E-M5 | Absolute Best Settings for Big Landscapes

I'm taking a trip soon to the Desert Southwest. Lots of opportunity to take pretty desert landscape photos.  Many will be around sunset and sunrise. Since I'm still learning my E-M5, I figured I would solicit input on the best settings for the camera to ensure the best digital negatives possible.

A few notes:

* I'll be shooting on a tripod with a remote shutter release.

* I plan to use a polarizing filter where appropriate.

* I plan to process the images through LR, so I'm looking for the best quality RAW files, not the best finished product (or I'd just shoot JPEG).

So, with that aside, is any of this incorrect?

* Use .ORF rather than .DNG.

* IBIS off / tripod mode selected.

* Anti-shock on.

* Noise reduction off.

* ISO 200.

* Stop down aperture to optimum sharpness depending on lens, but stay above f/8 no matter what to avoid diffraction.

Am I missing something? I know there are some tricks buried in various E-M5 menus, and I'd hate to overlook anything helpful on a trip with so many opportunities.

Thanks much for any guidance.

Anti shock is a good idea. If you don't want to use a remote cable, the 2 or 12 second delay shooting mode works fine with a shutter press, unless it is a long lens.
Noise reduction does the dark frame subtraction to remove hot pixels, and might be a good idea if you turn it on for dusk or nighttime landscapes. I think this applies to Raws and jpegs as well.
The noise filter setting doesn't matter as you are shooting raw.
Only ORF is possible, DNG is not in an Oly camera.
Keep IBIS off unless you notice the camera is shaking on the tripod, then consider it an option. If you are shooting wide angle landscapes it isn't really an issue.

You might want to read up on proper orientation methods for your polerizer to achieve maximum effect (or jsut rotate it until you get the effect you want in the viewfinder).
I would manual focus at 14x to ensure you get the correct area in focus. Also perhaps the DOF preview button might help you select the correct apeture for the desired image.

The most important thing would be getting the right lens for the shot, in my humble opinion.

Keep with ORF. Even if using jpegs all the time, always shoot RAW+jpeg keep the ORF.

IBIS off is recommended, though many seem to find that it does not matter if left on with E-M5.

2 seconds anti-shock for a heavy tripod, maybe longer for a flimsy one. I usually double doe and use 2 seconds Timer plus 2 seconds anti-shock. Never tested if I'm wasting effort though.

Leave Noise Reduction at Auto, that way the dark frame subtraction cuts in at 4 seconds or longer, and is useful.

Set Noise Filter Off, that is the one that destroys detail in jpegs but should have no effect on the ORFs.

Yes, lowest ISO when on a tripod if the shutter times suit the situation, ie nothing moving, no wind blowing foliage about (if any).

Yes, but do not be scared of f/8 as sometimes it may improve depth of field to look better despite the slight diffraction possible.

This is where you need an E-PL5 to get the one press HDR sets to work on later if playing with high dynamic range scenes.

But really, it is the lens and its focus and settings that will make the most difference and using ORFs to recover as much as possible when it gets tricky. Try examples with both hyperfocal and infinity/most distant object focus to see which works best for you.

Oh, and don't forget to ditch any "protective" filters and make sure to always use a decent lens hood.

Regards.... Guy

That would basically be my advice. RAW, as noted, will give you all the flexibility that you need in post. However, as diglloyd has noted, the RAWs from the OM-D are frequently underexposed, resulting in more noise and less DR than necessesary. I tried this out on my most recent trip and found that this was true in many situations: what looked blown out on the histogram and JPEGs was just fine once I had a look at the RAWs. I took to manually braketing and adding between 0.7 and 1.0 stops for my second exposure. My wife uses my JPEGs to send around to family and post on facebook so I made a JPEG and a RAW exposure, if you want to look at it that way.

My other recommendation would be to use an L bracket. For me, I consider this essential for tripod-based photography as I have an affection for vertical landscapes. I took delivery of the Really Right Stuff L bracket and grip recently and have found it to be an excellent - if pricey - addition.

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Dave Sanders

Thanks, folks, this is all extremely helpful.  These trips are too rare to mess up a bunch of shots.

besides the settings (I'll add from previous posts to bracket 3 or 5 shots that will be useful on PP and HDR later), don't forget the extra battery, charger and memory cards

have fun.

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reygon
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Take nothing but photos... Kill nothing but time... Leave nothing but footprints...

Read the thread on using your m4/3 as a field camera. Basically it involves using a longer lens and multiple shots to build up an image.

It seems like something like the Olympus 60mm M.Zuiko would be great for distant landscapes using this technique.

Good advice here. You might also find the DOF Preview handy at times.

I can't reach Fn1 comfortably hand held, so I set it to the Preview option when the camera will be on the tripod. With the camera in manual focus mode, with the view Zoomed pressing Preview can help with critical DOF assessments.

Oh - also play with the Live Time or Live Bulb exposures before you set off.   (If it wasn't mentioned already)

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...Bob, NYC
http://www.bobtullis.com
"Well, sometimes the magic works. . . Sometimes, it doesn't." - Little Big Man
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Enjoy yourself! I fell in love with the Southwest when I was there in Tucson.

I wouldn't worry too much about anti-shock and IBIS settings. Unless you're going out at dark, leave your tripod at home and shoot handheld. The gain in mobility from not having to cart a tripod around will likely outweigh anything it can do for you. Sunlight is bright enough that you'll be able to shoot at settings like f/5.6 1/1000 ISO 200; at that speed it won't really matter. (I've never used a Micro Four Thirds camera there, but I have used Four Thirds DSLR's, and left IBIS on all the time, and shot landscapes handheld.)

Leave "Noise Reduction" on; the only time it matters is when you're shooting long exposures, in which case it helps you. "Noise Filter" is the thing you're thinking of; it only affects jpegs, but should be Off for the best jpegs.

Really, the things you can do to improve your photography in the Southwest the most aren't technical; they involve putting you in the best places at the best times. Even more than most places, the "golden hour" is huge in the Southwest, because the direct sunlight from above during the rest of the day is just awful. The E-M5's sensor may be up to dealing with the dynamic range, but it still won't make a pretty picture.

I don't remember if the E-M5 has a digital level on it, but if you need to check to see if you have the camera level, you can line straight edges up with the trunks of saguaros (since nothing else is straight in the desert) if you're in the Sonoran.

The one technical thing that will catch you by surprise is white balance. During the day "sunny" WB will likely be good enough, but as it gets toward sunset the white balance can change rapidly, and "neutral" WB (what you get off of a grey card) may be different than "what looks good"; I often found myself pushing WB a little bit toward amber for the effect. There's no one right answer, but the question bears some consideration.

Enjoy the desert! It's a beautiful, beautiful place... just don't poke the cholla.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA

LOL, maybe once my savings account goes into 110% interest mode.  

How about ESP for metering?

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Bluephotons
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now. Bob Dylan

Your settings are fine but matter little compared to finding decent light, finding interesting compositions, choosing the right camera position, choosing the right focal point, and being patient. Experiment like crazy and have fun.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

that would mean you would also need a compatible tripod head correct?

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www.pixelsquish.com

Yes, an important detail. And, if you don't already have a compatible tripod head (usually Arca-Swiss style), getting a tripod head AND an L bracket is an expensive proposition. In that case, I'd stick to what you have. I would note that a quality tripod head is a 10+ year investment, however. Frequently better for one's photography than a new lens. Not as glamourous, though, so biting the bullet on a new head or head/legs combo is painful.

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Dave Sanders

you may also want to experiment with the GRADATION effects.

Depending on the picture you are taking this is a parameter that WILL affect what you see from your ORF files using popular software such as LIGHTROOM and ACDSEE-PRO (and probably most other ones except VIEWER).

I was particularly intrigued by this as I found by experimenting that I needed LOW GRADATION to get better control of highlights and less noise on shadows.  You can see a thread about this:  http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50756068

I use a spirit level on top of the camera.

I set the Myset settings:

1 for hand held with auto ISO, IS on, antishock off, face on

2 for tripod just as you outlined, and I turn off face detection

This makes it easy to transition back and forth.

I turn face detection off for tripod work because the camera sometimes finds faces that don't excist in rocks and forests, etc.

maljo

Not only that, but like a camera bag, often people will waste money (and time) slowly building up to what they needed all along;

"You can spend US$1700 to buy a good tripod and head, or you can spend US$1000 and do the same thing. (Corollary: eventually you'll do one or the other.)"'

I think I had two tripods before I finally got one without compromise ($1200 total, not too much waste), and perhaps as many as four camera bags before I got one that could take me and my gear through hell and back (that was a bit worse on the wallet).

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-CW

How big do you want to go?

I recently produced a 384 mp image of our local harbour created from 24 shots stitched into a panoramic. I used the olympus 60mm macro shooting in RAW as above. Only printed to 6ft wide so far (the biggest I could get in the car ) but the detail is stunning, picking out things it wasn't possible to see with my eyes at the time of shooting.

May be something to consider in addition to all the other good advice given above?