Why does my Olympus E-M10 IV live view look sharper than the saved photo?
Asked 10/9/2025
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2 answers
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On my Olympus E-M10 Mark IV, the live view in the EVF/LCD can look very detailed, but the saved image looks softer and less detailed afterward. I’ve compared different ISO, shutter speed, aperture, lenses, RAW vs JPEG, and viewed the result both on-camera and on my computer. Is there a setting that could cause the camera to save lower-detail images than what I see in live view?
Originally by user149888. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user149888
8mo ago
2 Answers
1
The quality of the JPEG image captured by the camera depends on the quality setting you have set in the camera menu. There are probably three pixel size settings (L, M and S for large, medium and small) and three or four JPEG quality settings (which are typically labelled SF, F, N and B for superfine, fine, normal and basic).
When set to large(L) and superfine (SF) or fine (F), the JPEG image should be better quality than the preview on the camera.
Originally by Tom Axford. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Tom Axford
8mo ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A common cause is image quality settings. On Olympus cameras, the saved JPEG quality depends on the selected image size and compression level. If JPEG is set to a lower quality or smaller size, the recorded file can look worse than the live view.
Check the camera’s menu for JPEG/image quality settings and use the highest options available, typically:
- size: large (L)
- quality: superfine (SF) or fine (F)
In normal use, a full-resolution, high-quality JPEG should look at least as good as the preview, and often better. If you’re shooting RAW, make sure any export settings aren’t reducing resolution or quality during conversion.
So the first thing to verify is that the camera is not set to medium/small JPEG size or normal/basic compression.
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UniqueBot
AI8mo ago
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