How I Have My Olympus E-M1 Set Up...

Norfolk Southern Double Stack Train, Petersburg, Virginia (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1, Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens @ 93mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/7.1; ISO 400
There is a tremendous amount of detail and sharpness in this image.

I know there is always interest in how others have their cameras set up, especially mirrorless cameras which have so many options from which to choose.  I wanted to pass along to those who may be interested how I have my E-M1 configured.  

I am primarily a travel, landscape and nature photographer so these settings work for me. I also get roped into photographing family activities as well as sports activities of my grandchildren (don't we all!).  Additionally, being a user of Nikon cameras since 1975 and how I have become used to working with past cameras, influences my decisions. These settings may not work for you so take these for what they are.

UPDATE:  If you previously looked at this post, I have reformatted it as the color of the type did not translate to the blogger template.  Sorry about that.  It should now look fine.

I will run through the settings with a brief explanation or rationale when warranted.

Shooting Menu 1  
Picture Mode 3 natural (I prefer more natural colors and not overly saturated colors)
RAW + LSF JPEG (when I have a need for JPEGS; otherwise just RAW)
Image aspect—4:3
Digital Tele-converter—Off  (I have this set on a Fn button so it can be easily accessed)
Keystone Comp.—Off

Shooting Menu 2 
Low continuous frame advance (5 frames per second is plenty fast for most things)
Bracketing Off (until I need it and I can turn it on with the front top Fn button when I             need it; I have the default set for 5 frames @ 1 EV apart
HDR—Off
Multiple Exposure—Off
Time Lapse Settings—Not set
RC Mode—Off

Playback Menu 
Image rotation—On

Custom Menu A 
AF Mode—C  (Sometimes I set it at S if photographing landscapes and tripod work)
Full time AF—Off
AEL/AFL—S1/C3/M3  (the alternate for landscapes and tripod work is S1/C1/M3)
Bulb/Time Focusing—On
Manual Focus Assist—Magnify ON/Peaking Off (I do use peaking on occasion, however)

Custom Menu B 
Button Function—
     Fn1—[...] HP  (I like the ability to re-center my focusing point with one push)
     Fn2—MF  (I use this for lenses that don't have the AF/MF clutch)
     O (movie record button)—Built-in Tele-converter (I don't shoot any video)
     Top Front Fn Button—Bracket (default set for 5 frames @ 1 EV apart)
     Bottom Front Fn Button—Depth of Field Preview
     Four-Way Selector—Move focus point
     B and Lens Fn buttons not programmed at this time

Dial Function—
     P—Rear Dial Exp. Comp/Front Dial Program Shift
     A—Rear Dial Exp. Comp/Front Dial Aperture Control
     S—Rear Dial Exp. Comp/Front Dial Shutter Control 
     M—Rear Dial Shutter/Front Dial Aperture (same as on all of my Nikons)
     Menu—Rear Dial up/down change; front dial left/right change

Dial Direction—I have all dials configured so that when I rotate with my thumb to the right, exposure decreases (rotating the any dial by pulling my thumb to the right makes shutter speeds go higher and apertures get smaller)

Lever—
     Position 1—mode 1
     Position 2—default (off)

Custom Menu C 
Rls Priority S and C—Both Off
L/continuous frames per second—5
H/continuous frames per second—10
Half Way Rls With IS—On
Lens I.S. Priority—Off (You just can't beat the 5-way IBIS!)
Release Lag Time—Short

Custom Menu D 
Control Settings—Everything is enabled
Info Settings—
     Playback info—all options enabled exc. lightbox (the more feedback for me the                       better)
     LV info—all options enabled
     Playback image viewing Settings—4/25/calendar
Display Grid—Option 2 (Rule of Thirds)
Picture Mode Settings—All options enabled
Histogram Settings—Highlight 253/Shadow 3 (gives me a bit of "headroom" for details
Mode Guide—On
Live View Boost—Off
Frame Rate—High
Expand LV Dynamic Range—On
Flicker Reduction—Auto
LV Close Up Mode—Mode 2
Aperture Lock—Off
Peaking Settings—White
Backlit LCD—30 seconds
Sleep—5 minutes
Auto Power Off—30 minutes
Sounds—Off
USB Mode—Auto

Custom Menu E 
EV Step—1/3 EV
Noise Reduction—Off
Noise Fileter—Off
ISO—It will reflect what is currently set (also you can set it here) 200
ISO–Auto Set—High Limit 3200/Default 200
ISO–Auto—All
Metering—Matrix
AEL Metering—Auto
Bulb/Time Timer—8 minutes
Bult/Time Monitor— -7
Live Bulb—1 second
Live Time—1 second
Anti–Shock—0 seconds
Composite Settings—default

Custom Menus F 
X–Sync—1/320th second
Slow Limit—1/30th second
Flash Compensation coupled to Exposure Compensation—Off

Custom Menu G 
File Selection—RAW (Sometimes for specific reasons I will also choose R+JPEG LSF)
Shading Compensation—On
White Balance—Auto (will change if photographing in very specific and consistent                     light)
All WB +-  —Default
Auto WB to keep Warm Color—Off
Flash + WB—WB Auto
Color Space—Adobe RGB

Custom Menu H  
Quick Erase—Off
RAW + JPEG Erase—RAW + JPEG
File Name—Auto
Priority Set—No
DPI Settings—300 dpi (that is what my stock agency requires so I might as well set it                here)
Copyright Settings—my full name (I would advise you to also set your name)

Custom Menu I 
I don't do video so I haven't changed any settings under this menu

Custom Menu J 
Built-in EVF Style—Style 3
Info Settings—All Enabled
Displayed Grid—9 Sections
EVF Auto Switch—On
EVF Adjust—
     EVF Auto Luminance—Off
     EVF Adjust—Temp Default/Brightness 02
Half Way Level—O

Custom Menu K 
AF Focus Adjust—Off
Battery Warning Level—Default
Battery Priority—PBH Battery
Touch Screen Settings—On

Setup Menu 
Time—Local Time in 24-hour mode
Language—English
Brightness/Temperature of LCD Panel—Default
Rec View—Off
Menu Display—On

Super Control Panel (SCP)  
Settings in menus, for the most part, are reflected on the SCP.  However, there are a few that are directly accessed in the SCP that are not in the menus.

Flash—Off (until needed)
Flash Exposure Compensation—0
Focus Points—I choose the smaller option rather than the larger 81 points option
JPEG Settings
     Sharpness—0
     Contrast— -1
     Saturation— +1 I like more color than the "Natural" JPEG setting but "Vivid" is too                much
     Gradation—Auto
IBIS—S-IS 1
A+- set to 0
G+- set to 0

I think that is about it.  Isn't that enough?  Wow!  Lots of choice for every kind of photographer.  In the old days, there was a choice of what film speed you put in your camera.  You then had a choice of shutter speeds and apertures.  That was it.  No more choices available.  Life was easy and good then.  But I'll never go back.  I'm having too much fun with my photography.

This post will be of interest and meaningful to some of you and for others no meaning at all.  Take my settings for what they are.  They work for me and my types of photography. You should, in all respects, figure out what works for you rather than copy someone elses. But if this helps, good.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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