Deer Are Like Dogs – OM-1 Subject Detection. Subject Detection is Continuously Active When Selected

[drj3]

I decided to do a quick check to see if a deer was similar enough to a Cat/Dog for the subject detection to function. I shot a few images on one of last summer’s fawns take lives with her mother on the back of my property. The subject detection worked on the deer and the squirrels, so I think it should be useful for most wildlife.

One thing did somewhat surprise me. The subject detection remains active unless you turn it off. You do not need to half press the shutter to activate it. This is useful if in that you don’t need to maintain active focus to keep the camera and focus point on the target. However, since this obviously requires significant continuous processing, it will deplete the battery more quickly. See the attached and the insert for the focus point. Camera setting – single center focus point and CAF.







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drj3

 

[nzmacro]

I was going to ask you about battery drain in that case and then you mentioned it. Makes sense. Great sharp shot and it's looking like a great upgrade for some, very nice.

All the best and that is a nice shot for sure.

Danny.

 

[Interceptor121]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

 

[whumber]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

 

[rsmithgi]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

I believe this was covered in one of the interviews with an OM Systems engineer. From memory, I believe it choses the detected animal closest to your focus point group. If all points are selected, then closest to the center.

Maybe someone else remembers the video.

 

[whumber]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

I believe this was covered in one of the interviews with an OM Systems engineer. From memory, I believe it choses the detected animal closest to your focus point group. If all points are selected, then closest to the center.

Maybe someone else remembers the video.

That's for the initial selection of multiple subjects, when there are multiple subjects in the frame though it has a tendency to switch between subjects. It's very similar to how the early Sony bodies with eye detect had a tendency to switch back and forth between the left and right eye on a person's face.

 

[Interceptor121]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

So on the GH6 but also on the G9 you select which subject you want with the joystick and it sticks to it unless it gets obstructed.

Does it not have this feature to select? Obviously this is only good when they are reasonably steady but yet works well with people at a party for example

 

[Skeeterbytes]

Good result and good news re. its flexibility. When I saw an early video of the feature showing a squirrel facing the camera, it had a rectangle around it and small squares on each eye, and seemed very promising.

Poring over the manual I can't find any reference to AF scanning turning off during Subject Detection, as it does in Starry Sky, and wonder if that affects Subject Detection being active at all times. Worth an experiment to see if the behavior changes.

Speaking of AF Scan, they no longer have two modes, it's just on/off now.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[rsmithgi]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

I believe this was covered in one of the interviews with an OM Systems engineer. From memory, I believe it choses the detected animal closest to your focus point group. If all points are selected, then closest to the center.

Maybe someone else remembers the video.

That's for the initial selection of multiple subjects, when there are multiple subjects in the frame though it has a tendency to switch between subjects. It's very similar to how the early Sony bodies with eye detect had a tendency to switch back and forth between the left and right eye on a person's face.

I may have to track down the video, but I believe the engineer said that there would be boxes around everything detected and a thicker box around what will be focused on. That determination is made by what I wrote earlier. I assume that the camera continues to evaluate and will switch when a different subject is closer to the center of the focus point cluster.

 

[whumber]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

I believe this was covered in one of the interviews with an OM Systems engineer. From memory, I believe it choses the detected animal closest to your focus point group. If all points are selected, then closest to the center.

Maybe someone else remembers the video.

That's for the initial selection of multiple subjects, when there are multiple subjects in the frame though it has a tendency to switch between subjects. It's very similar to how the early Sony bodies with eye detect had a tendency to switch back and forth between the left and right eye on a person's face.

I may have to track down the video, but I believe the engineer said that there would be boxes around everything detected and a thicker box around what will be focused on. That determination is made by what I wrote earlier. I assume that the camera continues to evaluate and will switch when a different subject is closer to the center of the focus point cluster.

There are extra corner lines on the subject box that has priority but how well the camera holds onto a given subject is another matter. It does seem like the OM-1 does a better job here than the E-M1X, but it's still not what I would consider stable when there are multiple subjects of the same type in close proximity.

 

[SrMi]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

 

[drj3]

Good result and good news re. its flexibility. When I saw an early video of the feature showing a squirrel facing the camera, it had a rectangle around it and small squares on each eye, and seemed very promising.

Poring over the manual I can't find any reference to AF scanning turning off during Subject Detection, as it does in Starry Sky, and wonder if that affects Subject Detection being active at all times. Worth an experiment to see if the behavior changes.

Speaking of AF Scan, they no longer have two modes, it's just on/off now.

Cheers,

Rick

I checked AF scanner ON vs OFF and it made no difference. The subject detection remained on. I have a Custom mode for single point for stationary birds that I can turn on with a button so the subject detection is only active when I change to the custom mode.

 

[AlmostDoctor]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

The label likely simply means that the deep learning algorithm they used was trained using images of dogs and cats.

 

[drj3]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

The label likely simply means that the deep learning algorithm they used was trained using images of dogs and cats.

If they used all types of dogs, then it should work for many fur animals. Not that much difference in the following two, but I would be more likely to pet the first one. The second one was a lot closer, probably interested in the clicking sound of the FTs 50-200 SWD focus motor.











--
drj3

 

[AlmostDoctor]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

The label likely simply means that the deep learning algorithm they used was trained using images of dogs and cats.

If they used all types of dogs, then it should work for many fur animals. Not that much difference in the following two, but I would be more likely to pet the first one. The second one was a lot closer, probably interested in the clicking sound of the FTs 50-200 SWD focus motor.

:-D

That's a cute cat and a big dog. ;-)

 

[rsmithgi]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

They still seem to be relying purely on brute force subject detection. With multiple subjects in the frame there's still a tendency for it to switch between subjects.

I believe this was covered in one of the interviews with an OM Systems engineer. From memory, I believe it choses the detected animal closest to your focus point group. If all points are selected, then closest to the center.

Maybe someone else remembers the video.

That's for the initial selection of multiple subjects, when there are multiple subjects in the frame though it has a tendency to switch between subjects. It's very similar to how the early Sony bodies with eye detect had a tendency to switch back and forth between the left and right eye on a person's face.

I may have to track down the video, but I believe the engineer said that there would be boxes around everything detected and a thicker box around what will be focused on. That determination is made by what I wrote earlier. I assume that the camera continues to evaluate and will switch when a different subject is closer to the center of the focus point cluster.

There are extra corner lines on the subject box that has priority but how well the camera holds onto a given subject is another matter. It does seem like the OM-1 does a better job here than the E-M1X, but it's still not what I would consider stable when there are multiple subjects of the same type in close proximity.

I could be wrong, but I don't think it tries to hold on to a given subject (maybe unless you are in CAF + Tracking mode). Unlike the E-M1X, subject detection works in SAF, CAF, and CAF + Tracking). I think I read that the E-M1X needs to be in CAF + Tracking.

 

[whumber]

I could be wrong, but I don't think it tries to hold on to a given subject (maybe unless you are in CAF + Tracking mode). Unlike the E-M1X, subject detection works in SAF, CAF, and CAF + Tracking). I think I read that the E-M1X needs to be in CAF + Tracking.

You're correct that the E-M1X needs to be in C-AF + Tracking but the OM-1 can be in any AF mode. I also don't think it really tries too hard to stay on a specific subject, there's most likely some kind of logic in there to try to minimize switching between subjects but from the way it behaves it seems like it's mostly a brute force approach. That said, from what I've tested so far on the OM-1 it seems to work really well, just need to stress test it a bit more.

 

[rsmithgi]

I could be wrong, but I don't think it tries to hold on to a given subject (maybe unless you are in CAF + Tracking mode). Unlike the E-M1X, subject detection works in SAF, CAF, and CAF + Tracking). I think I read that the E-M1X needs to be in CAF + Tracking.

You're correct that the E-M1X needs to be in C-AF + Tracking but the OM-1 can be in any AF mode. I also don't think it really tries too hard to stay on a specific subject, there's most likely some kind of logic in there to try to minimize switching between subjects but from the way it behaves it seems like it's mostly a brute force approach. That said, from what I've tested so far on the OM-1 it seems to work really well, just need to stress test it a bit more.

It would be interesting to know if being in CAF + Tracking causes it to stick to a subject more.

 

[Interceptor121]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

The label likely simply means that the deep learning algorithm they used was trained using images of dogs and cats.

If they used all types of dogs, then it should work for many fur animals. Not that much difference in the following two, but I would be more likely to pet the first one. The second one was a lot closer, probably interested in the clicking sound of the FTs 50-200 SWD focus motor.

But my question is if you have two or multiple does it lock on the one you choose or can you even choose one?

--
instagram http://instagram.com/interceptor121
My flickr sets http://www.flickr.com/photos/interceptor121/
Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/interceptor121
Underwater Photo and Video Blog http://interceptor121.com
Deer Photography workshops https://interceptor121.com/2021/09/26/2021-22-deer-photography-workshops-in-woburn/

 

[LeonardoV]

I am not surprised

Frankly I do not even understand how a camera can discern a cat from a dog the menu choices seem a legacy of Olympus tendency of overcomplicating matters

When it comes to detection this is running all time once the option is on like it does on Panasonic cameras

Important to distinguish detection from tracking, if there are two candidate subjects I wonder if the camera can stick to one and how.

OM-1 does not discern between dog and cat. It has a "dog or cat" setting.

The label likely simply means that the deep learning algorithm they used was trained using images of dogs and cats.

If they used all types of dogs, then it should work for many fur animals. Not that much difference in the following two, but I would be more likely to pet the first one. The second one was a lot closer, probably interested in the clicking sound of the FTs 50-200 SWD focus motor.

But my question is if you have two or multiple does it lock on the one you choose or can you even choose one?

--
instagram http://instagram.com/interceptor121
My flickr sets http://www.flickr.com/photos/interceptor121/
Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/interceptor121
Underwater Photo and Video Blog http://interceptor121.com
Deer Photography workshops https://interceptor121.com/2021/09/26/2021-22-deer-photography-workshops-in-woburn/

I understand that using a smaller than all-points AF mode it looks for subjects around and within active points, so if you move focus point elsewhere over a different subject from the one currently "tracked" it would switch to that