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Micro Four-Thirds (4 Viewers)

Thanks for hints how to setup (though I don't have any E-M1).

What key have you assigned to AE lock? This is useful when shooting BIF in A mode, similar to using M exposure, but with single button operation and working OK is most situations.
 
Thanks for hints how to setup (though I don't have any E-M1).

What key have you assigned to AE lock? This is useful when shooting BIF in A mode, similar to using M exposure, but with single button operation and working OK is most situations.

I have not done any setup not experiments for BIF yet. Shooting BIF is an extreme sport in Quebec winter. :C I don't understand why one would want to use a button for AE lock, it is set with the AEL/AFL options and I am happy with the defaults.
 
Thanks for hints how to setup (though I don't have any E-M1).

What key have you assigned to AE lock? This is useful when shooting BIF in A mode, similar to using M exposure, but with single button operation and working OK is most situations.

Tord,

I'm trying to understand why you would want to assign AE lock to a button ? On both EM-5 and EM-1 there are 3 modes for AEL/AFL in C-AF. These allow AE to lock on shutter half press or shutter full press. What exactly are you trying to accompllish ?

I've been shooting a few birds yesterday with the EM-1 and the 100-300mm. The improved EVF is a blessing; it is a HUGE improvement over the EM-5 for birding.

Regards
Jules
 
Tord,

I'm trying to understand why you would want to assign AE lock to a button ? On both EM-5 and EM-1 there are 3 modes for AEL/AFL in C-AF. These allow AE to lock on shutter half press or shutter full press. What exactly are you trying to accompllish ?

I've been shooting a few birds yesterday with the EM-1 and the 100-300mm. The improved EVF is a blessing; it is a HUGE improvement over the EM-5 for birding.

Regards
Jules
Hi Jules,

When shooting BIF I try to plan for where I want to capture the subject, where the angle of light is at advantage and expose accordingly. So I first do a measurement by locking exposure while assessing the need for compensation. Similar to manual exposure. I have F1 assigned to this.
 
Hi Jules,

When shooting BIF I try to plan for where I want to capture the subject, where the angle of light is at advantage and expose accordingly. So I first do a measurement by locking exposure while assessing the need for compensation. Similar to manual exposure. I have F1 assigned to this.

IMO, that makes sense for AFL since the EM-5 is not great at focusing on moving objects but why would you want to that for AEL ? If you set AEL/AFL to Mode 2 for C-AF, it will properly expose when pressing the shutter button fully - you have the same option for S-AF if you prefer. This way, the image will be exposed correctly. Since exposure measurement is done instantly, I don't see why you would want to pre-select it.

Also, I would set the metering mode to Center Weighted. That way, you stand more chances of having the light meter covering the subject when you press the shutter, unless the bird is small and positioned on one of the borders of the image. IMO, Spot Metering is not the best choice for BIF or any small moving object because the probabillities are high that the spot wont be on the target.

Of course, since my expertise on BIF is small to say the least, you may want to take these suggestions with a grain of salt...

Have a good day
J
 
IMO, that makes sense for AFL since the EM-5 is not great at focusing on moving objects but why would you want to that for AEL ? If you set AEL/AFL to Mode 2 for C-AF, it will properly expose when pressing the shutter button fully - you have the same option for S-AF if you prefer. This way, the image will be exposed correctly. Since exposure measurement is done instantly, I don't see why you would want to pre-select it.

Also, I would set the metering mode to Center Weighted. That way, you stand more chances of having the light meter covering the subject when you press the shutter, unless the bird is small and positioned on one of the borders of the image. IMO, Spot Metering is not the best choice for BIF or any small moving object because the probabillities are high that the spot wont be on the target.

Of course, since my expertise on BIF is small to say the least, you may want to take these suggestions with a grain of salt...

Have a good day
J
Hi Jules,

I shoot a burst in high-speed mode while panning. My experience is that the exposure is locked with the first frame, and this is what I want to avoid.
 
Hi Jules,

I shoot a burst in high-speed mode while panning. My experience is that the exposure is locked with the first frame, and this is what I want to avoid.

OK, I get it.

Have you tried this setting:
Menu Custom C: Burst + IS Off: If [On] is selected, image stabilization will turn [OFF] during sequential shooting.

Note that it works in reverse... It must be on to be off !!! There is nothing like Oly menus :smoke:

I'm not sure it will work for High speed bursts, but I know it works fine for Low speed.

Regards
J
 
Jules,
Have you noticed the IS on the EM1 acting funny on your scope? I find that if I have it on, and set to the focal length (600mm), that it sometimes vibrates/shudders for a second or so, and then settles down, and that is even when I am holding the scope in my hand. If I dial back to 200mm, it doesn't vibrate, but the IS benifit is greatly reduced. Seems that just the mass of the scope makes the camera think it is locked down on a tripod.
With the lighter weight Nikkor 400/5.6 it is fine, that is to say, it is great!
 
Jules,
Have you noticed the IS on the EM1 acting funny on your scope? I find that if I have it on, and set to the focal length (600mm), that it sometimes vibrates/shudders for a second or so, and then settles down, and that is even when I am holding the scope in my hand. If I dial back to 200mm, it doesn't vibrate, but the IS benifit is greatly reduced. Seems that just the mass of the scope makes the camera think it is locked down on a tripod.
With the lighter weight Nikkor 400/5.6 it is fine, that is to say, it is great!

Hi Dan,

As I wrote before, I haven't used the EM-1 with the scope yet, courtesy of our nice Quebec winter. However, what you describe looks like what I have experienced with the EM-5. I have seen that behaviour when I was keeping IS ON for a long time while fine focusing. Now that I got used to the scope, I can focus way faster and I seldom see the problem.

I suggest you put the camera in A mode, with S-AF and AEL/AFL at Mode 1 for S-AF. This way, IS will come on only when you half-press the shutter - this is how I like to use it. I pre-focus with the large focus button of the scope and then I fine focus with the small focus button (if I have time) - If there is vibration when fine focusing, I will fine tune the focus for a very short period while I half-press the shutter to engage IS. Working this way, I don't get vibrations caused by IS. Be aware that the EM-1 manual says on page 67 that "You may notice an operating sound or vibration when the image stabilizer is activated" which means that Oly considers this behaviour as normal. As a bonus, if you setup the camera this way, you will get auto exposure that works perfectly with the scope.

On a other subjet following our recent exchange in the Galley thread, I took photos of my grand-son playing hockey in an arena where the light was not that great and I experienced the EVF slow refresh problems that you described. I was using the the Olympus 14-150mm and C-AF at ISO 1600. I did a bit of research and I found this thread describing the problem. Let's hope Oly will find a fix.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3588272

Regards
Jules
 
Hi Jules,
I have had the camera set up exactly the way you suggested. It happens immediately when I half press the shutter, and sometimes happens again during focusing. I was amused by the statement that "You may notice an operating sound or vibration when the image stabilizer is activated". Merde! I feel the whole camera buzzing in my hand and the image is all blurred until it stops. About one second. Maybe it is normal, but it is unsettling. When it goes away the IS seems to work fine, but it keeps coming back.

I put my old Nikkor 135/2.8 on it today and forgot to dial the IS back, and it went crazy! Made all sorts of funny noises. Turned it off right away. Once properly set it was fine, and it is GOOD! Maybe it just doesn't like long lenses. I used IS on my E-30 on the scope all the time and it never acted up. Usually I left it off. On, I got more keepers, but off I got better keepers.

I notice the worst choppiness and slow refresh when the camera is focusing at the same time, that is, all the time in C-AF and while focusing in S-AF. (C-AF is so hopeless with the 50_200 that I only use S-AF.) Once focus is found, it is better. In MF it is ok, but still choppy and jittery at long focal lengths, the longer the worse. It may be the same all the time, but you just notice it much more with long lenses. Maybe the nature of EVFs and we won't get around it until the jack up the refresh rate considerably.
 
Hi Jules,
I have had the camera set up exactly the way you suggested. It happens immediately when I half press the shutter, and sometimes happens again during focusing. I was amused by the statement that "You may notice an operating sound or vibration when the image stabilizer is activated". Merde! I feel the whole camera buzzing in my hand and the image is all blurred until it stops. About one second. Maybe it is normal, but it is unsettling. When it goes away the IS seems to work fine, but it keeps coming back.

I put my old Nikkor 135/2.8 on it today and forgot to dial the IS back, and it went crazy! Made all sorts of funny noises. Turned it off right away. Once properly set it was fine, and it is GOOD! Maybe it just doesn't like long lenses. I used IS on my E-30 on the scope all the time and it never acted up. Usually I left it off. On, I got more keepers, but off I got better keepers.

I notice the worst choppiness and slow refresh when the camera is focusing at the same time, that is, all the time in C-AF and while focusing in S-AF. (C-AF is so hopeless with the 50_200 that I only use S-AF.) Once focus is found, it is better. In MF it is ok, but still choppy and jittery at long focal lengths, the longer the worse. It may be the same all the time, but you just notice it much more with long lenses. Maybe the nature of EVFs and we won't get around it until the jack up the refresh rate considerably.

Humm... I never experienced what you describe with the EM-1 IBIS. On the EM-5, I sometimes got those vibrations but releasing the shutter button and half-pressing it again immediately stops the vibration and it doesn't come back.

Regarding EVF refresh, I had problems only once and it was last Sunday at the arena, as I described in a prior post. It was in C-AF mode and switching to S-AF solved the problem. The EM-5 and EM-1 focus so fast in S-AF mode that it is probably the best way to shoot sports - I quickly press the shutter to take the shot - no half-press to pre-focus.

I have tried the EM-1 with my Nikon 50mm f/1.4 and it behaves correctly just like on the EM-5. I put the camera on A mode, set the aperture ring to my liking and focus manually - auto exposure then works great as does IBIS. Focus peaking works nicely with that lens.
 
It seems that having Focus Peaking activated has detrimental effects on the EVF in that it automatically sets the refresh rate to normal, even if it was set on high.
http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30731&page=2
I didn't find FP all that helpful for MF and have had it off the whole time. The 2x or 5x boost was sufficient. However, as it was on once, it set the refresh rate to normal. I have reset it to high, and I will see tomorrow morning if it is any better. Inside the house now it is not, but I will wait till tomorrow to pass judgement.
I think the noise they are talking about on page 67 is the normal purring you hear when the IS is activated. This is something entirely different. It buzzes like an electric razor. I really think it has to do with the mass of the scope because it only does it on the scope.

In general I am very disappointed in the AF of the E-M1 with FT lenses. It may work fine with mFT lenses, but certainly not with FT. My old E-30 blows it out of the water in that respect, and is not at all far behind my 5DII. They work fine on my even older E-620 and EVEN older E-510, so I know it is not the lenses that are at fault.

More tomorrow....
 
It seems that having Focus Peaking activated has detrimental effects on the EVF in that it automatically sets the refresh rate to normal, even if it was set on high.
http://e-group.uk.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30731&page=2
I didn't find FP all that helpful for MF and have had it off the whole time. The 2x or 5x boost was sufficient. However, as it was on once, it set the refresh rate to normal. I have reset it to high, and I will see tomorrow morning if it is any better. Inside the house now it is not, but I will wait till tomorrow to pass judgement.
I think the noise they are talking about on page 67 is the normal purring you hear when the IS is activated. This is something entirely different. It buzzes like an electric razor. I really think it has to do with the mass of the scope because it only does it on the scope.

In general I am very disappointed in the AF of the E-M1 with FT lenses. It may work fine with mFT lenses, but certainly not with FT. My old E-30 blows it out of the water in that respect, and is not at all far behind my 5DII. They work fine on my even older E-620 and EVEN older E-510, so I know it is not the lenses that are at fault.

More tomorrow....

I find that FP is useful with the Nikon 50mm and it allows me to easily focus accurately. Bear in mind that I haven't used the lens extensibly.

I also think the MF lenses are not responsible for your insatisfaction with the focus of the EM-1. IMO, it is more because the lenses were not made for the camera. Oly probably did the best they could to accomodate the lenses but certainly not to the point of causing problems with M43 lenses which are their bread and butter. I suggest you use the lenses for tasks where they perform well and M43 lenses or other cameras for the rest.

Regards
Jules
 
I have always said the for MF the E-M1 is fantastic. On the scope it is fantastic. No question.
The letdown is that Oly stated very clearly that the AF with FT lenses would be on the same level as the E-5, and that clearly is not the case. Those of us long time Oly guys feel let down. Believe me, it is not just me.
I have been thinking about sending it in to have it checked, but so many others are disappointed by its performance that I think it is just the nature of the beast. Whether I decide to keep it or not for its obvious strong points is still an open question.
I will have to play with focus peaking a bit more to see how accurate it is. It bothered me though that the VF flickers so badly when you use it. Cuts the refresh rate way back. One really nice aspect of the EVF though is being able to stop the manual lenses down and still be able to see something. Big plus there.

Maybe they should have just made the thing a bit bigger so that it could have a decent sized battery, It is a real power hog, and maybe it just needs more amperage to keep everything running.
 
I have always said the for MF the E-M1 is fantastic. On the scope it is fantastic. No question.
The letdown is that Oly stated very clearly that the AF with FT lenses would be on the same level as the E-5, and that clearly is not the case. Those of us long time Oly guys feel let down. Believe me, it is not just me.
I have been thinking about sending it in to have it checked, but so many others are disappointed by its performance that I think it is just the nature of the beast. Whether I decide to keep it or not for its obvious strong points is still an open question.
I will have to play with focus peaking a bit more to see how accurate it is. It bothered me though that the VF flickers so badly when you use it. Cuts the refresh rate way back. One really nice aspect of the EVF though is being able to stop the manual lenses down and still be able to see something. Big plus there.

Maybe they should have just made the thing a bit bigger so that it could have a decent sized battery, It is a real power hog, and maybe it just needs more amperage to keep everything running.

Dan, I cannot comment about performance with your E-5 lenses. Regarding battery, the EM-5 seems to perform just like the EM-5 - depending on what you do, between 200 and 400 shots.
 
It is not just a question of how many shots, but how much juice it can supply at any one time. There is so much electronics inside such a small package with the E-M1, and heavy demands on the processor. A larger battery would deliver the same voltage, but higher amperage to keep all those things going at once. Could also be that the processor is simply being overtaxed at times.
I have tried the camera this morning according to the discussion on e-group-uk, but there is no difference. The severe flickering during AF with the 50-200 is the same, maybe a tiny bit better, but not really any significant improvement.
FP activated and the refresh rate is automatically set to normal. FP on slows the refresh rate down to a crawl as before, but when I turn it off the VF is back to normal. When I deactivate FP, my refresh rate goes back up to high and doesn't stay at normal as it did with someone in that discussion..
 
Dan, the more you will fight it, the more you will hate it. Use something else in situations where the EM-1 and your E-5 lenses have problems.

The problems you report with the EM-1 are due to its use with your E-5 lenses. Why don't you sell them and get good M43 lenses so that you can resume enjoying photography ? There are superb primes and a few great zooms available that would give you a light and performing enjoyable setup.

Regards
Jules
 
Jules,
Want to hear something funny? Yesterday I was playing with it as usual, just trying to focus on things, with little success, when the whole thing crashed. Just before it died, the lens started making funny clicking noises, as if the diaphragm was going crazy. Then all there was was a frozen image in the VF and everything else black. Couldn't even turn off the camera. So I popped the battery out and put it back in, turned it on and saw that everything was working, and turned it off. Had other things to do.
In the evening I picked it up to try again, and guess what...IT WORKED! I couldn't believe my eyes. I had the ISO set to 3200, 1/4 second at 3.5, and the AF worked! Not lightning fast, but as good as the E-30. I tried it again this morning with the big 50-200...same story. Night and day! The E-30 is faster getting near focus, but needs longer fine tuning. The E-M1 goes there more slowly, but zeros in quicker, so in the end they are about the same. I tried all my lenses. Same story. So... WTF happened? Beats me. I went through all my settings and nothing had changed. I can only assume something was buggy in the software and required a hard reset. I see no other explanation. (No, I am not making all this up and no, I have not been drinking! B :)o:D
I am still going to keep live boost on and PF off to put less strain on the processor, (and my eye) and see how it goes, but if it stays like this I can live with it no problem. It will for sure replace my E-30.
The Canon AF still smokes it, but I can do so much more with the Oly. At least I can enjoy the thing now, and it is a very enjoyable camera!

As for selling my 4/3 lenses.... well, they are really good and I can get next to nothing for them. The 14-54 II/2.8-3.5 works fast and quietly, and the 50-200 has superb IQ all the way through ther range. I have a friend who has the mFT 75-300/4.8-6.7 II and the FT 50-200/2.8-3.5. Even though the 75-300 is convienent, its IQ is no match for the 50-200. Not enough lens diameter to get the resolution.
As long as things work the way they do now I will keep things as they are and use the Canon for the fast stuff. We don't do that much traveling where I need to watch the weight. I have until May 2015 to think about a long lens for travel.

12221456866_090f0c4b8c_h.jpg

From yesterday, E-M1 with Oly 35mm/3.5 FT macro. MF, hand held but supported.
 
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Well, I'm glad for you. To be honest, I trust your judgment and expertise but I was quite surprised that your camera was behaving contrary to all reviews. I'm glad the problem is fixed and that you are enjoying the camera.

If you are not concerned with the weight, I see no reason to sell the lenses if they do the job.

I tried the EM-1 with the scope yesterday. It behaved just like the EM-5. However, the better EVF is a bonus for focusing. Also, FP works better since I don't have to hold a button to keep it working - it is now ON/OFF on a button like it should be.
 
My T2 Canon adapter came today so I was able to do a quick test of the E-M1 and the 5DII on my scope. Here are the ISO 400 crops.

12254425595_b39046e30a_h.jpg

12254448485_547112785b_h.jpg

12254873764_c7e4d68428_h.jpg

The results are consistent from 200 to 3200 ISO. I see slightly more detail in the E-M1 and slightly more punch in the 5DII. (I added a copy or the E-M1 file ("opt") with a little more saturation). No PP other than balancing the WB and exposure. No de-noise.

For the scope? No question. The E-M1 wins hands down! 10 times easier to use, quieter, less vibration, lighter, etc etc... and the slight disadvantage in DR and saturation can easily be dealt with in PP.

Off tomorrow for a week of skiing:-Oo:DB :)
 
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