Setting up new E-PL6

alexisgreat wrote:

Thanks, John, those are some spectacular images!

Thanks, Alex

After some "testing" I set mine to 200-6400.

Probably best to set the upper limit for Auto-ISO to 1600-2000 at the start. No mFTs camera is in the same league as e.g. a Nikon D4s, where you can get away with blue murder at ISO 6400 (and above ... ). You have to make sure that you get enough light on the sensor in our cameras (wide enough f-stop and sufficient exposure time - I have tried to work out what those values are in a desultory manner, but got lost ... ), or the noise will be horrendous, even at ISO 3200. The lesson being is that we cannot just ramp the ISO and to heck with the consequences! Lots of trial and error test shots help ...

Going to do the contrast and sharpness now too.

I'm not quite as brave as Guy as regards setting NF = Off, but STANDARD is way too aggressive, and forget about HIGH as if it didn't exist, unless you like your photos to look like oil paintings done with a palette knife ...

However, he might want to PP his JPEGs sometimes. Mine are only ever used for web upload, etc, for which I almost never start off with the RAW file. Our needs and methods are always going to be different - I can guarantee that!

Do you use multimetering and no EC also? I was experimenting with multi, spot and average metering.

IMHO, many posters here do not realise just how important metering (and AF) modes are. Changing metering mode will almost always get you out of trouble with highly back lit subjects and other difficult lighting situations. Also IMO, changing metering mode is often preferable to using EC. Also experiment with HIGH and LOW key metering modes. Auto-Gradation sometimes has its uses too (not very often, IMHO ... ).

Learning when it's appropriate to use Spot, Centre-weighted average and Matrix (ESP) is critical IMO. Also learn where the limits are of spot and CWA modes.

When all else fails, the camera is a wonderful light meter! Take a shot, and see how it turns out ... Then work out what you have to set and what to in order to 'correct' the 'errors' the camera has made to achieve the shot you want.

This photo required about 3-6 test exposures to work out why the camera was being fooled, then set it up manually to get the image of the illusions I wanted. Portrait of the artist:

Multiple illusions. What's real? What's a reflection?

Hope this drivel helps a bit.

AF modes are a whole other can of worms ...