AF Sensitivity Epiphany with the OM System

[apostol]

Thank you, this information is helpful. I'm generally familiar with ideal camera settings, but my frustration stems from two key issues:

1. Inconsistent AF tracking: The autofocus struggles to reliably follow subjects who are not close and relatively central, indicating it's not smart, quick, or dependable enough.
2. Missed moments: Despite customization, crucial moments are still lost. This is a complex and frustrating problem, especially when compared to the performance of newer generation autofocus systems.

It's particularly striking that Canon even offers an 'Auto' option under its recognition settings, which some users claim is effective. Isn't that an incredible advancement?

 

[plantdoc]

I tried the -2 AF setting at the zoo today with my Oly 100-400mm in the range of 100-300mm. At F8. the shallow DOF made evaluating the pics difficult, but so far I could not see anything better or worse. What I did discover is some of the pics of zebras at about 125mm were soft and clearly front focused. So other pics may have had the same issue, but I need to study the pics more closely. I do not understand how focusing off the sensor could result in front focusing especially with the focus point on the zebra stripes. I switched from a DSLR due to frustration with front and back focusing issues. I recently took outdoor pictures of dancers with the 40-150mm F4 with same settings and camera and about 20% of the pics were clearly back focused even when the OM workspace showed the focus on the dancer. The AF was +1. I am starting to wonder about this camera in CAF.

Greg

 

[HicHic]

I tried the -2 AF setting at the zoo today with my Oly 100-400mm in the range of 100-300mm. At F8. the shallow DOF made evaluating the pics difficult, but so far I could not see anything better or worse. What I did discover is some of the pics of zebras at about 125mm were soft and clearly front focused. So other pics may have had the same issue, but I need to study the pics more closely. I do not understand how focusing off the sensor could result in front focusing especially with the focus point on the zebra stripes. I switched from a DSLR due to frustration with front and back focusing issues. I recently took outdoor pictures of dancers with the 40-150mm F4 with same settings and camera and about 20% of the pics were clearly back focused even when the OM workspace showed the focus on the dancer. The AF was +1. I am starting to wonder about this camera in CAF.

Greg

Ignore the focus point box that OM Workspace shows you. It is almost always in the wrong spot, even if the focus did manage to hit correctly. It is like that for other cameras too.

 

[HicHic]

Thank you, this information is helpful. I'm generally familiar with ideal camera settings, but my frustration stems from two key issues:

1. Inconsistent AF tracking: The autofocus struggles to reliably follow subjects who are not close and relatively central, indicating it's not smart, quick, or dependable enough.
2. Missed moments: Despite customization, crucial moments are still lost. This is a complex and frustrating problem, especially when compared to the performance of newer generation autofocus systems.

It's particularly striking that Canon even offers an 'Auto' option under its recognition settings, which some users claim is effective. Isn't that an incredible advancement?

The OM-1 AF has always been this way.

 

[Cornflake7]

I tried the -2 AF setting at the zoo today with my Oly 100-400mm in the range of 100-300mm. At F8. the shallow DOF made evaluating the pics difficult, but so far I could not see anything better or worse. What I did discover is some of the pics of zebras at about 125mm were soft and clearly front focused. So other pics may have had the same issue, but I need to study the pics more closely. I do not understand how focusing off the sensor could result in front focusing especially with the focus point on the zebra stripes. I switched from a DSLR due to frustration with front and back focusing issues. I recently took outdoor pictures of dancers with the 40-150mm F4 with same settings and camera and about 20% of the pics were clearly back focused even when the OM workspace showed the focus on the dancer. The AF was +1. I am starting to wonder about this camera in CAF.

Greg

What I remember with longer zooms it was recommended to do AF focus adjustment. One mu-43 member was advocating this a lot with great results. See the E-M1mk3 manual P212.

Long story here: https://www.mu-43.com/threads/em1-micro-focus-adjustment-why-and-how-to-perform.95155/

 

[OM mani padme hum]

This is a very interesting and helpful thread - thanks everyone! I have an EM1.2 and won't be buying an OM1.2 for some time due to finances, but rarely use face detect as it jumps around more than I'd like; my default is single point AF. Do any of you use the AF joystick much for things like live music gigs? (I'm wondering how much having that might help me.)

 

[Sam Bennett]

This is a very interesting and helpful thread - thanks everyone! I have an EM1.2 and won't be buying an OM1.2 for some time due to finances, but rarely use face detect as it jumps around more than I'd like; my default is single point AF. Do any of you use the AF joystick much for things like live music gigs? (I'm wondering how much having that might help me.)

With my E-M1 Mark III, I would use Face Detect "backed up" with a single AF point (I still do this with the OM-1 Mark II, for the most part). So yes, I use the AF joystick extensively in that scenario. Orientation Linked AF point helps with this. I generally keep my AF point in the "upper third" for concert photography as a good starting point. If Face Detect seems like it's doing great, I will stray for that to get the precise composition I want.