Olympus OM-D E-M5, E-M1, E-M10 - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Owners Thread

Ergonomics. It's too small for my hands plus (and I haven't spent enough time with one to really comment) too many people say the menu system is downright badly designed.

I don't shoot JPEG at all, so the "magnificent" SOOC JPEGs are of little consequence.

I like all the m43 Olympus cameras but ergonomically find them all poor (obviously this is an individual thing and does not apply to everybody). I have owned Olympus Pens, Nex and Panasonic cameras and the Olympus are the most frustrating to use - which is a shame as the results they produce are often fantastic.
 
What are you having a problem with Mark, perhaps we may be able to help?
Have you enabled super control panel? That does make things a whole lot easier.
 
Yes, that's one of the first things I did - it was more things like the grip (or lack of) and the cramped/fiddly rear dial which meant I kept changing the wrong settings or found the process of changing settings too slow. This is on the Pens though (E-PM1, E-PL3) - OM-D is beyond my budget unfortunately. I know from using the Nex that things like a rear control dial and a decent grip can be made to work well for these small cameras, it's just that the Olympus cameras didn't work well for me and I found the G3 more user friendly. I know plenty of people are happy with the Pens (and the OMD) as they are though.
 
Will there be any camera shop in Britain that ever has all these in stock to try? Nope, never.

I live to the south of Middlesbrough and I'd be happy to find these cameras over a period of time but being realistic only the Nex 6/7 seems to fit my requirements out of those three and so far I haven't seen a single example of any of them in Jessops, Currys or any other shop in the area. I tried Jessops and the usual big name electrical shops in Newcastle but the most exotic thing they had was a Fuji X100 which doesn't interest me.

I don't get a vast amount of time to myself and a dedicated hunt the camera trip to Newcastle or York or anywhere else is basically going to take a day and therefore these trips are few and far between.

In Middlesbrough Jessops seems to stock next to nothing that isn't a Canon/Nikon. I once saw a G3 there but was told that it wasn't something they stocked but could order in for me. Currys stock the G5 but neither the G3 or 5 are on my shopping list and are not cameras that I'd waste my time looking at.

The lack of time and the lack of local stock lead me to buy most of my kit on line but I'm getting picky and fussy and I'm not going to invest a couple of thousand in a new system without trying it first. A couple of complaints I have with my G1 is the light output from the EVF and the fact that it goes black and displays nothing in low light, I wont be buying any new CSC unless there's an improvement in these two key areas so I deffo need to try before I buy.
 
Coming from m43 and a dslr you may find the Nex AF a bit on the slow side. The lens selection is also a bit limited when compared to m43. Apart from that though they are great cameras. The Nex Talk forum is helpful for advice if you want to ask existing owners any questions: http://www.talknex.com/forum.php

One option might be getting an ex demo or refurb Nex 7 from Wex etc and returning it within 7 days under the dsr. As it's already used you wouldn't have to feel guilty about returning a new one and would be able to try it out for a few days (perhaps just at home if you are worried about accidentally damaging it or anything) for the cost of return (£10 or so). Not an ideal solution but one way to try one out if you have no local stockists and would give you more time to play with it than you would have in a shop.
 
Thanks for that. I had thought of hiring but what you suggest is another option.

I'm not really worried about focus performance. I use MF 99% of the time with MFT and my 5D probably isn't the fastest focusing camera of all time :D

I care for someone much of the time and I have a GF too so I really don't get an awful lot of time to travel the country looking for cameras. TBH most of my photography is done when on holiday (and with GF so again racing off looking for cameras isn't really what I want to do) or when I have a few hours spare to myself so trips into a city are few and far between.
 
Do bundle deals come up fairly often for the OM-D? What's available now (OM-D with free 45mm 1.8 via rebate) is perfect for me, but that offer ends on Tuesday and I'm not in a position to buy until early to mid January (need to sell my 5D kit first).

I seem to remember the grip was bundled free a while back as well, so fingers crossed they have a new offer after the new year.
 
ukaskew said:
Do bundle deals come up fairly often for the OM-D? What's available now (OM-D with free 45mm 1.8 via rebate) is perfect for me, but that offer ends on Tuesday and I'm not in a position to buy until early to mid January (need to sell my 5D kit first).

I seem to remember the grip was bundled free a while back as well, so fingers crossed they have a new offer after the new year.

Obviously impossible to tell if there will be another, unless any body on here works for Olympus :)

The two offers so far that you mention have been fantastic, some of the best by any manufacturer, I got the free grip with my omd, which was great as I already had the 45mm, but this current offer is fantastic if you don't have the 45mm, one of the best lenses IMHO.

Shame you can't pull the trigger now, even if there is no bundle offer, the price may drop a little by then I guess.
 
Hope you guys continue to enjoy your Olympus M43 gear - the last of mine has now gone and I bought a Sony RX100 today.

My camera collection has been reduced down to a single 'posh compact' for a while - but I'm sure I'll be back.

Thanks for making this and the Panasonic thread the best source of info and friendly advice on TP.

Happy New Year to you all.
 
I'm sure you will enjoy your new camera Alan, hope to see you back here soon, Happy New Year!
 
Well one member departs the world of OM-D, and another joins.
Here is what Santa brought me today

P1050653_zps296cbf0c.jpg


Battery just charged, and I look forward to getting to know this :thumbs:
 
Whey hey congrats Andrew and welcome to this thread ;) I'm sure you will enjoy the olly.
Enjoy the Sony Alan, it looks a super little camera.
 
I just need to sort myself a nice camera bag for my new kit shown above.
Fancy a Crumpler shoulder bag. Can anyone recommend a specific model?
Also interested to hear any other suggestions - LowePro?
 
Welcome Andrew, that Lumix / Leica is a lovely lens, and the 12 - 50 isn't bad either :)
Happy New Year!
 
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I just need to sort myself a nice camera bag for my new kit shown above.
Fancy a Crumpler shoulder bag. Can anyone recommend a specific model?
Also interested to hear any other suggestions - LowePro?

Given the lightweight gear, I wouldn't go for a Crumpler - they're bomb-proof but tend to be very heavy for the capacity. I'd suggest one of the Kata D-Light bags such as DL-H-537 (or its smaller brother the 531). They also do 'conventional' (i.e. in 1 piece!) bags - just search for Kata D-Light on Amazon. They're very well made but very light. I managed to fit a Panasonic G5 with the 100-300mm lens fitted, plus a 35-100mm f/2.8 and an Olympus 45mm f/1.8 into the DL-H-531, along with a wallet, phone and some nibbles :)
 
Given the lightweight gear, I wouldn't go for a Crumpler - they're bomb-proof but tend to be very heavy for the capacity. I'd suggest one of the Kata D-Light bags such as DL-H-537 (or its smaller brother the 531). They also do 'conventional' (i.e. in 1 piece!) bags - just search for Kata D-Light on Amazon. They're very well made but very light. I managed to fit a Panasonic G5 with the 100-300mm lens fitted, plus a 35-100mm f/2.8 and an Olympus 45mm f/1.8 into the DL-H-531, along with a wallet, phone and some nibbles :)

Thanks for the information Graeme, I shall look into this :)
 
The OMD has won a somewhat dubious title of 'best camera of 2012' in the dpreview poll
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/01/01/best-camera-of-2012-results

You would think most people would take such a poll with a pinch of salt, but as usual for dpreview comments show how some liken it to be insulted. worth reading a few to make you laugh. i really hope TP never gets like that :)
 
Nice photos Les and at least you have got out with your camera. ;) My Oly is at Olympus having a service/technical check, hopefully it will be back before I go to Skye in February.
 
After a good look around at various bags for my OM-D kit, I have opted for the Crumpler Cupcake 3000.
Felt it was reasonably priced at Amazon for £28.50
 
Ajophotog said:
Nice photos Les and at least you have got out with your camera. ;) My Oly is at Olympus having a service/technical check, hopefully it will be back before I go to Skye in February.

Was that a precautionary check, or did you have an issue mate?
 
Was that a precautionary check, or did you have an issue mate?

I was getting some random coloured pixels when using flash on dark shiny wet objects like tree trunks so I questioned it and they said send it back for a technical check and I said service it too please if needed. I have used it a fair bit and thought it would be a good idea before I head of to Skye to get it checked out.
 
Ajophotog said:
I was getting some random coloured pixels when using flash on dark shiny wet objects like tree trunks so I questioned it and they said send it back for a technical check and I said service it too please if needed. I have used it a fair bit and thought it would be a good idea before I head of to Skye to get it checked out.

Sounds like hot or stuck pixels, good idea to get it done before you go away too.
 
Nice photos Les and at least you have got out with your camera. ;) My Oly is at Olympus having a service/technical check, hopefully it will be back before I go to Skye in February.
Thanks Alby, I only got a few, there were 14 family enjoying the walk, and I wasn't too popular keeping stopping for photos - LOL !!

Hope all goes well with your service etc., and back in good order for some dramatic photos from Skye.
 
I've just done some interesting comparative field tests with the OMD set against the Canon 5D MkIII in a nature/wildlife scenario. Obviously the MkIII is the tool of choice if I need to invoke fast tracking focus, but the rest of the time the OMD proved to be sensational. If you're interested, you can see the write-up here: http://lindsaydobsonphotography.com/pets/choosing-the-right-kit-for-nature-photography/

I enjoyed going through that Lindsey, wonderful series of photos too.
I can wholeheartedly agree re the pain as it was the main reason I went with MFT, I was having terrible trouble with my elbow and holding a Canon 1d Mk3 with a heavy lens was causing me lots of pain. The added bonus for me was the quality of the out put from the 16mp MFT cameras, I wasn't quite expecting that if I'm honest.
Tracking is more difficult then with the awesome 1d but there are many ways to skin a cat so they say and going back to manual lenses doing it the old film way or zone focussing isn't a replacement but is an option to up your keepers.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and findings. ;)
 
Sorry to hear about the elbow injury Alby, persistent pain can make life utterly miserable at times. Switching to the OMD was one of the best things I could have done, I too was pleasantly amazed by the incredible image quality and the beautiful lenses. I don't think I've ever been quite so excited about a camera before. I think there is a rumour that another OMD will be released this year, aimed at pros - I might be able to squeeze some additional info out of the Fuji rep next week.
 
I think there is a rumour that another OMD will be released this year, aimed at pros - I might be able to squeeze some additional info out of the Fuji rep next week.

So that would be the Fuji OM-D2 then?:D:D:D
 
There is a mention of it on 43rumors.com but nothing solid yet to get your teeth into.
 
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