Can't bracket on tripod properly E-PL1

Hi everyone. One thing that has really bothered me about my E-PL1 is that it does not talk to a remote control. This means that when shooting from a tripod, you must use a timer. That's OK for a single shot, but when bracketing, you must get your hands on the camera an additional 2 times to depress the shutter.

For some reason, with Olympus cameras, the bracket set of (3 in this case) shots, does not execute all at once as a burst, you must go back and depress the shutter two more times. This means that you would potentially move the camera by touching it each time.

Other camera brands shoot the whole string as a burst. Canon does this, not only on the SLR I have, but also on my super zoom P/S camera. It just makes sense.

I was thinking of upgrading to the E-PL3 because it has such an improved bracket range (as does the E-PL2). When I discovered that they had not fixed this "problem", I'm not sure now. I think it's a deal-breaker for me.

How is everyone else doing this? Any tripod bracketers out there? Thanks for your input.

Hold on... are you saying theres no remote release cable or remote for the Pen series? This seems ridiculous epecially on a camera like the E-px series....

Does Pany take remote releases?
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Chris

A.B., as far as I know, the Pen series does not have remote capability (anyone know of any that do?). I don't know about the Panasonics. The M4/3 started as a second line for Oly, but is moving into the front... they should consider this rather important omission, since the new models are costing as much or more than an entry level DSLR. My E-620, and other SLRs work with a remote, and it most definitely comes in handy.

pixelpro said:

A.B., as far as I know, the Pen series does not have remote capability (anyone know of any that do?).

Click to expand...

Wrong.

The E-PL1 doesn't allow the use of a wired remote.
Every other PEN does.
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http://453c.smugmug.com/

pixelpro said:

Hi everyone. One thing that has really bothered me about my E-PL1 is that it does not talk to a remote control. This means that when shooting from a tripod, you must use a timer. That's OK for a single shot, but when bracketing, you must get your hands on the camera an additional 2 times to depress the shutter.

For some reason, with Olympus cameras, the bracket set of (3 in this case) shots, does not execute all at once as a burst, you must go back and depress the shutter two more times. This means that you would potentially move the camera by touching it each time.

Other camera brands shoot the whole string as a burst. Canon does this, not only on the SLR I have, but also on my super zoom P/S camera. It just makes sense.

I was thinking of upgrading to the E-PL3 because it has such an improved bracket range (as does the E-PL2). When I discovered that they had not fixed this "problem", I'm not sure now. I think it's a deal-breaker for me.

How is everyone else doing this? Any tripod bracketers out there? Thanks for your input.

Click to expand...

See [Bracketing], page 48 in the English manual:

• Make Bracketing menu adjustments
• Set your shutter mode to Sequential
• Frame & focus
• Hold down the shutter release to trigger the three round burst

You'll want a mechanical cable release if you do this very often with an E-PL1. They pop up on eBay from time to time. Michael Meissner found a nice one there awhile back.
--
http://453c.smugmug.com/

+1 yes you can. I do this all the while. When you want to do bracketing just change to sequential shooting.

My movie button is customized to exposure bracketing + iso200 + sequential shooting. I just hold down the movie button + the shutter for bracketing shots.

Thanks, 453, but I won't be getting that any time soon. Those strap-on, bracket holder, piece-together releases are too clunky for me. You can see the whole camera move when you use this model:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0iYnquOZyQ

...much worse than any mechanical cable releases that I used to use for my film cameras 20 years ago. At least those had dedicated screw-in sockets for the cable itself. These cameras don't even have that.

I am familiar with the camera menus and sequential shutter function, but you cannot combine this with the timer. It's either/or. IMO, a poor setup.

An electronic cable release or IR remote would be a good alternate, but it's a no-go with E-PL1.

Since the others do have a wired remote option then, that's a good thing. I'm one step closer to upgrading to the PL3.

Thanks for your input.

pixelpro said:

Thanks, 453, but I won't be getting that any time soon. Those strap-on, bracket holder, piece-together releases are too clunky for me. You can see the whole camera move when you use this model:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0iYnquOZyQ

...much worse than any mechanical cable releases that I used to use for my film cameras 20 years ago. At least those had dedicated screw-in sockets for the cable itself. These cameras don't even have that.

Click to expand...

PM Michael about that cable release, since I believe it may be the one he has. You may be in luck, though. It's possible that movement had more to do with the camera resting on a table than a problem with the release. If it was on a tripod, the results may be satisfactory.

pixelpro said:

I am familiar with the camera menus and sequential shutter function, but you cannot combine this with the timer. It's either/or. IMO, a poor setup.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were.

pixelpro said:

An electronic cable release or IR remote would be a good alternate, but it's a no-go with E-PL1.

Click to expand...

Correct. Olympus behaved stupidly with that decision. I think it made the Cripple List to help prop up the E-P2, which didn't look so good once the E-PL1 showed up.

pixelpro said:

Since the others do have a wired remote option then, that's a good thing. I'm one step closer to upgrading to the PL3.

Click to expand...

That's probably the new PEN I'd get, too. Too bad they robbed the flash and stuck it on the E-P3. Pulling the flash off of the PM1 and PL3 was very dumb if they want to attract P&S upgraders.

pixelpro said:

Thanks for your input.

Click to expand...

No problem. I like cracking open the manual and E-PL1 for Dummies when I see an interesting problem posted. I didn't realize you were trying to combine the Timer with Bracketing. If I understand correctly, you want to:

• Set the timer
• Press the shutter release
• After the timer delay, have the E-PL1 fire three sequential exposures automatically

It'll do that with ISO Bracketing, but not AE, which I'm guessing is what you want. You could send Oly and email about adding that to the next firmware package, but I think we both know that's unlikely to happen. The PL3 has more bracketing options and can use a remote trigger, so if you do much bracketing, that's something to think about.
--
http://453c.smugmug.com/