OM‑1 shooters — how are you handling live view underwater?

I’m using the LCD exclusively (AOI housing with magnifier), and I’m curious what others are doing for composition. The OM‑1 gives two LV modes: Standard and S‑OVF.

Standard LV Mode

Gives proper exposure simulation, but at typical macro/CFWA settings, it can be very dark underwater unless the modeling lights are close.

S‑OVF

Brightens the display by removing exposure/WB simulation but doesn’t reflect actual ambient background or color.

For those shooting macro, CFWA, or wide angle with the OM‑1: Are you staying with Standard LV, switching to S‑OVF, or using a different approach to keep the LCD usable underwater?

Hi Adrian

I've just bought an OM-1 to replace my lost D500 but havn't yet got it underwater - not even into a housing!

I'm intrigued though that you compose on the LCD screen rather than in the EVF. Is there a reason for this?

Keep in mind the live view will only show the background exposure unless you are using video lights.

Just now, TimG said:

Hi Adrian

I've just bought an OM-1 to replace my lost D500 but havn't yet got it underwater - not even into a housing!

I'm intrigued though that you compose on the LCD screen rather than in the EVF. Is there a reason for this?

My old eyes 😃 I can use the Fantasea UMG-02 (AOI UMG-01) magnifier to make the image bigger and easier for me to compose. There are no similar magnifiers for the EVF, at least with the AOI housing. Moreover, I cannot see the full EVF display when viewing through the AOI housing.

Edited yesterday at 06:24 PM1 day by Adrian Gresores
incomplete thoughts

2 minutes ago, Grantmac said:

Keep in mind the live view will only show the background exposure unless you are using video lights.

Yeah, I know. I still can't get my head around which compromise is best. How do you handle it?

Depends on the situation. With a fair amount of ambient light I use live view. If it's dark I use the other mode (Sony shooter).

5 hours ago, Adrian Gresores said:

OM‑1 shooters — how are you handling live view underwater?

I’m using the LCD exclusively (AOI housing with magnifier), and I’m curious what others are doing for composition. The OM‑1 gives two LV modes: Standard and S‑OVF.

Standard LV Mode

Gives proper exposure simulation, but at typical macro/CFWA settings, it can be very dark underwater unless the modeling lights are close.

S‑OVF

Brightens the display by removing exposure/WB simulation but doesn’t reflect actual ambient background or color.

For those shooting macro, CFWA, or wide angle with the OM‑1: Are you staying with Standard LV, switching to S‑OVF, or using a different approach to keep the LCD usable underwater?

If you are shooting with strobes - typical macro shooting where the exposure is 100% from the strobes and the background is dark to black, then S-OVF is a must as you can't see your subject otherwise take your pick. I tend to leave mine in S-OVF, underwater it is easy to misjudge image brightness on the screen or the viewfinder I find so if you want to judge exposure looking at a histogram is probably better.

5 hours ago, TimG said:

Hi Adrian

I've just bought an OM-1 to replace my lost D500 but havn't yet got it underwater - not even into a housing!

I'm intrigued though that you compose on the LCD screen rather than in the EVF. Is there a reason for this?

The AOI housing has no provision for a viewfinder eyepiece, it's just a plain window to look into the camera viewfinder you can see the image but as Adrian notes you can't see all of it. So effectively the back screen is the only game in town for this housing.

2 hours ago, Chris Ross said:

If you are shooting with strobes - typical macro shooting where the exposure is 100% from the strobes and the background is dark to black, then S-OVF is a must as you can't see your subject otherwise take your pick. I tend to leave mine in S-OVF, underwater it is easy to misjudge image brightness on the screen or the viewfinder I find so if you want to judge exposure looking at a histogram is probably better.

I have been using S-OVF, also, but have been surprised/disappointed with lighting when reviewing shots post-dive, despite using the histogram. One option I considered is leaving it in S-OVF for shooting and switching to Standard LV when reviewing shots underwater. That may be overkill and too many button pushes, however.

6 hours ago, Adrian Gresores said:

I have been using S-OVF, also, but have been surprised/disappointed with lighting when reviewing shots post-dive, despite using the histogram. One option I considered is leaving it in S-OVF for shooting and switching to Standard LV when reviewing shots underwater. That may be overkill and too many button pushes, however.

Is this strobe lit or natural light? If it is consistent dialling in exposure comp in some manner - if you are using manual a bit higher ISO or slower shutter than what you would use based upon the whatever you use for feedback. For strobes crank it up as well.

To be honest I often find shots a little under exposed (strobes for macro with manual SS/aperture) and the images take quite well to a bit of exposure boost in Raw processing if needed, it's really no different to boosting the ISO the same amount.

20 hours ago, TimG said:

Hi Adrian

I've just bought an OM-1 to replace my lost D500 but havn't yet got it underwater - not even into a housing!

I'm intrigued though that you compose on the LCD screen rather than in the EVF. Is there a reason for this?

I’ve both, Nauticam lcd magnifier and Nauticam 45degree viewfinder… what I see trough the lcd magnifier is 2 times better than what I see trough the 45 degree viewfinder.. image is a lot bigger…. The only drawback of the lcd magnifier is that it’s almost straight and my neck didn’t like it anymore… but with that it’s a lot easier shooting macro also with cmc1… 😅😅😅

20 hours ago, Adrian Gresores said:

OM‑1 shooters — how are you handling live view underwater?

I’m using the LCD exclusively (AOI housing with magnifier), and I’m curious what others are doing for composition. The OM‑1 gives two LV modes: Standard and S‑OVF.

Standard LV Mode

Gives proper exposure simulation, but at typical macro/CFWA settings, it can be very dark underwater unless the modeling lights are close.

S‑OVF

Brightens the display by removing exposure/WB simulation but doesn’t reflect actual ambient background or color.

For those shooting macro, CFWA, or wide angle with the OM‑1: Are you staying with Standard LV, switching to S‑OVF, or using a different approach to keep the LCD usable underwater?

I’m an old Olympus user.. now I’ve my old em1mk2.. i think it’s similar… i didn’t remember the menu voices but i always used a setting that boost the LCD screen… without any simulation… 😅😉