I shoot on a tripod with my Nikon D300 quite often, and there will be times that I will want to shoot with my OM-D EM-5 using a tripod. With the Nikon, I always switch to "mirror-up" mode, turn off the "VR" (vibration reduction) and shoot with a wired remote.

How do I do all that with the OM-D? I know that's there's no need for a "mirror-up" mode, but what mode do you shoot in to minimize camera shake (or is there any camera shake that needs minimizing? ) Is there a remote available for the OM-D, or do you use some sort of timer mode? Also, do you turn off IBIS whenever you shoot on a tripod?

Finally, what's the quickest way to switch between your tripod mode settings and handheld shooting settings?

Thanks.

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Bert
adirondack fotoscapes

To minimize shake, I go with 1/8 second shutter delay. In fact I shoot with that setting all the time. It's in an odd place on a second page of a seemingly unrelated menu, but its there. You can set it to 1 second to get your hands completely off the camera for the shot, if you'd like.

I've heard that its usually best to turn off IBIS on a tripod, but I wonder how much that would deteriorate a shot, really.

While there is no mirror, the shutter still has to close before the picture is taken..you can use AntiShock in (Gear)E to set how many seconds after the shutter is initially closed that the picture is taken.

As for IS, the camera tries to anticipate handshake...when on a tripod this can cause the IS to activate causing a softer picture.

Take a look in the manual for how the MySet mechanism works. Essentially, you can save all your normal handheld settings into MySet 1, and all your normal tripod settings into MySet 2, and then jump between them. You've got 4 MySets, so that gives you some flexibility.

There's an additional option to program a function button to turn on a specific MySet, but it's not that useful since you have to hold the button down to keep the alternate MySet active. Especially for a hands-off tripod setup, this isn't going to be helpful, but it can be good to jump into some other settings, like an art mode or something.

I have a generic remote release and just disable IBIS from the SCP. Much easier than messing around with Anti-shock and quicker too, since you don't have to wait for anti-shock delay.

Also, it's pretty much required if you want to use LiveBulb or Livetimer, which are awesome.

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OM-D , G1X
P25mm, 14mm
O45mm, 12-50mm

Thanks for all of the comments, guys! Very helpful! I'm going to look thru the manual and try playing with Live Bulb.

CPUteq - What do you mean by a "generic" remote release? Would you have a link to one?

Thanks!

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Bert
adirondack fotoscapes

"Generic" = Cheap Chinese Non-OEM, I guess I should have specified ;)


Here is one that looks very similar, though not exactly the same as mine (I got mine with a used OM-D I bought from FM so I don't know brand)

Amazon.com: GSI Super Quality Multi-Function Timer Remote Control Shutter for Olympus SP-510 UZ, SP-550 UZ, SP-560 UZ, SP-565 UZ, SP-570 UZ, E400, E410,E420, E510, E520 Cameras, LCD Illuminated Screen, Exceeds the Olympus RM-UC1: Camera & Photo

My only complaint with mine is that you can't actually turn it off (uses 2x AAA) - it'll probably run for years with the LCD on, but I take the battery out anyway.

Works great - I thought it was broken at first, because it would never trip the shutter (but would focus) - turns out I wasn't pushing the plug in far enough (thanks Google + old DPR thread pointing me in right direction) - I gave it a snug press into the body and worked fine for some recent lightning shots (and yes Livetime is awesome).

I think it's also an intervalometer, etc. (again I'm talking about my particular one, which looks a lot like the one I linked)

edit - haha, I read the sole user review of this item on Amazon, and he mentions it actually has an on/off switch :D
YMMV!

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OM-D , G1X
P25mm, 14mm
O45mm, 12-50mm

Another option for actuating the shutter is to use the 2 second self timer. That's what I always do on my cameras that have it and it works great.

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Olympus E-M5 with 14-42 kit
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Panasonic 20/1.7
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OM 50/1.8
OM 28/2.8
OM 80-200/4.5

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Same here - works perfectly.

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Thanks, Guys! I played a bit with the Live Bulb and Live Time functions yesterday. Pretty slick! I think that the 2 second shutter delay will work best for me.

One question. Is there a way for the Live image to only display for 2-3 seconds after each "update"? I think that might save the battery a bit. The default (or at least how I have it set somehow) is that it updates every 15 seconds, but the image remains on screen for that full time, until it "updates" again.

Thanks!

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Bert
adirondack fotoscapes