Just bought my first serious digital camera, Olympus E-M5

[zxcvbob]

and I am totally lost trying to figure the menus and the viewfinder.  My old film cameras don't have all that.

The manual is pretty bad.  Rather than ask a lot of stupid questions (yes, there is such thing as a stupid question) I'll just ask one.  Can anyone recommend a good online tutorial or a "Dummys" book about setting up Olympus cameras?  Especially the advanced settings.

I have The Digital Negative by Jeff Schewe on my wishlist already, but I'm not that far yet.  Thanks.

[ned]

Of the top of my head,  Dpreview did one for that camera, or maybe the em1. Basically the same camera.

[g.boyko]

http://www.ayton.id.au/wiki/doku.php?id=photo:olympusem5_settings
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9115179666/user-guide-getting-the-most-out-of-the-olympus-e-m5
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/27-links-em5.html

[OldRoy]

The key is to switch on the "Super Control Panel" (aka SCP) which gives access to most of the principle presets. Why this was not made into a default setting straight out of the box is just one of the host of mysterious decisions made when designing the camera's infuriating firmware. The DPR article linked above is useful as best I can recall.
 
I've been using the EM5 since it was released. It outputs really excellent files but the general interface design - both firmware and hardware - is just awful and I have never resigned myself to its obtrusive effect. if this, as you imply, is your first digital camera, you're going to have to spend quite a bit of time reading up - not least the manual.
Roy

[zxcvbob]

I bought a cheap ($40, but that was a great sale price) digital camera last year for taking snapshots, but I've been pretty recalcitrant about film cameras -- manual focus film cameras at that.  But I also have pretty much fallen out of photography for about 10 years. 

I've been reading the links y'all have provided and they are a big help.  Thanks!  This is an amazing camera, with an amazingly bad user interface.  Once I figure out the 1 or 2 modes that I actually use, maybe set up the Fn keyes, it'll be great.  I took some snapshots of my messy basement; low light, handheld, 1/4 second shutter speed.  The autofocus was fast, and I couldn't see any blurring until I zoomed way in.  Also I don't think I'll use it much, but I like the touch-the-screen-to-focus-and-take-the-picture mode.

I'm going to take it out today to the bald eagles' nest and see how it does.  Don't have a long lenses yet, or an adapter to use my old Canon FD 300mm...

[Jack Varney]

zxcvbob, yes the menus will test your patience and maybe even your manhood!   The hard copy manual is a minimalist wonder with page numbers that don't exist, at least not in the book in your grasp. They do refer to the many many pages in the .pdf downloadable manual on line. This too is a challenge but necessary.

[PeterAit]

If it's like the E-M1, you have a very flexible camera with unavoidably complex menus and commands. The way I approached the Em1 with its 170 page manual was to make a list of the dozen or so settings I need to change regularly, look them up, and make a cheat sheet. I've pasted this below in case your camera has some of the same controls.

Exposure comp   Lever at 1, front dial
Set ISO   Lever at 2, front dial, OK
Manual/auto focus   Lever at 1, press AF, rear dial
Set WB   Lever at 2, rear dial, OK
Change aperture A mode   Lever at 1, rear dial
Change shutter  S mode   Lever at 1, rear dial
Lock/unlock exposure   AEL/AFL button
AF targets   1. Arrow key.
   2. Press Info
   3. Up/down arrows, select size, # of targets
   4. L/R arrows, change face priority setting
Self timer   Lever at 1, press HDR, rear dial
Burst/single shots   Lever at 1, press HDR, rear dial same menu as self-timer)
HDR bracketing   Lever at 1, press HDR, front dial
Metering mode   Lever at 1, press AF, front dial
Focus mode   Lever at 1, press AF, rear dial
Time lapse   Shooting menu 2

[mcbroomf]

Check this out as well ...
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1144967/0?keyword=om_d,E-M5,Configuration#10924881