why are people complaining about OMD button size ???

There are millions of compacts sold which are in the higher end,with several buttons scattered around their tinyish bodies.

nobody seems to complain..

but many people here complain about the tiny buttons on the OMD.

Is it because they are coming from large bodied SLR's and they are having problems adapting ?

or are the buttons  THAT SMALL ?

No issues here. I have pretty normal size hands too.

good. i am thinking of such a camera, my hands are sort of normal.. i'm afraid i'd fumble around. i used many canon compacts.. s30,s95,g11 with no issues.. and i just bought a nikon p510 and also no problems..

the buttons are small, yes, but buttons are also small on a TV remote control. People still use them.

It's a case of getting used to, nothing more, especially because the small size of the camera doesn't give you enough space for buttons, so you have to rely more on the menu.

but it's perfectly doable.

Some people have big hands and some people like to complain. I have average sized hands and I've never found a camera I couldn't operate. The buttons on the OMD are fine, I don't care that they are a bit squishy either, they all do what they should do, no problems here.

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Any problem on earth can be solved by a well aimed Pomegranate...
Tony
http://the-random-photographer.blogspot.com/

You have not covered the whole specter of reasons. Another possible reason is that some folks actually USE these buttons, while millions od compact camera users use mostly only one ( the biggest)

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Looking for equilibrium...

TMI ALERT:

I have no problem with that as well. Being 60 years old, i have a few 'things' which are also squishy, and i have to accomodate to that issue as well.

We all have our own priorities, but I tend to separate what I can work around from what I can't work around.

I got used to the smaller buttons. And the 'interesting' menus. Still not entirely comfortable with the placement of the two thumbwheels, but I can work with them. Pity one of them wasn't the vertical thumbwheel of the EP's. Even found ways to work around the slower AF of the larger ZD lenses.

OTOH, I can't work around loss of IQ, which is why I use the larger ZD zooms on occasion - most of them have no M43 equivalent right now.

They are small and squishy and lack the tactile feel some may expect for such an expensive camera.  That was my impression at the camera store, but you are correct, I use my compact cam LX5 buttons with no issues, and the OM buttons were not particularly bothersome.

Some people feel a need to complain I suppose.

The buttons are small, yes, but so is the camera.  I gave up my DSLR to get a smaller lighter camera - that's exactly what I wanted.  Don't want small buttons - buy a bigger camera - life is full of choices.  I have large hands, and I have no problem with the buttons.

The only buttons I would call "squishy" are the 4 directional buttons.  The "squishyness" apparently is the result of weather sealing.   Frankly I never noticed it until seeing complaints.  It still doesn't bother me, has zero impact on the camera's operation, and I like that my camera is weather sealed.

The only minor complaint I would lodge is the AEL and FN1 buttons are a bit too close together.  A little more separation there would be nice.

As DPReview states, operating the smallish buttons with gloves on would be a problem, but otherwise; complaints about the small buttons is nonsense IMO.  If you want a DSLR sized control layout, then well, buy a DSLR.

The position and length of the play & Fn1, and the lack of positive feel of the directinal buttons are the issue.

I don't have an issue with the top buttons, Menu and trashcan buttons.

The info button is so-so.

It would have been smarter to make the body a little longer (OM sized), then sift the monitor over making room for slightly larger buttons, or have a column of larger buttons left of the monitor:

OM-D 122mm x 89mm x 43mm

OM-1 136mm x 83mm x 50mm

The OMD is the first camera I have owned (not P&S) that I cannot assign AF-lock to the rear button and use the camera in colder environments (ie: with gloves).  I have small hands, but even bare operation isn't fluid with the thumb scraping against the "ledge" just under the play & fn1 buttons.  AF I have set on fn2 which works alright in the cold (I rarely need "fast" AF to shot times for landscapes) but that "arch the index finger" dance is not ideal either.

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-CW

Hi,

I have to respectfully disagree with some of the comments.  I do NOT like to complain and usually my comments about cameras describe the engineering compromises that must be made in any particular camera.  (my first degree is in engineering)

I have normal sized hands, but tend to use my cameras in harsh weather.  It is why I waited for the weather sealed EM-5. The 2 small buttons (Fn1 & play) are difficult to use in bad weather and provide no tactile feedback (especially when wearing gloves.

Even more bothersome is the ease at which the wheels will move so that it is necessary to turn the camera off when placing it in a camera bag (done often in bad weather . . . and who thought placing the on=off switch in its current location was a good idea?) .  The wheels should be tighter or have a disable or lock switch.

Hand position is at best awkward whether trying to press certain buttons (again especially in harsh weathe).  The entire hand position changes when one uses the handgrip and tries to access the top buttons.

I can use the camera and indeed I have gotten "used to it" BUT this is a classic example of form OVER function.  A minimal increase in size would improve the handling vastly.  I have and use the Fuji XE-1 which is about the same size and does not cause any hand cramping.

I have used many small cameras without difficulty including the Olympus XA and currently the Panazsonic LX series.

Just because you do not have the problem, does not mean that the problem does not exist. . . merely that you have found a way to work around the problem.

Remember, part of the brilliance on the OM system (which I used for 15+ years) was that it created a small camera with controls as LARGE or larger than the then available contemporary pro cameras. The button sizes and positions IMHO on the EM-5 is simply poor design.

Ed Rauschkolb

For me it's not just that the buttons are small, it's that I can't find a comfortable way to hold the camera so my thumb falls in a good position to push the buttons. Yes I could buy the grip, but then it makes the just as big as my GH2, which I'm perfectly happy with from the point of IQ.

And yes, I do have this problem with some compacts as well.

I have small hand, and find the preview(play) button quite tiny.  I wonder how big handed people use that button.  ^^

I'm not complaining, because I'd rather have smaller body with small buttons than bigger body with big buttons.

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^__^
Just Shoot !

Not so much the size that sucks, but awkward shapes and very mushy.

The buttons are that small. But given the size of the camera, don't see what can be done about it. In cold weather I have to wear gloves and to change settings, I have to take them off in the stinging weather. I live with it for the other virtues the camera has.

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Frank Paris

No issue at all (came from Canon 40D).

The 'play' and fn1 buttons are the only problem I have, it's just not easy to press one by itself.  I've no idea why Olympus put them so close together.

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Rens
There are optimists and there are realists

After half a year I'm still trying to learn the E-M5 button controls by feel rather than having to look--the shutter and dials are fine. Compared to some cameras the buttons are pretty close together, not easily distinguished from one another by feel, and don't have a tactile "click" when operated--an outcome of the method of Oly's weatherproofing. IMHO it's also "missing" a couple key dedicated buttons.

I have similar issues with the far larger E-5, which I'm still learning by feel as well. By contrast, I know the E-30 intimately and dont need to take my eye from the viewfinder to operate the controls.

I suspect if the E-M5 were my only camera I'd have it memorized by now, but hopping among various cameras is making it hard for me to truly learn.

Cheers,

Rick