Olympus Ep1- Not Strictly A Range Finder

[Ray Kilby]

test shots

test shots

I can't get the pictures I wanted to show, so follow the link. The last two images of a carosel horse and a park were taken with a 28mm / 2.8 elmerit M lens set at 11 and I didnt bother focusing other than leaving the lens set at 4ft to infinity within the 11 app range

http://gallery.me.com/raykilby#100359&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=14

 

[tgoods]

It's the way I use my film cameras as well. How about aspect ratio, the auxiliary finders are obviously not fitted the same. Does that work still?

I use a 28mm VF with the 15mm lens and a 50mm VF with my 28mm lens. Both are just very slightly wider views than the lenses. Since they are 3:2 aspect ratio, the 4:3 ratio of the camera makes up a bit of the difference at least in height. In other words, I think they work fine.

 

[tgoods]

I can't get the pictures I wanted to show, so follow the link. The last two images of a carosel horse and a park were taken with a 28mm / 2.8 elmerit M lens set at 11 and I didnt bother focusing other than leaving the lens set at 4ft to infinity within the 11 app range

http://gallery.me.com/raykilby#100359&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=14

Ray, this is exactly what I am talking about. Zone focus with manual focusing lenses. Works perfect every time. When I try to use the zoom manual focusing feature of the E-P1, I find it very slow and cumbersome. I'd rather estimate the distance and shoot a couple of frames adjusting focus if needed.

 

[.ken]

This is exactly how I shoot when I do street photography. When things are moving fast, framing is first and foremost critical and then focusing is done in conjunction by zone-focusing (thank goodness to focusing tabs). I think if you have time to accurately focus then using the LCD is probably just good enough to do it. With a good amount of light or higher ISO, zone focusing works 99% of the time. That's how I do it in the real world anyway, might not be attractive in paper but it works.

 

[tgoods]

There is a way to make the auto shut-off longer. It's in the custom menu, which you have to enable (you enable it in the basic menu). Information on the custom menu starts on page 97 of the manual.

From the manual (on page 103):

"After a specified period of time elapses with no operations being performed, the camera
enters the sleep mode (stand-by) to save battery power. [SLEEP] lets you select sleep timer from [1MIN], [3MIN], [5MIN], or [10MIN]. [OFF] cancels the sleep mode.
The camera activates again as soon as you touch any button (the shutter button, q button,
etc.)."

Amy, thanks for the info. I missed this. For a camera that is marketed to people that do not want complex dSLR's, the menus and manual are not easy to follow.

 

[Sam N]

I actually love how configurable the E-P1 is... in the end it makes your shooting more fluid instead of getting in the way. I set the dials to work similarly to Canon DSLRs, so there's less of a learning curve for me.

I've figured out pretty much every function of the camera and only looked at the manual for 3-4 things. You don't have to go into the menu system during regular shooting, and you can bind the outer controls to pretty much whatever.

If you don't want ART filters, in-camera raw processing, auto-levelers, etc., you don't have to use them. The camera actually lets you disable features.

 

[rover]

Remember when cameras had three settings, focus, shutter-speed, and f-stop? What are these guys thinking?

Now that is something I believe in. I get so irritated with my K10d some times. It tries to over think things. All I want it to do some times is to fire the shutter when I push the button.

 

[JBurnett]

Why is the G1 better? I'd b interested to know.
Ray

It wasn't my comment, but here's my perspective:

The G1 isn't better, but it's certainly more suitable for SOME of us. I find the EVF in the G1 to be VERY usable. The LCD I have turned in to the body almost permanently. I need reading glasses to see the LCD, then must peer over the glasses to look at the scene -- very frustrating except for tripod work. AF with an add-on OVF would be OK in certain situations, but not in all.

 

[Ray Kilby]

I just took a portrait using the 50mm summicron E39 1:2/50 (Leica) lens attached with the adapter for the EP1. I set the app at 16 , the speed at around 30th sec with an iso of 650. I thought the lens works pretty well on this body tp be honest. Here is the result.

http://gallery.mac.com/raykilby#100359/lucy-20-202996&bgcolor=black[/url]

 

[Silva Lining]

I just took a portrait using the 50mm summicron E39 1:2/50 (Leica) lens attached with the adapter for the EP1. I set the app at 16 , the speed at around 30th sec with an iso of 650. I thought the lens works pretty well on this body tp be honest. Here is the result.

http://gallery.mac.com/raykilby#100359/lucy-20-202996&bgcolor=black[/url]

Lovely shot Ray, I think the Summicron 50/2 produces nice images on the Ep-1 - how did you find the focusing?

 

[Ray Kilby]

Lovely shot Ray, I think the Summicron 50/2 produces nice images on the Ep-1 - how did you find the focusing?

I have found that using the 28mm lens it's much easier to zone focus. The 50 (obviously) is more tricky, so I use the zoom facilty to focus it. I think that it's pretty good to be honest if you are doing a portrait that you don't need to 'grab'. I find it a tad frustrating clicking through the info screen so that you can zoom in manually using the OK button as it stops you being able to get to any of the other menus while you have the camera set up in this way. So coming out of this particular setting to up the iso for example, is a bit of a bore, But once set up, with the right iso, white balance etc its quick 'ish' and easy. I am yet to come to grips using my 35mm lens.

Oh one last thing I noticed is that if I choose to zone focus the 50mm I find that if the object is at 4ft, then by pulling the focus back a small amount to just under, it is sharper. Would this be to do with the adapter making a small focusing error? Or is it that I just can't judge the distance correctly?

 

[Colman]

Remember when cameras had three settings, focus, shutter-speed, and f-stop? What are these guys thinking?

And all the complexity was hidden away in the choice of film and development methods.

 

[JonasYip]

As for the ergonomics of the E-P1 discussion, I love the Canon-style dial in the back. That was a hard part of my switch to Nikon for DSLRs. Those big, round dials, spinning parallel to an iris ring on the lens, make perfect sense to my mind for controlling aperture settings. The dial on the front that spins parallel to a shutter speed dial makes sense for that. God forbid we actually have either of those controls on a modern lens and DSLR combo, but as long as things have to be different, my mind made that adjustment rather easily. The horizontally-spinning dial on the back of the D700 still doesn't quite feel like home (but my focal lengths do, so I felt the compromise was worth it).

Totally OT, but regarding Nikon dials: I have my Nikon DSLRs set up so that I use the actual aperture ring to select the aperture, which feels even more natural to me than spinning knobs on the back in either orientation.


j

 

[Silva Lining]

Oh one last thing I noticed is that if I choose to zone focus the 50mm I find that if the object is at 4ft, then by pulling the focus back a small amount to just under, it is sharper. Would this be to do with the adapter making a small focusing error? Or is it that I just can't judge the distance correctly?

Could be that the adapter is slightly out - or that the lens is slightly off - back-focusing (or front focusing) is easier to spot with a digital sensor. I'm led to believe, from what I have read, that this is because the sensor is completely flat, whereas film was never 100% flat and also had 'thickness'. (I'm sure someone more technical than I can confirm or dent this 😉 )

 

[Ray Kilby]

And all the complexity was hidden away in the choice of film and development methods.

I love the fact that on an m6 all that you really deal with speed focus and appeture. However, it's sad but true, film is on its way out. So it is a joy that with the M8 and RD1 or even a Nikon D3 with Ziess primes you can still just deal with those three things after setting up your white balance and iso. (Actually faster than loading film to be honest.) So all is not lost. OK if you don't shoot raw there are some other fiddles, but so what? At leastv photography is alive and kicking, more open to many more people, less elitist, cheaper and accessible. Digital gets better all the time. almost daily, and dare I say it, is beginning to beat film hands down.

Don't get me wrong I love film, I was trained in film. My first films were in film and I cut them on film. I love the romance of the sfuff, the feel and the look. The quality is superb, particularly negative which is still improving..... but movie or still image, digital is here to stay, we have to go with the flow or get left behind. So the King is dead, long live the King. Or Queen.

 

[splitimageview]

Oh one last thing I noticed is that if I choose to zone focus the 50mm I find that if the object is at 4ft, then by pulling the focus back a small amount to just under, it is sharper. Would this be to do with the adapter making a small focusing error? Or is it that I just can't judge the distance correctly?

Focus your 50mm at an object at infinity, and then see if the focus ring will turn past that point. If it does, then the adapter is slightly off. This is normal, it's better to focus slightly past infinity, then not to reach infinity. However this means the close focus will be not quite as close, and the scale will be slightly off.

 

[Ray Kilby]

Zone focus, fixed focus... focus pocus. No matter what your focussing technique, still not a rangefinder. It's a non-compact point-and-shoot :angel:

No, it's not a range finder. I never said it was a range finder. In fact the first line in this thread was "Strictly not a range finder" I was trying to be humorous. I agree it's not a range finder, but thought those of us who do have a Leica range finder and lenses to play with might like to see some results with it. That's all.

Oh and to be pernikerty. It ain't a point and shoot either unless a D3 is, which can also be set at fully auto. But I think you will find that most people who use a D3 might disagree. The EP1 can be used as a point and shoot, but can be also completely manual. So sorry to be anal and repetitive, it ain’t a point and shoot either.

 

[Brian Nth]

Hi, I just registered here for the first time to post on this thread about the non-rangefinder Oly EP1, so I think it's an interesting and fun place to be. Anyway I just heard about the EP1 and got interested because it is the only compact I know of that can do a 30-minute exposure, plus you can get one with a handy fixed 2.8 lens that you can focus by hand. Happiness. Those are features my Canon G7 does not provide, which is otherwise a decent camera for what I am otherwise doing (with the notable exception of night photography). Yes, a DSLR does all of that and more, except fit into a camera bag that also carries a Rolleiflex TLR, which has the 3 adjustments mentioned earlier and makes me happy.

So...my questions about the camera are: what is the smallest aperture for the 17mm pancake, and what DOF will that provide? I mean for this camera, not the Rollei of course. And for the purpose of using the EP1 as a lightmeter for my Rollei, well, can you get a pretty good spot reading with it to help out at night? I have a Pentax digital spotmeter, but frankly I find it awkward to use in daylight and of no help whatsoever in low light. The G7 isn't too bad for that, plus you get a shot with the reading if you want, if it only goes for a stingy 15 sec. I'd like to find out what degree spot reading could one get using a digital zoom feature (which is anathema to me to employ for picture-taking). I mean, roughly, just to help me improve my guesswork.

I read a post on some other forum by someone who had soured on the EP1 due to its slow autofocus, which was complicated by the lack of a focus assist lamp, which is actually a good thing if you don't want to draw attention to yourself. But he complained bitterly about that and accused fans for having posted photos only of flowers, bugs, mountains and whatnot. This is not a question, but maybe the guy has a point. I can do without the bugs myself, since they do move (and bite or sting), but I'm wondering if anyone has comments on the matter.

 

[panzerneo]

Hi, I just registered here for the first time to post on this thread about the non-rangefinder Oly EP1, so I think it's an interesting and fun place to be. Anyway I just heard about the EP1 and got interested because it is the only compact I know of that can do a 30-minute exposure, plus you can get one with a handy fixed 2.8 lens that you can focus by hand. Happiness. Those are features my Canon G7 does not provide, which is otherwise a decent camera for what I am otherwise doing (with the notable exception of night photography). Yes, a DSLR does all of that and more, except fit into a camera bag that also carries a Rolleiflex TLR, which has the 3 adjustments mentioned earlier and makes me happy.

So...my questions about the camera are: what is the smallest aperture for the 17mm pancake, and what DOF will that provide? I mean for this camera, not the Rollei of course. And for the purpose of using the EP1 as a lightmeter for my Rollei, well, can you get a pretty good spot reading with it to help out at night? I have a Pentax digital spotmeter, but frankly I find it awkward to use in daylight and of no help whatsoever in low light. The G7 isn't too bad for that, plus you get a shot with the reading if you want, if it only goes for a stingy 15 sec. I'd like to find out what degree spot reading could one get using a digital zoom feature (which is anathema to me to employ for picture-taking). I mean, roughly, just to help me improve my guesswork.

I read a post on some other forum by someone who had soured on the EP1 due to its slow autofocus, which was complicated by the lack of a focus assist lamp, which is actually a good thing if you don't want to draw attention to yourself. But he complained bitterly about that and accused fans for having posted photos only of flowers, bugs, mountains and whatnot. This is not a question, but maybe the guy has a point. I can do without the bugs myself, since they do move (and bite or sting), but I'm wondering if anyone has comments on the matter.

Hey Man, I relate to your observations. I'm in the same position you're in it seems. The G7 is my only digital camera (rest is Leica, Bessa, Pentax), barely useable in available (low) light.
I'm planning on using my fast CV lenses on the E-P1.
I can't comment on the spotmeter use you mention, but, regarding the rants you read, I found some to be unfair or incoherent. For instance, some bitch about the LCD in daylight, but never mention that in low light situations, it's often much brighter and more confortable than a viewfinder. One guy even wrote e-p1 users, because they don't have a VF, looked like regular 'bozos'. But who is more conspicuous in street shooting? the guy who looks like any other tourist, or the Leica fan holding on to its fancy looking jewel? Frankly, some posts are snobby.

I also found the in-body IS of the E-P1 to be under-played, especially by G1 folks. But anyone who is honest with himself knows IS is a major deal to get sharp pictures under difficult lighting conditions. I pay a lot of attention to my shooting technique to minimize motion blur, but when I once turned IS off on my G7, I was shocked by how quickly quality degraded. And with a 2x factor on CV lenses plugged on M43, the IS gets even more critical.

Bottom line, if you feel good with a camera, and you end up taking it out more often, then you've chosen wisely.

 

[Dante_Stella]

Anyone have any comments on shooting this with the 17mm and the accessory finder?