Disappointed with E-M5 so far

[texchappy]

Having trouble getting on with the E-M5 that I got last Friday. Shot about 50 shots with it and have literally zero keepers. Wife tried it on iAuto to take some pictures of our bulldog puppy and they were bad. Camera store said try it out for about 7 days and see if I liked it. So far I’m not.

So, is it me, the example I have, or the camera. Really thinking about taking it back and exchanging it for a D7000, a lens for the D40 (and maybe a fuji), or just money towards something else.

 

[Shutterspark]

What was the problem, specifically?
I had one on loan for a couple of weeks and while I prefer my X-Pro1 I didn't think it was a bad camera.

 

[Moriturii]

Well, the camera can only be blamed for focus accuracy, color, lens sharpness etc what not. Were you pictures bad because pictures were out of focus or whatever or were they just generally bad pictures? If so the photographer is to blame.

 

[texchappy]

Color seems off in jpeg which I know I can fix in raw (but then doesn’t fit wife’s need for a simple camera for her to use). Focus just doesn’t seem to lock on what I want it to consistently and the 12-50 doesn’t seem sharp at all.

 

[dreilly]

texchappy,
I think we need more information. How are you using it? What mode (A, P, M, etc). What JPEG settings?
doug

 

[rbelyell]

There should be no issue with color if you have the camera to normal color settings. The omd takes A LOT of time to set up properly. As for sharpness with that particular lens you must stop down. It is optimal at 5.6-8.0.
Tony

 

[texchappy]

Here’s a shot my wife tried on all auto -

here’s my attempt with shutter priority and all other settings left alone:

Seems to consistenly underexpose for my taste. Doesn’t seem sharp to me either. The last one was at f6.3 at 100mm.

 

[jammcat]

Sounds like a case of blaming the controller.
I've found the jpeg output to be fine, and the focusing is great.
Are you sure that you didn't move the focal point by accident?

 

[texchappy]

I had the face detection on and it showed a white box over the face. I’ve been on the mu-43 forum and playing with settings. I think I’m getting closer to what I want but it’s taking a lot fiddling. That’s ok for me but not something the better half is likely to want to do.

 

[hollandphotos]

Backlit scenes will underexpose with any average metering. Try scene with +1 or 1.3 or center/spot metering.

 

[DNG]

Also, many turn the Warming Filter right away... JPGs look funky with it on.

Menu/Gears/G/Keep Warm Filter/OFF

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Setup the file to Super-Fine

Menu/Gears/G/Set (2nd page)/ (Here you can customize 4 File Sizes, #1 should be Large/SF).

Then in
Menu/Camera 1/Option 4 (Compression Symbol)/Still Picture/pick RAW, or one of your 4 custom compression settings from the step above, or RAW+JPG options.

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On the Super Control Panel. You may want set the "A" Amber, setting to "+2" to add a more natural warmth over the colder default setting

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The E-M5 does need a set-up time for optimum IQ, the Factory defaults are not optimum.

 

[texchappy]

Question is - do the settings stay put pretty well when you get them right? Also, will they carry over for when I put it on 'auto' for my wife to use?

 

[DNG]

Question is - do the settings stay put pretty well when you get them right? Also, will they carry over for when I put it on 'auto' for my wife to use?

YES, BUT, in iAuto, the camera defaults to factory set "settings". which is fairly crippled in a quite a few setting options.

In P/S/A/M modes, the camera goes back to your custom settings.
Maybe, your wife should use "Program" instead of "iAuto" mode.

 

[texchappy]

Thanks DNG. That should work. Is there a list somewhere of what settings need to be changed from the default?

 

[Dave Jenkins]

DP Review has an extensive article on setting up the OM-D.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9115179666/user-guide-getting-the-most-out-of-the-olympus-e-m5

 

[texchappy]

Thanks Dave Jenkins. Going through it now and changing settings.

 

[rbelyell]

It took me almost two weeks to get my settings correct and i came from having an ep2! The worst thing about the omd are the setup menus; perhaps the worst of any camera i have ever dealt with. But when its finally done, whenever that is, the results will make you happy.
Tony

 

[vrgard]

There's a ton of flexibility via the great multitude of settings with that camera (one of the reasons people struggle with the menus - there's just so darn many of them). Downside of that is it's easy to not have things set to whatever you might want or to realize why you're not getting what you expected.

That said, I've had mine for about the same length of time as you and am very happy with it (although I haven't been using the kit lens and, instead, have primarily been shooting with primes). So maybe let us know how things go after you've set up the camera however you like. Then, if you share your settings info and why you are still dissatisfied (presuming you are then still dissatisfied) we can help sort things out for you. My sense is that it is a very good camera and we should be able to get you to place where you're happy with it.

-Randy

 

[texchappy]

Been through the DPreview and changed a lot of the settings and happier. I’ll shoot with it a bit more and see. Using flash still results in images that are a little washed out to my eye. I know it will probably give me better results with prime lenses but those aren’t in the budget right now.

 

[Keith]

Persevere!

I have to confess that I was a little disappointed initially and a large part of it was the kit lens (remind me never to use a zoom again) and coming to terms with settings and menus. Once I got all my presets happier and put a 25mm prime on the OMD, it grabbed me and I haven't looked back! As for undexposure with back lighting it hasn't really happened unless the situation was extreme and to me the metering seems smarter than my D700's matrix system.

That said I don't really think this is a camera you can put in the hands of a novice, set it on auto everything and expect good photos .... that's Canon point and shoot territory for me! With a decent lens and shooting only in raw the OMD is giving me results far better than I was expecting ... especially at ISO 3200.

Have a look at John's images that he took almost immediately after getting his OMD ... jpegs straight out of camera, though he was using an OM prime with an adapter which means he was focusing manually. They are perfectly exposed and the colours are excellent to my eyes. If you can't produce similar results to this you either have a dud example or you're doing something wrong.

If all else fails ... return it and move on to something you're happier with!