omd:start
the Olympus OM-D system and how to make the most of it
topics
understanding the background and history of the Micro Four Thirds camera system
understanding the basics of photography
which camera to buy
which lens to buy
if you want to
blur the background, get a lens with wide aperture and longer focal length such as:
if you want a fun, discrete, compact party lens or lens for night time street photography:
if you want pro quality, splashproof, zoom lenses:
if you can't afford the pro zoom lenses and want a zoom lens:
if you want to get REALLY close up for macrophotography:
if you want to go on a wildlife safari:
if you are going to Iceland:
weathersealed and no changing lenses outdoors is important!
bring extra batteries, and preferably two camera bodies and a tripod
a 2 lens approach:
a 3 lens approach:
more lenses:
essential accessories to buy
at least one spare battery - and take it with you!
protective filter for each lens (this could be a polarising filter or UV) - see below
lens cleaning blower brush and cloth
buy a quality polariser filter for each lens
unlike the film days you don't need many filters in the digital world, but you DO need to protect the front glass of your lens
thankfully, the lens filter size and thus cost is substantially smaller and cheaper with these Olympus cameras than with larger sensor dSLRs
my preference is to use a polariser ALL the time when shooting outdoors as:
it protects the glass of the lens and saves me being paranoid about putting a lens cap back on which I always end up losing
it allows you to use wider apertures in bright sunlight to help better blurring of the background
it is essential when taking photos of foliage such as in forests or gardens - you rotate it so that the reflections of the sky on each leaf disappear and you can then bring out the richness of the foliage colour
it is very handy when shooting water or glass as it can control the reflections and allow one to see through the water or glass more clearly
it is useful in making the sky a lovely darker blue
buy a “circular” one not a “linear” one as old style linear ones do not work well with modern autofocus systems - most are now “circular” for this reason (NB. they are all round - the circular does not reference the shape of the filter!)
remember to remove it indoors or when shooting in low light as it cuts out HALF your light (ie. 1 f stop) and it will make autofocus harder in low light
remove all filters when shooting INTO light sources such as the sun or street lamps at night as these will add to flare and lower contrast (unless you want to achieve that)
other filters to consider
consider buying rectangular gradient ND 0.6 filters if you shoot landscapes - these can be used to darken the sky to avoid blown highlights examples are Cokin, Lee
consider buying a 3x neutral density filter (ND8) if you shoot flash in bright sunlight and want to use a wide aperture to blur the background
consider buying a ND400 filter (really dark 10 stop filter) to allow LONG exposures during day time to capture moving water in a soft blurred manner
decide how you will carry and use the camera
consider buying a good quality tripod
beginners "Point & Shoot" settings
set top dial (“PASM dial”) to iAUTO
on the E-M1 there is a central button which locks it, you may need to press it once to unlock the dial
this mode over-rides and disables many settings in the camera including the top two adjustment dials BUT not the function buttons which will remain as you have programmed them (or factory default)
to make adjustments in this mode, press the OK button and the Live Guide will display which allows a “dummies” approach to adjusting settings (although it is poor at teaching you what is happening!)
autofocus:
by default, the camera will choose what to AF on (usually the closest subject it finds - or a face if it finds it)
you can over-ride this by either:
pressing the left rear arrow buttons to select a small area on which to focus, or,
you can AF by pressing on the touch screen
if iAUTO is not doing what you want, try rotating PASM dial to “SCN”:
there are a multitude of SCENE modes from which you can select, and for each the camera will set its own settings to hopefully give you the results you want
use the top rear dial to choose a style
if you want to change the scene style again, press OK to bring up the selections
if you want to have some fun:
and of course, there is movie mode:
once you understand photography basics, use Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority modes
BUT if you really want to learn how to take photos - use MANUAL exposure mode
setting up the camera for your style
removing annoyances
Turn MF Assist OFF
Menu:Cogs:A:MF Assist = OFF
this automatic MF Assist mode which activates magnify mode when you move the MF ring, annoyingly deactivates magnify mode as soon as you stop moving the MF ring which does not give your eyes enough time to check it
better to activate magnify manually via Fn2 button!
managing the viewfinder and LCD screen
if you need a high positive diopter setting, there is a major risk it will magnify direct sunlight entering the rear of the EVF with resultant destruction of the EVF (causes yellow-green blotches where it has burnt the EVF)
this has not been an issue with the E-M5's EVF but is an issue with the E-M1 and presumably the E-M10
take great care leaving the camera in sunlight
ensuring you get the exposure you want
white balance
ensuring accurate focus
blurring the background
making everything sharp
this requires sufficient
depth of field (DOF) to cover your subject focus range by selecting a large aperture number, if this is not possible or not desirable, other techniques include:
silent shooting
shooting in the rain
most OM-D cameras (except the E-M10 series) are weathersealed - perhaps better than any other camera apart from underwater cameras, and when used with a weathersealed lens, then can be safely used to shoot in the rain without protection as long as you take precautions:
tip:
flash photography
macrophotography
jpeg rendering
long exposure photography
panoramic stitching
maximising image detail
capturing detail in highlights and shadows
software
Olympus Workspace
Olympus Viewer
Olympus Capture
Olympus smartphone apps
-
allows smartphones to remotely control compatible cameras via WiFi
cameras include: E-M10, E-M1, E-P5, E-M5 II (but not the E-M5)
On1 Photo RAW
Adobe Lightroom
excellent software for editing your RAW or jpeg images non-destructively but has limitations - no layers, etc
unlike Olympus software, can be used on other cameras
unfortunately, you now need to pay an annual subscription to keep using the software so consider other options
do not need Lens Correction Profiles for
Micro Four Thirds system and their dedicated lenses as the RAW file contains this data and Lightroom will automatically read it.
1)
Adobe Photoshop
much more powerful than Lightroom as it is also capable of:
using layers
sequential editing where you have control of the order of edits
avoiding use of a single large database and using files instead to store edits
edit in LAB mode
much more sophisticated brush, subject selection, sharpening tools
unfortunately, you now need to pay an annual subscription to keep using the software so consider other options
-
nerdy stuff
how much has the camera been used and how long should it last?
cameras are designed to take a certain number of shots before their shutter mechanism risks failing and needing replacing (usually this means throwing the camera out and buying a newer updated camera)
many cameras have shutter mechanisms rated at around 150,000 shots
to find out how many shots your Olympus camera has taken, see:
powering your camera when the battery is flat
camera date and time continuously needs resetting
the internal camera battery which allows the date and time to be maintained requires charging from a charged main battery
if the main battery is flat or you remove it for more than 24hrs, then the internal battery may go flat and when you next turn the camera on, the date and time will need to be reset
if you are sure it is not the above issue, you may have a faulty internal battery and the camera may need to be returned to Olympus to fix.
omd/start.txt · Last modified: 2020/05/08 21:22 by gary1