I think the list should hear about this.
George was kind enough to enquire of Oly America, on my behalf, if they could
supply
a handle/tripod mount for my 180mm f2 (sawn off short by the previous owner
would
you believe!).
They told him they had disposed of them due to low demand. As this is what you
could definitely call a pro-grade lens I find this incredible.
If you were a pro using Olympus equipment such a response would be enough
reason -
if there were not enough already - to abandon the system. I can sort of
comprehend
being out of stock or running out of spares for a discontinued item but the
180mm f2
is supposedly still available new. Throwing out perfectly good spare parts is
illogical in my world. I can only assume Oly America has some economist in its
upper echelons who thought it was costing them money to keep them.
Note: Olympus America did not offer to acquire the part from Japan, just said
it was no longer available. When George told me all this I was quite
disconcerted
that Olympus had got so bad as to no longer have parts for lenses which are
still
available. I began to be a bit suspicious of Oly America itself.
I then contacted Olympus UK, as I live in Ireland. They were quite helpful.
They
said they could not supply me directly but gave me contact details for their
official repair agents who could. One of which was Luton camera.
I contacted Luton and they were very helpful - they even emailed me a diagram,
which I presume was from a spare parts catalogue, showing all the parts related
to the
tripod mount collar and handle assembly and including part numbers to aid in
precisely identifying the part I needed. When I had done so they said the part
was
not in stock (surprise, surprise) but that they could order it from Germany.
When
I then enquired about the price they said they did not know but that they had
ordered the part and that I was under no obligation to purchase it! They said
it
might take 6 weeks to arrive - it took 5 days. They then sent it to me after I
had
paid for it..
This is not the only instance. A list member was recently after a lens mount
for a
Zuiko 400mm f6.3. Oly America said it was not available. Luton Camera in the
UK
are able to get it. One thing though, they say they are not allowed to supply
parts
to people in the US. I presume this is because Oly America has that market
stitched
up - in the alternate meaning of the expression.
Seems to me the best place to be if you want to get the rarer parts for the OM
system is in Germany or of course Japan.
I now do not think it is Olympus Japan which is trying to kill off the OM
system,
but rather it is Olympus America.
Giles
George M. Anderson wrote:
> Yeah, I know what you mean. I called the accessories dept in NY/NJ 2
> weeks ago to see if I could get the OEM lenscap for my new(used)180/2
> (which will soon be on it's way, John). Went something like this:
> these interchangeable thingys! After 5 minutes I finally find out Oly
> has tossed all the OEM leather/zippered lens caps. They do have a
> 'usual' type of flat cap with the tabs ... for $60.
>
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