Helen wrote:
alexisgreat wrote:
my fingers are too big
I hope not! And it sounds like the other touchscreen things are working OK for you. Can't work this one out - it always works for me, whether face detection is on or off. Really strange. I take it there isn't any damage on that part of the screen, or anything that may be interfering with conductivity?
No but since everything else works I cant help but think I have a wrong setting in there somewhere. The screen is almost too sensitive when I tap the liveview and immediately takes a shot.
That sounds normal for the touch to shoot function, though. As you say, there might be a setting causing your issue - I haven't found it, but as we all know, the system's pretty deep so there is opportunity to miss a little interaction somewhere.
Oh I was reading a review and I had another question, how does one change the size of the autofocus points (I want to make it smaller), does this also make the size of the spot metering point smaller? Are these things that can be done through the menu as well as the touch screen? Thanks!
It doesn't make the size of the spot metering point any smaller, I'm afraid (since I guess you were hoping it would). You've got several choices for resizing AF points, though. If you ever get the touch-to-focus facility to work(!), then that bar that Guy showed will appear at the right of the screen and you can sweep your finger up or down it to alter the size of the semipermanently-positioned focus points (these are the ones with green frames, that are quite horizontally rectangular in shape). In fact, these targets are the same as the magnification frames, so in live view you can if you wish simply tap the magnifier key next to the Fn button and it will bring up a green frame, which you can then position with the cursor keys (even if you have them set to Direct Function). Whilst a second tap of magnify brings the contents of the green rectangle up to fill the frame, in both cases they are an AF point, so you don't need to blow them up to full screen for that function. To alter their size, press Info and then use the up/down keys to select a magnification ratio for the rectangle - 5x (largest), 7x, 10x or 14x (smallest) are the choices. A long press of OK recentres such a target, and a short press turns it off. If you have the multicontroller set to Direct Function, when nothing else is underway you can tap the left one to get to the interface for the permanent AF targets. A particular pattern (as previously set or used by you) will immediately turn up, and if you press Info, you will see two icons in the lower left - they indicate that the left/right buttons will now change the Face Detection status, whilst the up/down buttons cycle through the patterns and sizes. The really small squares are my personal favourite. Having chosen the size or pattern you want, you can press OK, or Info, and the cursor keys (and the touchscreen) can now be used to move the selected spot if you wish. Then accept it with a quick OK or half-press of the shutter button. Have a play, it's easiest to absorb if you explore it first hand. If you have a favourite size, position or pattern, you can tell the camera via the Home Position (HP) entry in the AF gear menu, and set Home Position to a customisable button. Then, a quick tap of that button will apply your favourite AF target type and position, whatever other pattern you'd been using.
Wow this will be great for manual focus enlargement of focal point also. I had no idea you could choose your own pattern! That has been a pet peeve of mine with previous cameras, where the marker was too big and obtrusive and didn't let me see what I was trying to focus on lol.
Obviously there's a limit to what you can do, but the option for super-small points was introduced if I recall correctly with the E-PL5/E-PM2 launch, and added retrospectively with a firmware update to the original E-M5 as well. You can position these singly (along with the larger sized ones), and for the (nearly) whole-screen grid of multipoint focusing you can also choose to have a smaller group instead, and to move this around a bit if you prefer. The flexibility isn't endless by any means, but pretty useful.
Wow, so you can have different sized focus points all operating at the same time? Interesting!
Yes, the menu system is a bit complicated, even more so than my old E-520 but it is starting to make more sense now! The camera almost seems to have more buttons because each button can have a few different functions.
Yes, it gets deeper as more features and their options are introduced, but they also try to gently tweak the logic as time goes on - recent models have got pretty much everything in the "correct" gear menu, where previously I'd occasionally wonder "why is this feature in THIS submenu? I'd have had it in that one...".
The thing I find somewhat annoying about Olympus menus is that some of the submenus have like 10 different settings under them and others have only 2.
I haven't seen this level of customization in any other camera. Does this camera basically have all the same menu options as the EM-5 Mk I? I might get that or hold out for a II for a weatherproof body that uses ac as an alternate power supply. It would be nice if the menu system was the same- it would be easy to do after all this!
In some ways it has more than the E-M5, being a later model. Olympus usually adds the latest features to the latest model, irrespective of where it sits in the range. The E-M5 was and is a great camera, but I feel the E-M5 II is a fantastic update - a gorgeous thing (as an admitted obsessive gear nut, I do possess both models I'm afraid. I am of course a rubbish photographer as I find the cameras too interesting, but at least I can come in useful from time to time for normal people! ).
I'm excited to try out the HDR mode! I read it can combine 7 images in a stack? I suspect this is something that requires a tripod though.
Not sure if you're aware, from your wording, that you need a model later than the E-PL6 for in-camera auto-combining HDR mode (E-M10, E-M1, E-PL7, E-M5 II, E-M10 II). You do have a rather flexible HDR bracketing mode, though, for combining out of camera - also still on those later models.
Oh they just keep adding new features dont they I can't help but think that they could retroactively put all these features in previous models with a firmware update! I read the E-PL7 manual too to see what I was going to be missing for the extra $250 (the manual is about 50 pages longer than the one for my camera) and I didn't really see anything in there that you can't do out of camera in post process. Of course the LCD has a higher resolution which is a plus. Also, found the price confusingly close to that of the EM10; if they are the same price (or even within $50 of each other) the EM10 is a nobrainer. Even though the EM10 doesn't seem to have any features the E-PL7 doesn't have, the body does seem more sturdy.
I have to memorize all the menu changes I need to make: live boost on, change Fn button to AEL/AFL, set AEL to different metering than shutter half press, change control pad to direct functions, bottom (ISO), right (WB). Fix touch pad issues! update firmware!
hmmm sounds like live boost should be turned on if the zebra stripes are on. I think you've successfully explained an oddity I was having- in live view I saw large areas of underexposure (more like a blue sea haha) but when I went in playback mode after I took the shot, there was only a very small sliver of blue (more like a little pond lol.) I was trying to figure out which was more accurate- I'm guessing the small sliver of blue in playback is the more accurate one.
I believe so, but I can't take credit for that - I think somebody else caught that one, perhaps Guy!
Guy has quite the site! There is so much info available about these cameras.
Yes, he does. He's an incredibly knowledgeable, helpful chap - a great asset to the forum.
Indeed and very patient (as are you!) to answer all these questions! I get rather deeply involved with all my cameras and love the intricate complexity of Olympus cameras I've enjoyed going back to 2005 and the C-7070.
