Weird (Auto) ISO problem with video on the E-M1 Mark II

Hey, sorry for the long post in advance but I couln't find any solution to this problem anywhere, but if I missed something, kindly point me to the corresponding thread

I got the E-M1 some months ago and can't figure out this ONE thing. Since this camera is SO customizable it seems very weird to me that I never had this issue with my Nikon. I used to film in M mode and dial in the SS (which of course always stayed the same depending on the frame rate) and the aperture. The ISO was set to AUTO with an upper limit and the option to lock in in place with the AE-lock button. As far as I know almost every camera can be set up to record videos this way but...

- When in video mode NO auto ISO can be selected. I can only dial in values between 200 and 6400 when i set this function to the dials.

- This might be a completely different problem in itself: When i take pictures in M mode and switch over to video mode it assumes the same SS value that i just used to take pictures - which is very annoying, because you always want the SS to be the same unless you change the frame rate. This seems especially weird because the C1/C2/C3 modes "remember" the SS you dial in and save as a default. In the same way the A mode does not remember the aperture I recently used when coming back from M mode for example. Is this normal and something I just have to get used to or can this be changed somehow?

- You CAN use auto ISO in the C-modes and then switch to a certain ISO value if you want. However, when i start to record a video in these modes it is somehow recorded with auto ISO (brightness adapting automatically) even though ISO 200 is displayed (or whatever value i chose).

So what i basically need:

- How can i make the video mode "remember" its settings - especially the SS?

- How can I use auto ISO in video mode?

- Is there any way to toggle auto ISO with a button like it is with many other cameras?

- How can I keep the camera from using auto ISO in C1/C2/C3 when recording a video?

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

MFTManu said:

- How can i make the video mode "remember" its settings - especially the SS?

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As far as I know the camera will always remember the SS it was last set to no matter the mode it was set at. For example your in S and set it to 1/60 then move to M or Video M and it will still be 1/60 until you change it.

MFTManu said:

- How can I use auto ISO in video mode?

Click to expand...

You can't. You can adjust ISO up and down manually during recording but there's no auto ISO. For the times when I want to use Auto ISO I switch to video S mode and set my SS and select auto ISO.

MFTManu said:

- Is there any way to toggle auto ISO with a button like it is with many other cameras?

Click to expand...

If you mean to to a function button I don't think so. I could be wrong though as I never had a need for that as its already fast enough for me to switch to it on the SCP or with the function lever and dial.

MFTManu said:

- How can I keep the camera from using auto ISO in C1/C2/C3 when recording a video?

Click to expand...

I haven't used these yet so I can't answer.

MFTManu said:

Thank you very much in advance for your help!

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your reply!

thelightwriter said:

As far as I know the camera will always remember the SS it was last set to no matter the mode it was set at. For example your in S and set it to 1/60 then move to M or Video M and it will still be 1/60 until you change it.

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Yes, but that is the annoying part. For example I take pictures in M with a SS of 1/100 and then switch to video mode where I need the 1/50 that I used here earlier (25 fps)... The Nikon remembered the settings for each mode (like the Olympus does with the C-modes) and didn't carry them over from M to A etc.

thelightwriter said:

You can't. You can adjust ISO up and down manually during recording but there's no auto ISO. For the times when I want to use Auto ISO I switch to video S mode and set my SS and select auto ISO.

Click to expand...

This was my workaround so far. I use the video mode only when i don't need/want auto ISO. If I do I use the C-modes (in M mode so I can choose both SS and apterture) which all have different resolutions and frame rates assigned to them.

thelightwriter said:

If you mean to to a function button I don't think so. I could be wrong though as I never had a need for that as its already fast enough for me to switch to it on the SCP or with the function lever and dial.

Click to expand...

It was just very handy to have the camera pick an ISO automatically and then freeze it before starting to record.

It is also very weird that in video mode you can assign a button (I used Fn1) to AEL - which then does... well nothing, because I'm in M mode and there is no auto ISO. Any idea why that is? Does it usually freeze the SS or aperture when filming in S or A mode? It's a shame it doesn't work for ISO, though.

When shooting video, choose video mode (by switching the mode dial). This way, you have full controls of all settings including the auto ISO. To change the settings, click the OK button the touch the ISO box. You have to turn on the auto ISO first. To do so, set from the menu. Download the full manual from Olympus website.

When you shoot video from any other mode. You are limited by the chosen mode and may not be able to change when in video.

Learn to set customized settings C1, C2, C3 instead of using A, S, M mode.

joeletx said:

When shooting video, choose video mode (by switching the mode dial). This way, you have full controls of all settings including the auto ISO. To change the settings, click the OK button the touch the ISO box. You have to turn on the auto ISO first. To do so, set from the menu. Download the full manual from Olympus website.

When you shoot video from any other mode. You are limited by the chosen mode and may not be able to change when in video.

Learn to set customized settings C1, C2, C3 instead of using A, S, M mode.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I already played around with the menu and activated the auto ISO for all settings (P, A, S, M) but as the previous comment said correctly, there is no auto ISO available in video mode.

In other modes it is weird that the auto ISO DOES work, but even when deactivated (by choosing a certain ISO in the SCP) the video is still recorded with changing ISO.

Any ideas what it is with the AEL function that doesn't do anything when filming in M mode? It kind of bugs me that this function exists, but then doesn't do what i need it to.

MFTManu said:

joeletx said:

When shooting video, choose video mode (by switching the mode dial). This way, you have full controls of all settings including the auto ISO. To change the settings, click the OK button the touch the ISO box. You have to turn on the auto ISO first. To do so, set from the menu. Download the full manual from Olympus website.

When you shoot video from any other mode. You are limited by the chosen mode and may not be able to change when in video.

Learn to set customized settings C1, C2, C3 instead of using A, S, M mode.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I already played around with the menu and activated the auto ISO for all settings (P, A, S, M) but as the previous comment said correctly, there is no auto ISO available in video mode.

Click to expand...

Go to Menu and set video preference to P. Set the dial mode to "Video" (video camera) then click the OK button; you will see the Auto ISO is now activated. Flip the lever to adjust the EV compensation or the audio level.

MFTManu said:

In other modes it is weird that the auto ISO DOES work, but even when deactivated (by choosing a certain ISO in the SCP) the video is still recorded with changing ISO.

Any ideas what it is with the AEL function that doesn't do anything when filming in M mode? It kind of bugs me that this function exists, but then doesn't do what i need it to.

Click to expand...

If you do the above, you will be able to adjust EV while doing live filming.

joeletx said:

Go to Menu and set video preference to P. Set the dial mode to "Video" (video camera) then click the OK button; you will see the Auto ISO is now activated. Flip the lever to adjust the EV compensation or the audio level.

Click to expand...

I had no idea that auto ISO is available in P mode! It seems even stranger now that it is not available in M mode. Unfortunately P mode is not an option as i need control over my aperture and - even more importantly - my shutter speed. But thanks for the tip!

MFTManu said:

MFTManu said:

Go to Menu and set video preference to P. Set the dial mode to "Video" (video camera) then click the OK button; you will see the Auto ISO is now activated. Flip the lever to adjust the EV compensation or the audio level.

Click to expand...

I had no idea that auto ISO is available in P mode! It seems even stranger now that it is not available in M mode. Unfortunately P mode is not an option as i need control over my aperture and - even more importantly - my shutter speed. But thanks for the tip!

Click to expand...

You said you want to shoot video. Why is shutter speed matters? Frame per second is what you are after.

joeletx said:

1. joeletx wrote:

MFTManu said:

joeletx said:

Go to Menu and set video preference to P. Set the dial mode to "Video" (video camera) then click the OK button; you will see the Auto ISO is now activated. Flip the lever to adjust the EV compensation or the audio level.

Click to expand...

I had no idea that auto ISO is available in P mode! It seems even stranger now that it is not available in M mode. Unfortunately P mode is not an option as i need control over my aperture and - even more importantly - my shutter speed. But thanks for the tip!

Click to expand...

You said you want to shoot video. Why is shutter speed matters? Frame per second is what you are after.

Click to expand...

Not quite. The framerate is what I want to chose, of course, but the shutter speed needs to match the framerate. For example for 25 fps the SS needs to be 1/50 and for 60 fps it needs to be 1/120. This is called the "180° shutter rule".