10 Common Mistakes Beginners Make Using Olympus OM-D Cameras 

I am currently away from Kuala Lumpur, making a short one-week trip home to Kuching to visit my mum. Also, I honestly need some time away from the city and considering all the drama that's happened this year, I do need a short break myself. Since I am away from my workstation and do plan to take time off for myself, I shall reply to comments and emails a little slower than usual. I will be back at full swing next week. Meanwhile, do follow me (stories updates) on Instagram @shutter.therapy as I will be updating my adventures, what I shoot, where I go, who I meet and what I eat during my time in Kuching, Borneo.

I am sooooooo glad that I stumbled across your YT channel. Your slow, precise speaking is a joy and enables the listener to digest exactly what you are saying. Nice! Stay healthy.

Thank so much Robin! You understand beginners and common mistakes so well! I'm still learning how to navigate menus and my OM-D so I found this invaluable. You are an AWESOME teacher!

An excellent tutorial as always Robin. Creating and producing a very popular and efective public media Site is very demanding so please have an enjoyable and relaxing break and come back to us rested and refreshed knowing we miss you. Thank you so much for producing and kindly sharing the wisdom in your series of productions. Best wishes and happy shooting Robin 🙏

Here's one that is lens specific but can be resolved on some OM-D cameras. I had planned a trip to shoot a steam train. Got there early yesterday, found a good spot. Used my C3 preset for CAF+tracking and waited for the train to appear. It came around the corner and the camera would not focus and within 10 seconds the train was passing me. Afterwards, I noticed that I had inadvertently slid the manual focus ring back on the 12-40 Pro when removing it from my bag. I had been doing some close up work at home and enabled the focus ring in the MkII menu then forgot to turn it off again. Lesson is: either turn it off in the menu or remember to check the manual focus ring before you set up for a shoot. Great video as always, thanks Robin.

I always enjoy your videos, thank you!

Thanks a lot for these tips. As always very useful and concise. Much appreciated...

Thanks, Robin. Most helpful! Enjoy your break.

Thank you! I'm currently saving for a camera and these tips really help!

Thank you Robin. Good info. I have been using them since ‘13 but I can pick up info from your videos still

This video was so useful as i'm buying new camera system. I now add Olympus to the list. Only have 3 now. Ahh desicions ! Thank you sir.

A good video Robin. I just recently added an EM10 Mark IV to my kit (EM1 Mark ii and EM5 Mark iii). Your tips are always great for someone like me that subscribes to the KISS theory. Well done.

I have this and use it a lot. Great second lens. Yes, I was looking at the EXIF!

Fantastic explanation. Coffee coming!

Hi Robin, I always appreciate your videos! I have asked you this before, but I didn't fully understand your previous replies. You often mention that the camera should always be turned off, to preserve battery life. I am certainly not arguing against the basic statement, that you should always try to preserve battery life, but I have mentioned previously that if you have the screen closed and set Quick Sleep mode to something low like perhaps 10s, then as soon as you put the camera away from your face, it will go to sleep. In sleep mode, there doesn't seem to be any noticeable drain in my experience. Waking from sleep is considerably faster than powering the camera on, you often refer to wanting the camera ready in order not to miss a shot, something I totally agree with! Sleep-wake is less than a second, I usually half-press the shutter as I raise the camera to my eyes, and it is ready when I get to aim it. Currently, I turn the camera on as I head out with it and only turn it off (if I remember to) once I stop using it. Even forgetting to turn it off does not seem to be much of an issue as long as you have also set an Auto Power Off timeout, I have set it to 4h to make sure it happens eventually, but not whilst using it. As in many cases, different approaches to achieve the same goal are sometimes mostly down to personal choice, so I am certainly not arguing against using the power button approach. If anything, it is meant to mention an alternate way to achieve the same result, that in my experience is more convenient, and actually saves more power, since it goes to sleep within seconds, between your shots even in the middle of using it. If you find the 10s sleep timeout too low, whilst actively using the camera, it can be raised to 1 min. However, your previous comments on this seemed to imply that sleep mode is just not a valid method to preserve power, thus more being wrong than another way to prolong battery life. But you never explained why. This has confused me a bit since in my experience it seems to do the job. I might have misread you, but to me, this part of your position doesn't seem to make sense. I might of course have misunderstood you, if you have the time, it would be interesting to learn about the drawbacks of sleep mode! Perhaps I should mention that the Quick Sleep is not available on all Olympus cameras, but I have used it on both EM5-II and EM1-II

That is very useful! Thank you for much!

This is very good for a new Olympus new user.

Yes, I got caught out by the function switch today when I took the camera out of my bag. Great tips as usual, thanks Robin.

Omg! I thought it was something wrong with my lens cause I was like why it was so zoomed in! Turns out I had the digital tele-converter on the whole time! So glad I came across your video thanks again!

Another very helpful and great video thank you Robin 👍

Thanks for tips Robin. You got 1 like from me.

Thanks Robin. With modern digital cameras it’s so easy to accidentally change settings. It was a lot simpler, easier in film days 😀 Best wishes.

Thanx for all the good videos. im watching each and every one with joy. greetings from a Copenhagen photographer (y)

Great 👍🏻 video tips , thank you . I’m interested in this model for my back up to my E -3

I learnt so much ... thank you Sir Wong :) ... for this very enlightening video ...

Great video, I had 7 out of the 10 activated. Thank you!

wow, so many menus and features

Hi Robin, I have just set up my camera to use the digital 2x teleconverter but I also made sure to use a SuperFine Jpg file to record the image. If I shoot both JPG and RAW and the shot itself has a reasonable amount of information I am finding that the JPG file is 8mb to 9mb whilst the RAW image is around 17mb. It is obviously not the same information being recorded as it's not the same image as the RAW image is shot further back and has different information recorded in its file. I have added the 2x to one button and the change for the file to another. I'm going to give this a go with my 40-150mm f2.8 PRO lens for surfing. I have the 1.4 TC which makes the lens f4 but needs to be stopped down to at least f5 for a sharp image. The 1.4TC will give me a focal length of 420mm in FF equiv but if i use the digital 2x TC I get an effect FF focal length of 600mm and can still use the lens at f2.8. As I only want this for surfers I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes.

Thanks for the tips!!

Very useful information thanks

Thanks for a great video.

Really useful Robin.

Nice informative. thank you❤

Really helpful video. 😀

Thank you so much 👍🏾

The best advice

Thanks for the guide! My was the last, no. 10 mistake. Kept thinking why all my shots are the weird exposures. LOL....

These tips are very useful, even though I’m not a total beginner. Thanks!

Robin, you rock 👌🏼

Big help !

Very helpful video, and not just for beginners. I'll add another mistake: changing one or more settings for a specific shot, then forgetting to change them back for the next shot. Worse: forgetting to change them back before you turn the camera off when done. What's wrong with my camera? Guilty. That's one reason why I still shoot film from time to time. ISO fixed. Meter. Focus. Adjust aperture and/or shutter as needed. Shoot. Hard to mistakenly change a setting when there are so few settings to change. Cheers! And thanks for the video.

Great video! I'm still using the original OM-D E-M5. Thanks for the handy tips.

Life saving!! Thanks!

Thank’s a lot Robin, but i have one question : i have omd em1 mark i, how to change frame rate? Is it possible?

Robin I love your videos. Please help me understand the menu system.

Хорошее и полезное видео!

Thanks for your videos. I’m a new aspiring photographer using an OMD em5 with 25mm.

Great video. Also for pro👍

Hi Robin, very useful tips. Thank's a lot. Now that you have been using the M1 III for some time, you can tell us your impressions of the (versus) M1 II ? I'm sure that this issue is of interest to many Olympus users. Having the M1 II is it worth buying the M1 III ?

Hi Robin, really like your videos. Could you do one on focus stacking with the em-1, my-2 please?

To me, your and Peters are the 2 best Olympus channels 🖖

Hi Robin , .... I have olympus EM1. I used 45mm-1,8 prime lens. I've followed your video about 10 mistakes. I set the camera with iso 200, app priority with f1.8. I tried to take a shoot handheld in the morning with bright sun , but I got the speed only 15 that was very risky to get blur image. What is your comment ?

Great video Robin

The biggest problem with beginners is they don't read the manuals they just go for the quick guide. You need to read the manuals 2. or 3 times so things start to stick in the brain.

Hi Rubin, i have a question for you, lightroom , capture one, camera raw..which one is better for raws cameras olympus? Thankyou

Discovered my dad has had the digital teleconverter function enabled on his gen one em5 for the last decade or so. Real facepalm moment for both of us. At least the raw copies were not cropped.

How long have you upgraded to the M1 Mark iii? I just noticed it!

O.K. Le sigo con los subtítulos en español. Sr. Robin Wong, thank you.

what model are you using in this video? please specify in the future.

Hello Robin Thank you very much for your allways helpful videos. I recently bought an OMD M5 Mark 3 and have an issue that can not solve by myself. I made something wrong and can't use the touch screen to select the focus point but don't know hoy to fix it. Can you help me, please? Thanks.

Robin. Hi. I have a question, if you don't mind. Do I have to set the focal length in IBIS every time I change a lens?? For example, I have my 14mm-42mm zoom on the camera, but the camera's IBIS shows a 9mm lens. Is this normal? Doesn't the lens tell the camera its focal length? If I do have to set the focal length, how do I account for my 14mm-150mm zoom lens I just got? Will IBIS work with Panasonic lenses too? Will IBIS work with manual lenses. Robin thanks for your patience. I am trying to learn about my EM-10 Mark IV but the doccumentation is scarce and not very good.

I've read the manual and have problems mounting one of the two lenses I have, so much so I can't take pictures. Help?!

Hello Mr. Robin, please help me, I turned ON my cam, I'm using Olympus E-m10, i can't see anything on the screen? Is there a prob on my lens?

Please help! Can you turn off the level gauge? This camera will not let me take a picture unless it is PERFECTLY level, which is ridiculous and makes taking any picture extremely difficult!

Hi Robin, really nice video, definitely going to help me in operating the camera more efficiently. Could you please also give some tips on capturing under low light (apart from the usual tripod and bigger aperture)? The small sensor really struggles sometimes, how can I use the sensor optimally in low light conditions?

I'll check it but my mk III doesn't inform if IS is vertical or horizontal , just ... 1...2...3...off. I think.

Yes, that... I handed my Olympus to a friend, just to look at. When he handed it back, nothing worked. He swore he hadn't changed anything. Took me some time to figure out he had changed the function switch just by picking up the camera.

Does anyone know why my em10 powers off after taking a picture ?please let me know I really need the help

I encountered Mistake 1 on my Olympus EM5 Mark II. You say I have to turn off the HDR function. So how do I turn off the HDR function?

Thank you Robin for the very informative video clip :)

Can't you link spot metering to the focus point in settings?

Good video clip Robin. Just one small comment about turning the camera off. If you shoot a series of burst shots with many frames then allow time for the processor to write to the card. I once turned mine off directly after a series of bird in flight shots and had an issue with getting camera to reboot even though I use good quality memory cards. Turned off for 5 minutes then restarted and gave camera time to reboot and return to my settings.

good morning🌹

Can not remember reading any manual. So why does my camera has a defrost button? And why does my refrigerator has a sd card slot? Please help😮

Fine. Disable WIFI mode!! I think I sent my second battery with my camera to the SAT XDDD. Tip#extra: if you don't want to mistake the image quality chosing medium or low ... You can leave in the scroll JUST RAW SF SF SF and RAW+JPG, that is , replacing the medium and low by SF and SF.

I can’t decide between OM, FuJi and leica q2… I think I will go with fuji because I have seen more art with it.

On my E-M5 the level meter was off by a a degree or three. Very annoying. It took some time before I found that I could recalibrate it in the menu.

Another one: accidentally setting the camera to ISO 25600. It's easy to do if you overshoot "Auto" and it wraps back to the highest setting.

Is there any situation where choosing LSF size is a must?

Nijon karadeska ?

Hi Mr. Wong. How to shoot milky way in omd em10 II? Please thanks

I'm still looking for a cold shoe Lego Robin for my Mark 3 😂

Who are the 27 people that down voted this? Nice work, thanks!

Full frame guys would say the first mistake for Olympus users is buying M43.

Sounds like the suboptimal ergonomics of the camera are cause for some of these issues. Thanks for sharing

I wouldn't over use the ON/OFF switch too much , I did get extra batteries , fixing broken ON /OFF switch can be costly bill as I've discovered myself

it's 2022 and the cheapest used OM-D body only without lens is 133 US $

Robin, thanks for the helpful video. However, no doubt, unlike many of your viewers, I am new to the OMD system. The menus are complex , a comment that applies to most modern digital cameras. I find that, when as here, you are giving helpful tips, you are just going at a Formula 1 pace. I simply cannot take in your advice and get lost in your menu navigating. Yes, of course, I can repeat the video , but find the same problem? A short time ago, you recommended a book on composition. I do not recall which video it was! Would you be good enough to supply a link in your reply should you have the time. Many thanks.

While it is always better to have a longer lens when needed, the 2x built-in digital converter can come in handy in a pinch. The outcome, of course, depends on available light, ISO and the resolving power of the lens currently on the camera, but I have used it fairly successfully when I had no other real options. Never say never.

Mistake 11: Shooting at high ISO.

Mistake No 1. Buying an Olympus camera. Too many useless and irritating 'features' causing unnecessary and irritating problems. That hideous menu system does not help either.

Thanks

One of the common mistakes is always watching and listening RU-vidrs talk about camera gear instead of spending time shooting