Setting up new E-PL6

Guy Parsons wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

About the AE/AF thing, is there a way to focus from one part of the frame, but spot meter from a different part of the frame, and neither spot be in the center (in other words, not tie the metering spot to the focusing spot in spot metering mode.)

Olympus always spot meters the same position as the focus spot.

In my case I 99% use matrix metering (called ESP?) then adjust via watching the blinkies to get what I want. Always central small focus spot, half press focus and recompose and shoot.

By using S-AF Mode 2 it meters at full press but the way it works I can aim at the final scene, see the blinkie activity and alter the exposure compensation to either get the blinkies right or to "see" into a dark corner, then do the half press focus on point of interest, hold, reframe and shoot and the exposure is how I adjusted it to in live view. Or, when using S-AF Mode 2 I can use the AEL button to lock exposure if unsure about what might change when I finally shoot.

Next if using spot metering (I avoid that as I've seen too many errors from other users when they take some general scene and forget that they have spot metering enabled) then my take would be to still use S-AF Mode 2 then meter the spot needed, press AEL, move to put my central small focus spot where I needed, half press AF and hold, move to reframe, then shoot.

Tried that now, easier and quicker to do than writing about it. Now to make sure that I get rid of that spot meter setting.....

In my case now E-P5 and 12-40mm, sitting in chair with one elbow on desk, shooting the dim computer junk under a table close by and was variously using 1.3 and 2.6 second shots at 14mm by aiming at different parts and getting the exposures that I expected.

What I didn't really expect was shake free results at those shutter times, but sure enough I got them. About 6 stops improvement, and when I think about it, that mostly due to elbow on table, I've done those stability tests before and elbows on table or chair arms gives about 3 stops on its own.

Anyway, using spot meter and spot focus is no problem, just involves a little more work by the user. Just remember to watch the AEL lock icon to make sure it's on or off as needed.

Regards.... Guy

Right I usually do that too- Olympus metering is usually great but having the "blinkies that dont blink" in live view is a definite help!  I can use the AEL function to separate focal point from metering point though.  Hmmm sounds like I might need to switch my first setting to Mode 2!

Thanks for the description I actually pictured it in my head with how to recompose twice and then shoot.  Wow that's a lot of IS you have going there and very impressive with the small weight of the camera.  With the E-520 I was able to do 15 sec exposures at 14mm without movement, but that camera is heavier and I had my elbows and half my arms propped on a wall.  Did you have dual axis IS turned on or IS in just one direction or off?