Disappointed Oyl E-M10II blocked flash

I thought I had my perfect travel camera figured out with the Olympus E-M10 II, I really wanted an on board flash, paired it with the Olympus 7-14 and 12-100 pro lenses. This seemed like the perfect combination for me. Now I've just started testing it all and discovered both lenses block the on board flash causing a dark area in the 7-14 in all ranges and the 12-100 in any zoom wider than 30.

I really don't want to give up these lenses and I don't want to give up an onboard flash, but if I keep the EM10 II the flash is basically useless, so I'd have a camera with no onboard flash. Should I return the EM10 II and move up in Olympus cameras from the Em10 II since the only reason I chose this model was because it was the most advanced Olympus still with an onboard flash. Then I'd have to get one of those small Olmpus flashes like the FL-LM3 or the FL-300R??? Which I know nothing about and not even sure if they wouldn't be blocked by my lenses either????? ARG!

This won't help with the 7-14 but have you tried the 12-100 without the hood?

I've had to take the hood off of the 14-150 but then it was ok.

I plan on getting a FL-LM3 as a small alternative to the onboard flash.

Very few flashes will cover extreme W/A anyway. The little FL-LM3 will only cover to 12 mm. In a pinch you can turn the camera upside down and the shadow may be in a less obnoxious place.

Why do you want onboard flash? I never use it.

In my case E-P5 with 12-40/2.8 or with any big long lens, the pop-up creates a chunky shadow.

Solved by always carrying the little FL-300R which is than the pop-up, has a wide angle adapter built in, bends backwards for ceiling bounce and forward a bit for closeups. Plus it is RC mode controllable so the pop-up can use it as a slave. No FP or self-auto mode though, only TTL or manual power setting both in hot-shoe and as an RC slave. Never seen a lens shadow yet even with 75-300mm with a long hood.

The FL-300R of course uses its own batteries so does not drain the camera battery like the pop-up or the FL-LMx models. The FL-LM3 may be nice but those 4th little pins for power on the body came and go with various models so is compatible with only a few bodies.

In truth though I hardly ever seem to use flash any more, but it certainly is no problem to always have that little FL-300R lurking in the camera bag just in case.

Bought two of them with the eventual aim of making a crazy rig to hold them near the lens end for macro work, set to RC mode and one on A and one on B groups so they can easily be controlled for brightness ratio from the camera RC menu. Like I said, one day, must be a couple of years since I bought them.

Regards....... Guy

Happens with the 12-50mm lens as well. When I try to use it for macro shots and need some fill light, the lens covers a large part of the built-in flash. It's very annoying.

mfinley said:

I thought I had my perfect travel camera figured out with the Olympus E-M10 II, I really wanted an on board flash, paired it with the Olympus 7-14 and 12-100 pro lenses. This seemed like the perfect combination for me. Now I've just started testing it all and discovered both lenses block the on board flash causing a dark area in the 7-14 in all ranges and the 12-100 in any zoom wider than 30.

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I don't think this is anything unusual. You will see the same issue with pretty much any built-in flash.

mfinley said:

I really don't want to give up these lenses and I don't want to give up an onboard flash, but if I keep the EM10 II the flash is basically useless, so I'd have a camera with no onboard flash. Should I return the EM10 II and move up in Olympus cameras from the Em10 II since the only reason I chose this model was because it was the most advanced Olympus still with an onboard flash. Then I'd have to get one of those small Olmpus flashes like the FL-LM3 or the FL-300R??? Which I know nothing about and not even sure if they wouldn't be blocked by my lenses either????? ARG!

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While the FL-LM3 is a lovely little unit and is compatible with the E-M10 MkII, unless you find something to bounce the light off, it will still produce a similar blocked area with a wide angle lens.

I bought a refurbished Olympus FL-300R flash from the Olympus Outlet for about $80. It's very small, and I can hold it in one hand while shooting with my EM-10 Mk 1. The EM-10 can trigger it wirelessly which pretty much gets around the on board flash being blocked. You could try to find a small wireless flash you could use with your camera.

Airmel said:

mfinley said:

I thought I had my perfect travel camera figured out with the Olympus E-M10 II, I really wanted an on board flash, paired it with the Olympus 7-14 and 12-100 pro lenses. This seemed like the perfect combination for me. Now I've just started testing it all and discovered both lenses block the on board flash causing a dark area in the 7-14 in all ranges and the 12-100 in any zoom wider than 30.

Click to expand...

I don't think this is anything unusual. You will see the same issue with pretty much any built-in flash.

Airmel said:

I really don't want to give up these lenses and I don't want to give up an onboard flash, but if I keep the EM10 II the flash is basically useless, so I'd have a camera with no onboard flash. Should I return the EM10 II and move up in Olympus cameras from the Em10 II since the only reason I chose this model was because it was the most advanced Olympus still with an onboard flash. Then I'd have to get one of those small Olmpus flashes like the FL-LM3 or the FL-300R??? Which I know nothing about and not even sure if they wouldn't be blocked by my lenses either????? ARG!

Click to expand...

While the FL-LM3 is a lovely little unit and is compatible with the E-M10 MkII, unless you find something to bounce the light off, it will still produce a similar blocked area with a wide angle lens.

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You can use the FL-LM3 off-camera with an extension cord for Canon EOS (many third party brands are available cheaply) - those happen to have four small contacts in the right positions to work, when you carefully position and check both ends before taking important shots.

mfinley said:

I thought I had my perfect travel camera figured out with the Olympus E-M10 II, I really wanted an on board flash, paired it with the Olympus 7-14 and 12-100 pro lenses. This seemed like the perfect combination for me. Now I've just started testing it all and discovered both lenses block the on board flash causing a dark area in the 7-14 in all ranges and the 12-100 in any zoom wider than 30.

I really don't want to give up these lenses and I don't want to give up an onboard flash, but if I keep the EM10 II the flash is basically useless, so I'd have a camera with no onboard flash. Should I return the EM10 II and move up in Olympus cameras from the Em10 II since the only reason I chose this model was because it was the most advanced Olympus still with an onboard flash. Then I'd have to get one of those small Olmpus flashes like the FL-LM3 or the FL-300R??? Which I know nothing about and not even sure if they wouldn't be blocked by my lenses either????? ARG!

Click to expand...

Jeez you lot, get a proper flash if the onboard causes problems for you with larger lenses

Paulmorgan said:

mfinley said:

I thought I had my perfect travel camera figured out with the Olympus E-M10 II, I really wanted an on board flash, paired it with the Olympus 7-14 and 12-100 pro lenses. This seemed like the perfect combination for me. Now I've just started testing it all and discovered both lenses block the on board flash causing a dark area in the 7-14 in all ranges and the 12-100 in any zoom wider than 30.

I really don't want to give up these lenses and I don't want to give up an onboard flash, but if I keep the EM10 II the flash is basically useless, so I'd have a camera with no onboard flash. Should I return the EM10 II and move up in Olympus cameras from the Em10 II since the only reason I chose this model was because it was the most advanced Olympus still with an onboard flash. Then I'd have to get one of those small Olmpus flashes like the FL-LM3 or the FL-300R??? Which I know nothing about and not even sure if they wouldn't be blocked by my lenses either????? ARG!

Click to expand...

Jeez you lot, get a proper flash if the onboard causes problems for you with larger lenses

Click to expand...

Yeah, you need to get decent flash. As this problem is typical to all cameras with built in flash regardless of the manufacturer.

Guy Parsons said:

Bought two of them with the eventual aim of making a crazy rig to hold them near the lens end for macro work, set to RC mode and one on A and one on B groups so they can easily be controlled for brightness ratio from the camera RC menu. Like I said, one day, must be a couple of years since I bought them.

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You need at least 4 ...







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This is awesome.

[No message]

Can't it be bounced off the ceiling? That's what I do when I'm forced to use built-in flash.

coldfire22x said:

Guy Parsons said:

Bought two of them with the eventual aim of making a crazy rig.....

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You need at least 4 ...

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https://www.rolick.com/

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Why stop at four, there's room there for eight!

Nice, but I'll stick to 2 for my rig and then add diffusers etc as needed. Plus the 2 will be moveable to get top/side positioning correct.

For batteries I always use the Sanyo (now Panasonic) Eneloop batteries or other brand equivalents, they keep their charge forever and I'm never caught with flat batteries, plus they seem to recycle a bit faster than other types.

Regards...... Guy

with many camera flash and lens combinations. With certain lenses I firstly remove any hood fitted and may fit my fairly small Nissin flash to the hotshoe. I haven't tried it with the E-M10 but I've used the pop-up flash several times on the G6 and G7 cameras as a trigger for remote control of the Nissin.

Even when fitted on the hotshoe, the Nissin has the very big advantages of having the option of tilting or swivelling for bounce and being fitted with a diffuser for more even light and better shadow control.

Guy Parsons said:

For batteries I always use the Sanyo (now Panasonic) Eneloop batteries or other brand equivalents, they keep their charge forever and I'm never caught with flat batteries, plus they seem to recycle a bit faster than other types.

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Aye, the Ni-MH have better recycle times ...

I've been happy with the Amazon Basics High Capacity cells. Last I looked (which was a while ago now, admittedly) they were half the price of the Eneloop equivalents and only slightly lower in capacity (2400 vs 2550mAh).