Fianl updates to E-M5 preview

[Michael Meissner]

You're spot-on.

The battery in the camera stays in the camera and the door stays on. The gold contacts are under the rubber cover to the left of the tripod mount in this image:

Thanks. I generally don't use the HLD-4 on my E-5, except when I have the camera in the faux bellows setup (see my icon photo), and so consequentially I attach it, and then remove it when I want to use the camera hand held. So I've gotten rather tired of removing the battery door and putting it back on.

I get the feeling that most users just attach the grip and never take it off, so for them it isn't an issue. It does look like Olympus decided to redo it.

You can indeed attach the side grip without the battery grip but not the battery grip without the side grip.

I did see somebody wondering out loud whether there was enough room in the side grip to allow you to hold the E-M3, MMF-3, and a 300mm or 90-250mm lens, given how small the E-M5 is. It is a pity that you can't mount just the battery grip and not the side grip. But since I'm likely to never own the 90-250mm or 300mm lenses, it is an academic issue to me.

 

[SLOtographer]

The sensor definitely isn't oversized.

Richard - dpreview.com

But is it gnarly?
--
SLOtographer

"If we limit our vision to the real world, we will forever be fighting on the minus side of things, working only too make our photographs equal to what we see out there, but no better." -- Galen Rowell

 

[Richard Butler]

I agree, it would be very interesting to know if there's a 3:2 mode.
Thanks very much in advance.

Full details of the other aspect ratios are in the preview's spec page (after a lot of playing with the menus to find all 40 different image sizes).

Richard - dpreview.com

 

[ginsbu]

I'd jumped over all the correct hurdles, then forgotten to turn Auto ISO on when I tested earlier.

I was wrong, Auto ISO is available in M mode.

With Auto ISO in M mode, can you set exposure compensation?

No, you can't.

Richard - dpreview.com

Argh! It is absolutely infuriating that Olympus won't allow this. Auto ISO is severely limited in M mode without it. Nikon gets it. Pentax does too.

Richard, please criticize Olympus for this in their review. Maybe that will encourage them to fix it.

Thanks for being so responsive in this thread!

 

[ginsbu]

Richard, can you confirm that there isn't any way to assign metering mode to one of the custom buttons? Metering is conspicuously absent from the lists and I just can quite believe that's right!

 

[jkrumm]

It's an irritating thing that I miss on my E5 too. Shooting birds I sometimes want M mode with auto-iso so I can choose the right aperture, but I don't always want the exposure smack in the middle. An alternative would be to allow shutter priority with aperture floor (not quite the same, I know).

--
John Krumm
Juneau, AK

 

[Michael Meissner]

Thanks for the bracketing info!

Perhaps not as nice as a dedicated drive mode control, but a BIG step forward for my uses and compared with the Panasonics - I can live with a bit of menu diving to get there, especially if I can configure quick access on a super menu on a touch screen.

Now, if I get full tethering, I've got pretty much everything I need in terms of control functionality in a IBIS u43 camera - I've been waiting for this since the G1!

I suspect tethering is just one of many things Olympus did in the past, and have decided not to do any more (Multi-spot metering is another feature that keeps being mentioned is another). They did tethering with some of the C-* cameras and the DSLRs, but with Studio being discontinued, and the Pens never having the tethering support, I wouldn't hold out much hope.

It does support a wired shutter release (RM-UC1), and you should be able to use devices like the Yongnuo/Apature remote live view and shutter releases that allow you to shoot at a distance and see the screen, but you have no other controls. There are various ways to trigger the shutter via the wired shutter release if you want to have pictures taken when a laser beam is crossed for instance. The battery grip can take A/C input, so if you are doing a long sequence you will have enough power.

 

[fastcorner]

Two questions:

• Can you set the focus point using the rear LCD while looking through the EVF? (i.e. moving the focus box around like using a touchpad to move a cursor around on the computer screen)
• With the landscape grip (not the battery/vertical grip), is the tripod mount centered with the lens?

Thanks!

 

[Chris_R]

Richard,

Thank you for a great job, both with the preview and the Q&A. All very informative.

Cheers
Chris

 

[rare wolf]

Please comment on manual focus aids, ... Eg, peaking
--
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[Richard Butler]

Metering is not one of the options for the custom buttons, though is available via the super control panel. You can also set the AEL function to lock using a different metering mode, though, so if you usually use Matrix, you can set AEL to engage and lock using Spot (or HiSpot, LoSpot, etc). You can then modify that value using exposure comp, so you may find a way you're happy working.

Two questions:

• Can you set the focus point using the rear LCD while looking through the EVF? (i.e. moving the focus box around like using a touchpad to move a cursor around on the computer screen)

No. If the viewfinder is active, the rear screen isn't.

• With the landscape grip (not the battery/vertical grip), is the tripod mount centered with the lens?

I'm afraid I don't have the landscape grip at the moment but I'm 90% sure it is.

Richard - dpreview.com

 

[Peter Nelson]

What does the top control dial on the right side do. The dpr preview did not say one word about it's usage.
--
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visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
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[Richard Butler]

With a manual lens on, does it disable focus magnification with a half shutter press? I hate to think that my many gentle messages to Olympus have fallen on deaf ears. Also, per someone else correcting me, and as awesome as that would be if true, the sensor is most likely not CMOS. Might want to correct your data sheet.

+1 on this question. Also, can one of the buttons be customized to take the camera into magnified view (for manual focus lenses) regardless of which live view screen you are in?

Also again for manual focus lenses, can the live view magnification be enabled using touch screen? (As in you press one area of the picture, it gets magnified so you can focus manually)? If so, how do you get out of magnified view (Tim F 101's question).

There's now an option to stop a half press disabling the magnified view. And, as is mentioned on the features page of the preview, several buttons can be assigned to magnify. One press brings up a green square, another zooms in to that area.

However, it's easier via the touch screen - press where you want the magnified zone, then press the magnifying glass at the bottom right. Press the 1x view button that replaces it when you're zoomed-in and you jump back to a full-screen view.

Richard - dpreview.com

 

[Richard Butler]

What does the top control dial on the right side do. The dpr preview did not say one word about it's usage.
--

In which mode?

It does lots of things (essentially as per the PENs). Too much to go into (though I've covered it elsewhere in this thread).

Richard - dpreview.com

 

[ginsbu]

Metering is not one of the options for the custom buttons, though is available via the super control panel. You can also set the AEL function to lock using a different metering mode, though, so if you usually use Matrix, you can set AEL to engage and lock using Spot (or HiSpot, LoSpot, etc). You can then modify that value using exposure comp, so you may find a way you're happy working.

Thanks for answering. 4/3 SLRs had a metering button, but this was lost with the PENs and I was hoping it would make its return in the OM-D line. With all the customization options for the various buttons, I'm disappointed metering isn't an option for any of them. At least the SCP is relatively quick to use.

The AEL metering option is standard Olympus (as I expect you know). It is a very valuable feature that I wish was imitated more widely.

 

[CrashE3]

I can not fathom what you are talking about..?! You are in manual mode.. you are the exposure compensation. Set A/S to your liking and let the auto ISO keep you there. What am I not getting? I don't see a problem to correct... certainly not enough to criticize Olympus over..

--
Visualize Whirled Peas.

 

[Michael Meissner]

I can not fathom what you are talking about..?! You are in manual mode.. you are the exposure compensation. Set A/S to your liking and let the auto ISO keep you there. What am I not getting? I don't see a problem to correct... certainly not enough to criticize Olympus over..

I believe the OP wants to have auto-ISO in manual be enabled (which is an option), but to set the exposure compensation so that when Olympus figures out the ISO to use, it will not base the ISO on what it thinks i the ideal exposure. Similarly, if you have a flash, you might not want the camera to calibrate the flash's power based on what it thinks is the ideal exposure.

 

[TheSquid]

One thing I haven't seen covered, is the white balance sensor....external or internal?

A drawback to the camera....no compact flash.
Is it a single card slot or dual?

 

[David J Barber]

Except my sig.
--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

 

[Michael Meissner]

One thing I haven't seen covered, is the white balance sensor....external or internal?

No idea, but I suspect internal.

A drawback to the camera....no compact flash.

Not a big loss IMHO, but then I've bent the pins on at least one CF device, and noticed a few for sale postings where the pins were bent in the camera (fortunately these were for bodies that also took xD cards).

Is it a single card slot or dual?

According to the pictures, single slot.