OM-1 settings

[Will&BilltheKrill]

Appreciate advice on common om-1 settings 1. for wide angle and
2. macro

Would also be grateful for any advice on base settings when using the camera with inon z240 strobes and the flash mode on the camera

It might just be me but I find it more helpful to think primarily about the subject/s I’m shooting and then the background conditions I’m shooting in, rather than simplistic wide angle/macro distinctions, when choosing camera settings.

For example: settings that will work well for shooting a shipwreck scene, probably won’t for shooting a school of moving fish or larger marine animals, although all are wide angle.

I tend to choose either speed or apature priority (rather than full manual) depending on what I’m shooting. If I’m using strobes, they are on RC and I set the ISO to 200. If I’m not using strobes, I often use auto ISO but limit the range so ISO can’t go above 2000-2500.

 

[d^2b]

Several people have mentioned setting up back-button focus. Anyone care to elaborate? What are the benefits? Is turning off the shutter-release half-press focus also consensus?

 

[OT3]

Several people have mentioned setting up back-button focus. Anyone care to elaborate? What are the benefits? Is turning off the shutter-release half-press focus also consensus?

I only use the back-button focus on my dives now, I would say it depends on what housing you're using and ease of access to the buttons. After a while the half pressing the shutter would get my hands kind of sore, I found that the back-button was a lot easier and allowed me to snap photos much quicker and efficiently.

 

[Will&BilltheKrill]

Several people have mentioned setting up back-button focus. Anyone care to elaborate? What are the benefits? Is turning off the shutter-release half-press focus also consensus?

Essentially it separates focusing and shutter release to two separate buttons which stops the camera’s AF system continuously engaging each time you depress the shutter. This means you can shoot in AF-C with the benefits of AF-S because it ensures the focus locks and stays at the distance you’ve chosen until you press it again.

Topside it’s very useful for wildlife and astrophotography (using the ‘starry sky’ AF mode), and underwater I use it exclusively. It seems to improve the AF performance - I get less ‘hunting’ when the camera is finding focus. Plus with my housing/tray set up, it’s just easier/more comfortable to press a back button with my thumb when composing the image.

Yes, with back button focus set up you do want to turn off half press shutter release focus as that’s kind of the point, but not otherwise!

 

[justinthedeeps]

Especially for macro, engaging the autofocus every time the shutter button is pressed can result in the wrong focus point, initiate a full-range focus hunt, or completely fail without returning to where it started, resulting in much sadness and frustration when your focus was already good. So definitely disable that in at least one mode that you can switch to, and use manual or body focusing (with peaking) instead.

Subject loss is very common when AF activates on the 90mm at supermacro ranges, some settings may or may not fix this, YMMV

The Fn lever (1/2) can be used to toggle between focus modes (e.g. S-AF vs. C-AF). I have the half-press focus enabled when the focus mode is C-AF, but not when it is S-AF, configurable in settings