Olympus OM-D E-M5, E-M1, E-M10 - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Owners Thread

Nawty said:
Well, I mean the B&W conversion is intentionally set to make things either white or black with little in between, that is high key.

In this situation the sensor is just being over-run with red and when the jpg engine is applied you are getting that posterisation. One way to stop that is to reduce the overall exposure, the better way is to shoot in raw and recover the red channel and highlights.
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That's not what high key is tbh as in your definition you could still have a high contrast scene with very dark blacks. High key is aimed at reducing the contrast ratio and reducing harsh shadows, essentially shifting exposure/the histogram to the right (y).
 
I've just returned from a visit to Eilat in southern Israel. I had three reasons for going, bird photography, snorkelling and to shut my mate up who's been on at me for months to go there with him.
The spring bird migration is underway but I missed a great deal of it. There are some excellent birding opportunities to be had but on reflection I feel that a guided tour would have yielded more sightings but at a cost.
Similarly to the Morecambe and Wise sketch I seemed to be at the right places but at the wrong time!

One of the staff at the Eilat Bird Centre said that Mount Yoash, just outside Eilat would be a great place to see Steppe Eagles and Steppe Vultures. After hiking to the top of the mountain in the heat and seeing nothing I was told to go back in 10 days:banghead:

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Spur Winged lapwing

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Spotted Redshank

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Bluethroat

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Spur Winged lapwing

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Spectacled Bulbul

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Black Winged Stilt

Eilat 2017 by mack100, on Flickr
Pied Wagtail

The light was really harsh in the late afternoon which caught me unawares but pretty good at 6 a.m.
 
No doubt missing something very obvious but trying to do some focus bracketing/stacking but all shots are underexposed. Any ideas? Showing fine on back screen before I press the shutter or if I turn off bracketing and take a single shot. Cheers for any help
 
Nawty said:
Looks like a problem with dynamic range, red channel saturation and the jpg engine, shooting B&W will only make it worse as the setting you are using is high key with a strong contrast curve.

Shooting in raw to recover the highlights and under exposing a bit more will help although you won't be able to shoot with M and auto-ISO and use exposure compensation so you will need to use a semi-auto mode, probably shutter priority.

edit: to add, it's not a fault with the camera per-se, just that you are using it non-optimally in an extreme situation.
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niko said:
i would read that as the subject you were shooting is high key. basically the last sentence sums it up. I use and love m4/3 but for subjects like this its not ideal
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Nawty said:
Well, I mean the B&W conversion is intentionally set to make things either white or black with little in between, that is high key.

In this situation the sensor is just being over-run with red and when the jpg engine is applied you are getting that posterisation. One way to stop that is to reduce the overall exposure, the better way is to shoot in raw and recover the red channel and highlights.
Click to expand...

snerkler said:
That's not what high key is tbh as in your definition you could still have a high contrast scene with very dark blacks. High key is aimed at reducing the contrast ratio and reducing harsh shadows, essentially shifting exposure/the histogram to the right (y).
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Thanks for all the advice (y)
When I get my camera back from Olympus I'll have a play with using RAW & learn to use the Histogram properly :D

Cheers, Paul
 
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A couple of shots taken this evening with my new Em1ii to test image stabilisation. Both taken hand held with 3.2second exposure.
 

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Reckon you've pushed it about 0.2 of a second too much there. There good but not perfectly pin sharp are they? :p

I mean struwth, 3.2 seconds hand held? Come on! You just expect em to be sharper than that. :exit:
 
I am thinking of trying out the Olympus 12-100 f/4 on one of those free trial days that Olympus do. You can pick up gear of your choice from a designated retailer near you. There are 8 such shops in the UK. 1 in Ireland, 5 in Spain, 5 in Holland, 18 in Switzerland, 25 in Austria. And over 50 in Germany. 2 of those I pass on my way to work. An interesting distribution.

I got the link from the very useful: http://www.43rumors.com
43Rumors_logo.png
 
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Can't get focus peaking/magnification to work on my em1 or em10 using my samyang 12mm...I have no doubt it's user error. Any ideas please :)
 
I haven't tried a non-Olympus lens to know if it should work or not. It occurs to me that the camera won't know you are focusing the lens as there is no data connection between the lens and the camera so it wouldn't automatically focus peak. Perhaps you have to manually magnify the image on screen to check focus. Just guessing.
 
Idlefrog said:
I haven't tried a non-Olympus lens to know if it should work or not. It occurs to me that the camera won't know you are focusing the lens as there is no data connection between the lens and the camera so it wouldn't automatically focus peak. Perhaps you have to manually magnify the image on screen to check focus. Just guessing.
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I know I'm talking different makes and models but peaking works with my Sony and Panasonic cameras and manual lenses so I'd be surprised if it doesn't work with Olympus cameras.
 
milster said:
Can't get focus peaking/magnification to work on my em1 or em10 using my samyang 12mm...I have no doubt it's user error. Any ideas please :)
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just tried on my om-10 with a canon fd. I normally just mag the image to focus I have a button set to do this. its an option in the menu to change what the button is mapped to.
but i cant see a way to get the edges glowing to confirm focus if that's what you mean
 
Ah, sorry guys, meant to say I've sorted it but got side tracked. Turns out you have to have focus peaking/magnifying assigned to a button rather than it just being turned on to work on manual lenses. Hope this helps someone else in the future. Cheers
 
So I bit the bullet and bought an EM1ii today.

Not had a chance to use it in anger yet but here's some initial impressions:

1. It feels chunky as the grip is much bigger, at the moment I actually prefer the EM1 mk1 but I'm sure that will change as I get used to it. Due to the size it does feel more 'Pro' but that is kinda counter to what I like about m43. Memory card door doesn't seem as well built as the rest of it
2. Button layout is familiar and the repositioned right hand strap lug is a small but good change
3. Menus menus menus. Sooooo many functions to get to learn, if you thought an EM1/EM5ii was complex then this seems to be another ball park
4. Image quality is very nice, seems to be less noise at base ISO and I hear using ISO64 for landscapes is fantastic. Not had a proper chance to play but well lit shots at ISO1600 seem great @100% and due to the MP rise the noise is finer and nicer looking
5. SAF is much improved in low light. Not had a play with CAF yet but in dim indoors the mk2 can quite happily focus on black subjects with the AF assist lamp off, as long as there is a little bit of 'texture' to them (and I'm using f/2.8 lenses). Side by side the EM1 either fails or has to slowly rack through the whole focal range a couple of times and generally needs the AF lamp on too

Given I bought it for improved AF I am very pleased so far, being able to focus in dim light is a major improvement and if CAF has improved this much then I will be a very happy camper.

Looking forward to A) some difficult, PP intensive scenes as that will test the new sensor and B) testing the CAF, tomorrow is looking fine so hopefully I can find something to shoot.
 
Ok, can't resist, here's a low light jpg straight out of camera (via OI Share), ISO6400 1/25s 150mm f/2.8. The IQ is definitely nice but the fact it was easy to focus is what I really like, it's not as instant as in good light but quick enough - I'd couldn't get this shot with the EM5ii or EM1 as they wouldn't focus OR Leo the cat would have blinked (and looked grumpy) into the focus assist light.

Stress testing the EM1ii by Ned Awty, on Flickr
 
Nawty said:
Ok, can't resist, here's a low light jpg straight out of camera (via OI Share), ISO6400 1/25s 150mm f/2.8. The IQ is definitely nice but the fact it was easy to focus is what I really like, it's not as instant as in good light but quick enough - I'd couldn't get this shot with the EM5ii or EM1 as they wouldn't focus OR Leo the cat would have blinked (and looked grumpy) into the focus assist light.

Stress testing the EM1ii by Ned Awty, on Flickr
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This is no help. Unless the mk2 is now <£1000 :crying:
 
Nawty said:
Ok, can't resist, here's a low light jpg straight out of camera (via OI Share), ISO6400 1/25s 150mm f/2.8. The IQ is definitely nice but the fact it was easy to focus is what I really like, it's not as instant as in good light but quick enough - I'd couldn't get this shot with the EM5ii or EM1 as they wouldn't focus OR Leo the cat would have blinked (and looked grumpy) into the focus assist light.

Stress testing the EM1ii by Ned Awty, on Flickr
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Cute cat!

I'd love a EM1ii, but the price is a little prohibitive for me. I'd rather put that cash into lenses... em5ii for now it is! :-)
 
dclutter said:
Cute cat!

I'd love a EM1ii, but the price is a little prohibitive for me. I'd rather put that cash into lenses... em5ii for now it is! :-)
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I am wondering how far off the E-M5iii will be.
I may switch to two of them one with grip.
 
alfbranch said:
I am wondering how far off the E-M5iii will be.
I may switch to two of them one with grip.
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When the time comes to replace my GX8 (hopefully by then the E-M5iii will be out), I see myself moving to Olympus and away from Panasonic. I'd love an E-M1ii but I think they'll remain a bit too rich for my blood for sometime to come.

Simon.
 
I've just aquired a very low mileage OMD EM1 Mk l which I will run in parallel with my Lumix GH3, it will be very interesting to directly compare these cameras. I think these will complement each other in terms of strengths and weaknesses, Both cameras have battery grips and I have yet to use even one battery on the GH3 after a full days shoot. The battery on the OMD looks quite a bit smaller, can anybody advise what a real life shot capacity might typically be? Generally use would be for single shot firing, S-AF, wireless turned off, IS on.
 
I get 285-320 shots typically. If I go drag racing, it will often mean I use all 3 batteries. One of my pet peeves - I guess I could turn off the rear screen to save a bit. Or by another ex-pro battery :D
 
Wow! What a gourgusly designed creature that is. Now I know I'm getting old because that makes me catch my breath, my heart have a little flutter, and a tingle go over me MUCH more than most of the bird pics I look at most nights!

Sharp as a sharp sharp thing.
 
I had my first try with the OMD MKII and 300f4 pro not the best light but camera worked quite well the silent shutter is amazing after a few shot's the owl landed 10ft away from me and I was taking shots as it approached unfortunately I did not expect it to land near me and just could not get it in the vf .It flew off when I moved ,still a lot to figer out on the best settings for bif .
P3300216-A.jpg Rob.
 
On the OMD MKII is there a way to make the EVF stay on a little longer ? it goes off as soon as you take your eye away it would be great if it stayed on 2 or 3 seconds .
Rob.
 
Greytop said:
C-AF is becoming a real pleasure with the MkII
Another from lunchtime today....
Another close pass by Huw Prosser, on Flickr
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Super shot Huw. Very interesting to read your comment about C-AF performance. I've now migrated all of my m4/3 lenses over to Olympus, so when the time comes to replace my GX8, I'm likely to replace it with an Olympus body and preferably the E-M1ii.

Simon.
 
GyRob said:
On the OMD MKII is there a way to make the EVF stay on a little longer ? it goes off as soon as you take your eye away it would be great if it stayed on 2 or 3 seconds .
Rob.
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silly question but why do you need the EVF on when you're not looking through it ?
 
Because when tracking a bird with a long lens its easy to lose it in the VF so to help pick it up again I look with my camera away from my eye to see where it is then go back to the VF to try and get back on it.

because the VF blacks out ( switches off ) your 1/2 a second behind were you saw the bird .this is for BIF by the way.
Rob.
 
ah, understood. (y) Is there still the simulated OVF with the mk2 or does that not work either ?
 
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damianmkv said:
ah, understood. (y) Is there still the simulated OVF with the mk2 or does that not work either ?
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Thanks that is the setting I needed :) it's now like an optical VF and activates from the shutter button .
Rob.
 
I didn't know about that option. I was going to suggest leaving your thumb on the eye sensor near the EVF when you look away. I don't have an E-M1 though and that's surely not very practical to do even if it works.
 
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