Beginner help - Olympus OMD EM5
Discussion
All - I figured this time would come and I'm throwing myself at your mercy. I appreciate 'how to' threads will have been done previously and well...search doesn't work (probably).
I've lurked on this forum a wee while. I picked up an Olympus OMD EM5 in June. And whilst it is probably more than capable of taking amazing photos....I'm not sure that I am (yet).
It's probably overkill for my current needs. But I am where I am and so be gentle. Yeah, I know..."all the gear...no idea".
I'm looking for good general digital photography guides (websites and books). I need to start at the begining, all the basics and work my way up. Exposure, depth of field, focus, lenses/primes, general photography guides.
I bought the Olympus OMD EM5 offer bundle with the 12-50mm lens. But to be honest I have no idea about what the purposes of the different lens options are.
So I'd be very greatful if anyone can recommend good sources of beginner (and beyond) guides/forums/books. We're not going to make be David Bailey - but if we can get me to the stage where I almost know what I am doing, and can choose the optimal settings for different circumstances or types of shot, then I'd be very happy.
More than happy to purchase more bits of kit as I go. But I think we ought to get me working with what I have for now
Many thanks in advance.
I've lurked on this forum a wee while. I picked up an Olympus OMD EM5 in June. And whilst it is probably more than capable of taking amazing photos....I'm not sure that I am (yet).
It's probably overkill for my current needs. But I am where I am and so be gentle. Yeah, I know..."all the gear...no idea".
I'm looking for good general digital photography guides (websites and books). I need to start at the begining, all the basics and work my way up. Exposure, depth of field, focus, lenses/primes, general photography guides.
I bought the Olympus OMD EM5 offer bundle with the 12-50mm lens. But to be honest I have no idea about what the purposes of the different lens options are.
So I'd be very greatful if anyone can recommend good sources of beginner (and beyond) guides/forums/books. We're not going to make be David Bailey - but if we can get me to the stage where I almost know what I am doing, and can choose the optimal settings for different circumstances or types of shot, then I'd be very happy.
More than happy to purchase more bits of kit as I go. But I think we ought to get me working with what I have for now
Many thanks in advance.
It looks a bloody complex camera to get ones head around in terms of menus and ergonomics,
so maybe just put it on 'Auto' to start with.
There's a guide here that looks useful to help with the actual camera
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9115179666/user-g...
By all reports, image quality is up there with a lot of APS-C DSLRs!
so maybe just put it on 'Auto' to start with.
There's a guide here that looks useful to help with the actual camera
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9115179666/user-g...
By all reports, image quality is up there with a lot of APS-C DSLRs!
I have one and love it.
The article posted above is great and will help you get started.
It is a complicated camera for beginners as it is very customisable but once you give it a little time to get it set up the way you want, you'll rarely need to go back to the set up menus.
I usually to use mine in Aperture (A) mode and let the camera do the rest. For handheld shooting, I have auto ISO set to increase if the shutter needs to drop below 1/40 with an upper ISO limit of 6400. This might all sound like gibberish if you are new to this but as a base setting you won't go far wrong. How to do this is in the article above.
One of the great things about the Micro 4/3 format is the quality of the lenses available for the price. The kit lens is a decent daytime walkabout lens but if you really want to get the best from this camera, get one of the fast prime lenses.
As a first prime, I would recommend the Panasonic 20mm f1.7. If you have the ISO set as per the instructions in the above article, you will able to get great indoor low-light photos without a flash.
Good luck.
The article posted above is great and will help you get started.
It is a complicated camera for beginners as it is very customisable but once you give it a little time to get it set up the way you want, you'll rarely need to go back to the set up menus.
I usually to use mine in Aperture (A) mode and let the camera do the rest. For handheld shooting, I have auto ISO set to increase if the shutter needs to drop below 1/40 with an upper ISO limit of 6400. This might all sound like gibberish if you are new to this but as a base setting you won't go far wrong. How to do this is in the article above.
One of the great things about the Micro 4/3 format is the quality of the lenses available for the price. The kit lens is a decent daytime walkabout lens but if you really want to get the best from this camera, get one of the fast prime lenses.
As a first prime, I would recommend the Panasonic 20mm f1.7. If you have the ISO set as per the instructions in the above article, you will able to get great indoor low-light photos without a flash.
Good luck.
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