge..

Take care,

Joel

Looks like ours is a common problem, if you read the other links. These problems with my camera started on land, before the camera ever went into a housing or underwater. Mine in fact started this winter, when my house is bone dry from our gas heat.

Perhaps a little moisture exacerbates the problem (a short circuit, maybe?), but I do not think it causes it!

Thanks,

Philip

Hi guys

Just for info , only two of my 5060's ever made it into a housing .

I would be interested to see what the serial numbers of your cameras were - maybe we can figure out which batch not to buy from !

I will post mine tomorrow - I can't memorise FIVE serial no's.

Safe Diving

Andrew