Experimenting with curves control in camera with the Fuji x100v led me to consider what my Olympus EM1 mk2 offered along similar lines, and so yesterday I decided to take the Oly out on a trip and do a quick experiment. I was not dissapointed.
The EM1 has spent most of the last year in the camera bag unused, initially because I purchased a Lumix G9, which is very similar to the EM1, and then the Fuji. Prior to that though it was my main camera and I used it for weddings, portriats, commercial photography and my personal project photography. Prior to owning the EM1 mk2, I used the mk1, and prior to that the Olympus EM5. Before the EM5, which I purchased in 2012 when they first launched I was using the Nikon D3 as my professional camera, and the first version of the Fuji x100 as a street camera You can see a video I made of images I shot on the x100 during a trip to London to see the war photographer Don McCullin’s work at the Imperial War Museum by clicking here (will open in a new tab).

I purchased the mk2 Olympus on the 29th January 2021 from WEX for just £546.15p secondhand with a years warrenty. Today, the camera has taken 33,951 images and still works (touches wood) like new.
In the image above of the EM1 mk2 controls there is a box with a wavy line just above Fn2, which is the control to change the shadows/hightlights response and it is so easy to use. Press the button, and then use the dials you can see to the front and the back of the Fn2 to alter the curve. I have ‘live view’ in operation and I can see the changes. Once happy press the Fn2 button again and then the way I have my camera set up the two dials revert to changing +/- over-ride to the exposure the auto exposure has set, or they change aperture and shutter speed if I am in manual.

The above image is one of the photographs I designed during the short walk with the EM1 mk2 to test changing curves, which was in Cleethorpes on a sunny day (January 2nd 2023). It is a screengrab from the OM Workspace software and shows the shadows/highlight curve (bottom right corner) that I set in camera.
In camera I lifted the highlights because I wanted the white of the ship with KESS and it, the lighter tones of the husky dog and the shopping bag it to be brighter. Of course, I could make these changes in post production, but these experiments are about making changes in camera and spending less time on a computer. The ship, the dog, and the bag were all moving, but what I found was that I could make the changes to the curve without moving the camera from my eye, and in just a few moments. This is a real advantage over the Fuji which requires more time to change the curve.

You can see some of the other images I took with altered curves by clicking here. Click on the individual frames to see an larger version.
If you have anything to add to this conversation of any questions please use the comments box below.
Happy Creating
Stew