Have an E-M5 and planning an upgrade to the E-M1? We know the IQ is a better, the AF faster and the EVF is a major improvement; but what improvements are there in ergonomics and controls. Read on to find out.
With both cameras on the table in front of you there is little immediately obvious difference between them.
With the add-on grip for the E-M5, they look even more alike.
The E-M1 is heavier than the E-M5 without the grip, and lighter than the E-M5 with the grip; but the differences are only a few grammes and you are not going to notice. What you will notice is the extra width of the E-M1 when you pick it up. If, like me, you needed the grip to make the E-M5 feel more comfortable in your hand, you will love how the E-M1 feels. The grip is slightly fatter and the extra width just seems to make the camera sit more naturally in the hands; it’s a perfect size.
The other thing you will notice is the general feeling of quality and solidity. The E-M5 is a very well made little camera; but the E-M1 has something extra, something hard to define; but when you hold it you know you have a seriously well-made, solid piece of machinery.
Now it is in your hand, you can’t help but notice some new control options, time to configure the camera!
The good news (or the bad news depending on your view of the Olympus menu structure), is that the menus are basically unchanged from the E-M5. This means that all the hours you spent with the manual, the menus, your E-M5 and a lot of alcohol, trying to understand how to set it up, will not have been wasted; provided you can remember what you did and can duplicate it on the E-M1. But you will need to understand the new control options and how they can be used, so let’s have a look at those, starting at the front of the camera.
Two new buttons next to the lens mount. By default, the bottom button provides a depth of field preview. The top button allows you to set a custom white balance. Hold down the button and then point the camera where you want to measure white balance. Press the shutter and you then get the choice to save this custom white balance in one of four slots. This custom setting is then be used, and re-used at a later time by selecting from the white balance menu. Both of these buttons can be assigned to other functions as required.
There is also a flash sync port on the other side of the lens mount.
Time to look at the top of the camera.
On the right there are the front and rear dials, same as the E-M5, which can be programmed for a selection of uses and their directions set, same as the E-M5. Oh, and there is the shutter button which you can press to take photos; should you ever stop playing with the damn thing and go out and use it. Again, same as the E-M5, there are two function buttons and a video button, each of which can be programmed to do pretty much anything you choose.
Moved from the left to the right is the mode dial. You may be concerned that the new position means that you might move this by mistake when you were intending to move the left control dial. This is unlikely to happen because it is set deeper into the camera, and is a hefty beast that is hard to move with just one finger. Still, if these sorts of things worry you, then you can press the button in the middle of the dial and lock it. The other feature of the mode dial is a new option, represented by three blocks.
Select this and your are offered a number of multiple “photos within a photo” styles. Something like this:
Choose a style and the camera highlights the first photo. Take the shot and the next photo area is selected, and so on until the main photo is complete and you can save it (and then transfer it by wi-fi and stick it on Facebook to annoy your friends). Not exactly a feature you would expect to see added to a high-end camera; but exactly the sort of feature you can use to impress your Facebook-loving wife when she is trying to understand why you just dropped a huge amount of cash on a new camera having just bought an E-M5 a few months ago (that’s what I am using it for anyway).
Personally I have little use for the iAuto, Scene and Art options (or this one, once my wife has accepted my new toy). There is one thing you can do to make alternative use of them. You can change any of the selections on the mode dial so that they trigger the use of a pre-defined MySet. The MySet options are the same as for the E-M5, but at least you now have a new way of triggering them; and the MySet in use is now displayed on the screen, which is useful.
Moving to the left, we find a repositioned power switch and a new pair of buttons.
Press the top one and the screen display changes to this:
Use the front control wheel to set up in-camera HDR creation or, more usefully, exposure bracketing. Note that when you choose an option, the shutter release is automatically changed to high-speed multiple.
To change the shutter release settings, you rotate the rear control dial.
If you press the rear of the two buttons on the top left of the camera, you get this:
Again, rotate the front control dial to change the options on the top row, the rear control dial to change the bottom.
I really like these new buttons, providing access to four frequently changed settings without having to assign them to function buttons.
Finally, let’s take a look at the back of the camera.
Top left we have the button that controls the EVF/rear screen. This control used to be hidden behind the eye-piece and was hard to reach; the new position is much better.
Two things to say about the EVF:
- Wow! So much bigger and clearer than the E-M5, which was pretty good anyway. Don’t look through this unless you are prepared to buy the camera, you will want it!
- The sensor that triggers the viewfinder and shuts off the rear screen when you put your eye near to it is disabled when you fold out the screen, allowing you to work on the screen without turning it off inadvertently with your fingers.
Another big improvement is the area covered by the OK button and the four buttons that surround it. These are very small and imprecise on the E-M5 and I often ended up pressing the wrong key. On the E-M1 the keys are bigger and the action is precise, much easier to use. In fact all the buttons on the back are bigger, wider spaced, more precise and therefore easier to use.
And that just leaves this:
Now there is a dedicated AEL/AFL lock button, programmable in up to ten different settings. And next to that is a two position lever; this also has a plethora of options. With the lever set to two, the front and rear dials are changed to ISO and white balance, or white balance and ISO. Alternatively, with the lever set to two, the record button and function 2 button are changed to ISO and white balance, or white balance and ISO. Alternatively, with the lever set to two, the focusing mode is changed to manual focus (I like that one). If this all seems too much for you; you can turn off the usage of this lever altogether. But wait, there’s more!
There is a further option that, if enabled, changes the functions of the buttons next to the power switch; remember those?
Set the lever to the second position and then press one of the two buttons to get one of these two new displays:
A screen where you can bracket almost anything you can think of, and a screen for flash settings.
Alternatively you can set the option so nothing changes on this buttons when you set the lever to 2.
I think that pretty much covers the changes to the controls and the overall feel of the camera compared to the E-M5. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. In future posts I will look at some of the other new features of the camera. How good is the tracking focus now we have PDAF on the sensor? How well does the wi-fi feature work and why might you want it? Again, if you have any specifics you want to know about, make a comment.
Summary of configurable controls: Five programmable function buttons (Fn1, Fn2, Rec, FrontB1, FrontB2) Two control wheels which can be set to different functions. Two top of camera buttons that each set two functions Two setting lever that can change either the role of the control wheels or the role of two of the function buttons. In addition, it can optionally change the role of the two top of the camera buttons Programmable AEL/AFL button
Comments 🔗
2014-10-26| **** saysThank you for sharing this, I considered upgrading just for the tracking af but it does so many great things that are exactly what I want and didn’t even know! How is the new improved af on tracking?
2014-10-26| Spike saysSurprisingly good. I can go and shoot action, knowing that I will come home with a reasonable number of keepers. Here are a couple of recent sets: 2014_05_if-you-get-my-drift 2014_05_bira-bike-bonanza