New Camera - Olympus OM-D Mark II

I’ve been wanting to learn more about photography and up till now, I’ve been iPhone camera only. For most of my needs, the iPhone works good enough but I wanted to go a step further and invest some time learning the skills behind taking great photos.

For my birthday I got a new mirrorless camera an Olympus OM-D Mark II and from all the reviews it takes great photos in auto mode but has the full manual options so you can go crazy if you want too.

As this is basically my first real camera when it arrived I assumed it would just work. Stick in the battery and start taking pictures, just like my phone. I was surprised to learn it needed a memory card and even more surprised the manual didn’t really mention that as a requirement. If I would have known I would have purchased that at the same time so I would have everything I need. Instead, I made a quick trip to the local Best Buy and overpaid for that convenience.

I will admit I’m spoiled by my iPhone. When you get a new one and unbox it, everything you need is there. Not having something is extremely frustrating. It’s like a kid opening a birthday present with batteries not included. Mark your product up $10 and include a cheap memory card.

I also purchased an intro to photography book so I could start learning how to shoot in manual mode and this is where my next frustration came in. It starts talking about important things you need to understand like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc. Then I consult the camera manual to find out where these settings are, but the manual is terrible and now I’m searching Youtube for how to change the ISO. I’m not really understanding how a cellphone that can do much more can be so much more intuitive.

Anyway, the auto setting with the default lens shoots some great photos to my untrained eye and I really like this camera.

Now to spend hours learning how to use it with auto mode turned off. Wish me luck!