SteveP69 wrote:
I have previously owned an Olympus O-MD E-M10 mk ii and I'm looking at the E-M10 mk iii
I have read reviews that are saying that there in now only 2 function buttons, does that mean you cant customise any of the other buttons inc the dpad?
Secondly if you press the playback button to view your images on the back screen can you put the camera up to your eye and still see the image you was previewing or do you have to press the playback button again once its up to your eye?
Many thanks for your help in advance
I've gone to town on a comparison below. Apologies in advance that it's so long - there is a lot that has been taken out of the Mark III. Maybe it will be helpful in your decision if you can make it through without falling asleep!!
Though it has some new features such as 4K video and various attractive graphical interfaces for the scene modes and a new mode dial position - AP - under which various "advanced photography" features are collected in rather scene-like modes with pretty graphical screens, the E-M10 Mark III is otherwise noticeably simplified and de-featured compared with the E-M10 Mark II, since it has been redesigned to be more beginner-friendly.
Regarding your question about the function buttons, yes, that is correct. You cannot reconfigure any of the 4-way keys (indeed, because they are permanent, they have their assigned functions printed on them) and there are fewer Fn buttons - just two. The list of features that can be assigned to such buttons is also much shorter - i.e. there are fewer functions that you are allowed to assign to the buttons as well.
For your second question, yes, you have to press play again once the camera is up to your eye after starting playback on the LCD (assuming you have the EVF eye sensor on Auto) but this is the same as any other OM-D as they have always been shooting-priority and they assume that if you suddenly raise the camera to your eye, you might be wanting to photograph something in a hurry.
In more detail, here are some things that have changed from the Mark II you had previously, in case it helps you spot anything you would find a significant advantage or a significant omission:
There are no longer any metal top and base covers (all polycarbonate now).
The handgrip is a little larger, but there is no longer the option to add an accessory grip.
It has 4K video (not just time lapse 4K) but 4K video is only accessible under the AP position sub-mode and via the movie position of the mode dial, but not the normal PASM modes when you hit the record button, oddly.
The menus are in a different style (like the E-M1 Mark II onwards) - a bit less colourful and with a slightly different arrangement of the hierarchy at the left side (not so much where things are, as how you step from tabs to pages).
It has the newer TruePic VIII image processor, versus the TruePic VII. This is said to operate a little faster and be a bit more advanced in its noise reduction.
There are 121 focus points rather than 81; when all are selected, these cover slightly more of the image area.
AF is said to be a little faster, though I have to admit I cannot tell the difference - both are equally fast in single AF; maybe the Mark III is faster in C-AF but I cannot tell.
When using all the AF points, the Mark III shows all the points that are at the focused distance (cluster AF) instead of the primary one that has been selected. However, it only does this in S-AF and NOT in C-AF (which is the mode which would most benefit from this and which the more expensive new Olympuses do use - where you get "dancing rectangles" following stuff around).
A nice feature of the Mark III is that when you are half-pressing the shutter button, the focus point or points stay illuminated, instead of only briefly appearing as on the Mark II (which only ever shows one point, whatever the setting). The exception is the tracking target, which looks the same on both models and stays lit whilst the shutter button is half-pressed, unless it loses its target.
The Mark III does not have the option to select smaller square AF targets any more (though you can still use the zoom AF green rectangle type via the touchscreen or a magnify button, and choose various smaller target sizes and zoom into the scene if desired too - as on the Mark II).
You can no longer choose left or right priority for eye detection, there's only the intelligent selection option and the face only (or off).
The wireless remote control flash feature was initially omitted, but then added back in a firmware update.
One more Art Filter (Bleach Bypass) has been added.
The sub-modes in the new AP position are:
- Live Composite
- Live Time
- Multiple exposure
- HDR
- Silent photography
- Panorama
- Keystone compensation
- AE bracketing
- Focus bracketing
On the positive side, this means that the functions are in a place that is easy to find (rather than searching the menus for them) and you can also skip between them by tapping their special mode icon. You also don't have to watch carefully that you do all the steps to switch them on as you come out of the menu.
On the negative side, with the exception of Live Composite/Live Time, which also still exist in the full menus in their original form, all of these special modes are locked into program exposure mode only, with many options either unavailable/unchangeable or always set to a camera-chosen default when you initially turn the dial to AP, no matter what you have set elsewhere. So I often need to mess around, re-setting the things that I am even allowed to, to my preferences (they will be remembered within an AP mode even if you switch off, but will be lost once you turn the mode dial away from AP). For example, every AP mode enforces "Keep Warm Color" for auto white balance, and you cannot get rid of that - you can still see options you can't change in the menu, but they are greyed out. Most AP modes start with all the AF points active and so on. Regarding (over-) simplification, AE bracketing has rather few options for its setting, as does HDR. Panorama doesn't make an in-camera Panorama - it just guides you through the taking process, as usual.
For me, the limitations are particularly annoying for focus bracketing - rather than the 2-999 exposures and choice of 10 options for how large or small the steps should be that you had on the Mark II, the Mark III takes 8 (if I remember correctly) shots only, and the step choice is narrow or wide (and I haven't yet got a good result out of it because of that - let alone that it's done in program mode!). You can shift the program and play around with Auto ISO (which is capped at 1600 rather than what you might have it set to elsewhere) but it gets in the way.
The most annoying of all is Silent Photography mode, because it is the ONLY place you can use the silent shutter (aside from special modes that use it automatically like focus bracketing) - that is, you simply cannot have silent shutter (heart drive icons) in PASM modes AT ALL, which is maddening if you like the option to shoot silently but retain access to controls.
This is the issue with the E-M10 Mark III (and also the E-PL9, and to a lesser extent the E-PL10, which gives back the proper silent shutter operation, at least); the user-friendly but limiting modes added in AP are all well and good, and sometimes handy - but way too much has been cut out of the more "enthusiast" PASM modes in the pursuit of making the main menu shorter (much shorter!). Here's a summary of what is missing compared with the E-M10 Mark II in PASM modes:
The silent (full electronic) shutter option.
There are no MySets at all - that is, you cannot make any custom memory setups whatsoever, let alone assign them over unused positions on the mode dial or to Fn buttons.
The option to make images for HDR use separately, to combine in an image editing program, is gone.
There is no longer WB bracketing, Flash bracketing, ISO bracketing, or Art bracketing.
AE bracketing, being only in a simplified AP mode, is much less configurable.
Since Silent mode isn't available in PASM modes anyway, you don't have the option to choose if it should do long exposure noise reduction (which uses the mechanical shutter) or not.
The image stabiliser is either off or on - I guess On equates to Auto on the Mark II, but you don't have the additional choices of only stabilising in horizontal or vertical directions (useful for panning). If On does equate to Auto, maybe it tries to detect this.
You cannot turn off the stabilisation on half-press if you should wish to (for example to save battery or wear on the mechanism). It always runs once you half-press.
There's no Full Time AF option (full time pre focus). Mind you, that feature is a battery-eater.
There is no Bulb/Time Focusing setting option.
You cannot reverse the focus ring direction.
You cannot set a Home Focus point (to instantly reset to a particular style and pattern of your choice with a button push)
Face priority doesn't have the options for which eye to give priority to.
You cannot turn the AF target display off (when you half-press - though probably very few people would want to anyway).
You can only assign functions of your choice to two buttons, instead of six on the Mk II. There are 11 functions assignable, versus a choice of 27 on the Mk II. The 11 which are left in the list are:
- Magnify
- Peaking
- Lock/unlock the touch panel (whilst holding down the Fn button)
- Off - to disable the button(!)
- AEL/AFL
- Depth of field preview (stop down aperture, only whilst holding the button)
- One touch WB
- AF area select (this would duplicate the left button of the 4-way array which is permanently assigned to this)
- MF (manual focus)
- Exposure compensation (also, as always, lets you use the 4-way buttons for program shift or aperture and shutter speed changes instead of the dials whilst active)
- Digital tele-converter
You cannot choose to have the 4-way array be a direct control for instantly moving the focus point, or to make it do nothing - it is always on "Direct Function" but you cannot configure two directions to do a function of your choice like you can on the Mark II.
Though you can still configure what the front and rear dials do in PASM modes, it's more limited - for example, in P, one can be Program Shift, one Exposure compensation, and that's it - you can only swap them. No choice of making both do the same thing, or assigning flash exposure compensation - same applies for A and S modes. M mode is the same on both cameras in that you can only swap around the function for aperture for shutter speed.
There is no option to alter dial functions on the Mark III for the menu or for playback (this is annoying to me as I prefer magnification and stepping through images to be done by the other dial than the default).
There is no option to reverse the turning direction of the dials.
Obviously there is no Mode Dial reassignment, since there is no way to even have MySets at all.
Live View Boost is just On or Off, no finer settings.
You can't turn the Mode Guide off (the explanatory screen that pops up when you change exposure mode). It does clear if you half-press the shutter button though.
If the EVF eye sensor is on Auto, you no longer have the option of showing the Super Control Panel on a blank, dark grey monitor screen instead of live view by tapping the TV screen icon button by the eyepiece.
Histogram settings is gone (the histogram itself remains).
You cannot choose between 1/3EV, 1/2EV or 1EV steps for shutter speed and aperture - it's fixed to 1/3EV. Similarly, ISO steps aren't customisable this way either.
You can't pick a different pattern of exposure metering to be used for AE lock than the rest of the time.
You cannot choose between release priority and focus priority (it's just focus priority for S-AF, release priority for C-AF).
You can't specify different continuous drive speeds than the defaults.
You can't tell the camera whether to use IS or not in continuous drive (not sure which it does, but it's automatic!).
You can't set release lag-time to short.
You can't set Lens IS priority to On (for if you want to use a OIS in a lens instead of IBIS, or vice versa).
You can't set a high EVF frame rate.
You can't set how the Art Mode live view displays (prioritising smoothness or visibility of the effect).
You can't choose the LV Close Up mode.
You can't have the depth of field preview lock until you press again (i.e. toggle) as an option - it only does the standard option of previewing only whilst the button is pressed.
You can't pick options on timing of backlit LCD turn-off or Auto Power Off, they're at default.
You can't make a multi-function Fn button.
There is no S-OVF feature (for turning off image processing from the EVF, sometimes handy to enhance visibility).
There is no Highlight/Shadow curve feature (at least if there is, I haven't found it).
There is no setting for Shading Compensation on or off.
None of the fancier erase options remain (like whether to do a quick erase, and whether RAW + JPG are erased together or separately for the same shot). No dpi setting.
There are no alternative formats for the EVF style, just the one called Style 3 in the Mark II (the largest, with the info superimposed on the image) - you cannot do the two versions with the info under the image, reminiscent of a DSLR. Consequently, no option for a horizontal level gauge to show up on half-press in the area under the image, as it was only for those two now-absent styles. The normal 2-axis level gauge still exists.
No Quick Sleep Mode.
There is no option to alter at what level the low battery warning appears.
For movie settings, no picking of the exposure mode in the menu. No volume limiter. No wind noise reduction setting. No time code settings. No shutter function setting. No Movie Effect setting. I don't use video if at all, so not sure what difference these make or if they're just automatically set to the most popular defaults. The Mark III has an AF mode setting for movies which isn't in the Mark II's menu, and electronic zoom speed, and separate Video Frame Rate and Video Bit Rate entries, rather than the movie specifications entry.
I've probably missed some things out - if so, apologies. Anything I haven't mentioned is still the same, unless I've missed it (a lot of things have moved to different menu sections which makes it tricky).
Again, sorry it's so long, but hope it's maybe helpful. Phew!
