I had a similar problem when I first shot with the OM-D. In my case it was operator error - I had dialed in a couple stops of exposure compensation by mistake. Check to see if that might be your problem.

__________________
Oly OM-D E-M5
Oly E-P1
Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye
Oly 14-42mm, 45mm, 60mm Macro, 75mm, 75-300mm
Pana 7-14mm, 14mm, 20mm, 25mm, 3D
Lensbaby
Pinhole

Have you got the face priority set on?

__________________

The best shot you take is with the camera that you have with you.

Good samples to work with. Thanks.

You are likely on the intelligent metering. In the second case, it's heavily back-lit. In the first case, you do have some strong lit elements. Tried center weigheted or even spot metering. Also, you could dial in a +ev. Another poster mentioned the -EV issues they accidentally experienced.

On sharpness -- that's hard to judge on underexposed shots. Have you had any sharpness issues on a test of an evenly lit subject?

__________________
EM5; 9-18, PL25, 100-300 and some others.
(also, 6D + RX100)

Both sample shots have subjects in relative darkness, compared with other bright light sources in the image. In the photo with the boy, he is in shade, and the whole background is in bright sun. The auto exposure setting will average it, making him much too dark. If you compensated manually, he would be lit OK, but the background would be very light. The interior shot is a similar problem. The subject is in the dark room, with brilliant sunlit windows in the image area. When the meter reads those windows, it will throw that reading into the average for the scene, darkening the whole image to compensate, and thus the subject winds up too dark. Try some photos where the lighting is favorable, since this type of shot is difficult to get good exposure in all areas wthout fill flash or HDR technique, etc.

I'd give it more time. I can take 1000 photos and only get 20 keepers.

Turned the ev up one and changed to P shooting with center-weighted and this is what I got:


Still doesn’t look sharp to me. I’m sorry I missed the question about face detection - yes it’s on, should I turn it off?

Don't need to turn up the EV if you are dealing with an evenly lit subject. Only if it's back-lit.

This was shot at 1/6 second at F6. is that the long end of the kit zoom? F6? Ugh. Then it's a lens issue. For indoor shots without flash or major lighting, the long end of kit zooms will be an issue. Also, the ISO is only 1600. I'll bet you can set the OMD to do higher ISO than 1600 (it probably limits it to 1600 by default).

Is the 12-50 your only lens? Can you take a shot outdoors with the kit? You'll need a better lens for indoor shots without flash (like the panasonic 20, PL25 or Oly 45), or start using the flash.

Teh blurriness in this shot is the 1/6 shutter speed. For kids, you want at LEAST 1/30, and preferably 1/60+

__________________
EM5; 9-18, PL25, 100-300 and some others.
(also, 6D + RX100)

Ok, I’ll take it outside and try some after lunch. Thanks for all the help so far.

The reason I asked about the face priority is that I have found (on both my Pany and Oly cameras) is that if the camera finds a face, it will adjust the exposure accordingly so that the face is properly exposed. In both of your boy shots, however, because they are from the side, it seems likely that the camera was unable to detect the face.

You will see a white or yellow box around the face if it finds one.

__________________

The best shot you take is with the camera that you have with you.

The indoor shot of you with the dog would have had to be shot at iso 1600 with that lighting to get a decently exposed shot and get the shutter speed up to something usable.

I use auto iso most of the time. You have to go into the menus to set it but it is not difficult. I set my low parameter at 200 and high at 1600. The camera will chose the lowest or best iso it can manage without going way low on the shutter speed.

Also I would suggest shooting in Aperture priority. 'A' . Then you just play with the f/stop for your depth of field or more or less shutter speed. I never use 'S' or 'P'.

You just have to get used to thinking about three things. Light, subject movement and composition. iso auto takes care of two of those things most of the time. Composition is about which lens to use or how close or far to move with your feet. Also I suggest center weighted average for metering. I use spot only when I'm shooting little birds often against back light.

__________________
EP-3, EM-5, 12/50, 12mm, 17mm, 14/42mm, 40/150, 75/300, Nikon 400mm f/3.5 AIS IF ED, HLD6, FL 600R