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Olympus E-M1 II review: flawed gem

Started Dec 21, 2021 | User reviews
Gary from Seattle Veteran Member • Posts: 7,852
Re: Olympus E-M1 II review: flawed gem
7

Harold66 wrote:

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Hello

As someone who used Olympus as his main digital camera system for over a decade, the middle part of your post reminded me how unnecessary complex and counterintuitive some of the ergonomics of the em1 and 5 models were.
your post reminded me of the “cog “ nightmare and other small but numerous flaws.

i am sooo glad I do not have to deal with those ergonomics anymore. The G9 ergonomics are so much easier and better organized that it is diffIcult to think my switching to Panasonic was less than three years ago ðŸ˜ģ😌

Using the Panasonic system has really made a significant difference in my work days. Not to mention the durability difference ðŸĪ“

Yes, the EM-1 II has had about the best reliability of any of the m4/3 cameras.

H

That remains to be seen

The EM-I II has been out for five years! and has been one of m4/3 most popular cameras. Are you waiting for the next century?

ðŸĪŠ

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Messier Object Forum Pro • Posts: 12,724
Re: Rear screen probably works well
1

UrbanHobbit wrote:

I also have noticed that my two E-M1 II bodies display odd luminance/brightness behavior. Typically it’s when I am shooting indoors or in otherwise dim light and the EVF tends to gain up, making the scene seem brighter than it is. Later when I check the photos, everything is darker than I saw in the EVF. This loss of WYSIWYG is a pain, as WYSIWYG is why I switched to mirrorless.

I do not have Auto Luminance turned on, but I do have Shading Compensation turned on. As for general shooting habits, I shoot as close to ISO 200 as I can (rarely going over 640), in M mode, if that is relevant.

I don’t seem to recall this happening when I got my first E-M1 II, which was at firmware 3.2. After I got the second body, I upgraded both to 3.5, and now I wonder if something changed between versions. I now wish I had only upgraded one of the bodies, so I could compare.

this is exactly the behaviour that I see and it was there with FW 1.0   and I reported it here.

In M-mode try pressing the AEL button and you will see that it locks the EVF brightness.

It's a real pain when in tricky situations like shooting birds on the floor of a dark forest where there are patches of sunlight.  My work-around is to chimp a few shots to find the shot where the EVF matches the scene and then lock it with the AEL button.

Peter

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Harold66
Harold66 Forum Pro • Posts: 12,002
Re: Olympus E-M1 II review: flawed gem

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Hello

As someone who used Olympus as his main digital camera system for over a decade, the middle part of your post reminded me how unnecessary complex and counterintuitive some of the ergonomics of the em1 and 5 models were.
your post reminded me of the “cog “ nightmare and other small but numerous flaws.

i am sooo glad I do not have to deal with those ergonomics anymore. The G9 ergonomics are so much easier and better organized that it is diffIcult to think my switching to Panasonic was less than three years ago ðŸ˜ģ😌

Using the Panasonic system has really made a significant difference in my work days. Not to mention the durability difference ðŸĪ“

Yes, the EM-1 II has had about the best reliability of any of the m4/3 cameras.

H

That remains to be seen

The EM-I II has been out for five years! and has been one of m4/3 most popular cameras. Are you waiting for the next century?

ðŸĪŠ

This is a strange question . Did you even read my post ? ðŸ˜ģ

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Gary from Seattle Veteran Member • Posts: 7,852
Re: Olympus E-M1 II review: flawed gem
8

Harold66 wrote:

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Gary from Seattle wrote:

Harold66 wrote:

Hello

As someone who used Olympus as his main digital camera system for over a decade, the middle part of your post reminded me how unnecessary complex and counterintuitive some of the ergonomics of the em1 and 5 models were.
your post reminded me of the “cog “ nightmare and other small but numerous flaws.

i am sooo glad I do not have to deal with those ergonomics anymore. The G9 ergonomics are so much easier and better organized that it is diffIcult to think my switching to Panasonic was less than three years ago ðŸ˜ģ😌

Using the Panasonic system has really made a significant difference in my work days. Not to mention the durability difference ðŸĪ“

Yes, the EM-1 II has had about the best reliability of any of the m4/3 cameras.

H

That remains to be seen

The EM-I II has been out for five years! and has been one of m4/3 most popular cameras. Are you waiting for the next century?

ðŸĪŠ

This is a strange question . Did you even read my post ? ðŸ˜ģ

Yours was a strange post to be sure.

 Gary from Seattle's gear list:Gary from Seattle's gear list
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Harold66
Harold66 Forum Pro • Posts: 12,002
Re: Olympus E-M1 II review: flawed gem

Really ?

the OP post reminded me about my Olympus years and the convoluted ergonomics

what’s so strange about it ?
More generally, I think sometimes reviews are most of a list of the cameras features and forget to talk in details of what is the experience of using the camera in the field

i am just so happy that I switched 😎

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what s so strange about it ?

IG :thedemandingtraveler

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OP Henry Richardson Forum Pro • Posts: 21,959
Add a few millimeters to the bottom
2

Henry Richardson wrote:

I think the E-M1 II body style and ergonomics are mostly excellent. I have smaller bodies that I like to use, but when I am using this somewhat bigger/heavier body I have found myself thinking that it could use an additional 5-10mm in height. I have medium size hands and my little finger barely fits on the grip. There just seems to be a need for a few more millimeter. I would not want to add weight, but I am thinking about getting one of those leather half-cases because they have a 5-6mm base that screws into the tripod mount. I have one for my PEN-F and it is very light, but adds a little to the height and in the case of the PEN-F it also provides a bit more grip to the front.

Back in the 1990s I had a Minolta Alpha 9xi and I bought the accessory HS-9xi attachment that screwed onto the bottom to give the camera bit more height. I found some photos on the internet to show what it looked like. I recall that I bought the HS-9xi in 1997 in Tokyo and paid 5000 yen for it. It made the camera much more comfortable to use when I had one of the somewhat larger, heavier lenses on it such as the legendary Minolta 28-135mm f4-4.5.

In 2016 I bought a leather half-case for my PEN-F. It is very light and has almost no weight, but it adds about 5-6mm in height at the bottom

I found one for the E-M1 II and it looks like it also adds 5-6mm in height at the bottom. Depending on how it felt in the hand, I suppose, if I didn't like leather grip part I could cut that off and just keep the base part.

https://www.amazon.com/MegaGear-Olympus-Leather-Camera-Battery/dp/B01N35V140/

There may be metal or plastic bottom plates available too, but I haven't found any.

I often have the ECG-3 attached to my E-M10 II because it adds height and also provides a good grip on the front. When I am using a lens such as the 14-150mm II I like to have the grip on. With smaller lenses I don't care much either way.

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Henry Richardson
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OP Henry Richardson Forum Pro • Posts: 21,959
Re: Are you droning on about the EVF again your 4th thread
5

The only thread I recall starting about the E-M1 II EVF is this one:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65667502

Please provide the links to the other 3 you say I started. Thank you.

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Henry Richardson
http://www.bakubo.com

Aberaeron Forum Pro • Posts: 10,184
Re: Auto Luminance

Dspider wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

If you believe Auto Luminance (which is ON by default on the E-M1 II, PEN-F, E-M10 II, E-M10, etc.) works properly on the E-M1 II then why do you say you had to resort to turning it OFF to get what you consider an acceptable EVF view?

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65669711

You agree with me that Auto Luminance is not working properly on this camera. But it does on the PEN-F, E-M10 II, E-M10, etc.

your missing the point of auto luminance , its for day or night use not exposure so your eyes can adjust properly while using the camera in dark or light situations.

Ds

Yes, especially for controlled lighting situations, such as studio work.

OP Henry Richardson Forum Pro • Posts: 21,959
1/60 second electronic shutter read speed
5

Henry Richardson wrote:

I like that the IBIS is even better than the already great IBIS in my other Olympus bodies. I also like that the electronic shutter read out time is 1/60 second rather than the 1/20 second on my PEN-F and E-M10 II. Less chance of rolling shutter effects. 1/60 second actually was the common X-sync speed for 35mm SLRs with horizontal focal plane shutters in the 1960s and early 1970s. Later vertical traveling Copal focal plane shutters became common and the X-sync changed to 1/125 second.

This post I made on 2016/1/1 was about the 1/20 second used in the E-M10 II, PEN-F, etc. The E-M1 II is much faster using 1/60 second.

1/20 readout analagous to old X-sync speed?

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/57018661

Since the Olympus silent, electronic shutter has a readout time of about 1/20 second isn't that analogous to the X-sync speed of focal plane shutters? Back in the 1960s and early 1970s most 35mm SLRs had cloth focal plane shutters that traveled horizontally with an X-sync speed of 1/60 second. For those who don't know, the X-sync speed was the maximum shutter speed you used for electronic flash because that was the maximum speed at which the whole film (sensor) was exposed to light at the same time. In other words, it was the maximum speed at which the leading curtain of the focal plane shutter had just arrived at the opposite side of the film aperture and the trailing curtain of the focal plane shutter was just about to begin its travel across the film aperture.

Everyone may recall that shutter speeds higher than the X-sync speed were also available and worked well. My Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL that I bought back in those days had a horizontal cloth focal plane shutter with an X-sync of 1/60 and shutter speeds of 1 - 1/1000 plus B. My recollection is that the Nikon F2 had an X-sync speed of 1/80 and my Minolta XK (aka X-1 and XM) had a horizontal titanium focal plane shutter with an X-sync of 1/100 and shutter speeds of 16 - 1/2000 plus B. Around the mid-1970s Copal vertical metal focal plane shutters with an X-sync of 1/125 started becoming common (I also seem to recall the sound was a bit louder and of a different character).

If there was fast subject movement (such as a racing car) then in rare cases you might get a tiny bit of distortion at high shutter speeds because of the 1/60 X-sync -- although I never experienced it. With faster X-sync speeds that was reduced even more. See here for a famous example with a very slow focal plane shutter (slower than 1/60):

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56461228

So, even with a 1/20 second readout I still think that using A mode, auto ISO, and the silent electronic shutter Olympus should continue to follow the reasonable 1 / FF-equivalent-focal-length algorithm, as it does when using the mechanical shutter.

Rolling shutter is nothing new.

I remember about 50 years ago seeing this famous photo by Jacques Henri Lartigue taken in 1912: Grand Prix de Circuit de la Seine. Taken on a 4x5 glass plate with f4.5 lens. Focal plane shutter and panning at the same time.

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Henry Richardson
http://www.bakubo.com

OP Henry Richardson Forum Pro • Posts: 21,959
good external controls
1

Henry Richardson wrote:

I set mine up so that when the rear lever is set to 1 then I get the default behavior where pressing the shutter button also performs AF. When it is set to 2 though I have mine set to use back-button AF using the button inside the lever control. In addition, what that means is that switching to 2 means I also instantly switch to MF with focus peaking. Although I mostly use 1 it is very nice to sometimes very easily be able to change to 2.

The many external controls are nice to have so it means less often needing to use the SCP for some changes. And, of course, the buttons and controls are larger and easier to use than on the smaller models.

For the last 5 years I have seen many posts from people expressing disappointment in the E-M1 II EVF, but no one investigated and went into detail like I did about what was wrong and narrowed it down like I did. Certainly the EVF is still very usable and the camera has many other great things going for it, but that just makes this Olympus blunder even more annoying.

Some reviews mention the EVF being low contrast and other things too. None of them really looked into it though and just assumed that the E-M1 II EVF was just not quite up to some of the others. But, until I decided to delve into it, no one seems to have investigated what the issue was.

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Henry Richardson
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tomhongkong Veteran Member • Posts: 4,723
Re: good external controls
2

Henry Richardson wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

I set mine up so that when the rear lever is set to 1 then I get the default behavior where pressing the shutter button also performs AF. When it is set to 2 though I have mine set to use back-button AF using the button inside the lever control. In addition, what that means is that switching to 2 means I also instantly switch to MF with focus peaking. Although I mostly use 1 it is very nice to sometimes very easily be able to change to 2.

The many external controls are nice to have so it means less often needing to use the SCP for some changes. And, of course, the buttons and controls are larger and easier to use than on the smaller models.

For the last 5 years I have seen many posts from people expressing disappointment in the E-M1 II EVF, but no one investigated and went into detail like I did about what was wrong and narrowed it down like I did. Certainly the EVF is still very usable and the camera has many other great things going for it, but that just makes this Olympus blunder even more annoying.

Some reviews mention the EVF being low contrast and other things too. None of them really looked into it though and just assumed that the E-M1 II EVF was just not quite up to some of the others. But, until I decided to delve into it, no one seems to have investigated what the issue was.

I think that when you have had the camera a bit longer you will find that it is not an issue. That is why there no-one else has 'delved in to it'

The EVF certainly fulfills it's main functions of framing and chipping, in my experience.  Would a higher resolution EVF improve my photos...probably not, there are many other things I do badly!

tom

ahaslett
ahaslett Forum Pro • Posts: 12,654
Re: good external controls

tomhongkong wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

I set mine up so that when the rear lever is set to 1 then I get the default behavior where pressing the shutter button also performs AF. When it is set to 2 though I have mine set to use back-button AF using the button inside the lever control. In addition, what that means is that switching to 2 means I also instantly switch to MF with focus peaking. Although I mostly use 1 it is very nice to sometimes very easily be able to change to 2.

The many external controls are nice to have so it means less often needing to use the SCP for some changes. And, of course, the buttons and controls are larger and easier to use than on the smaller models.

For the last 5 years I have seen many posts from people expressing disappointment in the E-M1 II EVF, but no one investigated and went into detail like I did about what was wrong and narrowed it down like I did. Certainly the EVF is still very usable and the camera has many other great things going for it, but that just makes this Olympus blunder even more annoying.

Some reviews mention the EVF being low contrast and other things too. None of them really looked into it though and just assumed that the E-M1 II EVF was just not quite up to some of the others. But, until I decided to delve into it, no one seems to have investigated what the issue was.

I think that when you have had the camera a bit longer you will find that it is not an issue. That is why there no-one else has 'delved in to it'

The EVF certainly fulfills it's main functions of framing and chipping, in my experience. Would a higher resolution EVF improve my photos...probably not, there are many other things I do badly!

tom

I chimp on the LCD by zooming in.  What would be helpful is to zoom into the focus point wherever that is.  I’ve found this helpful on other cameras, just as the EM1.2 image summary if you push Info during playback is helpful.

Separate histograms for RGB is great.  One day maybe we will be able to configure cameras to have the little details we like.

Andrew

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tomhongkong Veteran Member • Posts: 4,723
Re: good external controls

ahaslett wrote:

I think that when you have had the camera a bit longer you will find that it is not an issue. That is why there no-one else has 'delved in to it'

The EVF certainly fulfills it's main functions of framing and chipping, in my experience. Would a higher resolution EVF improve my photos...probably not, there are many other things I do badly!

tom

I chimp on the LCD by zooming in. What would be helpful is to zoom into the focus point wherever that is. I’ve found this helpful on other cameras, just as the EM1.2 image summary if you push Info during playback is helpful.

Separate histograms for RGB is great. One day maybe we will be able to configure cameras to have the little details we like.

Andrew

I find that as a glasses wearer, taking shots outside in bright sunlight, I more often than not chimp (DPReview's editor did not 'correct' it that time) on the EVF.  It's not ideal as one can't view the image unless the EVF (this time DPR thought I meant elf....how do I turn off this 'helpful' feature?) is already activated.

I would also like to be able to zoom in to the focus point

However we are off topic.  I don't have complaints about the EVF.

tom

Danielvr Veteran Member • Posts: 6,863
Re: good external controls

(this time DPR thought I meant elf....how do I turn off this 'helpful' feature?)

Are you referring to your web browser's built-in spell checker?  It probably has an option that turns it on and off, or maybe you can right-click in the text field that you're editing (once you've hit Reply) and turn it off in the context menu that appears.

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Adrian Harris
Adrian Harris Veteran Member • Posts: 7,708
Re: good external controls
4

tomhongkong wrote:

ahaslett wrote:

I think that when you have had the camera a bit longer you will find that it is not an issue. That is why there no-one else has 'delved in to it'

The EVF certainly fulfills it's main functions of framing and chipping, in my experience. Would a higher resolution EVF improve my photos...probably not, there are many other things I do badly!

tom

I chimp on the LCD by zooming in. What would be helpful is to zoom into the focus point wherever that is. I’ve found this helpful on other cameras, just as the EM1.2 image summary if you push Info during playback is helpful.

Separate histograms for RGB is great. One day maybe we will be able to configure cameras to have the little details we like.

Andrew

I find that as a glasses wearer, taking shots outside in bright sunlight, I more often than not chimp (DPReview's editor did not 'correct' it that time) on the EVF. It's not ideal as one can't view the image unless the EVF (this time DPR thought I meant elf....how do I turn off this 'helpful' feature?) is already activated.

I would also like to be able to zoom in to the focus point

However we are off topic. I don't have complaints about the EVF.

tom

I am 99% certain my em1-mk2 does zoom into the focus point, as I remember thinking how clever.. I am not on the latest firmware.

Regarding the OPs evf issue, I am quite confused as to the problem. After 4 years and hundreds of thousands of images, I have never noticed any problems with the evf's on either of my em1-mk2's.

It behaves as I would want it to.

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JimH123 Veteran Member • Posts: 3,886
My Olympus E-M1ii FW is at V3.1

On the Olympus site to update FW, I see V3.0, V3.2, V3.4

There is no V3.1 which my camera now has.

And there is no V3.5

It sounds like V3.1 must have had a problem and has been removed as a choice.

And it sounds like the same for V3.5

************************

These are the changes to be made with V3.2 and V3.4

************************

INCLUDED IN FIRMWARE VERSION 3.4

  • Focus Stacking Mode is now compatible with the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 150-400mm F4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO lens.
  • Video image stabilization has been improved.

INCLUDED IN FIRMWARE VERSION 3.2

  • Focus Stacking Mode is now compatible with the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-45mm F4.0 PRO lens.
  • When the EVF Auto Switch is set, you can now select how the viewfinder is displayed when the monitor is open.

Off: Disables the eye sensor. Press the

button to switch between the EVF display and the monitor display.

On1: The eye sensor operates regardless of whether the rear monitor is open or closed. Press the

button to switch between the rear-panel monitor Live View display and Super Control Panel display.

On2: The eye sensor does not operate while the rear-panel monitor is open. Press the

button to switch between the rear-panel monitor Live View display and Super Control Panel display.

When you update the firmware to Ver. 3.2, the camera's settings (except the date and time) are reset and menus will be displayed in English following the update.

*******************************

Don't know what in V3.1 they may not like.

As for V3.2 and V3.4, I do not have either lens that is mentioned for focus stacking.

V3.2 has a new option for EVF Auto Switch. Not certain that I even need this as I am happy with how it currently works.

And V3.4 improves video image stabilization. I don't do many videos, but perhaps this would be worth loading

And since V3.5 is not offered, perhaps the problem you bring up is not going to happen?

*******************************

With a little Googling I find that V3.1 added this on Jul 9, 2019 which means that I had ignored it. Doesn't say what may have caused them to remove it from update options. As far as I can tell, I am not experiencing anything impacting the performance of the camera. Here is what was once offered:

Olympus has just issued the new firmware 3.1 for EM1II:

  • Stability of operation when shooting still images has been improved.
  • Stability of EVF operation when the camera is turned on has been improved.

********************************

With some additional Googling, found what was added in V3.5:

06/09/2021

Firmware update Version 3.5

Following features have been added to the current function:

Possible to use focus stacking photography with M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm F4 PRO.

**********************************

This makes me think that the problem you are experience started first in V3.2 where they played around with the EVF Auto Switch ???

And it makes me hesitant to do a FW update at this time.

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(unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 1,941
Re: good external controls
2

Adrian Harris wrote:

tomhongkong wrote:

ahaslett wrote:

I think that when you have had the camera a bit longer you will find that it is not an issue. That is why there no-one else has 'delved in to it'

The EVF certainly fulfills it's main functions of framing and chipping, in my experience. Would a higher resolution EVF improve my photos...probably not, there are many other things I do badly!

tom

I chimp on the LCD by zooming in. What would be helpful is to zoom into the focus point wherever that is. I’ve found this helpful on other cameras, just as the EM1.2 image summary if you push Info during playback is helpful.

Separate histograms for RGB is great. One day maybe we will be able to configure cameras to have the little details we like.

Andrew

I find that as a glasses wearer, taking shots outside in bright sunlight, I more often than not chimp (DPReview's editor did not 'correct' it that time) on the EVF. It's not ideal as one can't view the image unless the EVF (this time DPR thought I meant elf....how do I turn off this 'helpful' feature?) is already activated.

I would also like to be able to zoom in to the focus point

However we are off topic. I don't have complaints about the EVF.

tom

I am 99% certain my em1-mk2 does zoom into the focus point, as I remember thinking how clever.. I am not on the latest firmware.

the em12 defiantly does and from memory so does the em51 and 52

Regarding the OPs evf issue, I am quite confused as to the problem. After 4 years and hundreds of thousands of images, I have never noticed any problems with the evf's on either of my em1-mk2's.

It behaves as I would want it to.

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The confusion starts when the scientists can't agree amongst themselves. Henry F

Aberaeron Forum Pro • Posts: 10,184
Re: My Olympus E-M1ii FW is at V3.1
1

This makes me think that the problem you are experience started first in V3.2 where they played around with the EVF Auto Switch ???

And it makes me hesitant to do a FW update at this time.

You do not need to update sequentially. Just update directly to the latest version V3.5. It is a complete operating system install and incorporates all previous improvements. Works perfectly on my camera and I suspect on all others. You do need the Olympus Workspace app to update this camera’s firmware.

Cafe Racer Senior Member • Posts: 2,137
Re: good external controls
1

Henry Richardson wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

I set mine up so that when the rear lever is set to 1 then I get the default behavior where pressing the shutter button also performs AF. When it is set to 2 though I have mine set to use back-button AF using the button inside the lever control. In addition, what that means is that switching to 2 means I also instantly switch to MF with focus peaking. Although I mostly use 1 it is very nice to sometimes very easily be able to change to 2.

The many external controls are nice to have so it means less often needing to use the SCP for some changes. And, of course, the buttons and controls are larger and easier to use than on the smaller models.

For the last 5 years I have seen many posts from people expressing disappointment in the E-M1 II EVF, but no one investigated and went into detail like I did about what was wrong and narrowed it down like I did. Certainly the EVF is still very usable and the camera has many other great things going for it, but that just makes this Olympus blunder even more annoying.

Some reviews mention the EVF being low contrast and other things too. None of them really looked into it though and just assumed that the E-M1 II EVF was just not quite up to some of the others. But, until I decided to delve into it, no one seems to have investigated what the issue was.

Whilst I'm not familiar with the issue you have it reminded me of the issue I saw with Panasonic G9 EVF. It wasn't mentioned in reviews and I hadn't heard it mentioned on this forum but in all the copies I tried the EVF had excessively warped borders. I felt this was unacceptable for a flagship camera so I can understand your frustration, particularly if the viewfinder is an important aspect of the camera for you. I hope you can resolve it.

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Trolleyman Senior Member • Posts: 1,048
Pincushioning EVF

Cafe Racer wrote:

Whilst I'm not familiar with the issue you have it reminded me of the issue I saw with Panasonic G9 EVF. It wasn't mentioned in reviews and I hadn't heard it mentioned on this forum but in all the copies I tried the EVF had excessively warped borders. I felt this was unacceptable for a flagship camera so I can understand your frustration, particularly if the viewfinder is an important aspect of the camera for you. I hope you can resolve it.

I thought the G9 pincushion effect in the evf was very well documented.

Mine has it to a certain degree, but again like the E-m1 ii its fine for composition purposes

 Trolleyman's gear list:Trolleyman's gear list
Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 Olympus 12-40mm F2.8 Pro Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15mm F1.7 ASPH Olympus 12-100mm F4.0 +3 more
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