Kevin and the "Olympus OMD camera system."

[scooby70]

I really need to try one, I have some friends who use a Oly PEN-F and maybe I can borrow one for a few hours to see how it works. It's hard to imagine you can't set it up "simple" and just leave it that way but the proof will be in the actual doing.

I shoot my cameras very much like film cameras with the advantages of being able to change the ISO from shot to shot, being able to place the focus point anywhere and having in view aids. I shoot in aperture priority mostly, manual mode occasionally and shutter priority very occasionally and I can't think of a single time I've picked one of my cameras up and not been able to use it. You can even save your settings in a custom mode.

Over complexity and losing simple settings and having to constantly wade through baffling menus simply are not IMO real world issue. The one thing baffling about this is that someone sees a problem here.

As one famous blogger said recently, you can't get much simpler than a GX7 (a MFT RF style camera) and a 17mm f1.8.

[TonyVentourisPhotography]

What is amazing is that people really blow the menu out of proportion.  I think people just see sooo many options and they go running.  Does anyone actually read them?  What a shame to lose out on potentially using such a great tool just because of a bunch of optional content.

The first two menus are straight forward.  As is the playback menu.  The custom menu barely needs anything digging.  It's all advanced setup and preference.  Same kind of stuff that the canon custom menus would have for instance.  You don't need to use any of it. 
There are already hard buttons for ISO and white balance, stop down, focus, ael,  and bracketing...just like every other camera.  That's no different. 

Yes you can m are these buttons whatever you ent or turn them off.... but you don't have to.  How hard is it to then just put the camera in p, a , s , or m and shoot like any other camera?

Super control menu comes from pressing the center OK button and that lets you change everything else you could possibly need for most scenarios. 

Maybe it's just me, but I personally love the deep options.  If anyone is really having trouble wrapping their heads around the menu system, I have a video on you tube, and my blog going option by option through the entire system, and telling you how to set it up in a great way.  It's broken up by custom menu.  I hate to put a plug for my own stuff, but if you need it, that's why it's there.  Check it out from my link below.  Or search unlockingolympus on YouTube.  I guarantee you it's easier than the manual.

And once you set the camera up, even if you don't menu dive...how often will you go back in?  I never do.  I've set up friends' cameras that are totally not tech people that don't care or want to deal with any camera's menu and they  are making the best images of their lives. They've never had to readjust anything. 
It's only daunting if one makes it daunting.

[mecrox]

There are a lot of menu options on an Olympus camera, that much is true. However, there are also plenty of cheat sheets and YouTube video walkthroughs explaining what the options are and suggesting how to set them. I've found this largely a one-off process. Set to taste and assign favourite setting groups - bracketing, for example - to a function button or dial. After that, it's usually been a question of setting just a few things like ISO, WB, focus points and so on in the usual way of almost any camera. Deeper tweaks such as altering the fps or RAW settings can all be done off one screen using the Oly Super Control panel. Just one button press to bring it up. It even works through the EVF as well as on the back screen. Anyway, I haven't felt baffled by complexity. And the truth is that most modern cameras are complex, essentially being small computers with a sensor and lens attached. You can fiddle or not fiddle to your heart's content.

Most modern cameras are compromises in the sense that the manufacturer has to include features of appeal to a very wide range of different users. Hence all the setting options. If they weren't included, the camera's appeal and hence sales would be quickly reduced.

[donbga]

What is amazing is that people really blow the menu out of proportion.  I think people just see sooo many options and they go running.  Does anyone actually read them?  What a shame to lose out on potentially using such a great tool just because of a bunch of optional content.

The first two menus are straight forward.  As is the playback menu.  The custom menu barely needs anything digging.  It's all advanced setup and preference.  Same kind of stuff that the canon custom menus would have for instance.  You don't need to use any of it. 
There are already hard buttons for ISO and white balance, stop down, focus, ael,  and bracketing...just like every other camera.  That's no different. 

Yes you can m are these buttons whatever you ent or turn them off.... but you don't have to.  How hard is it to then just put the camera in p, a , s , or m and shoot like any other camera?

Super control menu comes from pressing the center OK button and that lets you change everything else you could possibly need for most scenarios. 

Maybe it's just me, but I personally love the deep options.  If anyone is really having trouble wrapping their heads around the menu system, I have a video on you tube, and my blog going option by option through the entire system, and telling you how to set it up in a great way.  It's broken up by custom menu.  I hate to put a plug for my own stuff, but if you need it, that's why it's there.  Check it out from my link below.  Or search unlockingolympus on YouTube.  I guarantee you it's easier than the manual.

And once you set the camera up, even if you don't menu dive...how often will you go back in?  I never do.  I've set up friends' cameras that are totally not tech people that don't care or want to deal with any camera's menu and they  are making the best images of their lives. They've never had to readjust anything. 
It's only daunting if one makes it daunting.

Tony's online stuff for the OMD is really excellent, I've availed myself of them several times!

And yes I agree, that out of the box the camera is very usable - no deep menu diving required but it's great to have these options.

[pegelli]

I shoot my cameras very much like film cameras with the advantages of being able to change the ISO from shot to shot, being able to place the focus point anywhere and having in view aids. I shoot in aperture priority mostly, manual mode occasionally and shutter priority very occasionally and I can't think of a single time I've picked one of my cameras up and not been able to use it. You can even save your settings in a custom mode.

Over complexity and losing simple settings and having to constantly wade through baffling menus simply are not IMO real world issue. The one thing baffling about this is that someone sees a problem here.

As one famous blogger said recently, you can't get much simpler than a GX7 (a MFT RF style camera) and a 17mm f1.8.

I have my doubts as well, but it's hard to be definitive about if you've never actually handled the camera.

[TonyVentourisPhotography]

I know there area a lot of purists out there, and I myself even really like the 4 button layout of the Leica s and phase sensors.  For those that wish for simplicity, it is easy to turn off all the function and custom buttons, turn off control panels and even menus, turn off the screen, and set the camera to manual. 

If your screen articulates, reverse it.  Now you look like a film camera, but playback happens. In the viewfinder as needed.  No buttons or keypad will activate anything except for your ISO and white balance button.  You can be in auto focus or manual focus, and even see a black and white display.  In manual mode now it's all you.  Also, no accidental settings changes or button presses...everything is deactivated.  Don't know too many cameras that can turn their buttons off.

I am really curious to see if the new e-m1 allows external loading of file settings.  They stated it can through the software.  I am really hoping this means we can access those settings files and even share them to other users.  How nice will it be to be able to transfer ready made setups?  Maybe this menu thing will be a thing of the past.

[Telecaster]

IMO Oly's menus are tedious to work with but not difficult. The cameras are extremely configurable, and the price you pay for that is in the time spent doing the configuring. Once configured, though, you can mostly stick to the Super Control Panel, which is easy to use.

-Dave-

[pcgpcg]

..it's NOT possible to reliably 'set to snap' as you are implying...it's simply NOT possible to use the thing reliably from one week to the next because it's crammed full of irritating and largely pointless features and, yes, over engineered to the point of being unreliable in use.    it's not feasible to use it without upsetting any settings inadvertantly.......focus cursor(s) has an apparent mind of it's own and there are 4 levels of RAW, iso speed changes apparently at will(but impossible to find when needed) and the whole thing is impossible to memorise.......the body is small and badly designed so that it is impossible to use it without pressing the several rogue buttons.

all the psudeo m4/3 'pretend dslrs' are like this

I'm not responding to this because I like to argue, I don't. I'm just responding to encourage you to open your mind and examine the camera that this thread is about. If you aren't pleasantly surprised then stick with a DSLR. Unless you are excluding the E-M1 from this generalization, I find it to be patently untrue. I can't speak for the other m43 cameras because I have no experience with them.

[bassman51]

pegelli,.......thanks for the helpful pointers to where I'm going wrong but, with respect, you need to go and look at these cameras yourself and then you will see what i mean...it's NOT possible to reliably 'set to snap' as you are implying.    My wife has a m4/3 panasonic (G5) and that is beset with the same 'design ethos'....it's simply NOT possible to use the thing reliably from one week to the next because it's crammed full of irritating and largely pointless features and, yes, over engineered to the point of being unreliable in use.    it's not feasible to use it without upsetting any settings inadvertantly.......focus cursor(s) has an apparent mind of it's own and there are 4 levels of RAW, iso speed changes apparently at will(but impossible to find when needed) and the whole thing is impossible to memorise.......the body is small and badly designed so that it is impossible to use it without pressing the several rogue buttons.

all the psudeo m4/3 'pretend dslrs' are like this so go and take a look and see if I'm not right!....they are not for people like you, or me!

For example of what I mean;.....i have been recently using a friends fuji xe-1.  It was possible to set the thing up with stable focus point and 'A' setting and easy grasp of iso in a few minutes.  this camera has not changed it's tune in several weeks and is completely reliable in use.   a world away from most m4/3 dslr types.

Seriously ... I found the Olympus menus confusing at first, as I did the Panasonic.  But then, I also found the Nikon DLSR menus confusing when I started using them. After using the EM5 for a while, I put down my Nikon DX never to return.  I now roll with an EM1 and GX7, find them very reliable, and rarely use the menus. Probably less than I used my D7000 menus, because both the EM1 and GX7 are sufficiently customizable with hard buttons and dials so I am set.  And four custom setups (MySets in Oly-talk) tied to mode dial positions rapidly change the camera from tripod/landscape, to chase the grandkids, to street/urban monochrome. Without ever menu diving. 

And they don't appear to be inhabited by ghosts changing the settings Willy-Nilly. 

[kstewart]

Good preview, Kevin.  I've owned the EM-1 since it came out and have traveled extensively with it.  I left my Canon 5D III and it's monster lenses at home. I look forward to trying the new body out.  I appreciate your thoughtful remarks.  I am curious how the 12-100 f/4 lens will work. 

[Mjollnir]

I dunno.   I shoot exclusively with Panasonic (and lenses from both Panny and Oly), I only do stills and can print processed RW2s with no problems at 30x40.

People seem to overlook that Pannys shoot stills quite beautifully.