Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

It will feel like way over your head, but I promise it isn't... IF you can discipline yourself to not try to learn it all at once.
This is what I have done for the several digital cameras I have owned and still have:
Find a comfortable spot to sit down with camera, manual and notebook or notepad.
=Think about something you want to learn to do or learn more about, find it in the index of the camera's manual, then try out on your camera what you just read. Take photos (tv or out of the window are "easy" subjects), putting into practice what you've just read about.
=Flip through the manual until you see something that catches your attention, or of which you think you'd like to learn it or at least know more about. Read it, practice it, take notes if needed.
AND have fun with it.
=Listen to what others are doing, then try it out for yourself, again with the help of your user's guide.
=Above all: Do not try to learn everything at once!

One book I can highly recommend, I have it for the OM-D E-M1, won't be upgrading to Mk II anytime soon, but the book for the Mk II is on the website.
( http://www.friedmanarchives.com/olympus-e-m1-ii/ )

bw79st Loc: New York City

This page from Steve Wrotniak should get you started.

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/m43/em1.2-sett.html

billpan45

I endorse Darrel Young's "Mastering the Olympus..." He talks in actual English. And, if anything is over your head, he ends each chapter with his recommendations--a good place to start.
After fighting through the Olympus manual, Young's book saved me from jumping off a bridge.

Nancysc

I bought a used OMD E5II at KEH and bought two different users books, but now I find that the online user manual on the Olympus web site is better than either of the books. The books were pricey even on amazon, but the cost of the online guide was just printing (at FedEx), so I could put in a binder and read away from the computer. I have looked at some Youtube videos also, but the Olympus manual is easy to use and finding specific topics is easy also.

ka5ysy

As everyone has noted, hang in there. It is a steep learning curve but well worth the effort. I am a 45 year Nikon user that got converted 2 years ago. Wow what a difference in weight for travel use.

Don’t quit !

P.S. - I am still learning the system even after two years and thousands of photos. The capabilities of the camera are amazing.

P.P.S- the internet videos are your friend. Show and tell eases the transition greatly.

stuart416

Darrell Young, Mastering the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. I purchased the book right after buying the camera. I use it as a reference, but I have found that using the camera helps one learn better than reading the book. But it is great to have a reference like this one. It should be available on Amazon. Great camera!

Jeannie88

I love the Books by Darrell Young . I had them for 2 of my nikons, and I now have them for both the EM1 and the EM1M2.It is called Mastering the Olympus EM1M2, I had to wait a year and a half for it to finally come out. I got it on Amazon

rond-photography Loc: Connecticut

I replied earlier, but just thought of this "gotcha". If you are using one of the "pro" lenses with the manual focus ring that can be slid back for manual or forward for auto focus,
remember this: When you pull the camera out of your bag, once in a while the ring will slide while taking the camera out or in.
Then you will be trying to figure out why it will not auto-focus. Happened to me once and I spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out if the camera or the lens had a problem.
I finally remembered the ring and sure enough, it was in MF. Gotcha!

Jeannie88

Oh Boy , and I ever the same! I preordered the Olympus em1M2 two years ago December, and it was a whole new world and language from my Nikons!I am a lot more comfortable now, and the camera has amazing capabilities. I love it! I found that one problem for me was that I still spoke Nikon, so I couldn't even ask the question or look up an answer, as I didn't know the right terminology to even ask.

ka5ysy

I had the same translation issues a bit. Not too much of that these days once I got some cheat sheets together of equivalencies. The biggest issue was deciding how to reprogram several of the function buttons, such as the on off switch relocated so I can flip it on and off with my thumb. I also turned off the focus ring clutch on the pro lenses because it is way to easy to slide the ring into the clutch disengagement position when shooting quickly. The autofocus system works superbly for 99% of my photos.

I just got back from three weeks in Italy and Greece and ended up with over 4000 frames that used only the autofocus. Of those , I have only found about twenty that did not catch focus properly, and on examination they were either operator error or very low lighting situations that caused the focus to hunt.

ka5ysy

Here is a quick reference I look at occasionally :


OLYMPUS CAMERA SETTING NOTES

BACK BUTTON FOCUS (it takes two settings to enable this)
————————————————
Menu —>gear wheel—>A1—>AEL/AFL——>(SAF/CAF/MF) —->Mode 3 IS BBF ON.
Part 2:
FUNCTION BUTTON ASSIGNMENT for BBF:
——————————-
OK—>gear wheel—->select Fn button —> scroll to set function.
*NOTE: AFL/AEL FUNCTION IS SECOND PART OF ENABLING BBF



BEEP DISABLE:
———————

Menu—>gear wheel—->D4–> speaker icon—>ON/OFF—->OK


Manual focus ring = gear wheel —>A3–>MF CLUTCH—> ENABLE/DISABLE


Lens Function button setup:


Go into the setup menu (cog symbol), sub-menu B (Button/Dial/Lever) and select the top item (Button Function). Scroll down until you get to the last option, which controls the function of the L-Fn button. Go into that and select what you'd like it to do. I have it set to AEL/AFL which in conjunction with AEL/AFL mode 3 means it acts as an AF-on button.

Beejank

Have had the MII for about a year.

I started out on Apperture mode, Auto ISO and figured out how to use the control panel available by hitting the Okay button. Other than that I only needed to know how to reformat cards and choose Jpeg or Raw (I chose Raw).

From there I was able to use my camera, get comfortable, get some really nice images and learn at my own pace without pressure. A pretty amazing piece of equipment.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Enjoy!

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

Not true kit lens are good and can produce beautiful photos They do like girls d light tho

Saycheeze Loc: Ct

I bought one 2 years ago. Great camera. Factory Reset has become my favorite and most used option