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

Sounds like a bargain if its in decent condition.
 
I have the original e-m10 but have been offered a e-m5 mkii at what i think is a good price - £250 with a 14-150mm boxed. Would it be a worthwhile upgrade?
That is so cheap, they'd get more trading it in?
 
Picked the m5 ii up and very happy. I have a question though. How do I enable the high res mode? I have set the delay but I cannot seem to turn the Hi res mode on. I know it must be something I need to do somewhere?

If you have chosen the delay, an okay'd it, hi res mode should then be selected. Double check by checking the super control panel. Release mode should be a couple of frames on top of each other. Quite why you cannot just select it from all the other release modes in the first place is anyone's guess.

ETA, Olympus I apologise, you can now indeed select high res mode from the release options. Very last one. Oops, just off to wipe this egg off my face.
 
Last edited:
I'm going to go for it. Looks like new and also comes with a flash and case. Plus just found out its the 14-150mm mkii lens. Don't know if that's better than the original, but should be.

Well, the way prices are at the moment, the lens alone is worth more than £250. Frankly the camera is too assuming both are in okay condition. Something of a bargain you have got there!

I use the 14-150 a lot. The mk2 version is weather sealed which, paired with the E-m5ii makes it a great mountain set up for me. Good range so no lens swapping and don't need to worry about the odd shower. It's not amazing at the long end to be honest but as an al round package it makes a lot of sense.
 
If you have chosen the delay, an okay'd it, hi res mode should then be selected. Double check by checking the super control panel. Release mode should be a couple of frames on top of each other. Quite why you cannot just select it from all the other release modes in the first place is anyone's guess.

ETA, Olympus I apologise, you can now indeed select high res mode from the release options. Very last one. Oops, just off to wipe this egg off my face.
Tried everything. Watched videos on youtube and read instructions online but nothing was successful. Then I did what I should have done right from the start and reset the camera, the high res mode selectable immediately. Probably not something I'll ever use but because it was there and I couldn't select it, it was driving me up the wall.
 
Well, the way prices are at the moment, the lens alone is worth more than £250. Frankly the camera is too assuming both are in okay condition. Something of a bargain you have got there!

I use the 14-150 a lot. The mk2 version is weather sealed which, paired with the E-m5ii makes it a great mountain set up for me. Good range so no lens swapping and don't need to worry about the odd shower. It's not amazing at the long end to be honest but as an al round package it makes a lot of sense.
Didn't know the lens was weather sealed so that's a bonus too.

Included were 2x batteries and the FL-LM3 mini flash unit with its little storage pouch and a manfrotto case. Apart from a tiny bit of silver paint missing from around the corner of the battery chamber (hardly noticeable) there is hardly a mark on it and it's in excellent condition.
Very very happy with it.
 
Today I found out that the EM1-II and Panny 100-400mm combo does not like shooting through glass, we’ll certainly not at Chester Zoo anyway. Really struggled to get a sharp shot and resorted to MF.

It wasn’t a good day of shooting all round tbh, weather was pants most of the day meaning ISO of 5000 and 6400, and fur doesn’t look great at those ISO’s on M4/3 :(

Oh well, you win some you lose some ;)
 
Picked the m5 ii up and very happy. I have a question though. How do I enable the high res mode? I have set the delay but I cannot seem to turn the Hi res mode on. I know it must be something I need to do somewhere?

I'll have a go tomorrow and let you know - from memory if you've set the delay then I think you just select it as one of the options at the end of timer options - I can't remember if you need to be shooting in raw. I've also found if I've accidentally hit the HDR button half the menu no longer is available unless I hit it again (though for ages could not work out why.

Couple from today with the EM5MkII

2019-07-14_03-56-19 by alligator1975, on Flickr

I think this is a spider carrying spider eggs, but not 100% sure yet.

2019-07-14_04-00-07 by alligator1975, on Flickr
 
I'll have a go tomorrow and let you know - from memory if you've set the delay then I think you just select it as one of the options at the end of timer options - I can't remember if you need to be shooting in raw. I've also found if I've accidentally hit the HDR button half the menu no longer is available unless I hit it again (though for ages could not work out why.

Couple from today with the EM5MkII

2019-07-14_03-56-19 by alligator1975, on Flickr

I think this is a spider carrying spider eggs, but not 100% sure yet.

2019-07-14_04-00-07 by alligator1975, on Flickr
Sorted thanks. Reset the body and Hi res mode was instantly selectable. God knows what settings had been changed but all ok now. Thanks again.
 
Sorted thanks. Reset the body and Hi res mode was instantly selectable. God knows what settings had been changed but all ok now. Thanks again.

You might want to upgrade to the latest firmware, and I think you can then backup your settings. I think upgrading early firmware resets the settings.

I've reverted to factory default a few times when I could not work out what I had done - most common as I say is the HDR button but I am sure there are others!
 
Had my first proper go with the new Olympus 2.0x TC + 40-150mm f/2.8 this weekend, first indications are it's fantastic, image quality wise I don't see much difference, if any, compared to the 1.4x TC or even the bare lens. The only downside is that 2 stops loss of light, I basically had to take the TC off and resort to bare lens long before the light faded last night.

Will hopefully have some samples up in the next few days, only got 7,000+ photos to sort through now!
 
HAs anybody used both the Panasonic 100-400 and the Olympus 300 f4? Interested to hear what you think of them both.
 
HAs anybody used both the Panasonic 100-400 and the Olympus 300 f4? Interested to hear what you think of them both.
I've used both, I own the 100-400mm and have used the 300mm f4 on the test and wow and at Thruxton for the competition prize. There's not an awful lot in it imo in terms of sharpness and overall IQ. The 300mm f4 does render a touch nicer imo, and is a gnats sharper, the main thing for me is that extra stop of light. I could have done with it yesterday, and I'm going to test it out again next month to see if it can 'hide' catch fencing better than the 100-400mm, if so I 'may' consider getting the 300mm as well.

The 100-400mm is a great lens though. The only thing that I've found is that if shooting low contrast scenes or less than ideal light it can struggle to focus at 400mm. I normally drop it back to 300mm, get focus and then zoom back to 400mm and it will then focus no problem. TBH I used to get this with the EM1 and 100-300mm and 75-300mm, and also had a similar thing with the D850 and Tamron 150-600mm. I think it's just a case of superteles and 'narrow' apertures rather than something wrong with the combo per se.
 
Just a generalised update re: how I found v3.0 firmware and BiF

Having downloaded all the images to go through the first cull

1) The Marsh Harrier was a real challenge and so far for full reasons I am still puzzling over there are very few worthy of being called keepers. Way too many OOF and even the ones a tad better, lack somewhat in the 'crisp' department :(
NB thoughts ~ as mentioned in my initial post about this ~ as it was flying against a cluttered (though mostly very distant BG) the C-AF was I surmise struggling......................including when it landed on the upper branches of thick scrub. ~ the in flight against clear sky are dire.......not one spot on at all :( Though perhaps a sea mist rolling in did me no favours?

2) By comparison ~ a Kestrel against clearer brighter sky has keepers but again, possibly, too few? (some quite small in frame look better than the Harrier of equal proportion in frame).

3) The Swallows ~ look like I will have some decent'ish ones for such fast fliers who can change direction oh so suddenly.

Based on this ~ I am going to have to double check my "Priority" setting as I thought it was on "Focus Priority" not "Release Priority" ~ agh??? (NB this is with the 300mm f4 and my early test before v3 firmware seemed good on Gulls and other subjects at Warnham LNR.)

I mention the Priority setting because, especially notable in the Marsh Harrier images there a are goodly number where neither the bird or the BG are in focus i.e. it was firing as if on "Release Priority" i.e. in focus or not!

I wonder if v3.1 with what I think they called "improvements to stills AF..." will be better in future.
 
Had to take a photo of this extremely cute 'fella' yesterday even though I was at 5000 ISO and detail isn't as good as I'd like. Who can resist baby animals? ;)


P7145695-Edit-3
by TDG-77, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Just a generalised update re: how I found v3.0 firmware and BiF

Having downloaded all the images to go through the first cull

1) The Marsh Harrier was a real challenge and so far for full reasons I am still puzzling over there are very few worthy of being called keepers. Way too many OOF and even the ones a tad better, lack somewhat in the 'crisp' department :(
NB thoughts ~ as mentioned in my initial post about this ~ as it was flying against a cluttered (though mostly very distant BG) the C-AF was I surmise struggling......................including when it landed on the upper branches of thick scrub. ~ the in flight against clear sky are dire.......not one spot on at all :( Though perhaps a sea mist rolling in did me no favours?

2) By comparison ~ a Kestrel against clearer brighter sky has keepers but again, possibly, too few? (some quite small in frame look better than the Harrier of equal proportion in frame).

3) The Swallows ~ look like I will have some decent'ish ones for such fast fliers who can change direction oh so suddenly.

Based on this ~ I am going to have to double check my "Priority" setting as I thought it was on "Focus Priority" not "Release Priority" ~ agh??? (NB this is with the 300mm f4 and my early test before v3 firmware seemed good on Gulls and other subjects at Warnham LNR.)

I mention the Priority setting because, especially notable in the Marsh Harrier images there a are goodly number where neither the bird or the BG are in focus i.e. it was firing as if on "Release Priority" i.e. in focus or not!

I wonder if v3.1 with what I think they called "improvements to stills AF..." will be better in future.
Hmmm, I never thought about the v3 update, I wonder if that's why I was struggling to shoot through glass yesterday?
 
Had to take a photo of this extremely cute 'fella' yesterday even though I as at 5000 ISO and detail isn't as good as I'd like. Who can resist baby animals? ;)


P7145695-Edit-3
by TDG-77, on Flickr

Oh yes, cute for sure..........................though none too sure about the centre parting and (slightly?) mullet hairstyle look ;)
 
Hmmm, I never thought about the v3 update, I wonder if that's why I was struggling to shoot through glass yesterday?

Well, v3 details said:-
"Enhanced performance of AF"
"Improved quality of still images"

And v3.1
"Stability of operation when shooting still images has been improved"

In the cases where Oly talk of "stability" and "quality of images" I think I recall somewhere it said this generally relates to AF and Focus accuracy!
 
Hmmm, I never thought about the v3 update, I wonder if that's why I was struggling to shoot through glass yesterday?
When I downloaded and initial tested the v3 I did and still do see it as a game changer :)

Because the visits of the Marsh Harrier were sudden and in flight not as long as I would have wished I did not allow or have enough time to re-consider the C-AF settings etc to maybe have gotten the best of the opportunity/ies.......................c'est la vie :thinking::thinking::thinking:
 
Last edited:
Just a generalised update re: how I found v3.0 firmware and BiF

Having downloaded all the images to go through the first cull

1) The Marsh Harrier was a real challenge and so far for full reasons I am still puzzling over there are very few worthy of being called keepers. Way too many OOF and even the ones a tad better, lack somewhat in the 'crisp' department :(
NB thoughts ~ as mentioned in my initial post about this ~ as it was flying against a cluttered (though mostly very distant BG) the C-AF was I surmise struggling......................including when it landed on the upper branches of thick scrub. ~ the in flight against clear sky are dire.......not one spot on at all :( Though perhaps a sea mist rolling in did me no favours?

2) By comparison ~ a Kestrel against clearer brighter sky has keepers but again, possibly, too few? (some quite small in frame look better than the Harrier of equal proportion in frame).

3) The Swallows ~ look like I will have some decent'ish ones for such fast fliers who can change direction oh so suddenly.

Based on this ~ I am going to have to double check my "Priority" setting as I thought it was on "Focus Priority" not "Release Priority" ~ agh??? (NB this is with the 300mm f4 and my early test before v3 firmware seemed good on Gulls and other subjects at Warnham LNR.)

I mention the Priority setting because, especially notable in the Marsh Harrier images there a are goodly number where neither the bird or the BG are in focus i.e. it was firing as if on "Release Priority" i.e. in focus or not!

I wonder if v3.1 with what I think they called "improvements to stills AF..." will be better in future.


PS I have have not checked yet.................but have a recall of pre v3 advice from some BiF 'specialists@ saying go for "Release Priority" as in BiF burst shooting on that setting though not all in focus there will be more keepers than if you use "Focus Priority". However, I for one noted in the main v3 is way more snappier in locking focus (depending on situation???) to to use "Focus Priority" is now a better/best option in that C-AF should lock more readily than before v3 ???
 
PS I have have not checked yet.................but have a recall of pre v3 advice from some BiF 'specialists@ saying go for "Release Priority" as in BiF burst shooting on that setting though not all in focus there will be more keepers than if you use "Focus Priority". However, I for one noted in the main v3 is way more snappier in locking focus (depending on situation???) to to use "Focus Priority" is now a better/best option in that C-AF should lock more readily than before v3 ???
Maybe it was just the glass then, it wasn't the cleanest and it's the first time I've used the Olly shooting through glass tbh. In hind sight I'm kicking myself for not trying S-AF but you live and learn. TBH it wasn't until I reviewed the images I realised they weren't in focus.
 
Maybe it was just the glass then, it wasn't the cleanest and it's the first time I've used the Olly shooting through glass tbh. In hind sight I'm kicking myself for not trying S-AF but you live and learn. TBH it wasn't until I reviewed the images I realised they weren't in focus.


Of the very few times I have shot through glass I made sure to use my lens hood and placed it squarely on the glass..................the lats time oh so long ago I was using I think my Canon 40D :)

Edit also of a cute one (sorry its a Canon not MFT ;) )

babyGorilla2_2949.jpg
 
Last edited:
Maybe it was just the glass then, it wasn't the cleanest and it's the first time I've used the Olly shooting through glass tbh. In hind sight I'm kicking myself for not trying S-AF but you live and learn. TBH it wasn't until I reviewed the images I realised they weren't in focus.
I have three glass patio doors and get noticeably worse results through one of them, so it may depend on the glass.

Not sure if I mentioned it before (I think I did), but after trialling, I purchased Topaz AI sharpen. Some subjects are more successful than others, but I have found it works really well on birds. It might be worth trying before you delete your images.

That is a really cute chimp btw
 
Last edited:
I have three glass patio doors and get noticeably worse results through one of them, so it may depend on the glass.

Not sure if I mentioned it before (I think I did), but after trialling, I purchased Topaz AI sharpen. Some subjects are more successful than others, but I have found it works really well on birds. It might be worth trying before you delete your images.

That is a really cute chimp btw

I second Topaz AI Sharpen
I have found it to be a very useful addition to the PP arsenal.
In regard to the "processing" process ~ of Sharpen, Stabilise & Focus............................I have found that it is not simply pick one but try all three and see what the preview looks like, for many images of wildlife even where it is not moving I have found Stabilise gives the best sharpening rendition compared Sharpen and Focus. But of course as they say YMMV ;)
 
Of the very few times I have shot through glass I made sure to use my lens hood and placed it squarely on the glass..................the lats time oh so long ago I was using I think my Canon 40D :)

Edit also of a cute one (sorry its a Canon not MFT ;) )

View attachment 249951
I always put the hood up against the glass tbh to reduce reflections. TBH the camera looked as though it was focussing normally, but when I reviewed them they were all OOF.
 
Had a play with the EM1MK11 but the firmware is way out of date so looking for a cable.

P7160199.jpg
 
Back
Top