Another Great Olympus E-M1 and E-M5 Feature That You Must Try

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M5, Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm; 1/400th @ f/8; ISO 200

A majority of my serious imaging is done using a tripod.  I submit many of my images to a traditional stock photography agency and they will accept only the absolute best quality, both technically and aesthetically. So, when the opportunity arises, I always choose to use a tripod to increase my odds of producing the best technical image possible. As far as aesthetics?  Well, I try.

Here is where the Olympus OM-D cameras come in.  I love to use the cameras' ability to focus and expose an image using only the touch screen enabled LCD.  It is a wonderful feature and I recommend you try it.  I set up my camera on my tripod, carefully compose the image using either the electronic viewfinder (EVF) or the large LCD, adjust my settings as needed, then just touch my finger exactly where I want the camera to focus.  Not only will the camera immediately focus exactly where I need it to focus, but it will also activate the shutter! Just like that!

The cameras allow two options; only focus or focus and expose.  Are you worried about jarring the camera or inducing movement by touching the LCD?  Don't be.  Enable a 2-second shutter delay.  With a shutter delay enabled, I find focus and expose works wonderfully.  There is no need to use buttons, dials or other controls to move the focus point around, nor do I need to use a remote release, either wired or wireless.

In reality, it takes longer to explain how to set this up than to actually set your camera to do it.  I keep the LCD focus/shutter release feature activated, but normally keep my LCD showing the super menu to have access to almost all of my settings in sight.  That way, 'focus and release feature' is ready when I need it but doesn't interfere with my photography when not using it.  When I want to use this feature I just press the toggle button (upper left on rear of camera) to change from super menu on the LCD to view the image on the LCD.  Second, on the E-M1, I press the top (of the two) button next to the off/on switch to activate the menu to change the shutter behavior.  I quickly rotate the front dial to set it to 2-second delay.  That's it.  I'm ready to go.

Will this work when hand holding the camera?  It can.  I almost never use the camera that way as I am old school and like looking through a viewfinder.  But I have held the camera out, then touched the LCD to have it focus and fire the shutter.  Not the best technique, but the camera is light and small enough that you can comfortably hold it with only one hand and use the other to touch the screen.  If you use a single focal length, lightweight lens and a high shutter speed, I think you can use this technique for photographing children, street photography, or other objects that may be moving across your screen.  Again, it beats trying to move your focusing rectangle around the EVF with buttons, dials or knobs.

Olympus engineers really thought these cameras through when designing them and I am having a wonderful time using them.  The E-M1 and E-M 5 are true joys to use.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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