What You Can Customize on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and OM Systems OM-1. Is the OM-1 More Customizable?

One the best features of Olympus OM-D / OM System cameras is their customizability.  Almost all the buttons can be customized to different features.  The E-M1X, E-M1 Mark III, and OM-1 have 4 Custom Modes on the Mode Dial.  The Front and Rear Dial and the FN Lever can also be  customized.

What Can be Customized on the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and OM System OM-1

• Buttons
• Dials
• FN Lever
• Multi Selector / Joystick
• Arrow Pad
• 4 Custom Mode Dial Settings
• Customized Menu Settings (My Menu)

This customizability makes it a lot quicker to make changes to camera settings and turn on camera features in the field, specific to the genre of photography that you are doing.  I will typically set customizable buttons to different functions depending on what I’m going out photograph.

Customization Examples:

• Turn on Focus Bracketing or Stacking when shooting macro photography
• Switch to a Custom Setting on the Mode dial set for birds in flight photography
• Turn on HDR or Exposure Bracketing while shooting Landscapes
• Turn on Focus Peaking at the touch of a button while using manual focus
• Press a button to turn on Live ND when photographing waterfalls

But is the OM System OM-1 camera even more customizable than it’s Olympus Flagship predecessors (OM-D E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X).  Let’s dig into each of the customizable controls to find out.

Customizable Buttons and Functions that Can be Assigned

The Olympus E-M1X has the most customizable buttons (12) even if you don’t include the vertical buttons on the attached battery grip.  The OM-1 has 11 and the E-M1 Mark III has 10.  The OM-1 has an additional customizable button with addition of the separate AF-On button.

Number of Customizable Buttons

Camera	EM-1 Mark III	E-M1X	OM-1
Camera Only	10	12	11
Camera + Battery Grip	15	17	14
Camera + Battery Grip + Lens Fn	16	18	15

Functions that Can Be Assigned to the Customizable Buttons

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X are similar in the number of functions (roles) that can be assigned to the camera’s customizable buttons.  The E-M1 Mark III has a few more assignable functions than the E-M1X.  These are mainly for Face Selection and Face Priority, and for some reason in the E-M1X, Live View Boost cannot be assigned to a button.

The OM-1 has significantly more functions that can be assign to the customizable buttons.  One reason for the larger number of assignable functions in the OM-1 is that individual Bracketing items and Focus Stacking items can now be assigned to a button instead of the entire Bracketing group.

In the OM-1, High Res Shot can now be assigned to a button and comes pre-assigned to the Record Button when in still photography shooting modes.  The new Night Vision feature can now be assigned to a button, and subject detection can now be assigned to a button while it was not assignable in the E-M1X.

In the OM-1, the Home Function no longer includes AF Mode (S-AF, C-AF, etc.) as an option.  The only options included in the Home Feature in the OM-1 are Target Mode and AF Target Point. 

Additional Still Mode Functions that Can be Assigned on the OM-1

Night Vision	AEL (Separate from AFL)	AF-On (Separate from AEL)
AE BKT	WB BKT	FL BKT
ISO BKT	ART BKT	Focus BKT
Focus Stacking	High Res Shot	Subject Detection

Customizable buttons can be set using the Gear Icon in the Super Control Panel.  They can also be set in these menus.

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Button Function Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Button Function Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Button Settings – Button Function

Customizing the Fn Lever

The customization of the Fn Lever is the same between the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and the OM System OM-1.  There are 3 modes and an Off setting for the Fn lever.

Mode 1

Switches the functions of the Font & Rear Dials depending on the setting of the Mode Dial.  For example: In Aperture Priority Mode, the camera comes with the following settings for the dials:

• Lever Position 1: Front Dial = Exposure Compensation, Rear Dial = Aperture
• Lever Position 2: Front Dial = ISO, Rear Dial = White Balance

These settings can also be customized by Customizing the Rear and Front Dials in the Menu.

Mode 2

Switches between 2 groups of settings for the AF Mode, AF Target Mode, and AF Target Point.  You can select which of these 3 settings or all of them change when you change the Fn lever position.

This setting is useful for Wildlife, Bird, and Sports photographers when changing from photographing a still subject to one in motion.

Mode 3

Switches to Movie mode without changing the Mode Dial.

The Fn Lever can be Customized in the following menus:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Fn Lever Function Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Fn Lever Function Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Fn Lever Settings – Fn Lever Function Menu

Customizing the Front & Rear Dials

The functions of the Front and Rear Dials can also be customized for each shooting mode on the Mode Dial in the E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and OM-1. Not all functions are available for all shooting modes.  Also, Bulb and Manual mode will have the same settings for the dials.

The functions that can be assigned to the dials are the same for the OM-1, E-M1 Mark III, and E-M1X.

The Front and Rear Dials can be Customized in the following menus:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Dial Function Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Dial Function Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Fn Lever Settings – Dial Function Menu

Changing the Dial Direction

In the Dial Direction Menu item, you can change the direction the dials are rotated to set the Exposure (Aperture and Shutter) in Aperture, Shutter, Manual, and Bulb Modes.  There is only 1 setting for Aperture, Shutter, Manual, and Bulb Mode. 

You can also change the direction the dials are rotated for Program Shift in Program Mode.  This works the same for all 3 cameras.

The Dial Direction can be changed in the following menus:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Dial Direction Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Dial Direction Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Dial Settings – Dial Direction Menu

Customizing the Multi Selector (Joystick)

The functions of the Multi Selector Button can also be customized. The Multi Selector is set with the Center Button menu item. Long pressing the Multi Selector / Joystick button can be programmed to:

• Adjust the Settings for the AF Target Selection, AF Target Mode, or Face Priority AF which is set in the Select Screen Settings menu.  The OM-1 does not support Face Priority on the setting.
• Function as a Home Button that will set the AF Mode, AF Target Mode, AF Target Point.  These features are set in the Set Home Menu item.  The Home Function does not include AF Mode in the OM-1.
• Off

The Multi Selector Center Button can be Customized in the following menus:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Center Button Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Center Button Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Multi Selector Settings – Center Button Menu

Select Screen Settings Menu

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – A2 – Select Screen Settings Menu
E-M1X	Gear – A2 – Select Screen Settings Menu
OM-1	AF – Tab 5 – Select Screen Settings

Set Home Menu

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – A2 – Set Home Menu
E-M1X	Gear – A2 – Set Home Menu
OM-1	AF – Tab 5 – Set Home Menu

Multi Selector Tilt (moving the joystick) can be set to position the AF Target while shooting or turned Off.

The Multi Selector Center Button can be Customized in the following Menus:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Direction Key Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Direction Key Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Multi Selector Settings – Direction Key Menu

The Multi Selector settings work the same for all 3 cameras but the OM-1 is missing options in Set Home and Selection Screen Settings.

Customizing the Arrow Pad

The Arrow Pad can also be customized when pressed during shooting on the E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and OM-1.  The Arrow Pad can be set to AF Target Selection or the Direct Function where each directional key is assigned a function.

In the Direct Function:

• Left Arrow Key = AF Target Selection
• Up Arrow Key = Exposure Compensation
• Right Arrow Key = Can be assigned to 7 functions (8 on the OM-1).  OM-1 adds a MF / AF toggle function that can be assigned to the Right Arrow Key.
• Down Arrow Key = Can be assigned to 7 functions (8 on the OM-1).  OM-1 adds a MF / AF toggle function that can be assigned to the Down Arrow Key.

Note: The Arrow Pad must be set to the Direct Function before you can assign functions to the Right and Down Arrow Keys.

The Arrow Pad can be customized using the Gear Icon in the Super Control Panel.  It can also be set in the menus listed below:

E-M1 Mark III	Gear – B1 – Button Function Menu
E-M1X	Gear – B1 – Button Function Menu
OM-1	Gear – Tab 1 – Button Settings – Button Function

Custom Mode Dial Settings

All three cameras (E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, OM-1) have four Custom Modes located on the Mode Dial.  These custom modes can be used to save settings for different photography genres or subjects such as flash photography, macro, and birds in flight.

You can Set, Reset, and Recall custom modes on all 3 cameras.  The E-M1 Mark III and OM-1 both have a Hold setting where camera settings will automatically be saved if the settings are changed while shooting in a custom mode.

The custom modes can also be saved to a customizable button on all 3 cameras.

Custom Modes can be Set in the following Menus

E-M1 Mark III	Shooting Menu 1 – Reset / Custom Modes – Assign to Custom Mode
E-M1X	Shooting Menu 1 – Reset / Custom Modes – Assign to Custom Mode
OM-1	Shooting Menu 1 – Tab 1 – Custom Mode

My Menu

The My Menu pages in Olympus / OM System cameras allow you save your most used menu items on your own menu pages so they can be quickly accessed. The OM-1, E-M1 Mark III, and E-M1X all allow up to 5 My Menu pages with up to 7 items on each page. 

OM-1 My Menu Enhancements

A few enhancements have also been made to My Menu in the OM-1.  All of the bracketing menu items and focus stacking can now be individually stored on the My Menu pages making them quicker to access.  On the E-M1X and E-M1 Mark III only the high level Bracketing menu could be saved to My Menu and Focus Stacking was also buried in that menu as well.

There is now a setting called Menu Cursor Settings in the OM-1 Gear menu that will automatically take you to the first My Menu page when the Menu button is pressed.  Another nice, new feature on the OM-1 is that when you are scrolling thru the menus, there is an indicator in the upper right corner that indicates that a menu item has been stored in My Menu and on which page it has been stored.

Menu items are saved on My Menu pages by pressing the Record Button.

Summary

As you can see by the above information, the E-M1 Mark III, E-M1X, and OM-1 are all highly customizable cameras.  So much is configurable on these cameras that you might forget what is assigned to what button.

Although a few customizable options were left off the OM-1 (AF Mode in the Home Function), OM Digital Solutions has made the OM-1 even more customizable by adding quite a few new roles that can be assigned to buttons for quick access in the field.  The new assignable functions that I will find the most useful are Focus Bracketing, Focus Stacking, High Res Shot, and Subject Detection.

Written by Martin Belan

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