OM-D EM-1

Really nice Phil. Are you using MF?

Bob

Switching to this more appropriate thread for the EM-1.

I ordered the camera and 12-50mm. Next the housing and geared port.

BarbaraJ will continue to use her INON 240s.

Oh yes, its a birthday present for her.

Phil,

We'll see you at the Fiesta. Contacted Jorge yesterday.

Also signed up for your personal session.

TedJ

I am using the AFL/AEL rear housing trigger to focus and then the shutter release to expose. This allows me to focus once on a subject and then shoot several times without a refocus. These were also taken at ISO-100, 1/320th at F7.1-F/9. AF seems quite fast and great image quality.

Ted, see you and Barbara in April.

Look what's arrived (thanks Alex)

Of course I still need a crucial part!

The 43 adapter is on the way...

Trying to work out a good button mapping or two. Luckily the EM-1 supports 4 "My Sets" (preset configs) so should be able to get the camera quickly into the correct setup for different styles of shooting. Any more tips on good workable button mappings much appreciated - I like Phil's tip to put focus on the AEL lever.

Simon

I am using the AFL/AEL rear housing trigger to focus and then the shutter release to expose. This allows me to focus once on a subject and then shoot several times without a refocus. These were also taken at ISO-100, 1/320th at F7.1-F/9. AF seems quite fast and great image quality.

 

Ted, see you and Barbara in April.

What functions did you set for the rear button focus? When I was trying to set this up, I wasn't getting the proper focus behavior.

What functions did you set for the rear button focus? When I was trying to set this up, I wasn't getting the proper focus behavior.

I think you should go for settings menu "A" AF/MF, then choose (right arrow) AEL/AFL setting, then choose (right arrow) S-AF, finally set this to "mode 3" and press OK. (Normally you would have this set to mode 1)

Simon

Since I have no water to play in I thought I might as well trawl the menus of the EM-1 looking for UW specific/useful settings and options.

WB Underwater preset - anybody know what this actually does as the manual is very shy at explaining this mode. Is it a modified AutoWB or is it a fixed temp (if so Oly don't specifiy a colour temp in the manual's chart)

One Touch WB - needs some thought as to which button is best for this since you have to be able to hold it whilst triggering the shutter and your other hand is probably holding a white card. How blue (or if you prefer, red) will it go before you get a "WB NG Retry" message is to be seen.

Settings menu items of note (I'll update this as I find more):

Menu A
AEL/AFL (as Phil uses) choose mode 3 for S-AF (and C-AF or MF) to separate focusing onto the rear lever.
AF Illuminat. - OFF or there may be a nice red internal glow!
Face Priority - OFF

Menu B
Buttons
One Touch WB - useful for available light photography
Underwater Mode - handy if you did not raise the flash before loading the EM-1 into the housing since it forces it to fire in the down position. However it also presets the WB, ISO Exposure Compensation & Flash compensation and worse it locks the setting of Aperture & Shutter & Picture Mode. This makes it pretty inflexible but might save a dive since I see no other way to get a down position flash to fire.

Menu D
Live View Boost - ON to remove the effects of exposure compensation. Very useful for full manual shooting.

Menu F
Exposure + Flash - ON makes the exposure compensation dial vary flash intensity at same time.

Menu G
WB Auto Keep Warm Colour - OFF though it might be worth experimenting
Flash+WB - OFF so that the WB you set, such as Cloudy, is not overridden in flash mode

Menu J
EVF Auto Switch - OFF otherwise the proximity of the case means the EVF is always active.

Menu K
Touch Screen Settings - OFF might as well be off.

Anybody have any more? Did anybody do a similar exercise for the EM-5 (a camera I have not owned)?

MySets a bit of a pain to setup but worth it. I am currently making Myset 3 a flash setup and Myset 4 an available light one (and as I write this I realise I should do a separate wide angle and a macro MySet too).

MySet 3 Flash:

Buttons:
Fn1 - not sure yet - Preview
Fn2 - Focus Home
Rec - Record
Front - Myset 4 (then can easily drop to available light mode and back)
Arrows - Focus Point Select (though could use these for direct access to flash mode)
Baseline Values (note):
S-AF
F8.0 (for macro shooting in A priority)
ISO 200
WB Cloudy
Manual Flash adjusted to 1/64 (for use when setting flashed manually) but flash mode then set to TTL

note: before I store the MySet I am also pre-setting some default values which makes it easier to get back to a baseline after fiddling.

Myset 4 Available Light:

Buttons:

Fn1 - One Touch WB - seems easiest to hold in conjunction with shutter release
Fn2 - Focus Home
Rec - Record
Front - not sure
Arrows - Focus Point Select
Baseline Values:
S-AF
F3.5 (I tend to shoot in A priority mode)
ISO Auto (max ISO1600)
WB Custom 1 (note)
Flash OFF

note: If the custom WB works well underwater there are 4 memories available which would allow settings for, say, 4/8/12/16 meters to be made on the descent. Then these could be recalled as you rise back up so no scaring fish with the white card!

The reason I like all this is that I have often plopped into the ocean to find I have forgotten to optimise one or more of the settings and then spend the descent fiddling with the camera when I should be paying attention to other things - surroundings, conditions, perhaps even my buddy. Also as the dive profile brings you shallower I like to try available light shooting alongside flash but there usually too many things to alter and you forget something or miss the opportunity. With the EM-1 these issues could be a thing of the past!

Simon

EDITTED on 9-1-14 with myset info

I use auto WB and change in post if needed. I see the one touch WB as being most useful for video shooters. Only need for U/W mode for me would be if you want to zoom the 12-50 because you are not using a gear.

The Nauticam NA-EM1 like the EM-5 housing has a wedge that raises the camera flash if you forget so this is a non issue if the flash is in place.

Live boost for sure at low ISO settings and high shutter speeds in manual.

The rest is a personal choice and yes an EM-5 profile is linked in this forum if you want to look for it.

Thanks Phil, I cannot find an EM-5 settings link - not searching with the correct words perhaps - and that EM-5 thread is pretty big now!

Didn't know about the wedge - that's a great idea from Nauticam - but now you raise the spectre that I'll forget to fit the flash ;-)

If you get a chance would you please see how deep you can set an custom WB on a white card.

I know you don't use it but I used to love shooting like this with a Canon compact back in the day.

Also have you tried the UW WB setting? Any thoughts on what it does?

Simon

PS I know that much of this is redundant if you shoot RAW and do PP but I find nothing satisfies like getting a great jpeg shot in camera (I still capture RAW+JPEG anyway).

Auto WB is how I have been shooting since I went digital and Olympus has one of the best auto WB systems made so I don't have much experience doing presets to compare it to. I shoot RAW and convert to JPEG when I need one. What I am seeing on the LCD is a JPEG so I get a good idea of what the finished RAW file will look like anyway.

More EM-1 photos from yesterdays dive, 60mm macro, Nauticam NA-EM1 housing, Nauticam 65 macro port, two Inon Z-240 strobes, all with the SAGA +15 C/U lens. ISO-100, 1/320th of a second, F9-F14. Very poor vis day. ALL of these images are about 6mm on the long side or about 3 times the M43 life size of 17.3 mm long side. Very Very little DOF.

Wow Phil! Can't wait to get this stuff wet.

What is a SAGA +15 C/U lens?

Simon

Download the current issue of UWPMAG.com, free PDF and read my article about this closeup lens if you like.

I just ordered the 60mm macro lens for BarbaraJ as well.

Now for the housing and port.

TedJ

Phil,

Will you be having some additional lenses/gear to try with the EM-1 in April?

TedJ

Yes I will have several.

I got a note from my Nauticam dealer about a recall for the EM1. The plastic port for the vacuum check light may fail and needs to be replaced they said. I did get 34 dives on it before I received the notice. Anyone else hear about this?

Yep , i'm waiting for the port/led to be replaced on my housing . It got to my dealer last week together with the note that there was a problem in this. I decided to wait with diving until its fixed .

What they told me was that the new led could arrive today , so hoping to get it wet this weekend.

Frank

Question with the Nauticam OM-D E-M1 housing. Are the ballheads on the handles removable? I use locline arms so don't need them.

Cheers - Karen

Yes they do Karen, however the base of the ball also has the screw threads that the upper support bracket (silver metal in the pictures) attach to. With out this the handles are not as stable - it's not that bad though about 5mm flex if you push, I would be happy to use. So may want to ask Nauticam if there is an alternative top piece for the handles. The screw thread is large M8 I think but don't quote me on that.

Simon

Karen, you could mount a T plate on the handle and then use a sliding locline T-plate base such as those by Ikelite or 10 bar to attach your locline arm to the handle.