My personal settings for the Olympus E-PM2

I feel that one sweet feature of Olympus Interchangeable Lens Cameras is the MySet feature– it asllows you to set up several profiles and switch between them quickly as the situation changes. I evolve my preferences over the years and often forget why or what I have chosen. One thing that might improve the menus for me is if we could change the labels from MySet 1 to General Use or phrases like that.

MySet 1 – For general use

Feature	Setting	Rationale
Metering	ESP	ESP is an intelligent matrix pattern – and each model improves on this smart scene assessment of exposure.
Face Detect	Off	When pointing the camera at a crowds, the camera cannot know which face to give priority focus to.
AF Points	Single. Centre	I like shooting shallow DOF for tele and I like to choose which subject is more important for wide views.
Fn button assignment	Magnify	The E-PM2 does not have many Fn buttons to assign. So I use the only Fn button for LCD magnification when using manual focus lenses.
AEL / AFL	S2/C2/M2	For S-AF – Press Half Way S-AFPress Fully lock exposure calculation and trigger the shutter
Record Button	Starts Movie Recording
Full Time AF	On
Back Dial	Normal Operation

MySet 2 – For “Split Focus and Shutter Trigger buttons” – emphasise focus control

Feature	Setting	Rationale
Metering	ESP
Face Detect	Off	When pointing the camera at a crowds, the camera cannot know which face to give priority focus to.
AF Points	Single. Centre	I like shooting shallow DOF for tele and I like to choose which subject is more important for wide views.
Fn button assignment	Magnify	The E-PM2 does not have many Fn buttons to assign. So I use the only Fn button for LCD magnification when using manual focus lenses.
AEL / AFL	S3/C3/M3	For S-AF – Press Half Way – lock exposure calculation Press Fully – trigger the shutter
Record Button	AEL/AFL	Initiates S-AF
Full Time AF	Off	I don’t want the camera to focus by itself.
Back Dial	Locked

MySet 3 – For impromptu portraits

Feature	Setting	Rationale
Metering	Centre Weighted	I want to give the face exposure importance.
Face Detect	Face and Eye Priority	Sometimes I just want the camera to pick the face accurately, assuming I have only one subject.
AF Points	Single. Centre	I like shooting shallow DOF for portraits
Fn button assignment	Magnify	The E-PM2 does not have many Fn buttons to assign. So I use the only Fn button for LCD magnification when using manual focus lenses.
AEL / AFL	S1/C1/M1	For S-AF – Press Half Way – lock exposure and initiate S-AF Press Fully - trigger the shutter
Record Button	Starts Movie Recording
Back Dial	Normal Operation

MySet 4 – Monochrome – street scenes and portraits in general

Record Button

Feature	Setting	Rationale
Metering	ESP
Face Detect	Face and Eye Priority	Sometimes I just want the camera to pick the face accurately, assuming I have only one subject.
AF Points	Single. Centre	I like shooting shallow DOF for tele and I like to choose which subject is more important for wide views.
Fn button assignment	Magnify	The E-PM2 does not have many Fn buttons to assign. So I use the only Fn button for LCD magnification when using manual focus lenses.
AEL / AFL	S3/C3/M3	For S-AF – Press Half Way – lock exposure calculation Press Fully – trigger the shutter
Record Button	AEL/AFL	Initiates S-AF
Back Dial	Normal Operation
Picture Mode	Monotone	Sharpness +1 B&W Filter: Yellow Curve Adjustment-    Shadows: 2

 

If I had a MySet 5

For my manual focus Samyang 7.5mm fisheye, the enormous angle of view seems to fool the body Image Stabilisation – I must remember to set IS to Off and even then, set the IS Focal Length to 8mm. Watch out for some odd lenses – there may be some shutter shock coupled with the resonant vibration frequency of these lenses and using the back LCD, hands outstretched, I encounter image shake / blur even at fast shutter speeds of 1/200th sec. Having IS on confuses the issue – try it Off.