Olympus announced a firmware update for EM-1 and EM-5 II. I own neither but the focus stacking option, only for the EM-1, could be of interest for macro. It takes 8 shots at slightly different focus settings with a single shutter release and creates a composite with increased depth of field. With powerful video light(s) instead of a strobe I expect this could work underwater, especially as you can open the aperture a bit more than you might normally do and still get adequate DOF. Of course it all depends on how well their composite-construction works but I hope to see some tests of this on wetpixel in the future. I am also interested in seeing comments on macro images taken with a video light as I've seen some promising examples online.
Bart
I'm not sure what shutter setting you would need to accomplish focus-stacking. It could be a problem if you are required to use a 1/60 or slower shutter speed as is required for the 40mb image in the e-m5 II.
You are right, it probably has the same limitation as the high-resolution mode. That would greatly limit its potential without using a tripod.
And then there's the question of the strobes keeping up with the shots.
Bob W
Hi Bob,
The idea would be to use a video light instead of strobes. There is an interesting post on doing this here
The brighter the ambient light and the wider the focal length the harder it gets but for macro the new video lights, not even the most powerful ones, seem to do the job. But if the whole exposure series takes 8 seconds then even a nudibranch may be moving too fast
Bart
Hi Bob,
The idea would be to use a video light instead of strobes. There is an interesting post on doing this here
The brighter the ambient light and the wider the focal length the harder it gets but for macro the new video lights, not even the most powerful ones, seem to do the job. But if the whole exposure series takes 8 seconds then even a nudibranch may be moving too fast
Bart
Not to mention the movement of the diver himself/herself.
