Olympus PEN E-PL1, Manual

Page 1: ...u need to start enjoying all the E PL1 has to offer introducing you to its external features showing you how to work with interchangeable lenses and explaining how to navi gate menus and select camera settings In addition the last part of the chapter details options that enable you to customize basic camera operations Taking a Quick Tour If you ve used a digital camera before some external con tro...

Page 2: ...pter 2 to find out how to specify whether you want the camera to record a single shot a continuous series of shots or a self timer shot each time you press the button Mode dial You select the shooting mode or exposure mode via this dial Chapter 3 explains the simplest most automatic modes iAuto and Scene SCN as well as Movie mode Chapters 6 and 7 cover the more advanced photography modes P S A and...

Page 3: ...this mark produces a more accurate camera to subject distance than using the end of the lens or some other external point on the camera body as your reference point Back of the camera controls Traveling over the top of the camera to its back you see the controls labeled in Figure 1 2 The following list introduces you to each item Flash Up switch Accessory port Fn Thumbnails button Playback button ...

Page 4: ...d space I refer to this button simply as the Fn button from this point forward Zoom button As on most digital cameras pressing this button during playback magnifies the image But here s a twist On the E PL1 you can also magnify the live view during shooting which can be helpful for fine tuning focus See the later section Zooming the live display in this chapter for details Movie Protect button As ...

Page 5: ... label For example you can display flash settings by pressing the right arrow key the one sporting the lightning bolt which is the universal symbol for flash To save time and space in this book I refer to the Start OK button as just OK okay And I refer to the arrow keys by their position on the arrow pad press the right arrow key press the down arrow key and so on Erase button During playback you ...

Page 6: ... battery to become before the camera warns you that you re soon to be run ning on empty Tripod mount The little screw hole just next to the battery chamber is provided for mount ing the camera on a tripod When the camera is mounted on a tripod you can t access the battery chamber Double check that your battery is charged and your memory card is inserted before you connect the camera to the tripod ...

Page 7: ...gh translation of the Chinese expression for golden light Won t you sound smart at the next meeting of the photo club At any rate although you can mount other types of lenses on the camera you need to purchase an adapter to do so And with some lenses you lose access to certain important camera features For example you can t use autofocus ing with some lenses you must focus manually The Olympus Web...

Page 8: ...the camera s lens mount 6 Turn the lens in a clockwise direction until the lens clicks into place In other words turn the lens away from the shutter button side of the body as indicated by the red arrow in the figure To detach a lens take these steps 1 Turn off the camera 2 Locate the lens release button labeled in Figure 1 6 3 Press the button while turning the lens counterclockwise until the len...

Page 9: ...Four Thirds lenses sports the features shown in Figure 1 7 Get familiar with the following key components Unlock switch Focusing ring Focal length indicator Zoom barrel Figure 1 7 Get to know the functions of these lens features Zoom barrel If you own a zoom lens such as the kit lens zoom in and out by simply twisting the zoom barrel Focal length indicator Every lens can be characterized by its fo...

Page 10: ...ride Chapter 7 provides details on how to select this setting Unlock switch If you ve worked with a zoom lens on an SLR it may have had a Lock switch that enabled you to lock the lens at a specific focal length The kit lens on the other hand has an Unlock switch Hmm what gives A really cool retracting feature found on the kit lens and some other Micro Four Thirds lenses that s what Move your eyeba...

Page 11: ...al cameras store pictures on memory cards The E PL1 uses a spe cific type of memory card an SD Secure Digital card as shown in Figure 1 10 You can also use the newer high capacity Secure Digital cards labeled SDHC Safeguarding your memory cards and the images you store on them requires just a few precautions Handling cards Don t touch the gold contacts on the back of the card See the left card in ...

Page 12: ...in Figure 1 11 Push the card into the slot until it clicks into place Formatting a card The first time you use a new memory card or insert a card that s been used in other devices such as an MP3 player format it Formatting ensures that the card is properly prepared to record your pictures Formatting erases everything on your memory card So before you format be sure that you copy any pictures or ot...

Page 13: ...ou have a card in the camera and you get these messages try taking the card out and reinserting it Also be sure that you haven t locked the card using the card s lock switch One side note on the issue of memory cards and file storage Given that memory cards are getting cheaper and larger in capacity you may be tempted to pick up an 8GB gigabyte or 16GB card thinking you can store a gazillion image...

Page 14: ...xternal flash which also requires the camera s hot shoe at the same time as the viewfinder You can still use the built in flash The other issue is cost At a suggested retail price of 280 the viewfinder isn t a casual investment But I suspect that if you visit your local camera store to try it out you ll have a hard time leaving without it As much as I love the viewfinder it s an optional accessory...

Page 15: ...menu is hidden by default That menu contains a slew of advanced photography and camera customization options that aren t of much interest to casual photographers so Olympus chose to simplify the experience for those users But you of course want to explore all your cam era s features so the upcoming list which details the basics of working with menus uses the task of turning on the Custom menu as a...

Page 16: ...er to the Custom menu as the gear menu because of the tiny gear symbols used to represent it For the same reason some people call the Setup menu the wrench menu I use the offi cial menu names but you may encounter the unofficial lingo when visit ing online camera forums and other photography sites Change the setting for the selected item After highlighting the option you typically take one of two ...

Page 17: ...etic labels A B C and so on In this book when I tell you to choose Custom Menu A I mean to open the Custom menu and then select the A submenu In addition some menu items are represented by symbols rather than text labels For example the option you use to set the camera s date and time is labeled with a little clock symbol Because it s difficult to insert those symbols within the text here I instea...

Page 18: ... however By pressing the Info button you can add a histogram to the mix as shown on the left in Figure 1 18 If you re unfamiliar with histograms Chapter 4 explains them Another press of the Info button clears all the data from the screen so that you see your subject only as shown on the right in the figure Figure 1 18 Press the Info button to switch between the initial data display and additional ...

Page 19: ...f these five displays are enabled 3 Select LV Info and then press OK The LV is a reference to live view which is what the monitor displays when you shoot with the E PL1 a live view of the scene before the lens After you press OK you see a list of display options that you can enable or disable as shown on the right in Figure 1 20 In some shooting modes not all display options are available you can ...

Page 20: ... the grid choose Displayed Grid as shown on the left in Figure 1 22 and then press the right arrow key You then see a list of four grid styles as shown on the right in Figure 1 22 Make your selection and press OK To disable the grid display return to the menu and choose Off Figure 1 22 You can choose from four grid styles Histogram Choose the menu item represented by the histogram symbol refer to ...

Page 21: ...er setting your display options press OK to return to the main menu 6 To return to shooting press the shutter button halfway and release it After you set up the display styles you want to use just keep pressing the Info button to cycle the monitor from one display to the next Zooming the live display Most digital cameras including the E PL1 enable you to magnify an image during playback to take a ...

Page 22: ...ss the Info button press the up or down arrow key to set the value and press Info again After you press Info the first time the magnification value becomes active as shown in Figure 1 25 You can then press the up or down arrow key to select magnification values of 7x 10x and 14x magnification Another press of the Info button deactivates the setting and returns you to zoom mode 6 To exit the magnif...

Page 23: ...of settings one by one and then quickly adjust a setting by using the arrow keys The next section provides details By default pressing OK displays the Live Control screen in all expo sure modes except iAuto In that mode you instead see the Live Guide screens see Chapter 3 However you can enable the Live Control screen for iAuto mode if you prefer See the next section for help Figure 1 26 The Live ...

Page 24: ...anel display For the basics of using menus see the section Ordering from Camera Menus earlier in this chapter For details about enabling and using the Live Control screen and Super Control Panel read on Setting your control screen preferences By default pressing OK during shooting produces one of two screens depending on your exposure mode iAuto mode Pressing OK brings up the Live Guide screens wh...

Page 25: ...references for three exposure modes or mode groups iAuto the advanced exposure modes P A S M and the ART and Scene modes ART SCN You can t adjust the control screen for Movie mode Figure 1 28 You can set different preferences for different shooting modes 4 To set preferences for iAuto mode select the first option and press OK The screen shown on the right in Figure 1 28 appears Here you can enable...

Page 26: ...explored the earlier section related to changing the shoot ing information displays pressing the Info button also changes the amount and type of data that appears on the monitor when you re not trying to adjust settings So remember the key To switch to one of the control screens press OK first and then press the Info button to change to a different control screen The next two sections explain how ...

Page 27: ...to White Balance setting is selected A text label above the icon strip offers a hint as to the actual name of the setting 4 Press the up or down arrow keys to select the camera option you want to adjust As you do the settings strip at the bottom of the screen updates to reflect possible settings for that option 5 Press the left or right arrow keys to select the setting you want to use Just move th...

Page 28: ...ettings to craft the pic ture that you have in mind For example you might use a particular exposure setting with a specific focusing setting to capture a waterfall and then dial in a totally different combination to photograph a child playing with a puppy When you re ready to consider all the critical photography settings as a unit you may prefer to abandon the Live Control screen in favor of the ...

Page 29: ... figure out 2 Press OK The control panel is replaced by a strip of icons representing the available settings at the bottom of the screen as shown on the right in Figure 1 31 The screen is a modified version of the settings screen that appears in the Live Control display 3 Press the right or left arrow key to select the icon that represents the setting you want to use A text label above the icon st...

Page 30: ... represented just by icons rather than text labels So for easy reference I add my own text labels to those menu items in the figure Date and Time Select this option and press OK to display the screen where you can enter the current date and time Press OK when you finish Taking this step is important because that information is recorded as part of the image file In your photo browser you can then s...

Page 31: ... color temperature affect picture playback only To adjust the monitor press the right or left arrow key to highlight the brightness scale or the color temperature scale labeled in Figure 1 33 Press the up or down arrow key to set the level of adjustment and then press OK to return to the Setup menu I caution you against making either adjustment to your monitor on a regular basis however because it...

Page 32: ...ptions that affect basic camera operations later chapters detail the features related to picture taking or playback Check the index if you need help finding the section that describes a specific menu item Sleep To help save battery power the camera is set by default to turn itself off after one minute of inactivity Through the Sleep option you can vary this automatic shutdown interval to 3 minutes...

Page 33: ...o adjust the display brightness and color temperature Otherwise it s dimmed in the menu and unavailable as in Figure 1 35 Refer to my comments about the related control for adjusting the moni tor in the preceding section to find out more about this setting and why I suggest you ignore it Backlit LCD By default the monitor display dims slightly after an 8 second period of activity to save battery p...

Page 34: ...cle of tiny holes on the camera back lead to that speaker When you play a movie slide show or still picture that has audio you can adjust volume by pressing the up or down arrow key See Chapter 4 for more about playback and slide shows and see Chapter 9 to find out how to annotate a still photo with an audio clip Custom Menu H as shown in Figure 1 37 contains one additional critical setup option F...

Page 35: ...s as soon as you choose a different shooting mode or turn off the camera You can restore the defaults for other modes by setting the Mode dial to P A S or M and then visiting Shooting Menu 1 Select Custom Reset press OK and then select Reset as shown in Figure 1 38 Through this option you can restore most but not all of the default picture taking settings In either case basic camera settings such ...

Page 36: ...42 Part I Fast Track to Super Snaps ...