David Busch’s Olympus OM-D E-M1 Guide to Digital Photography Paperback – June 9, 2014

Excellent content- all bases are covered and it is easy to follow and understand. John S. Barr

Very much like his other books on many different cameras. The instruction book that comes with the camera is hard to use to really understand why you would select one set or another of the various options-or even how to find some options. As a result, this book is a nearly essential if you want to understand what the camera is really able to do. The alternative is to spend lots of time looking through sources like the forums on DPReview.com.Lots of good tips and ideas that work as described. (I learned how to focus-stack effectively from this book, for example.)The various customizations available for this camera (and there are a plethora) are described -- as they are in the instruction book provided as a CD with the camera. Some information about each setting is also usually provided as well-unlike the instruction book. There is also lots of discussion of camera basics: how to get correct exposure, how to use auto-focus and manual focus... The book does need to address all levels, but for many of us, a prosumer camera is not likely our first introduction to photography basics.What is missing is a scenario based discussion of what customizations and menu choices make the most sense or are the most important for that kind of shooting. Examples of such scenarios would include: portrait (natural light and flash, adults, groups, and children), wildlife (birds, birds in flight, etc.), sports, concerts, landscapes. Suggested collections of customizations for a MySet setting would motivate this discussion. This would enable getting the most out of this camera, rather than any (good) camera.Also missing is how to use camera options to simplify workflow. For example, many of us find the basic JPEG processing loses lots of information, blocking up shadows and blowing out highlights to generate "punchy" images. Our usual recourse is to post process using the camera raw setting. While post processing and shooting raw images is discussed, what is missing is how to tune the in-camera JPEG processing so a much more "film-like" range depth is preserved in the JPEG, thus limiting the need to post process many photos. This camera can do this, and the settings are described, but not put into a workflow or scenario context.In some cases, it is clear that cut and paste from other cameras has not been fully edited. There are references to the value of using stabilized lenses, for example, that are wrong for the 5 axis body stabilized E-M1, that stabilizes every lens used. More than 1/2 of the book is about photography in general more than about the E-M1. Significant effort has gone into tailoring these sections to the specifics of this camera, but the rough edges show from time to time.

i have been an avid follower of David Busch's guides for many years. i previously relied on his guide for my Canon 5d Mark II. it was a life saver as there were so many options, which he made understandable and easy to find. i recently got the E-M1 and was totally baffled by the three and sometimes four different ways you could get to a setting. however, i was most frustrated by the olympus explanation of functions. i should say the lack of explanation. they explain by mentioning the name of the function and you are suppose to know what it means. i kept writing David to ask when the book would be out. As i tried to sort out the various menus and kept getting wrong answers from both the store sales staff and the factory reps at shows, i couldn't wait for this book to come out.Well i wasn't disappointed. it clearly explains what each choice means and does. i now understand why certain things were happening and how to adjust them. the camera is now manageable. i purchased both the iPad version and the book. i was getting ready to sell the camera but David's book did as i expected and saved the day. i recommend his books to all my friends when they buy a new camera. This is the way to get the most use and enjoyment out of your equipment. The best part is that i don't care if i have the manufacturers manual anymore. for the most part their worthless compared to David Busch's Guides.

Possibly one of the better manual supplements to come out. This does not say much for the manufacturer handbook. Yet, for anyone seriously interested in mastering all the many possibilities in this camera, this book of 400 pages well illustrated is a valuable starter. I have already learned some of the tricks that this baby can do, and would have never even thought much about. Busch writes in an informal personal style that makes it easy to follow. And the book shows some thought in organization and very useful color illustration both of the controls and the images you see in the finder and LCD monitor. I don't always agree with Busch on his personal opinions on settings, but no matter....he clearly knows photography and includes some primers on such things as reflectance values, and when to use autofocus or multi shots such as HDR.Update 8/27: I still find some material unclear in both the manual and the book and am back to personal trying and testing and following forums. Meaning It will not give all the answers to the perplexed regarding this complex camera, and it might take a different expository text to do that, almost a cheat sheet to each page of the manual perhaps to untie the Gordian Knots:-). I expect I will still need additional resources to see all the menu options and what functions are duplicated by other functions. Is the default position of Color Creator the same as the brush level # 3 dubbed Natural? A whole chapter could be spent on this Color Creator function, so I am missing something that I don't fully get hold of. Sure, it spends a lot of time on basics like P and A and S modes and histograms. Perhaps the author's aim was to incorporate some photo basics in a camera manual format, and one can't satisfy all buyers. He has partly succeeded, and I give him credit for a tough task. Yes, I still have questions, like how do I turn off some functions and more on the video aspects of the camera....for that we have FAQs and forums and Olympus sure needs an FAQ forum for users....(.clearly the engineers tossed in everything and maybe Dr Wrotniak the Oly guru will come to our rescue. Meaning someone with a more Olympus specific approach and a micro four thirds approach to this top of the line camera. Or from a dedicated user perspective I am thinking... ) I give it four stars for a reasonable literary and color filled effort; despite some errors noted by others which drags down the overall value. No I do not agree with every recommendation either. I believe adjustable P, or Ps ,rather is a solid way to use this camera for so many things....Busch is a strong proponent of histogram preview and I must say I have trouble mastering that part still.....need more practice looking at graphs and accompanying pictures. . Perhaps the multiple ways to handle exposure are still confusing and I am still dim on the displays of autofocus. I think Panasonic makes autofocus grids less intimidating shall we say...I am not one to nitpic the author too harshly for authoring this guide even though it is not as fulfilling as I had hoped at first..(given the state of tech writing from mfrs).. I say..it deserves a place in the library for the cost of a top notch filter from Germany.

I'm so enjoying this book. David is a great writer, knows his stuff and explains it out really well. I just wish I could plug into his brain and know it all as well as he does :-)Ruth

I is very American not an international veiw.The author has a huge ego and keeps telling you how good he was.However apart from being shorter by being more focusedIt is worth buying because it is simple enough for dummies like me to understand.

A welcome book. So much more readable and useful than the manual. Probably the best of available guides yet produced for this camera, online or published. It may only be lacking as compared to the Olympus online guide by Wrotniak as was available for the E-3.

Having only read a few small sections of the book, I am surprised at a couple of recommendations.The author recommends using a card reader to transfer images from the camera card to a computer. He says it is preferable to using camera battery power to transfer via the USB cable. As someone who has had hundreds of digital images corrupted by connection problems with card readers, I say this is bad advice, having gone from card readers to entirely cable transfer. What is so precious about that bit of camera power?He suggests we "might like to" switch off the image stabilisation when the camera is mounted on a tripod*. It is not a choice, at least with my E-P2. Leaving IS switched on when the camera is tripod mounted results in slightly-displaced double images. (The same applies, in my experience (macro), when supporting the camera on a bean bag or with your hands resting on solid ground). * An identical comment is made in the equivalent book for the Olympus PEN E-P2.That said, the book is very comprehensive and I am learning useful facts all the times, such as that I can use my removable VF-2 viewfinder (for my E-P2) on the E-M1 to give waist-level viewing. (In my case I will greatly welcome this for ground-level macro where the tilting rear screen does not do the job).I would recommend the book (and the one for the E-P2). There is nothing which comes close to this series.

An excellent book. I already had the Olympus E-5 guide from the same author and this is even more comprehensive.If you're lucky enough to own an OM-D E-M1, you really need this book.