qiang_lin Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 <p>I just got this e-pl2 recently and I'm having trouble with focusing. On my (D)SLRs and point & shoot cameras, I fixed the focusing area to the center and the cameras work reliably. On point & shoot cameras, I can also use face detection, which also works well. When face detect enabled on e-pl2, it shows a white square around the subject's face, but often a green square (the actual focusing point, I believe) somewhere else.<br> If I disable face detection, and enable only the center focusing area, it still doesn't give me razor sharp focusing as I get from my other cameras. Well, at least when the green square is almost the same or larger size of the subject. <br> Does anyone have experience with this? How do you achieve reliable focus with e-pl2?<br> <br />Thanks.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leslie_cheung Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Is the subject static or moving? The epl2 has slow AF and slow shutter lag compared to dslrs and many point and shoots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qiang_lin Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 <p>Static, it's not due to the shutter lag. When I review the picture on it, it does show that the focus point was not at the desired place, e.g., on the collar of my son instead of his face (when face detection is enabled).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laur1 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>Why not select the focusing area manually? The camera allows you to restrict focusing to a smaller area. If you know how you want to frame a shot then you can pre-select the area that would have to be in focus in the frame.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leslie_cheung Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 It happens to me with my epl3 but rarely. It struggles in low light situations...But my subjects are not static usually...Then again, I don't use face detection... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcuknz Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>If you get a viewfinder, say the VF-3, you should find focusing easier with it than trying with the LCD assuming you go for manual focusing. But no digital camera is really good for manual focusing unless it is modified to be similar to SLRs were/are. And without focusing scales it is really difficult if you want to estimate distances and set the lens accordingly.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_rubenstein Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>µ4/3 have much larger sensors and shallower DOF than P&S cameras. The focus is very precise on the E-PL2, but only if you have it focus on what you want in focus. The way I do this with that camera, and the E-M5, is press the magnify button which sets a much smaller AF area (I use 14x), and manually select the AF area.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qiang_lin Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>Thanks for your inputs. So I guess that I should set a smaller AF area, the default AF area seems to be too big. I wonder why Olympus made them so big, the (D)SLRs all have much smaller AF areas and they work perfectly. Usually I don't use face detection (I can see the faces, so why ask the camera to guess?), I was just trying it when I had AF issue. Olympus claims it should detect the eyes and lock the focus to the closer eye, but it locked to my son's nose most of the time (no, his nose is normal, there is no high contrast lines on it).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laur1 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <blockquote> <p>I wonder why Olympus made them so big, the (D)SLRs all have much smaller AF areas and they work perfectly.</p> </blockquote> <p>There are always tradeoffs. With DSLRs you only have a limited number of AF points and they cover only the center of the frame. With MILCs you have a larger number of areas covering most of the frame, but their size cannot be made arbitrarily small.<br> <br> Also, all auto-features are imperfect. Autofocus has been around for 30 years now and it still gets improved.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qiang_lin Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>Well, interesting that as Bruce said, the camera does allow a much tighter AF area when the magnify button is pressed. I tried that and it worked well. So they can definitely make the areas smaller and not adjacent to each other, just like the DSLR style. Actually with smaller areas, the camera doesn't have to search over as many pixels so probably the shutter lag can be improved when the software is written properly.<br> Did Olympus make the decision because they are also targeting people had only used point and shoots with no concept of focusing? At least that's my guess. It would be nice if they give an option you can use smaller areas simultaneously or just single areas that can be quickly selected. Being an engineer, I figure it's not difficult to change the user interface to something similar to SLRs.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_rubenstein Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <p>The cameras with touch screens are probably the quickest to pick a focus point: just touch the screen where you want the camera to focus. The OM-D, E-PL5 and I think a couple of other Oly's even have a mode where you touch the screen the camera focuses there and fires the shutter. With a flip down screen, it's a thing of beauty for stealth street shooting.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laur1 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <blockquote> <p>So they can definitely make the areas smaller and not adjacent to each other, just like the DSLR style.</p> </blockquote> <p>Yes, I meant that how small you can make them is limited today. The problem with making a zone very small is that if it then covers an area with no details, the camera won't be able to focus. So the limits prevent people from easily getting into such situations. But technically, there is nothing preventing them from restricting the area in which they try to achieve focus.<br> <br> The nice thing about these cameras vs DSLRs is that they are no longer limited by the presence of physical features like AF sensors, but by processing power. In DSLR lineups, for example, high end cameras are distinguished from low end ones by having more AF points of higher sensitivity. With the Olympus Pen series, there is no difference in AF capability between E-PM1, E-PL3, and E-P3. They all have the same image processor and offer the same AF software; the differences are in the physical aspects - buttons, tilting LCD, touch screen. I like this tiering model because it doesn't artificially handicap lower end cameras. The upcoming E-PL5 and E-PM2 will offer the same AF performance as the E-M5.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laur1 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 <blockquote> <p>The cameras with touch screens are probably the quickest to pick a focus point: just touch the screen where you want the camera to focus. The OM-D, E-PL5 and I think a couple of other Oly's even have a mode where you touch the screen the camera focuses there and fires the shutter. With a flip down screen, it's a thing of beauty for stealth street shooting.</p> </blockquote> <p>Touch screen is really helpful. Even for manual focusing, it helps me fire the shutter without inducing vibrations. Excellent interface option and well worth the price difference.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebuddha Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 <p>So, with no focus assist infrared beam, we are doomed to slow (or NO) focus in poor light? I tried to take some basic snapshots at a Christmas party and couldn't get a thing. Aperture priority with the flash popped up, NOTHING. Anyone?<br> Thanks!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qiang_lin Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 <p>Mark, I believe the strobe works as focusing assistant when popped up - that's my impression when I was taking pictures in low light situation a couple of days ago. The slow sync mode does a decent job, but only suitable for casual snap shots. That is limited by on camera strobe and color temperature differences. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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