Author Topic: E-P1 Display Zoom is too large (Read 2522 times)

tom-ep1 · « **on:** April 20, 2011, 09:28:34 AM »

Hi
i got a new e-p1 here, till now i am very impressed. But one thing that boggles me is the display zoom when i am using manual focus. AF is out of question here because its too slow and i want to use legacy lenses also.

It allows only to use 7x and 10x magnification which is quite good for objects which are not moving or that are far away. As i understand the E-PL1 has the same limitation but goes even to 14x.

My problem is, that i am trying to shoot pictures of fishes which are less than 1 foot in front of the lens, so you can imagine its impossible to use this because the fishes are constantly moving in any direction. So i cannot follow while focusing.
In 1:1 mode its also very hard to focus because of the low resolution. So it would be nice to have something like 2x or 3x also available.

Do you think Olympus will be able to change this as an enhancement request? I dont think it should need much time to implement this.

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2011, 09:33:46 AM »

Quote

Do you think Olympus will be able to change this as an enhancement request? I dont think it should need much time to implement this.

They won't. It's a new feature, and even if it wasn't, it would require resources to be diverged to an EOL product.

Quote

AF is out of question here because its too slow

MF is even slower on E-P1.
Try something else - put the zoom lens ( I assume you have the kit zoom) to a wider setting. I will focus a bit faster there and allow more of the object to be in focus.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2011, 10:35:37 AM »

This has been a big complaint of mine also. I have no idea why Olympus didn't also offer a 3X and 5X magnification.

For your fishes and other fast moving subjects, also consider bumping up the ISO, shooting wide, and stopping down a bit to get a greater focus range. You can always remove the noise with a good photo noise remover, but it's very hard to recover subject blur.

Another tip: focus lock on a fish at a particular spot, then wait for fish to swim back to the same spot and then shoot.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2011, 11:33:21 AM »

I cant set the lens wider because i am already so close that i cant go closer. AFL+AEL helps a bit but cannot be used with legacy lenses. I just got an Sigma 50mm macro which will be quite useless for this situation.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2011, 12:06:53 PM »

With legacy lenses, crank the ISO, prefocus, stop down, and hope the increased depth of field will save you. Then use Noise Ninja or Noiseware to clean up your shots.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 20, 2011, 01:57:03 PM »

Without flash and kit lens i already got some good results even without flash:
http://apload.de/bild/110273/p1010022R5B26.jpg
I.S. also helps a lot and even ISO1600 looks quite good.

But with the manual macro lens i am afraid 1 second is just not enough to focus and exposure, its more like guessing and trying then. Did not receive the lens yet, so i just try later.

If i would have (not that i want to buy, just as a question) the 35mm Zuiko F3.5 Makro with 1:1 and adapter which gives AF, how big would be the picture compared to the kit lens with 42mm focal length when the distance is the same? And how fast is AF over adapter (Panny or Oly)?

Olympus says the 35mm gives a magnification at 2x but thats at a closer distance than the other.

Other option would be some lenses on top like the Raynox ones.

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2011, 02:28:45 PM »

I have using my Micro Nikkor 55mm on my G1 without the Magnification (old school style using the EVF as full size focusing screen). It works OK, and if you use f/8 or f/11 and a high ISO to get at least 1/100s, you should fine. And back off to about 24 inches and crop in your editor.

Using a magnified screen to focus THAT close is not the best, things go in and out focus with the slightest breeze.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2011, 01:02:08 PM »

They wrote me there is no plan to make an update but at least my mail was forwarded to tech team.

Maybe if there just enough people asking, it will change something. So please ask them:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/support_questions.asp?cat=Digital%20Cameras&id=102

taz98spin · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2011, 01:28:40 PM »

Best bet for you is to use zone focusing.

http://jezza323photo.blogspot.com/2010/01/street-photgraphy-zone-focusing.html

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2011, 01:55:40 PM »

Zone focusing is easy enough as described in the above link. You can write a few f/stop--Zone of focus combo's for quick reference. Like 4'-20' or 8'-30'

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2011, 02:39:33 PM »

What do you mean by focus combo?

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2011, 02:54:28 PM »

Like at f/8, you may focus on a subject at 10 feet away, to get a like 6 feet to 25 feet on focus.. but of you want more in focus, use f/11 or f/16 and focus at 7 feet for like 5 feet to INF in focus.

But, these are just made up examples. You need to go to a that DOF calculator and put your camera and lens/fstop combo in and try different distances in that field to see what combos you can pick from.

DOF Calculator

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2011, 03:58:07 PM »

yeah ... but here i have to refocus already when its moving away 2 inches and that changes every second

Em5 Pete · « **Reply #13 on:** April 23, 2011, 04:16:33 PM »

You may need to back up to about 2 feet and use high ISO and small f/stop (f/16), and crop latter. By moving back, your DOF will increase a bit. Use a tripod and pre-focus in an area they move into a lot. When the fish are in the pre-focused area, take a photo. You can use a flash at a 45 degree angle to the camera and you won't get a reflection of the flash in the photo. You will need a polorizer also to block reflections from the fish tank.

Don't know if the fish will like the flash though. You can place a white sock on over the flash head to diffuse it some.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 24, 2011, 09:05:18 AM »

With the 42mm i cant go back, i have to be as close as possible. The lens has also to be close in order to avoid reflections.
The aquarium is 5 feet wide and 2 feet deep, just to give you an idea how big this area is.

I will see how it goes with the 50mm 1:1 macro, maybe i can move more away then.

About polarizer i was also thinking, should help with reflections but i dont know yet if the macro will rotate or not on the front lens.

adash · « **Reply #15 on:** April 24, 2011, 09:12:59 AM »

You know you're going to electrocute all the fishes if the flashgun drops in the water, don't you?
A longer focal length will do fine with this shot, as it will allow more working distance. The only severe limitation is the shallow DOF, bit you can crank the aperture down and get enough light from the flashgun.
Do experiment, digital costs nothing to shoot with.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 24, 2011, 09:47:15 AM »

Thats not my picture, just wanted to show you how those are normaly taken.

"Do experiment, digital costs nothing to shoot with."

Thats good point

adash · « **Reply #17 on:** April 24, 2011, 10:24:41 AM »

Sure, I did a couple of experiments a while ago, but didn't have access to the tank top in order to attach a flashgun there. Scrubbing your lens onto the glass is the only way to do it, as otherwise the debris on the inside will be visible on the photo. Putting it as close as possible makes the dirt go out of focus and become unnoticeable.
About focusing/framing - whatever camera you choose, this will be difficult. An SLR may do marginally better here, as it will focus a faster, but framing through a viewfinder may become a pain in the back. Why not allow a wider framing, thus make both framing and focusing easier? Crank the zoom lens at its widest - thus you will benefit from both a deeper DOF and faster AF.
Lure the fish near the glass. Shield reflections with your body if you have to.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #18 on:** April 24, 2011, 12:30:16 PM »

For fishes about 2-3 inches the 42mm kit zoom is really quite good but for anything smaller its just too far away and too many details are lost.
Probably the flash will change this as soon i get it, but this will take some time.

In the past i used also an Sigma DP1 with 28mm equiv. and flash, and even for the large fish the pictures were quite horrible i must say.

tom-ep1 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 26, 2011, 03:58:57 AM »

Got my mFT to Minolta MC/MD adapter today so i tried the Sigma 35-70 2.8-4.0 zoom and was surprised how much more light goes into that lens. Just a shame that close distance is too far away, so the resulting fish size is about the same as on 42mm kit lens.

With the kit lens i had to use like iso1000 and with the sigma just iso 640.

Cant await to get the flash and the macro lens.

Author Topic: E-P1 Display Zoom is too large (Read 2522 times)

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