OM1+100-400 - some AF issues - what's your experience?

[MarkG]

Hi there,

New to OM-1 and 100-400. Got it for lightweight bird photography and also have Sony a1 + 200-600.

OM-1 has FW 1.5 and is setup with C-AF (no TR), Target Large, SH2 25fps, Bird Detection on.

First observation is about AF when the lens is at 400mm, medium amount of light on a partly sunny day. Great difficulty racking focus from a MOD of 1.3m to far away points. Takes several seconds to acquire focus of a strongly blurred object. Sometimes it fails completely.

It appears that when the subject is initially strongly blurred, there isn't enough information for PDAF to move the AF motor properly. At 300mm, it works better, at 200 or 100mm AF works properly in above scenarios, probably because the amount of OOF blur at 400mm is the strongest. Inside with a limited light AF struggles again at 400mm.

This behavior is surprising to me as I thought the all cross-type PDAF points would lock focus quickly.

Otherwise, it seems like a very nice setup and I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of high ISO files.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Jappie52]

Hi there,

New to OM-1 and 100-400. Got it for lightweight bird photography and also have Sony a1 + 200-600.

OM-1 has FW 1.5 and is setup with C-AF (no TR), Target Large, SH2 25fps, Bird Detection on.

First observation is about AF when the lens is at 400mm, medium amount of light on a partly sunny day. Great difficulty racking focus from a MOD of 1.3m to far away points. Takes several seconds to acquire focus of a strongly blurred object. Sometimes it fails completely.

It appears that when the subject is initially strongly blurred, there isn't enough information for PDAF to move the AF motor properly. At 300mm, it works better, at 200 or 100mm AF works properly in above scenarios, probably because the amount of OOF blur at 400mm is the strongest. Inside with a limited light AF struggles again at 400mm.

This behavior is surprising to me as I thought the all cross-type PDAF points would lock focus quickly.

Otherwise, it seems like a very nice setup and I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of high ISO files.

Thanks for any feedback.

First, which 100-400mm, the Olympus or the PanaLeica? Not that it really matters for the issue you have (I think), but just to make sure.

The behaviour you describe seems to be normal. At least, I'm experiencing the same, and recently Mike Lane also mentioned it in one of his videos - and he's using the 150-400mm. I'm aware of two solutions (or should I say workarounds), the first being using the focus limiter, and the second temporarily switching to S-AF. For the latter I use the function lever as I haven't found a way to assign it to a function button.

Edit: You can also use touch focus, see Mike's video

 

[MarkG]

Hi there,

New to OM-1 and 100-400. Got it for lightweight bird photography and also have Sony a1 + 200-600.

OM-1 has FW 1.5 and is setup with C-AF (no TR), Target Large, SH2 25fps, Bird Detection on.

First observation is about AF when the lens is at 400mm, medium amount of light on a partly sunny day. Great difficulty racking focus from a MOD of 1.3m to far away points. Takes several seconds to acquire focus of a strongly blurred object. Sometimes it fails completely.

It appears that when the subject is initially strongly blurred, there isn't enough information for PDAF to move the AF motor properly. At 300mm, it works better, at 200 or 100mm AF works properly in above scenarios, probably because the amount of OOF blur at 400mm is the strongest. Inside with a limited light AF struggles again at 400mm.

This behavior is surprising to me as I thought the all cross-type PDAF points would lock focus quickly.

Otherwise, it seems like a very nice setup and I was actually pleasantly surprised at the quality of high ISO files.

Thanks for any feedback.

First, which 100-400mm, the Olympus or the PanaLeica? Not that it really matters for the issue you have (I think), but just to make sure.

The behaviour you describe seems to be normal. At least, I'm experiencing the same, and recently Mike Lane also mentioned it in one of his videos - and he's using the 150-400mm. I'm aware of two solutions (or should I say workarounds), the first being using the focus limiter, and the second temporarily switching to S-AF. For the latter I use the function lever as I haven't found a way to assign it to a function button.

Edit: You can also use touch focus, see Mike's video

Thank you for the feedback, I will watch his videos. I'm using Oly 100-400.

 

[glassoholic]

Remove any filters (if you are using one) and try AF again. At 200mm and more, a bad quality protection filter causes AF issues (and sharpness issues). Even the best quality filters can still cause some slight AF issues at 400mm.

--
Addicted To Glass
M43 equivalence: "Twice the fun with half the weight"
"You are a long time dead" -
Credit to whoever said that first and my wife for saying it to me... Make the best you can of every day!

 

[MarkG]

Remove any filters (if you are using one) and try AF again. At 200mm and more, a bad quality protection filter causes AF issues (and sharpness issues). Even the best quality filters can still cause some slight AF issues at 400mm.

I agree. I don't use any filters.

 

[glassoholic]

Remove any filters (if you are using one) and try AF again. At 200mm and more, a bad quality protection filter causes AF issues (and sharpness issues). Even the best quality filters can still cause some slight AF issues at 400mm.

I agree. I don't use any filters.

OK. Focus limiter will be your friend then. If your shooting distance is primarily beyond the beginning of the lens limiter, then the camera based setting can be used... but usually, the lens limiter eliminates the really long focus rack that happens caused by the closer focus (lens moves a lot more physically to focus close... the last few closest metres). If focus lock is still hesitant, it could be heat haze for distant shots making the image a bit blurry and confusing the AF system.

 

[joeletx]

I use my Olympus 100-400 with the E-M1 III with some successes. You may consider using the lens built in limiters. I also turn on MF in addition to C-AF. I don't have the OM-1 but this setting is called C-AF mf on the E-M1 III.

 

[outlierrn]

I've had the same experience and not just with the 100-400 but also with the PL 50-200. Never happed with G9, so I don't think it's the lens.

 

[Jamajuel]

Have you tried using a smaller area? When the whole image is far away there isn’t much contrast in the blur across a large area.

I have a small target set on the function lever, partly for that reason.

I have both the Oly and PL and not noticed any real difference in that regard.

 

[glassoholic]

I've had the same experience and not just with the 100-400 but also with the PL 50-200. Never happed with G9, so I don't think it's the lens.

Yes. My OM1 has noticably more confident and accurate AF with super tele lenses than my EM1.2 or EM1X.

 

[MarkG]

Remove any filters (if you are using one) and try AF again. At 200mm and more, a bad quality protection filter causes AF issues (and sharpness issues). Even the best quality filters can still cause some slight AF issues at 400mm.

I agree. I don't use any filters.

OK. Focus limiter will be your friend then. If your shooting distance is primarily beyond the beginning of the lens limiter, then the camera based setting can be used... but usually, the lens limiter eliminates the really long focus rack that happens caused by the closer focus (lens moves a lot more physically to focus close... the last few closest metres). If focus lock is still hesitant, it could be heat haze for distant shots making the image a bit blurry and confusing the AF system.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't. Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

 

[MarkG]

I've had the same experience and not just with the 100-400 but also with the PL 50-200. Never happed with G9, so I don't think it's the lens.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject, then try to focus on leaves. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't. Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

 

[MarkG]

Have you tried using a smaller area? When the whole image is far away there isn’t much contrast in the blur across a large area.

I have a small target set on the function lever, partly for that reason.

I have both the Oly and PL and not noticed any real difference in that regard.

Yes, smaller AF area helps.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject, then try to focus on leaves. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't. Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

 

[joeletx]

I've had the same experience and not just with the 100-400 but also with the PL 50-200. Never happed with G9, so I don't think it's the lens.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject, then try to focus on leaves. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't.

This is the instances C-AF+MF can help. You can fine tune MF pass the leave and let single small focus point nailing the target. How does subject recognition jump in? On my E-M1 III, there is 50% chance the single point with hit the bird head at least. I imagine the chance is much more with the OM-1 and birds recognition.

Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

 

[glassoholic]

Remove any filters (if you are using one) and try AF again. At 200mm and more, a bad quality protection filter causes AF issues (and sharpness issues). Even the best quality filters can still cause some slight AF issues at 400mm.

I agree. I don't use any filters.

OK. Focus limiter will be your friend then. If your shooting distance is primarily beyond the beginning of the lens limiter, then the camera based setting can be used... but usually, the lens limiter eliminates the really long focus rack that happens caused by the closer focus (lens moves a lot more physically to focus close... the last few closest metres). If focus lock is still hesitant, it could be heat haze for distant shots making the image a bit blurry and confusing the AF system.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't. Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

I almost never use all AF points... single small or single large only. Maybe other cameras use all points better, but for Oly, it has very limited uses.

--
Addicted To Glass
M43 equivalence: "Twice the fun with half the weight"
"You are a long time dead" -
Credit to whoever said that first and my wife for saying it to me... Make the best you can of every day!

 

[Jamajuel]

Have you tried using a smaller area? When the whole image is far away there isn’t much contrast in the blur across a large area.

I have a small target set on the function lever, partly for that reason.

I have both the Oly and PL and not noticed any real difference in that regard.

Yes, smaller AF area helps.

The issue is that the OM-1/Oly100-400 would often not lock focus at all. C-AF+MF, ALL AF points, trees/leaves 50-70ft away, focus first on close subject, then try to focus on leaves. It's especially bad at 400mm and AF Lock greed light is pulsating as the lens is trying to lock on the leaves, but can't. Sunny day so plenty of light. No haze, plus the distance is moderate.

With smaller AF targets the situation improves, Single being the best. So, 100mm+Single = best, 400mm +ALL = worst (really bad). But it really should be locking on something even with ALL points, shouldn't it?

I'm trying to figure out if I have a defective camera (or lens) that needs to be fixed.

Yeah not great. For those instances I really really miss the near/far focus features from Panasonic bodies. I have it mapped to the back wheel so all I do is press up and it jumps to the background focus. Super fast.

 

[Adrian Harris]

When I first got the OM1 a year ago and used it with the pl100-400 the focus performance was phenomenal - and that was using standard out of the factory settings.

A short while back I was forced to update the firmware to allow burst flash with the electronic shutter. This was from original early factory fw to fw1.5.

Since then I have had quite a few 'struggle to focus' occurances, but assumed it was me getting older, but I am wondering if possibly some menu settings need tweaking! ... And wonder if factory 'standard' factory settings are different now?

--
Adrian
http://www.artfotografia.co.uk/

 

[MarkG]

When I first got the OM1 a year ago and used it with the pl100-400 the focus performance was phenomenal - and that was using standard out of the factory settings.

A short while back I was forced to update the firmware to allow burst flash with the electronic shutter. This was from original early factory fw to fw1.5.

Since then I have had quite a few 'struggle to focus' occurances, but assumed it was me getting older, but I am wondering if possibly some menu settings need tweaking! ... And wonder if factory 'standard' factory settings are different now?

That's interesting. I will try resetting the camera. It's currently on FW 1.5. It cannot revert the FW to 1.0 but at least the settings.

Can your setup do the following, in good light? C-AF (no TR), Large AF Area

1. Set lens to 400mm/6.3

2. Focus on nearby object (1.3-1.5m), then

3. Try to focus on far away object, like tree leaves (30m +). My setup really struggles locking focus in this case. Sometimes it stops focusing altogether, even though it's in C-AF mode. When it locks on leaves, then focusing on 1.3m object will be a struggle.

Thanks!

 

[Adrian Harris]

When I first got the OM1 a year ago and used it with the pl100-400 the focus performance was phenomenal - and that was using standard out of the factory settings.

A short while back I was forced to update the firmware to allow burst flash with the electronic shutter. This was from original early factory fw to fw1.5.

Since then I have had quite a few 'struggle to focus' occurances, but assumed it was me getting older, but I am wondering if possibly some menu settings need tweaking! ... And wonder if factory 'standard' factory settings are different now?

That's interesting. I will try resetting the camera. It's currently on FW 1.5. It cannot revert the FW to 1.0 but at least the settings.

Can your setup do the following, in good light? C-AF (no TR), Large AF Area

1. Set lens to 400mm/6.3

2. Focus on nearby object (1.3-1.5m), then

3. Try to focus on far away object, like tree leaves (30m +). My setup really struggles locking focus in this case. Sometimes it stops focusing altogether, even though it's in C-AF mode. When it locks on leaves, then focusing on 1.3m object will be a struggle.

Thanks!

Afraid I can't double check that for a week as am away with my lightweight travel kit (em1-mk2 & 14-140, +9-18).

But yesterday using my OM1 and Pl100-400 I'm fairly certain I was doing that without trouble.

 

[Hypoxi]

When I first got the OM1 a year ago and used it with the pl100-400 the focus performance was phenomenal - and that was using standard out of the factory settings.

A short while back I was forced to update the firmware to allow burst flash with the electronic shutter. This was from original early factory fw to fw1.5.

Since then I have had quite a few 'struggle to focus' occurances, but assumed it was me getting older, but I am wondering if possibly some menu settings need tweaking! ... And wonder if factory 'standard' factory settings are different now?

That's interesting. I will try resetting the camera. It's currently on FW 1.5. It cannot revert the FW to 1.0 but at least the settings.

Can your setup do the following, in good light? C-AF (no TR), Large AF Area

1. Set lens to 400mm/6.3

2. Focus on nearby object (1.3-1.5m), then

3. Try to focus on far away object, like tree leaves (30m +). My setup really struggles locking focus in this case. Sometimes it stops focusing altogether, even though it's in C-AF mode. When it locks on leaves, then focusing on 1.3m object will be a struggle.

Thanks!

Afraid I can't double check that for a week as am away with my lightweight travel kit (em1-mk2 & 14-140, +9-18).

But yesterday using my OM1 and Pl100-400 I'm fairly certain I was doing that without trouble.

--
Adrian
http://www.artfotografia.co.uk/

On my g9 with the Pl 100-400 I could not focus the lens at things further then 5-6m if I was zoomed in more then 300mm a while. was just about to send it for repair when I tried it again after cleaning the lens contacts, the problem didn't return and has not done so since then. Could perhaps be something similar.

Don't know if it was some software glitch in my g9, something with the lens or the contacts. Just happy it works