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The OM-D menu driving me crazy!

emr

Member
I'm a Pentax user and don't know if I'm just used to their menu and setup logic or if it really is better, but setting up my OM-D is driving me crazy! Confusing, counter-intuitive and messy. As bad as I found the GH2 menu to be a couple of years ago - if not worse!

But in short I am trying to find an easy way to switch between using AF m43 lenses with settings that are optimal for me and manual lenses with their respective settings. I read the Dpreview setup advice and experimented some and thought I found fairly good settings for AF lenses. Saved that to Myset1 and assigned Fn1 to Myset1. Then I tried to find good settings for manual lenses (more easily said than done) and saved them to Myset2. However, there does not seem to be a way to assign Fn2 to Myset2. Or is there? So I assigned Fn2 to MF - whatever that includes. But now the damned camera tries to force me to use MF all the time. I push Fn1 with my prefered AF settings and the display shortly displays AF-S before switching back to MF. And this is happening with the 12-50mm kit zoom lens. What on earth?

So, some clever gent or lady, please tell me how you have setup your OM-D to be used alternately with AF or MF lenses! Thanks.
 

Annna T

Active member
I'm a Pentax user and don't know if I'm just used to their menu and setup logic or if it really is better, but setting up my OM-D is driving me crazy! Confusing, counter-intuitive and messy. As bad as I found the GH2 menu to be a couple of years ago - if not worse!

But in short I am trying to find an easy way to switch between using AF m43 lenses with settings that are optimal for me and manual lenses with their respective settings. I read the Dpreview setup advice and experimented some and thought I found fairly good settings for AF lenses. Saved that to Myset1 and assigned Fn1 to Myset1. Then I tried to find good settings for manual lenses (more easily said than done) and saved them to Myset2. However, there does not seem to be a way to assign Fn2 to Myset2. Or is there? So I assigned Fn2 to MF - whatever that includes. But now the damned camera tries to force me to use MF all the time. I push Fn1 with my prefered AF settings and the display shortly displays AF-S before switching back to MF. And this is happening with the 12-50mm kit zoom lens. What on earth?

So, some clever gent or lady, please tell me how you have setup your OM-D to be used alternately with AF or MF lenses! Thanks.
After you hav digested the DPreview introductory guide, read the Gary Ayton's webpages on how to configure the E-M5.

He approaches things task by task in a very systematic way. In particular : look at his chapter on how to optimize focus. He has a section on the best settings for MF. It really works well for me.

Concerning the Mysets : look at Guy Parsons' webpages. They were written for the E-Pl series, but it is the same for the E-M5.

What you have to know is that when you affect a Myset (a group of custom settings corresponding to what you use for a given task) to a specific Fn button, it is only a "Quick Myset", not the usual Myset : it will only work as long as you press the Fn button while releasing the shutter. It isn't working like a toggle and it doesn't scroll through all the Mysets you may have saved.

Personnally, I prefer to keep the Fn buttons for other tasks. I find that the quick Myset isn't very usefull, it is awkward to apply and doesn't stick, while on the other hand accessing them trough the menu is more convenient : it is the second item you see after pressing the Menu button, you can choose between all four and it will stick once you select it. Just remember that to configure and save a new Myset you have to use the right arrow and to make a particular Myset active, you use the down/up arrows. You have to be careful if you don't want to change an already saved Myset, since the language used is not always very clear. Just read the Guy Parsons link, it is well explained with pictures of the menus.

Yes, it s a little hard to set the E-M5 up to your liking.. But you make this only once.. After that there is not much menu diving to do.

I found that Pekka Potka's way of setting the camera works well for general photography : it allows an easy switch from AF to MF.

There is also a useful Dpreview forum thread with tips and tricks for the E-M5
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
I think I am even more menu-averse than most of the others here (although I will go and read the suggested references), but I have done the following with my E-PL5 in order to alternate between AF lenses (normal state) and MF lenses (I have several, and each needs a few of its own parameters). I just put the MF toggle (it does stick) on the video button, and use the control button (top of the wheel) for aperture and exposure offset (I'm almost always in A mode, can accept up to ISO 2500). And I go to the info mode to input the focal lentgth for purposes of image stabilization with an MF lens. I leave the zoom button as is and use it for live view focussing when I can be steady enough to work at 10X.

That's all. Just eliminate video, which is a nuisance when you get it and didn't intend to, and toggle MF. Everything else is accessible, even if it is a bit weird the way Olympus does it.

scott
 

dhsimmonds

New member
I recommend David Busch's Guide to the OM-D-EM5 for absolutely anyone using this camera, that refers to either pro or serious amateur or a rank beginner.

There are so many shortcuts available to setting up and very quickly changing settings whist taking photo's, which the provided guide just does not tell you.

IMHO the book is well worth the cover price of £18.99 in the UK from Amazon
David Busch's Olympus Om-D E-M5 Guide to Digital Photography: Amazon.co.uk: David Busch: Books

It is also available in the US from Amazon as either a paperback hard copy or Kindle version.
 
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