alexisgreat wrote:
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!
Sorry, I can be prone to an ambiguous turn of phrase at times! No, any you have operating at the same time are the same size as one another. With the "permanent" AF spots, which are the square ones, the super-small ones are for use one at a time. The larger squares, which are big enough to touch each other when they are all on show in the AF point selection grid (i.e. when you have for example pressed the "left" key on the multicontroller to access it, with the multicontroller set to Direct Function), give the choice of using one at a time, or letting the camera auto-select one at a time from anywhere on the whole available grid according to what it picks as the subject on which to focus. You can also select a smaller group for this mode, of 9 squares (3 x 3), and you can position this around the screen to your preference - the camera will then only auto-pick from within it. This group shrinks to 6 squares at the edges of the full array because you have the option to "overshoot" the border by one square (it's easier to try out than describe!) and you can do this in all directions, so you can shrink the area covered in the extreme corners to a square of four if you want.
The tiny square (one in use at a time) is shown by a fine, black, square outline to show where it is set. It illuminates in green momentarily as it AF-locks. The larger square (usable singly or in a restricted, manually positionable group of between 9 and 4, as described above) is shown by one set of four fine, black corner brackets, whether single or a group. One single larger square will illuminate in green briefly on AF lock - obviously so if you are only using one, but also if you are using a group - just to show which has been picked by the camera. When you are using the whole screen area (35 of the larger squares, actually not the whole screen as the edges aren't covered), no boxes or brackets show in black, but the single, larger green square that is picked by the camera will briefly show at AF lock, as normal (all this is AF-S of course). In C-AF, one will show on initial focus acquisition, but not again - but it appears they still have the ability to move around the grid if several are active, as required.
I have the simple cross-hairs grid overlay on my LCD (and EVF where applicable) as it is unobtrusive and helps me see whether a single AF point is centred or not (it's easy to re-centre with a long press of OK, but nevertheless I find it helpful).
Then of course you've got your less-permanent option of the green rectangle AF points, accessible by touchscreen or magnifier key, with their optional 5x, 7x, 10x, 14x crop-come-magnification feature. 14x is my favourite for tightly controlled focusing, but it's a heck of a handful if you choose to magnify it to full screen as you're looking at such a huge magnification.
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 guess, but it's logical (to me, many others might disagree!) because each submenu is categorised by what it covers - AF, buttons and dials, and so on. The submenu heading categories are even a little bit \(but not totally!) alphabetised, I just realised. The only thing I could quibble with is occasionally I may think "why is this in the Camera 1 or 2 menu, rather than a relevant gear menu?" Even that has become a bit more straightforward on the latest models, which have had a very tiny reorganisation (not enough to upset me) but more usefully offer the option to remember the last-used position.
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.
The LCD is also bigger on the E-PL7. It's got that upside-down design to the facing-forward screen (dubious, but the folding mechanism for normal tilting is stronger and smoother to use, at least), it has Live Composite, the option of EFCS (a big plus in my experience), a nice, chunky control dial around the shutter release which you can use with thumb or forefinger (the rear multicontroller ring of models before can get over-sensitive with time on some examples), and the 3-axis IBIS is definitely a big improvement on the 2-axis. Yes, in the UK where I live the E-PL7 has also been illogically priced compared with the E-M10 too, given that the former doesn't include an EVF or two control dials. Aside: up to the E-M10 II, all OM-D models are painted, not plated/anodised. The E-M10 II is finished like a black or silver E-PL7 (anodised), though a less "champagne" tone in the silver version. Just saying for info...
