Olympus OMD E-M5 - premature wear and tear

Olympus OMD E-M5, a photo by Sarawak Lens on Flickr.

It is now about a year since I bought my Olympus OMD EM5. I have taken thousands of photos with it and its body is showing plenty of signs of wear and tear. However, it has been handled properly, not roughly. Yet the "premature signs of aging" are there, as reported by many other owners in various forums all over the internet.

Peeling body paint which reveals ugly white plastic underneath, eye cup that slips off easily (mine broke and got lost when it slipped right off during normal usage within the first few months). It has misbehaved once or twice, shutting down or refusing to start. For a camera that cost me RM4200++ this is not acceptable.

Functionally, it performs well and I do love this camera because of its size and performance. But a camera that costs much more than entry level DSLRs but with what seems to be poorer construction/body-quality is unacceptable.

Even the old E-510 (which was much cheaper when first launched than the EM5) I used to shoot with felt much better made.

I wrote to complain and Olympus Malaysia replied, promising to take my complaint seriously. I'd love to upgrade to the EM6 if it had all the features of the EP5, along with phase detect AF and maybe a new sensor.

But this time, I'll be wiser and wait and see instead of being an early adopter.