Olympus E - M5 menu.....

[just me]

I bought the Olympus E - M5 camera last year in May, which came only with a very basic instruction booklet, and a CD instead of a full manual to download, which I did, but was not keen for every little bit to understand the sometimes quite confusing,and huge menu to look it up in the computer, even more so, as I was not used to an Olympus menu, as my other cameras are Panasonic and Fuji, which all came with a proper manual anyway.....

So I took the CD to a printer, and got in the space of 15 Min. an A5, bound manual for Aust.$ 15.00, which helped me to understand, and set the camera in a week, sometimes took this manual even to bed with me to read, although this was often not the best idea, as it keeps me awake thinking about something.....

I know that quite a number of owners of the Olympus have, or still are, complaining, that the Olympus E-5 menu is to huge and confusing, so if here are some members who own the Olympus E-5 what you are thinking about the menu ?

Griddi....

[Inkanyezi]

The user interface surely could be improved, and the manual confuses a bit more than it explains. It takes some time to get used to the camera, and it is not much easier once personalising it, as that changes a lot, which is not explained in the manual, so after setting one's own preferences, it makes sense to make a small booklet to keep track of what's done and how to undo some of the shortcuts when there is a need.

Anyway, after a couple of months I seem to have tamed the camera to do more or less what I want it to. I think part of the confusion is that it is so different from the Panasonic I had before, and there is one feature that I am not fully friends with regarding the switch between viewfinder and touch screen. I guess I'll become used to it.

So, it's a great little camera, but the user interface, as well as the manual, could be improved a lot.

[just me]

The user interface surely could be improved, and the manual confuses a bit more than it explains. It takes some time to get used to the camera, and it is not much easier once personalising it, as that changes a lot, which is not explained in the manual, so after setting one's own preferences, it makes sense to make a small booklet to keep track of what's done and how to undo some of the shortcuts when there is a need.

Anyway, after a couple of months I seem to have tamed the camera to do more or less what I want it to. I think part of the confusion is that it is so different from the Panasonic I had before, and there is one feature that I am not fully friends with regarding the switch between viewfinder and touch screen. I guess I'll become used to it.

So, it's a great little camera, but the user interface, as well as the manual, could be improved a lot.

Hi Urban,
as I wrote I understood the menu in about one week, but think is was due that I always could quickly look something up in the printed out manual......

I think once you have set the camera, there is not that much to change, also one can also go into the super menu....

To go from viewfinder to screen, you dont have to touch the screen, to use the screen, just press O.K. and you will get the little green focus box which you also can move, where you want it to.....

I also love the E-M5, my Panasonic camera gather now dust, now I using the E-M5, or the FujiX100.......

Griddi.......

[Inkanyezi]

Oh, the viewfinder/screen thingy is for chimping and for using the focus spot in the viewfinder. There is no way to use the peekhole for chimping unless manually shifting with the little button on the side of the viewfinder. When set to automatic switch wf/screen, it immediately goes to viewfinder mode for taking photos if the eye is close to the peekhole. So for chimping inside the vf, it has to be manual. I liked the behaviour of the Panasonic better in this respect. There are many different settings that are like that, different in different modes, and nothing of that is explained in the manual. Then after heavily personalising buttons etc, it almost needs a new manual written...

But I am getting used to it now, and even if it can be customised to a higher degree than most other cameras, I still miss a few things that I would have liked to have. as for example adjusting the size of the focus spot. It can be done with one of the wheels, but only when the spot is enlarged, not when it shows only the green rectangle, or it can be done by touch, but switching touch modes by touch, toggling the three modes, is not comfortable in my opinion, as the touch mode will be disabled if set not to touch, if that spot is not touched again rapidly when it shows the "no touch" icon.

So my main complaint is that many of the options are not so well thought out, as it is cumbersome to have functions change depending on modes that are not relevant to what one is doing. It would for example be better if the rear wheel would have the size changing function once the green rectangle appears on the screen. And I am no friend of the "super control panel" at all. After all, I use the camera to take pictures. But I am becoming friends with it, and learning how to use my personalised settings without having to look into any menus. Thing is I want it to just behave; I don't want to use any menus, I want to use the buttons and wheels and touch screen without having to think about it. The only button that I find a bit awkward now is the viewfinder switch button, that is at the side of the viewfinder and not so easily reached. And that button is one I use often.

As I was used to the Panasonic's ISO and white balance settings with the arrows, I set it to arrows on the OM-D too, as I find it more comfortable. But the manual has a few errors there. There are only two of the arrow buttons that can be used for personalised settings. I would have liked to have all of them usable. The pattern of AF spots is completely useless for me, so I would have liked to disable it instead of having a couple of arrows always to that function. And, as I said before, after personalising the user interface, those changes merit their own manual pages...

[Karl]

I downloaded the manual and printed it at work but I have ended up buying David Busch's manual / book as it explains things better.

Other than that I like the camera (I use it for my underwater photography) and it took a while to get used to it but now it is set up as I want it and it is working well

Karl

[just me]

Oh, the viewfinder/screen thingy is for chimping and for using the focus spot in the viewfinder. There is no way to use the peekhole for chimping unless manually shifting with the little button on the side of the viewfinder. When set to automatic switch wf/screen, it immediately goes to viewfinder mode for taking photos if the eye is close to the peekhole. So for chimping inside the vf, it has to be manual. I liked the behaviour of the Panasonic better in this respect. There are many different settings that are like that, different in different modes, and nothing of that is explained in the manual. Then after heavily personalising buttons etc, it almost needs a new manual written...

But I am getting used to it now, and even if it can be customised to a higher degree than most other cameras, I still miss a few things that I would have liked to have. as for example adjusting the size of the focus spot. It can be done with one of the wheels, but only when the spot is enlarged, not when it shows only the green rectangle, or it can be done by touch, but switching touch modes by touch, toggling the three modes, is not comfortable in my opinion, as the touch mode will be disabled if set not to touch, if that spot is not touched again rapidly when it shows the "no touch" icon.

So my main complaint is that many of the options are not so well thought out, as it is cumbersome to have functions change depending on modes that are not relevant to what one is doing. It would for example be better if the rear wheel would have the size changing function once the green rectangle appears on the screen. And I am no friend of the "super control panel" at all. After all, I use the camera to take pictures. But I am becoming friends with it, and learning how to use my personalised settings without having to look into any menus. Thing is I want it to just behave; I don't want to use any menus, I want to use the buttons and wheels and touch screen without having to think about it. The only button that I find a bit awkward now is the viewfinder switch button, that is at the side of the viewfinder and not so easily reached. And that button is one I use often.

As I was used to the Panasonic's ISO and white balance settings with the arrows, I set it to arrows on the OM-D too, as I find it more comfortable. But the manual has a few errors there. There are only two of the arrow buttons that can be used for personalised settings. I would have liked to have all of them usable. The pattern of AF spots is completely useless for me, so I would have liked to disable it instead of having a couple of arrows always to that function. And, as I said before, after personalising the user interface, those changes merit their own manual pages...

Hi Urban,
I don't understand what you mean with " chimping " regarding the green focus rectangle I have set the Fn2 button for this, so get this on the screen or viewfinder with the grid, and can change very quickly the focus.......

I absolute have no problems with the E-M5, and miss the Panasonic not at all.......

Griddi......

[just me]

Hi Karl,

I agree with you, I like the E-M5 very much too, although I do not any underwater photography

Griddi.......

[Inkanyezi]

Chimping is when you look at the image you have taken. If the camera is set to automatically switch to VF with the eye sensor, it is not possible to view pictures in the viewfinder, but the camera switches from viewing to taking pictures, unlike the Panasonic that does not switch. This is a function that is built-in, and it is unnecessary. The Panasonic switches those modes when touching the release button. If I want to look at an image in the viewfinder, the camera must be set so that it does not switch automatically between screen and viewfinder.

And yes, I too have a function button to activate the focusing rectangle, otherwise it cannot be used at all. I talk about how to change the size of the rectangle. Often I want it very small, and sometimes I want it a bit larger. The size can be changed with the wheel when it is enlarged, but not when it only appears on the screen. There are also other warts with it, as it appears green, which is counter-intuitive, and it must be present for the camera to use it. If it has not been called forth with the button, the camera uses the pattern instead. So to change its size, it is not sufficient to call it forth, but enlargement must be applied. If only using automatic lenses, I can see the advantage to have it working as it does, but when using adapted lenses, as I for example often use tilt, the rear wheel won't do anything at all other than change size of focusing rectangle, and only when in enlargement mode. It takes a bit of getting used to, and it would have been nice if that too were programmable, as in A mode, it has sensed that it has no diaphragm to control, so it would be better to have the wheel used for the size of the rectangle as soon as it appears.

Also its colour, green, is misleading, as with the other focusing points, green indicates that the camera has found focus, while with the rectangle, it is only indicated with a green dot in upper right corner. This green dot cannot give focus confirmation when focusing manually, but if the rectangle would change colour when it found focus, and this would be active also when focusing manually without the enlargement, it would have been a lot better. It is bad ergonomy to have the focusing confirmation in another position of the screen or viewfinder than the actual focusing area.

So there are warts, and just like any other camera, they have to be learned to live with.