Menu Lockouts and Quirks

Menu Lockouts

As the feature set of modern conveniences and "can do" firmware richness escalates, you sometimes hit a combination of circumstances when you feel helplessly locked out by the camera. That is, you want to adjust a setting or feature and that setting is won't change / the feature won't happen.

Here is a list of cases encountered, hope it helps you avoid a reset of your camera in arbitrary order.

White Balance won't change option

  • In normal operations, you can cursor to the WB block on the Super Control Panel, then use the dials to select a different WB. Or press Ok to display the list of WB options for you to choose. In this incident, the other WB options are not offered.

Cause and Resolution

  • By accident or on purpose, you have chosen Color Creator as your current color profile. Color Creator disables White Balance adjustment since you have so much freedom in choosing colours

The LCD screen stops showing you liveview or stops showing you SCP

There is an EVF toggle button on the left of the LCD.

  • Factory settings use the eye sensor around the EVF to detect whether your eye is at the EVF. If that sensor is not obstructed, it can display Liveview on the LCD. If the sensor is obstructed by your face, the LCD will switch off and the EVF will display liveview.

  • If you don't like the auto operation of the eye sensor and want to explicitly control whether EVF or LCD display, press and hold the EVF toggle button for a couple of seconds and automatic switching is disabled.

    • With the eye sensor unobstructed

      1. Press the EVF toggle button to show Liveview on the EVF (but you can't put your face in front of the EVF). Subsequently the LCD will show the Super Control Panel

    1. Press the EVF toggle button to show Liveview on the LCD. The EVF will be blank.

    2. With the SCP showing on the LCD, obstruct the eye sensor. The LCD will be blank.

    3. With the SCP showing on the LCD, unobstructed eye sensor, press INFO repeatedly

      1. shows SCP

      2. horizontal alignment indicators

      3. blank

      4. shows Liveview

The Keystone menu item is dimmed in Full Menus

  • If you assign the Keystone feature to a function button, it disables the Keystone menu

The EVF Frame Rate menu item is dimmed in the Full Menu

  • If Focus Peaking is assigned to a button or enabled, the EVF Frame Rate menu item is disabled. (thanks to Gary Ayton)

The Noise Reduction menu item is dimmed in the Full Menu

    • Ensure that you set Burst Mode off - set only to Single Shot mode.

  • Noise Reduction is also dimmed if you choose Silent Shutter.

You want to assign the Start Movie Recording function to another button but none of the Buttons offer Movie Rec

  • Usually, people leave the Start Movie Recording function assigned as default to the red button near the shutter release button. Some people want to use that button for another feature. In order that the Movie Rec function be available for any other button, you must first unassign that function from the red button.

You want to assign MF to a button but you try every other button and that function is not available.

  • This is caused by setting the 2x2 lever to Mode 5 (toggle between custom Focus Modes). You need to set the 2x2 lever to another mode before the MF function becomes available for any button.

The Focus Stacking menu item is dimmed

  • This is because you have not mounted a suitable Olympus lens that can do Focus Stacking.

or

  • You have not chosen RAW+JPEG or JPEG. Choosing raw only does not work

Full Time AF menu item is dimmed

  • Full Time AF menu item is dimmed if you choose Silent Shutter

Live View Boost menu item is dimmed

    • Live View Boost menu item is dimmed if you choose SOVF

AF Beep menu item is dimmed

  • This happens if you choose Silent Shutter

Maximum ISO is limited to 3200

    • Yes, this happens if you choose Silent Shutter

Shutter Speeds

    • Silent Shutter: Fastest: 1/16000 Slowest: 1/8

    • Mechanical Shutter: Fastest: 1/8000 Slowest: 60 mins

Cannot choose the "Use Flash" symbol

    • Choose one of the other shutter modes. Silent Shutter does not work well with flash.

Cannot choose raw only as file format

    • You have nominated to shoot in HDR1 or HDR2 - either mode will not allow you to choose raw only. Switch those HDR modes off.

Lots of menu items are disabled

    • Reset / Set, Picture Mode, File Format, Image Aspect, Digital Tele-converter, Keystone Comp to name a few are disabled - Switch Camera 2 - Multi-Exposure Off.

ISO is stuck on 200 and cannot be changed

    • You have enabled HDR1 or HDR2 mode

Suddenly, your AF Target patterns are not as expected

or

  • You have activated 2x digital zoom

Shadows and Highlights Blinkies do not show

    1. First, ensure that you have chosen Custom Menu D > Info Settings > LV Info and ticked the relevant three display modes. Two of those modes are labelled Custom 1 and Custom 2 - you have to dive in deeper using the right cursor pad to choose Shadows and Highlights

  1. After existing the long form menu, press the INFO button repeatedly to cycle through the chosen display modes

  2. If you switch Peaking on, then Blinkies will not display.

Quirks

Camera switches to JPEG+RAW without approval

    • If you normally shoot only RAW, when you switch to in-camera HDR or Color Creator, the camera switches to JPEG + raw

Size and Compression Level of JPEG

    • The size and compression level of the JPEG is chosen from Position 2 of the Custom Menu > Cog G > JPEG record mode - you have position 1,2,3,4.

White Bounding Box / Frame over your review image

    • If you shoot raw+jpeg, the review shows the jpeg which is already cropped to the aspect ratio.

    • If you shoot raw only, the review shows the 4:3 image (which represents the full potential of the raw) with white bounding lines showing the cropped aspect ratio which represents the camera's crop recommendation.

    • If you shoot raw only and switch on the 2x digital teleconvertor, the review does not show a magnified image, it shows the 4:3 image with a white bounding box that represents the 2x digital teleconvertor

Custom Menu F (Flash) > White Balance

    • affects whether White Balance is changed when you use Flash

Focus Stacking stops too early - some frames are not included in the composite

    • For stacking to occur there needs to be an overlap of “in focus” zones, same as when you are making a panorama. However, if the step is set to 10 with a narrow depth of field, this can lead to a “focus gap” where a point is not in focus on any frame. The algorithm then assumes that subsequent frames are not part of the stacking set, and ignores them.

    • So the answer is to reduce the stepping to 5 or so, and/or to close down the aperture to get a wider depth of field in each frame.

    • (Info courtesy of David L Baker)

The long form Menu is not available in the EVF

  • The long form Menu is can only be displayed on the LCD. When the EVF is the display device, you will be able to call up the SCP and other branches of menus that can be assigned to Fn buttons, the cursor pads and the half moon buttons on the top left of of the camera

The AEL/AFL button does not actually "lock" autofocus

  • You can assign any Fn button to perform the function of AEL/AFL

    • How the AEL/AFL button works - what it does depends on your choice for S-AF / C-AF / MF in the setup menu AF / MF

    • This button does not perform "focus lock" when you hold the button down.

      • This button can activate the autofocus when you hold the button down.

      • This button can avoid autofocus when you take your finger off the button.

Switching quickly between Autofocus and Manual Focus