Holding the E-PL6

This may seem like a very basic question but I'll ask it anyway- to those who have the E-PL5 or E-PL6, how does one hand hold it?  I use some slow shutter speeds (down to 2 sec, which is the minimum for IS), and I want to hold the camera in both hands to keep it steady, but the thing is that the screen takes up the vast majority of the real estate on the back of the camera (it would have been better if they put a 2" 4:3 LCD on it), so I have to put my left hand on the top and bottom on the camera (more like two fingers above and one thumb below)  and on the right side of the camera, where there's a bit more room, I put all my fingers on the front of the camera (except my index finger, which is on the shutter) and my thumb on the backside of the camera, where I can change the aperture, shutter speed, and exposure compensation.  This arrangement results in some problems with my left hand, as holding it on the left side with my finger tips on the left top and left bottom edges of the camera causes my fingers of that hand to become numb!  And when that happens and I lose feeling in those fingers I worry I'll drop the camera.  I never had this happen with a camera before, it happens because the camera is so thin and there really isn't much room to hold the camera securely from the left side unless I want my finger prints all over the LCD and for the touch screen to think I am changing the focus point when I'm just trying to hold the camera with both hands.

Gidday Alex

Right hand around the grip, left hand under the camera base (or lens) and lens.

Stabilise camera additionally with your face.

Brace elbows into side of body.

Breathe out gently.

Squeeze shutter button ...

Use paragraphs ...

John King wrote:

Gidday Alex

Right hand around the grip, left hand under the camera base (or lens) and lens.

Stabilise camera additionally with your face.

Brace elbows into side of body.

Breathe out gently.

Squeeze shutter button ...

Use paragraphs ...

Thanks, John- I was quite surprised that I actually find holding larger cameras easier!

Yeah, they can be, Alex.

My brother's E-620 is nowhere near as easy to hold rock steady as my E-30 - ditto my E-1 and surprisingly, my E-510.

However, I find my E-M1 easier than any of them! Methinks that the all but miraculous 5 axis IBIS helps a bit ...

With my knock off grip, the E-M1 is almost identical in weight and size to my E-30 ...

John King wrote:

Yeah, they can be, Alex.

My brother's E-620 is nowhere near as easy to hold rock steady as my E-30 - ditto my E-1 and surprisingly, my E-510.

However, I find my E-M1 easier than any of them! Methinks that the all but miraculous 5 axis IBIS helps a bit ...

With my knock off grip, the E-M1 is almost identical in weight and size to my E-30 ...

The knock off grip you have, John, does it also take an ac adapter or different types of batteries? I was trying to pick between the E-M1 and E-M5, I think the E-M1 has a better sensor but they are both weatherproof.

With the E-520 and two lens kit, I got the Ownuser grip and it was really rock steady and also the IS on those cameras was vastly underrated- by bracing my arms on a flat surface I could do 15 second exposures handheld at 14mm on the kit lens.  And I got very steady and sharp images the majority of the time! With the E-PL6 I barely get a few steady images at 2 seconds at 14mm.  I'm starting to get used to it a bit more though perhaps that will help, but I cant help but wonder if making the body slightly thicker and the rear LCD slightly smaller and more square would have made it much easier to handhold.

alexisgreat wrote:

The knock off grip you have, John, does it also take an ac adapter or different types of batteries?

Yes. No. 1x BLN-1 in each of the grip and body. You can set which is used up first (doh!). Default is the grip battery ...

I was trying to pick between the E-M1 and E-M5, I think the E-M1 has a better sensor but they are both weatherproof.

I chose the E-M1 because I have a swag of FTs HG and SHG lenses ...

With the E-520 and two lens kit, I got the Ownuser grip and it was really rock steady and also the IS on those cameras was vastly underrated- by bracing my arms on a flat surface I could do 15 second exposures handheld at 14mm on the kit lens. And I got very steady and sharp images the majority of the time! With the E-PL6 I barely get a few steady images at 2 seconds at 14mm. I'm starting to get used to it a bit more though perhaps that will help, but I cant help but wonder if making the body slightly thicker and the rear LCD slightly smaller and more square would have made it much easier to handhold.

Mate, you are pushing things just a bit ... !! I can manage my 50-200 at 200 hand held and unsupported (sitting) at 1/10th - tack sharp, sometimes .

I agree with getting the hang of it for a tad longer

I had the EPL-6 and the stock grip is more uncomfortable than no grip at all. You need to buy the large grip MCG-2. It makes a world of difference. You can usually find one for $20 or less.

pterosonus wrote:

I had the EPL-6 and the stock grip is more uncomfortable than no grip at all. You need to buy the large grip MCG-2. It makes a world of difference. You can usually find one for $20 or less.

Thanks I haven't even used the stock grip but would love a better one.  Does the MCG-2 attach to the same place as the stock grip?

John King wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

The knock off grip you have, John, does it also take an ac adapter or different types of batteries?

Yes. No. 1x BLN-1 in each of the grip and body. You can set which is used up first (doh!). Default is the grip battery ...

Good, so twice the shooting No AC adapter though?

I was trying to pick between the E-M1 and E-M5, I think the E-M1 has a better sensor but they are both weatherproof.

I chose the E-M1 because I have a swag of FTs HG and SHG lenses ...

Then that's the one I want- I also have the EX-25 (actually two of them) for taking macro shots with said 4/3 lenses  Glad to know all this works with the E-M1!

With the E-520 and two lens kit, I got the Ownuser grip and it was really rock steady and also the IS on those cameras was vastly underrated- by bracing my arms on a flat surface I could do 15 second exposures handheld at 14mm on the kit lens. And I got very steady and sharp images the majority of the time! With the E-PL6 I barely get a few steady images at 2 seconds at 14mm. I'm starting to get used to it a bit more though perhaps that will help, but I cant help but wonder if making the body slightly thicker and the rear LCD slightly smaller and more square would have made it much easier to handhold.

Mate, you are pushing things just a bit ... !! I can manage my 50-200 at 200 hand held and unsupported (sitting) at 1/10th - tack sharp, sometimes .

I agree with getting the hang of it for a tad longer

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I think the added weight of the body also makes the camera easier to hold steady.  Also the ergonomic design.  It's surprising how much design plays into it, when a camera which is supposed to be heavier actually feels lighter based on how the body was designed.

Sorry, Alex, I forgot.

Yeah. It does have a power supply socket just like the weird OEM one. Cannot vouch for whether it works or not , but there is one.

John King wrote:

Sorry, Alex, I forgot.

Yeah. It does have a power supply socket just like the weird OEM one. Cannot vouch for whether it works or not , but there is one.

Hopefully it works with the Olympus AC adapter

You never know. We all get lucky sometimes ...

Guy Parsons wrote:

pterosonus wrote:

I had the EPL-6 and the stock grip is more uncomfortable than no grip at all. You need to buy the large grip MCG-2. It makes a world of difference. You can usually find one for $20 or less.

Thanks I haven't even used the stock grip but would love a better one. Does the MCG-2 attach to the same place as the stock grip?

With same body E-PL5 I did fit the MCG-2 but I found it to be of no real benefit. But that's just me. I have one E-PL5 with standard grip and one with the MCG-2 and it does not make any difference to me which one I pick up with whatever lens. None of the Pens are as good as the E-PL1 grip, that was the sensible one.

In my case always a wrist strap, and basically hold the lens plus camera with the left hand, that takes most of the weight, then the right hand has only a light hold no matter what lens, small or big.

With normal stance hand holding at 14mm and 2 axis IBIS I would not expect any good results below about 1/3 second, extra bracing with elbows on a solid rest would maybe extend that down to nearly 1 second with extreme luck.

Don't forget that you are now using 16MP and any little error shows up more readily, lower MP counts on older cameras are more forgiving of shake and shock problems.

Regards........ Guy

Good point, I had forgotten about that, one of the drawbacks of a higher MP sensor!  Was the E-PL1 grip detachable and if so can it be used on the E-PL5/6?

Guy, where do you get the wrist strap?  Do you attach it to the little loop things on the side of the camera?  I'm trying to picture how you hold the camera, basically you have the left hand under the body and lens (near the base of the camera where the tripod socket is).  This is good as your hand is probably dampening some of the image shake!

I have gotten a *few* good ones down to 2 seconds, but it's really difficult....basically I have the entire length of my arms braced against a flat surface- to keep movement as low as possible.

I'm using shutter priority mode to try and stay out of the 1/80 sec - 1/320 sec shutter speed zone I was told to avoid (because of shutter shock.)  I would use full manual but full manual has no exposure compensation that I'm aware of.  So basically, if you use AUTO ISO in full manual mode you lose the ability to "push" or "pull" the exposure since the camera sets the ISO to balance out whatever shutter speed and aperture settings you choose (as long as it's within its range) to 0.0  But I want to do a +1.3 stop EC for my night time shots.  In shutter priority, as long as maximum aperture is being used, applying EC will push the ISO (which is what I want it to do- it functions as an easy way to control the ISO without having to delve into menus.)  BTW Guy, I'm really glad you told me about the Mode 2 settings, my out of focus starfield shots are no longer out of focus because I shutter half press and focus on a distance street lamp then move and recompose on the starfield and the stars look in focus now.  But, with Mode 1, with the shutter half press it locks both focus and exposure and I just want to lock focus and not let the camera meter until I've recomposed the shot!  So that's Mode 2.  Come to think of it, can I program the AEL button to AF lock only so I dont even have to do the shutter half press and recompose thing after every shot- because I can lock focus to infinity for my entire shot sequence!  Also, if I set one of the function buttons to EC and press it in manual mode, what will it do?  Also, is there a way to program the function buttons to change aperture and/or shutter speed so I dont have to use the rear dial to do that?  Thanks!

I use the large grip.

You can also "palm" the camera with your left hand.

But where my E-PL5 has to be held most steady is with long telephotos, and for those I hold the far end of the lens with my left hand.