OM System OM-1 - Autofocus System Expert Guide and In-Depth Knowledge - S-AF, C-AF, C-AF+TR and more

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

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[@Afriqueleblanq]

Thank you for a properly articulated narrative, for clear and concise content presented in a professional way. That's how I love to learn.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for this amazing feedback. I'm very happy to read that.

[@tremaincheerful4189]

Your ability to research and especially to organize and share information is in my opinion unmatched among the many photography videos available on KZbin. Thank you so much for another clear, well organized, easy to understand video full of surprising and useful insights into the capabilities of the equipment available to us.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for this very kind comment - your appreciation and encouragement matters a lot and I will strive to continue providing relevant content! Thank you so much!

[@Afriqueleblanq]

I have come to a point where I block KZbin channels when the reviewer cannot even pronounce Nikon, and called it neye-kon. It actually is knee-koh. Mayu in Osaka confirmed that.

[@BarryCarlton]

Geek paradise. I try to explain to my wife how interesting this stuff is, and her eyes glaze over. So these videos are becoming my guilty pleasure. I don't recall if my OM-1 came this way from the manufacturer (I think it did), but there's a very quick way of selecting subject detection that doesn't use the menu: press the +/- button, then turn the rear wheel on the camera body. That cycles through the various subjects, though not face or eye detection. (Similarly, pressing the red button to the right of the +/- button and then rotating the rear wheel will cycle through hi-res modes.)

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Hehe, yes! I know this situation all too well haha. But I am super happy that the videos are resonating with your inner geek so well :-) I have to admit that I am not aware how the OM-1 is configured by default, but the configuration you have on yours makes a lot of sense if you want to switch from one subject to another one. That is pretty neat! Thanks for sharing that, Barry!

[@jeffbrown4743]

Absolutely brilliant explanation of a really sophisticated camera. Many thanks.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Many thanks! I agree, the OM-1 is very sophisticated. It is a specialist's tool, but if you take time to really learn it, the sky is the limit with this amazing image taking machine.

[@chepo1956]

Hello Thomas, Jose from Puerto Rico. Excellent explanation and video. Having said that, have you considered making videos where you can demonstrate these functions with live examples? A tutorial, perhaps showing us what you are seeing through the viewfinder and demonstrating each focusing mode. That would be exceptionally helpful.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Hello Jose, thank you very much for the suggestion! I will try recording footage in the future so I'll be able to provide such a video.

[@mladenerak]

This was the best explanation of OM-1's autofocus system. Thanks.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for the kind comment!

[@bernhardeisl7382]

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Aufnahme ins partnership program!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Vielen herzlichen Dank Bernhard - für Deine Unterstützung in Form von Abo und Super-Thanks!

[@Milagerdi]

The best, detailed , and well explained OM -1 AutoFocus system ever !! Thank you !

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you, very much appreciated - a very encouraging comment!

[@ZOly62]

Great video and great explanations and pitty that you didnt make demonstration for each of the AF mode. You just need to make part two! We`r wating for that. Cheers. 😊👍

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Great suggestion! I will definitely look into producing separate videos with more details on each AF mode - until then, I hope the back-screen recordings will suffice. Thanks for the encouraging comment, Zeljko!

[@Bhakti-rider]

Thanks!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for your much appreciated support! I'm very thankful!

[@mxyptlk]

Outstanding Thomas....! I will view this a few more times to fully absorb... superb input from yourself sir ! What clarity 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

So great to read, thanks for the feedback! Much appreciated!

[@shagyaraina4054]

Just what I've been looking for. Thank you very much!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Awesome, glad to hear!

[@Bakin]

Thanks for this detailed explanation; I had not previously understood when the camera used Phase vs Contrast Detection. Also, your caution when the Subject Area is larger than the subject that the camera could possibly select another subject in the subject area other than the intended subject was appreciated.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

I'm very glad that this video was helpful! Thank you very much for the encouraging comment!

[@peterspatz6918]

Danke!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Vielen Dank für die Unterstützung!

[@gilbertwalker6769]

Thanks for an enlightening video on the auto-focus system of the OM-1. I received my OM-1 in May and I'm very happy with the images I've been able to shoot with it.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

That is great to hear - the OM-1 is such a great camera, I'm glad that you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine!

[@laurentyarp514]

That was so informative. Thank you, I realize how ignorant I was on how the AF actually works. Will for sure come back to that video again in the future.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much, I am very happy that you found this video so useful! Great to hear that!

[@DHAGMANN2]

Great valuable video Thomas

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you!

[@Ricardo-SW]

Thanks for putting it all together in simple terms. This has been a confusing subject, and your explanation is much-appreciated.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much! I am happy that you found this video useful!

[@diogoferreira9039]

Thank you for the great explanations!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Glad it was helpful, most welcome!

[@h.b.4398]

Thank you very much for the excellent explanation. I would like to add the following: You explained that in S-AF mode, the camera focused exclusively with the contrast AF. In my opinion, this is not the whole truth, because the OM-1 first uses the phase AF pixels in S-AF mode to tell the AF engine how "far" it has to turn to the to achieve „approximate“ sharpness and which direction of rotation he has to take, to achieve this goal. Only then does the contrast AF do the fine work. Greetings from Stuttgart, Germany

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for the kind comment! Regarding phase and/or contrast detection in S-AF. This is quite the topic, and I'm glad that you've mentioned it. I think you are/might be correct about both methods being used as you've described. However, my tests were inconclusive in that regard. If S-AF is activated under poor lighting circumstances, the display is instantly brightened, which is according to my "research" indicative for contrast detection. My conclusion was that (as you've said) the OM-1 might use PDAF for a very very short period of time initially, and then switch to contrast detection immediately, or it might just uses contrast detection or it depends on shooting conditions (contrast, brightness,...). As I was not able to come to a 100% concise conclusion, I decided to only mention the one fact that I can prove under various "lab" conditions - the final focusing is for sure done with contrast detection. Thanks for bringing that up! Best wishes from Vienna and thanks again for the comment!

[@StephenStrangways]

You're essentially both right: in S-AF the camera begins focusing using PDAF, but only if it has enough light to do so - PDAF is not effective low light, so in those conditions, the camera uses just CDAF.

[@Bhakti-rider]

Excellent presentation! About as good as it gets.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much, I'm really glad that you liked the video and found it valuable. Also, thanks again for your generous donation!

[@chetanunindracusin664]

One of the best thank you

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much!

[@joaquintrigueros]

Thank you! I took mine to India just after it arrived, never set preferences to RAW (my mistake) but the jpegs were astounding.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Great to hear - yes, the jpeg engine is really great - I'm glad it worked out so well for you!

[@Swaggerlot]

Having sold my EM-5 III for an OM-1 I was astonished how much faster the single and continuous focus was, even though I thought the EM-5 was already fast.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Yes, the OM is really impressive! Many thanks for your support 🙏

[@hpeterh]

I think the OM-1 uses PDAF in all focus modes, also in S-AF. You can see this, because it prefers foreground structures over strong contrasts and because it highlights multiple foreground focus fields synchronous and fast, just as a good DSLR would do. Maybe it does a final CDAF optimization step, when initial focus is acquired. Only the EM-1 used CDAF exclusively in S-AF mode, the successor cameras use PDAF always and are therefore faster in focus.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for your detailed input! Much appreciated! It cannot be ruled out that the OM-1 also uses PDAF, but the final focus is always set in CDAF. There are several clear indicators for that, among those that under certain circumstances C-AF (although not a 100% accurately) can focus on still subjects while S-AF can't. For the purpose of clarity, and also for practicability, I've only mentioned the final focus acquisition step, as it is the only one that makes a difference in the end.

[@hpeterh]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Yes thank you, I think the same. I had previously an EM-5 III and an EM1 I. When I shoot wildlife in nature, these have a strong tendency to focus to sharp contrast background (grass or branches) while using S-AF. This happens much less with the OM-1. If it can find focus in the foreground, it prefers the foreground. This is why I think it uses PDAF and maybe CDAF optimization only as a last step.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Quite possible! In any case - S-AF is extremely accurate, especially when shooting long lenses at long distances. That's the magic of contrast detection and a real strong point of the OM-1

[@davidblack2632]

Great summary!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you David!

[@RyougiVector]

I appreciated the explanation of phase detect autofocus. Made me think of thousands of little photographers with even tinier split-image rangefinders working behind the scenes! Good to know that Subject Detection uses the phase detection system as opposed to the contrast detect system found in the E-M1X. And man, I am jealous of the ability to pick faces for focus when multiple faces are in play. I think the E-M1iii introduced this to OM-D lineup.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Haha, yes! Sometimes it feels like there are thousands of photographers at work given the capabilities of these modern cameras. I cannot try it myself, but the E-M1X should also use phase detection when in subject detection mode and set to C-AF. The face selection is really useful - using a small AF target with the multi selector should be a good workaround (with face and eye detection turned off, of course). Thank you for very much for watching and your continued support - every time you mention your E-M1X I'm always tempted to pick one up myself!

[@RyougiVector]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Hmm, I think I was stuck on the particular case of the subject detection on the E-M1X picking up on a bird behind a branch but not being able to focus past the branch to lock onto the bird. My first guess is that CDAF would be to blame, but PDAF isn't exactly immune to this either, right?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Here is the thing - PDAF is actually more prone to this "getting stuck on foreground" issue. There are videos of Nikon Z9 shooters having exactly this problem. It seems to be related to the smaller PDAF measuring base in mirrorless cameras (compared to DSLRs) and the overall "detection circle" of PDAF systems. The workaround I would recommend in OM /Oly cameras is switching to S-AF (using CDAF) with the multi function switch. CDAF is very unlikely to get focus wrong as it is more "pinpoint" than PDAF and uses a trial and error method to acquire focus. I'm curious to hear about whether this helps to resolve the issue!

[@RyougiVector]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Interesting. I'll try it when I go birding again and update you on the matter. EDIT: I actually ended up doing a much simpler test trying face detect and dangling a USB cable in face/eye detect mode (no eye specified) with the E-M1X. There seems to be a worst case scenario for both CDAF and PDAF when the cable is more brightly lit than my face/eyes are, where the camera will lock onto the cable for almost all trials, if not all of them. In less egregious lighting conditions, CDAF does seem to be more reliable than PDAF, as you said. Even when I repeatedly hammer on the half-shutter press to activate AF, it hardly fails. PDAF for C-AF isn't shockingly bad per se, but it does tend to trip up more often. I guess switching to S-AF for birds on branches will have its merits. Thanks for the tip! Here's a fun fact: Face detect doesn't seem to work on my Oly cameras when I turn it upside down. I accidentally discovered this while trying to figure out how to hold my E-M1X in one hand for these AF tests. It's far from the world's biggest dealbreaker, but I can't help but wonder why that limitation was put in. Maybe upside-down faces were disallowed from the detection algorithms to reduce false positives?

[@rashie]

👍👍 - Thanks Thomas!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Most welcome!

[@peterspatz6918]

Hallo Thomas. Ich fotografiere seit 2016 vornehmlich Natur, Landschaft, Familie, a little bit of everything. Ich hatte EM5 II und dann die EM1 II. Seit ich einen Hund habe sind die Ansprüche an AF gewachsen, und generell dachte ich, es geht besser als mit der EM1 II. Aber was nun, es kam vieles in Betracht, XH2S, R6II, S5II, hätte aber eine Sytemwechsel bedeutet. Was mich aber überzeugt hat sind unter anderem deine Videos, du zeigts das die OM1(MFT) hier im wesentlichen nicht abstinkt, sondern für mich Hobbyisten volllkommen ausreichend ist. Ich habe sie seit vorgestern, und die ersten Ergebnisse draussen sind vielversprechend. Der AF kann einen erschlagen, will verstanden werden, und sellten ist hier die Technik das Limit, sondern das Menschlein hinter dem Sucher.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Vielen Dank Peter für diesen Kommentar und das teilen deiner Erfahrungen. Nach wirklich intensiver Nutzung der OM-1 kann ich mit Sicherheit sagen - der Autofokus ist absolut jeder in dieser Welt existierenden Herausforderung mehr als gewachsen - atemberaubend. Wie du sagst, ist tatsächlich das Handbuch nicht ausreichend, um die Kamera voll auszunutzen, das hat mir anfangs auch Probleme bereitet. Es freut mich, dass dir meine Videos helfen und danke für deine großzügige Unterstützung! Ein weiteres Video von mir, dass in Arbeit ist, behandelt weitere AF Tips für die OM-1. Unscharf mit der OM-1 - das gibt es eigentlich nicht mehr. Viele liebe Grüße!

[@peterspatz6918]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Nix zu danken

[@Ronroncho]

Hello Thomas amazing video! hey i was wondering if you checked a video from Robin Wonk about S-FA that is not reliable at all, if yes what do you think? could be that was just a bad camera copy? i got my Om-1 yesterday so far for now i've not got complains, beside the build. Amazing videos i gonna watch all, subscribed!

[@greysuit17]

Yeah it’d be nice to hear on this.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Hey there! Thanks for subscribing and asking, I released a couple of shorts on the "issue" (as there is none). You can find them on my channel under shorts - next week, I will provide another long Autofocus master class on the OM-1. The issue is quite simple - the OM-1 uses an incredibly small and precise CDAF system in S-AF. The smaller the area used for contrast calculation, the more accurate, the bigger the area, the less accurate but the easier to lock on in very dark and low contrast conditions. To conclude - there is nothing to worry about, I hope my future video 📸 will help as well. The issue is based on wrong handling of the camera and a misunderstanding that it works differently compared to previous models, that is all. The OM-1 is as good as it gets!

[@greysuit17]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography thanks for those shorts, excellent tips!

[@rossthefiddler5890]

So well explained. Thank you.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

You're very welcome! Thanks!

[@rossthefiddler5890]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography I was under impression that S-AF used "High-speed imager AF Imager phase detection AF and imager contrast AF used in combination", that is Phase Detect first followed by Contrast Detect. So that is not the case then?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Ross, this is truly a complicated topic and it took a fair amount of testing. Here is what I found out: I am not sure whether the OM-1 uses PDAF first and then CDAF. One thing I'm 100% sure is that the "final" focusing is always done with CDAF in S-AF mode. In order to avoid confusion, I just mentioned CDAF in the video.

[@rossthefiddler5890]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Thanks. Another thing I am also puzzled with is the 'white noise' type of sound it uses when 'working harder' to obtain focus in lower light. My E-M1 II doesn't do it, but the OM-1 does. It is quite audible, but it isn't the IBIS unit etc. When I test my camera in low light it is in my darkened lounge room usually with my 100-400 f5-6.3 lens (but does the same on other lenses).

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

I think I've got an explanation for that - again, it might be complicated. To put it in a nutshell, when working in low light, the camera is amplifying the signal in order to focus better and provide a better image preview - I'm quite sure of that. It seems that this is possible thanks to the new sensor (which is really revolutionary) and ADC architecture (topic of the next video).

[@MrTifoso31]

Danke für dieses sehr informative Video. Das motiviert zum weiter experimentieren 😀. Kanal wurde natürlich abonniert 👍

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Vielen Dank, das freut mich sehr! Ich kann die OM-1 auch nur schwer aus der Hand geben, es gibt einfach so viele gute Optionen die diese Kamera bietet. 📸

[@berntlie6799]

Very clear presentation. I have set up my OM-1 with some custom modes (C1-C4). One is "designed" for events/concerts/indoor/low-light images. I chose to use Face/Eye detection with C-AF, silent (electronic shutter), spot exposure. Since such events typically take place in low light, perhaps it would be better to use Face/Eye detection with S-AF? Or perhaps not even use Face/Eye detection?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

I've shot many times under very similar circumstances - fashion shows to be more precise. I've got a video planned for the next month were I will talk about the settings for these scenarios in detail. Nonetheless, here is my answer for you in advance: 1) Face and Eye detection cannot be combined with spot exposure metering - use matrix instead as the OM-1 will usually expose faces correctly when in this mode. 2) Do not hesitate to use the mechanical shutter if you are dealing with LED lighting or other flickering light sources. 3) Face and Eye detection plus C-AF or even C-AF + TR is usually great, however, if you are dealing with flickering lights, low light (around 3EV or less) and you want to get reliable tracking, I recommend turning it off. In rare cases, the OM-1 can be fooled by other objects in the frame and then your focus will be off. I usually work with the single or small AF target instead - depending on subject size. 4) If the subjects don't move too much, you can also use S-AF - I've done so in stage photography scenarios, were long distances negatively impact the accuracy of PDAF in C-AF. Stay tuned for my future video, as I'll talk about even more settings for these scenarios in detail! Thanks for the comment!

[@JP11]

Do you have a video explaining the video AF? If not, would you consider making a video about the video AF?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thanks for the great suggestion! I definitely consider doing that - I don't have one at the moment.

[@JP11]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography - I’m referencing the OM1. Are you saying you don’t have an OM1 right now?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

No no, I have the OM-1, it's my most used camera at the moment - but no video on the video AF!

[@JP11]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography - great! I hope you do an in-depth video on the OM1 video AF. You should get many views.

[@berndbinnewies2757]

Schönes Video, gleich mal,ein Abo da gelassen..

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Vielen Dank Bernd! Much appreciated, wirklich sehr nett!

[@tonysvensson8314]

As an expert in one of the most advanced AF-system, please tell me how to set up dual back button focus or/and how to change focus method and focus point selection while AF-C is active. I haven´t figured it out yet. I cant set up de double back button focus and I can´t change AF point selection without lifting the thumb from the AF-on button. All the things i mention work well on Nikon`s and Canon´s modern mirrorles cameras (and with some older DSLRs), and on Sonys too.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Hey Tony! Thanks for considering me an expert ;-) that is cool to read! Dual Back Button Focus - OM System (even back then Olympus) has implemented this via the fn lever. There is no need to "waste" two buttons for immediately switching between two completely different AF settings, as you can flip the lever instead. This should also cover your second question regarding switching the focus method and focus point selection and position. It is important to note that when using double back button AF (with other cameras) you always have to lift up your thumb and move it to another button! With the OM-1, I highly recommend using the fn lever instead, because then you don't have to remove the finger from the [AF ON] - depending on which button you mapped it to you could map it to the AEL button for example, so you can keep the AF ON depressed while switching the lever with the same finger/thumb. This might be a little bit hard to explain via text, but there are even more configurations to achieve your desired outcome. E.g. you can also map AF ON to the shutter button so you can move the AF target via the targeting pad while AF is still active or you can also use the fn lever to switch between two completely different modes, af targets and positions while AF is technically still engaged. In order to help you to find a solution for your issue, it would be very useful to know which practical shooting situation you have got to solve - because I think the OM-1 has even better solutions to offer than dual back button AF. Cheers!

[@tonysvensson8314]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography I´ve tried to programe other buttons but the issue is that the buttons don´t do anything if I have the AF-c active. (if I lift the finger from the active af-on button it works). I want to change while i´m focusing the way i can do on other brands. Otherwise it´s a risk that i loose a fast moving objekt from the viewfinder.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Well, the methods I described will resolve this issue 👍 If you can describe the type of subject, shooting scenario and so on, I can give you an even more detailed setup suggestion

[@fuzzywuzzy8874]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Tony describes an issue which I would also like OMDS to resolve. I set up Canon 7DmkII with two BBF buttons. pressing one button recalls/activates all BIF settings and pressing the other recalls/activates static settings. So. ie., at a pond I could simply move my thumb between the two buttons when needing to constantly choose to capture a duck blasting by in the air or a duck swimming by. Much faster than having to constantly switch C modes (dial, buttons, or toggle switch) back and forth. In the mean time, Tony, I have two C modes (BIF and static) assigned to the two front buttons on the camera (next to the lens [below the shutter button] that I can operate with my middle/ring fingers) so I never have to leave my thumb off of the 'single' BBF button nor leave my finger off of the shutter button.

[@walterst.954]

Anschaulich beschrieben, danke. Im sympathischen Wiener Dialekt statt in englisch hätte es von mir auch ein "thumps up" gegeben 😀

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Danke Walter - ich kann zumindest hier in der Kommentarsektion ein wienerisches "Heast" nachreichen :-)

[@pankajnjoshi9673]

Thank you for a very informative video. I was expecting some information on AF limiter and how it works in conjunction with bird detection, C-af and C=AF + TR. Also which method to use in pro capture? OM-1 struggles to focus on fast moving birds in pro-capture mode.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

In short, focus limiter just limits the focus distance and has no impact on the AF modes, AF target modes and other AF behavior of the OM-1. When using pro capture, the same is true: You can use the same AF settings as you would in any other drive mode. Having said that, I generally recommend AF-C plus bird subject detection. Keep in mind that birds in flight are the most challenging subject imaginable - it is perfectly normal to have a few misses here and there. However, if you struggle to get a high keeper rate, there is a chance that you have misconfigured something (AF limiter on the lens, AF sensitivity, ...), as the OM-1 usually tracks birds with relative ease. Proper shooting technique is also important. If you can elaborate on your problems and lens you use in more detail, I might be able to provide further advice. Thanks for the comment!

[@pankajnjoshi9673]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography The expectation is that with af limiter in place, the camera's af algorithm will have less computing to do and there will less chance of missing the focus. I am using Olympus 100-400 lens on OM1 and I notice that at 25 fps and procap sh2, it misses sharp focus on fast moving small birds. My af sensitivity is +2 as I want af to shift quickly. Using af limiter improves the situation but I am not getting it work everytime. Thanks for your detailed response.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Ah, alright! Thanks for expanding on that. I've got two additional recommendations: The lens you are using is very good, however, in order to get the best AF performance, you would have to use a PRO lens. The AF motors in the pro lenses are more suitable for ultra-challenging scenarios like small, fast birds. In any case, you should get an acceptable hit rate with your lens as well - as I've said, it is a very good one! Another tip for you would be to pre-focus on an object with the same distance as the bird and then lock on to the bird as soon as it takes off. By doing so, the lens has to do "less guesswork". Thanks for asking and good luck getting those birds with your OM-1 - it is the perfect camera for the job.

[@stehlealexander]

excellent

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you!

[@malcolmpotter]

Nicely detailed video. Only issue I have found is since updating to 1.3 having issues with hunting of the focus plus magnify instigating for no reason plus first frames of CF shooting are totally out of focus. Is this something you have encountered? Didn't happen before the update :( Mal

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

I'm sorry to hear that! This sounds very strange - I would check if you have engaged Zoom frame AF/Zoom AF (aka Super Spot AF) - that might be the issue. Also, just to make sure I would try a different lens, maybe something is causing the "bug". Feel free to get back to me, if this does not resolve the issue (also consider sending me an e-mail or DM on Instagram, as I might miss notifications in the comment sections).

[@weekendwanderer5514]

Thanks for this. I’ve just ordered the OM1 to replace my aging LUMIX G9. I will primarily use it paired with the Olympus 60mm lens for outdoor macro photography. Any focus settings suggestions for fast moving insects?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

I would recommend the following: 1) Limit the focus range by using the AF Limiter 2) Try using C-AF + TR, and only if the camera loses the subject too often (e.g. because of busy scenes, etc.), use C-AF with an appropriately sized target (not too large) Congratulations on the upgrade, hope you will like the OM-1 as much as I do!

[@weekendwanderer5514]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography Thank you!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Most welcome!

[@youbetterwalkaway]

Thanks for the video, lots of information, but I'm still a little confused... What if I just want to walk around and take general photos of anything that may show up? Like a building, car, people etc, What would be the best general all purpose focus option? Thank you

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you for the kind comment, Bradley. Regarding your question: for the situations you described (mostly static subjects) I would definitely set the OM-1 to S-AF. The Fn lever in its standard configuration switches between two pre-set AF modes. So I would set one position to S-AF (which you will need most of the time) and the other position to C-AF, just in case you have to capture a moving subject. The thing is that S-AF is very fast and precise, so even when shooting a street portrait, you don't have to use C-AF as S-AF will get it just as well. Hope this helped - let me know!

[@youbetterwalkaway]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography thank you so much for your message and advice. I really appreciate it. I will give it try 🙏

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Awesome! Keep me updated 😎

[@DGTool2k17]

Hi Thomas! One question. Imagine there are 3 guys. 1 is 1m from You. The second one is 1,25 m from You. The third one is 1,5m from you. LCD shows You 3 faces and there is activated square on them. And - what important - You have NO AF POINT activated, cuz Your mode is ALL SCREEN AF POINT. How the AF is calculating which face is the right for focusing? Thanx for answering :)

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer - but most likely the OM will focus on the closest guy. Face detection (regardless of brand) is always a bit unpredictable as soon as more faces are in the frame, as it depends on various factors which one the camera will pick. I might release a short on the topic in the near future! Hope this helps!

[@allenthomas4280]

Thank you for this video It is the most concise one I have come across yet on the subject. Can you tell a difference with the new version 1.3 firmware update from the previous? I have saw varying comments from it brings improvement to its made it worse. Does anybody have enough experience to comment?

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you for your kind words! I have loaded the new FW already, to be honest, I was not able to detect any changes for the better or worse (last one can be ruled out I'd say). It is noteworthy, though, that setting the camera up "correctly" , even with FW 1.0, I got an almost 100% hit rate in any sensible scenario and a high rate of keepers in extreme scenarios. Thanks for the comment!

[@fuzzywuzzy8874]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography after fw 1.3 update I immediately noticed that in rather dim light there was 'no noticeable difference' regarding speed/accuracy between S-AF and C-AF. with my other PDAF/CDAF equipped milc bodies I could easily note a difference in performance favoring S-AF over C-AF in rather dim light. the same was true for the OM-1 before fw 1.3. what i do not know for sure is if fw 1.3 improved C-AF or hampered S-AF.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

@fuzzy wuzzy - interesting - I was not able to replicate these results with my camera, but it is really hard to test these things if you do not have two bodies with different FW side by side

[@fuzzywuzzy8874]

@@ThomasEisl.Photography if you have another any PDAF/CDAF hybrid m4/3 body I expect you would be able to easily conduct this 'test' at least to compare AF to the flag ship's AF performance. what i do is rather simple. in a darkened room lit with a dimmer switch light. i adjust the switch/light down until C-AF starts showing issues. then i switch to S-AF and those issues are not present. simple. with all of my PDAF/CDAF hybrid camera bodies the results were very easily discernable. with the OM1 fw 1.3 i found no differences in performance between S-AF and C-AF. they both performed the same in good light and in low light. once the light was very extremely low they both still performed the same, which was rather poorly as expected....but not one better then the other. not at all a scientific test but neither is my use of the equipment.

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thanks for expanding on that!

[@theoderzweite8272]

Hallo Thomas, was würdest du Robin Wong sagen, der von so deutlichen Problemen beim S-AF der OM-1 berichtet? Ich habe da einen Verdacht, aber noch nie eine OM-1 in den Händen gehabt, um das überprüfen zu können.... Die OM-1 hat halt 9-mal soviele AF Punkte, dh. jeder einzelne greift eben 1/9 der Fläche ab... Rein theoretisch halte ich es für möglich, dass seine (auch meine) althergebrachte Methode des spot-meterings hier an eine Grenze kommt. Kann man in der OM-1 die im S-AF Messpunkte clustern? (=vergrößern?)

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Hallo Theo! Meine Antwort (die sich auch in meinem nächsten Video zur OM-1 detaillierter finden wird) ist evidenzbasiert folgende - und geht genau in deine Richtung - causal sehe ich allerdings zwei Möglichkeiten für das Verhalten der OM-1, dazu aber später mehr. 1) Es gibt kein Problem - ich habe mit der OM-1 in viel ärgeren Umständen fotografiert. Wenn man die Kamere wie Robin verwendet, dann geht das nicht (ein grund warum man sich auf jedes system einarbeiten muss und seine funktionsweise verstehen muss - das problem ist meist hinter der kamera). Der Grund für das Verhalten der Kamera: 2) Kontrast-AF systeme haben ein arbiträres "cut-off" limit hinsichtlich noise floor. Ansonsten würden sie in dunklen situationen versuchen auf das bildrauschen des live view scharfzustellen. Dieses Limit ist bei der OM-1 höher angesetzt, bei manchen älteren Olympus-Kameras niedriger. Das ist eine reine Firmware Sache. 3) Die OM-1 kann allerdings dieses "cut off" limit reduzieren - und das werde ich in diesem Video demonstrieren. Da Kontrast-AF nicht unbeding an Fokus Punkte (physik.) gebunden ist, ist nur das rauschen der Kamera das wahre Limit. Und das ist bei der OM-1 deutlich geringer. Daher ist die OM-1 auch in der Lage in dunkleren Situationen noch Kontrast-AF lock zu schaffen. Ich sage mal ganz salopp "Anwenderfehler aufgrund mangelnder Kenntnis der Kamera"

[@vicmassart6933]

@Pankaj N Joshi - message 2 weeks ago Essentially shooting birds in flight, mostly with ProCapture SH2. Perhaps would you like to have a look at your Release Priority Settings. quote " EN p.84 MENU > AF > 3.AF > AF Limiter > Release Priority [Off]: If [AF Operation] is set to [Shutter Button], the shutter cannot be released even when the shutter button is pressed fully, unless the camera is in focus. If [AF Operation] is set to [AF-ON button] and the AF-ON button is pressed, the shutter cannot be released even when the shutter button is pressed fully, unless the camera is in focus. If the AF-ON button is not pressed, you can start shooting at any time by pressing the shutter button fully. [On]: Shooting starts when the shutter button is pressed fully, regardless of the setting of [AF Operation] EN p.93 MENU > AF > 3.AF > AF Limiter Release Priority [Off]: Complies to the [Release Priority] (P. 84) setting. [On]: The shutter can still be released if the camera is unable to focus when a setting other than [Off] is selected for [AF Limiter]. unquote " In short, setting both to [Off] will prevent shutter from being released when subject is NOT WITHIN the range of focusing distances OR if the camera CANNOT FOCUS, when in the range. which seems to be very nice, but my problem with this setting and fast moving subjects is that camera triggers shutter when it "THINKS" subject is in focus, which can be very different from when subject IS in focus, as said subject will have moved, BOTH in space, AND also most possibly in the frame (struggling to keep that feather bullet in the EVF), by the time shutter will be released. I have tons of images where OM Workspace is proudly evidencing its small green focus point, "bang on the beak", but where subject is completely out of focus, and other images that are in perfect focus but the small green box is anywhere in the picture, or not even there at all. I therefore set Release Priority to [ON] on all my cameras, but it's me. Also, while not being a "Back Button Focus" user, I set it to acquire focus on a fast moving target, and only press Shutter Button when I wish to take pictures (keeping AF-ON button pressed indeed) Each one his preferences, according to his practice, skills, subjects, etc, etc. Keep well and enjoy your outings

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

This is an excellent tip, thanks for sharing that - I actually plan on releasing a video talking about this and AF settings. Very valid points and excellent description, Vic! Thanks for the contribution

[@ponymoore6140]

With regard to AF-C and face detection - I tried face detection method when photographing rugby; the face detection would switch from one player to another. Switching it off and making a vertical rectangle focus box solved my issue. +TR is rubbish on the OM_1

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

For sports with multiple faces in the frame, face detection is not suitable (at least not every time) - the camera cannot decide for you which face is the most important. I would also use a small AF target, just as you did. Alternatively, you can utilize a dedicated Face AF button or the Face Selection button to get the right face / focus point. Worked for me during runway shows. Thanks for the comment!

[@ThePhiloctopus]

This is the first time I've ever questioned my decision to buy an XT-4

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Oh no, really? Are you not satisfied with its AF system?

[@ThePhiloctopus]

​@@ThomasEisl.Photography I like the overall package of the XT-4, and I think it's a nice companion to my medium format film camera. I don't love it as much as I though I would though. I was very happy with my X100V, but it's a it niche so maybe it means I need another camera in my lineup. I've been very impressed by your presentations of the OM System; I hadn't really known much about this camera before your channel! For example, I think I like 4:3 better than 3:2. Also I have the XF16-55 F2.8 (24-84), but the 12-40mm F2.8 for OM is almost half the weight?!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thanks for sharing that - I am quite perplexed by the weight difference TBH. Regarding the OM-1: I am very impressed by this camera. If you know how to work with it, it is absolutely spectacular. It is both a professional tool and a great companion. Truly outstanding. And yes, I also prefer 43 - we medium format film ppl think alike haha Let me know how you decided. Apart from that, the X100V is very cool. Really liked mine!

[@ulflundh5813]

👌

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thanks 👍

[@oscarjeong9438]

Soon all DSLR will use LIDAR to locate the object in front of it...

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

It is a very interesting technology!

[@billrudersdorf4187]

Thanks!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for your support!

[@andy.underwater.videos]

Thanks!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for your support!

[@billrudersdorf4187]

Thanks!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much for your support!

[@Mthompson4545]

Thanks!

[@ThomasEisl.Photography]

Thank you very much! If you ever need more information, don't hesitate and get in touch. Best, Thomas 📸