Olympus PEN E-P1 disassembly and workaround for broken IBIS gears

Documenting the disassembly of an Olympus PEN E-P1 from 2010, and explaining a workaround for broken IBIS cogwheels resulting in a misaligned sensor. This doesn't fix the red flashing IS indicator, but gets the sensor centered to avoid vignetting.
I hope this helps you understand if/why your PEN has that problem, and decide whether you want to tackle the repair yourself.
This is my first time doing voiceover in a video, please excuse my somewhat rusty english. I'm generally not a great speaker.
Inspired by • Olympus E-PM2 Camera I... where Markus Koch fixed slipping cogwheels on an E-PM2.

[@MrHBaung]

I have ep 1 with the exact same problem. Still cannot find time and courage to do like you. Thanks to your video now I know what is giving problem.

[@MikeRinz]

Thank you for documenting this disassembly! :)

[@widicamdotnet]

Thanks for commenting! :) I had hoped at least a few people would find it helpful.

[@melk8306]

Thanks for this teardown video and sharing your solution for this. I wonder if you managed to measure the nylon white gear used on the stabilizers? If you did, could you share what the dimensions are? Like what the center hole measures, the outer diameter, and the longitudinal length is? Hopefully in metric units. Thanks!

[@widicamdotnet]

I still have the remains of the gears, taped up to the inside of the camera near the tripod mount. But since they broke into pieces on their own, it would be really hard to measure them to the kind of precision that would be needed to find or make replacements. This would need to be done by someone with an E-P1 where the stabilization still works (i.e. the gears haven't shrunk and broken), and with far better measurement tools than I have access to.

[@ArminHirmer]

still not sure if I am going to do that. But other question. did you check, once open, if the IR filter would be easy to remove, so I could convert my EP directly? Thank you

[@widicamdotnet]

I did not look into that specifically - if the IR filter is the large square piece of glass (seen shimmering in red at 7:35) held in place by the four black screws and metal tabs (seen best at 10:00), then it should be straightforward to remove, but I'm not sure, it could also be a layer below that glass? The problem is that you'd probably need to replace it with another piece of glass with roughly the same thickness and refraction, otherwise the focus distance will be wrong. I've converted two compact cameras (Minolta DImage X20 and Olympus Camedia C-4000Z) to IR-only by replacing the IR filter with a piece of visually black (but clear to IR) plastic from an infrared remote control's case, but I got really lucky to find something that fit and was optically good enough. The E-P1 sensor would need a much larger replacement glass or filter. If you have a source for that, it's probably straightforward... but, I haven't tried.

[@ArminHirmer]

@@widicamdotnet thank you, well I guess I better leave it :D my skills in this regards are limited

[@mote99]

Have you ever replaced the small RTC (real time clock) lithium battery in this camera? It seems to appear at 12:40 of your video, in the upper-left corner of the camera. If you did replace this battery, was it difficult to do so? I know these small lithium batteries die eventually, and I think they're in all of Olympus Pen cameras... at least the older ones. BTW, nice video! It's very informative. Keep up the good work! 🙂

[@widicamdotnet]

Thanks :-) Good question, but I'm certain the flat round thing with the white and red wires is the speaker (the connection points are also labeled SP1+ and SP2-), not a backup battery. I remember that even when it was new, the camera used to lose its settings when the main battery was removed for more than a couple hours, so I think it uses a capacitor (which should not need to be replaced). Unlike cameras with actual lithium backup button cells though, it never lost its settings during a short battery swap.

[@mote99]

​@@widicamdotnet From photos I've seen, I think the Olympus Pen cams use a lithium battery for the RTC. However, I could be wrong about that. I've never actually disassembled one. LOL! ;-) A lot of digital cameras, including higher end cameras, still use a lithium battery to power the RTC and some of them are located inside the body. I know the Canon 60D (DSLR) uses a lithium battery inside the body, because there are KZbin videos about opening the body to change the RTC battery. Do a KZbin search on it and you'll see what I mean. KZbin doesn't allow links in the comments section. Some other cameras still use lithium batteries for the RTC, too. Anyway, thanks for the reply, Widicam! And greetings from Toronto, Canada! 🙂

[@tomfenn7149]

I wonder if 3D printing has become good enough to be able to reproduce cogs this small? I have an E-PM2 with the same problem.

[@widicamdotnet]

Not necessarily 3D printing, but people have successfully machined nylon into very exact replacement cogs for old cassette players etc., so this should be doable and may appear for sale at some point. However, this generation of IBIS wasn't that impressive anyway (compared to the later implementation e.g. in the E-P5) so I'm fine with just disabling it.

[@tomfenn7149]

@@widicamdotnet also another problem is not fixing the IBIS affects the ultrasonic dust removal system. The high frequency noise heard while turning on the fixed camera is that system in operation. The grinding noise, a misaligned cog which will no longer perform this function.

[@widicamdotnet]

@@tomfenn7149 true, although I don't think vibrating the sensor using the gears does much to remove dust - it's just another function they added in software since the mechanics were already in place. You can actually wipe the sensor with a soft lens-cleaning cloth, it is covered with a piece of glass. (The scratches seen on my sensor are from a single stupid experiment with non-matching lenses years ago - not from wiping it or anything.)

[@absurdfool]

should you remove the battery n sd card first?

[@widicamdotnet]

You can leave them in, they're not in the way of anything. Obviously take care not to bridge any contacts with your screwdriver. You can even test the camera before full reassembly too, only the ribbon cables for the sensor assembly need to be plugged back in for that.

[@damienjwatt]

Have you had any issues with the directional buttons? Mine seem to be playing up, the OK button and wheel seems to be fine. I was going to attempt to open it up but noticed your video doesn't show this step.

[@widicamdotnet]

The buttons are fine on mine, but the wheel is acting up. I didn't manage to access its mechanism from the back so just sprayed in some contact cleaner from the outside, which improved it quite a bit, but it's still not registering every click of rotation. But do try contact cleaner for the buttons, can't hurt. The thumb roller (which can be disassembled from the inside) is interesting and should live very long, it's a completely contact-free design using magnets on the roller and presumably a hall sensor.

[@damienjwatt]

@@widicamdotnet thanks for the reply, I managed to get through to the other side of the board but the wheel was enclosed in a separate housing. Will give it a big spray tomorrow and cross my fingers!

[@waliabbas]

Will you make more camera disassembly videos ?

[@widicamdotnet]

maybe, but only for ones I already own, and that develop a problem that requires disassembly to fix - so don't hold your breath :)

[@gerwinpereyras5996]

can I request disassembly of olympus pen ep3

[@widicamdotnet]

you can, but I don't have that model and will only disassemble my cameras when there's something that needs fixing or cleaning. An E-P5 video may happen, I recently fixed a flaky power button on mine - but no promises.

[@_I_Hear_You]

Hey! Just lock broken mechanism, instead fix them.. Is so annoying final.. Moreover the thing is in one small f***en gear... But yes, it's not a standard module gear.. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu )) On Ali I find similar 9 tooth... named like 'RC pinion gear" Unfortunately available gear have slightly bigger outer diameter, so they dont match as is.. and need some trim work.. And i tried to match that pinion gear.. only with magnifying glass and skalpel))... this is damn hell!!.. without special equip. Its fit, but so-so.. Camera can now move stab. mechanism.. And red error blinking gone! But seems stab mechanism doesn't work properly. Matrix do On an Off movement sequence.. But in l other time just stay still... Obviously that's need more precise trimmed gear.. Billet pinion gears from Ali, we have.. But how can we reasonably trim they in DIY circumstances?? That is the question!) Any opinion will be great to hear!))

[@melk8306]

Sounds very difficult to find a replacement gear. Did you measure the exact dimensions of the original gear? If you did, please could you post it here, thanks!