Focus stacking compatibility issue

[jk4u59]

Hello all,

I'm new in this forum. Last year, after a long pause, I had a renewed interest in photography, triggered by 360° pano images, but then extended to classical still photography, too. So I bought an OM-D E-M5 Mk.II to replace my Lumix GH1, still working but obviously quite obsolete. Then I added a 9-18mm Zuiko ultra-wide angle zoom, followed a few days ago by a 12-45 F4 PRO lens.

Since I love macro, I tried to test the camera's internal Focus Stacking feature, but I noticed with some disappointment that my E-M5 Mk.II camera seems NOT able to support Focus Stacking when it is coupled with the 12-45mm F4 PRO lens (the related menu item remains greyed out).

I checked better the specifications: while in the lens' specs it's written that it supports Focus Stacking, in the camera specs it does not appear in the (short) list of the supported lenses. So, I also checked the specs of the more recent E-M5 Mk.III (same lenses list) and the top E-M1 Mk.III camera: well, the 12-45 PRO only appears in the E-M1 list!

So, I'd like to know if it's only matter of waiting for a future FW upgrade from Olympus (after all, the very similar 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens is instead supported!), or there's any technical reason that definitely prevents this feature to work with my combo. I tried to post this issue to Olympus support site, but I hadn't an answer. Does anyone in this forum have better information?

Thanks a lot!
Ivan

 

[ColorBlind]

Does anyone in this forum have better information?

It is doubtful that the OM-D E-M5 Mk.II will ever receive another firmware update from Olympus, which is what would be needed for your camera to "officially" support focus stacking with the 12-45 F4 PRO lens.

But all is not lost. There is a firmware hack available for the E-M5-II that enables focus stacking with pretty much all autofocus lenses. Many of us (myself included) have used this firmware on our older cameras to enable focus stacking with the newer lenses with no issues.

The information about the modified firmware for the E-M5-II (and other cameras) can be found here.

 

[Z-Shooter]

From the OP: I checked better the specifications: while in the lens' specs it's written that it supports Focus Stacking, in the camera specs it does not appear in the (short) list of the supported lenses. So, I also checked the specs of the more recent E-M5 Mk.III (same lenses list) and the top E-M1 Mk.III camera: well, the 12-45 PRO only appears in the E-M1 list!

My E-M3-III focus stacks with the 12-45. Firmware must be latest, IIRC.
Hope this satisfies the nitpickers!

 

[RAH]

My E-M3-III focus stacks with the 12-45. Firmware must be latest, IIRC.

Andy, there's no such thing as an E-M3-III. I'm not just being picky here; it matters in answering his question, i think - i.e. do you mean the E-M1-III or the E-M5-III?

 

[Z-Shooter]

E-M5-III

 

[ColorBlind]

E-M5-III

But the OP was asking specifically about the E-M5-II. The last official firmware for the E-M5-II was released before the 12-45 f4 Pro came out, and does not support focus stacking with that lense. Speaking from personal experience with both....

Can confirm that focus stacking works with the E-M5-III. Functionality for it with the 12-45 f4 Pro was added with firmware version 1.1.

 

[dpswbab]

Hello all,

I'm new in this forum. Last year, after a long pause, I had a renewed interest in photography, triggered by 360° pano images, but then extended to classical still photography, too. So I bought an OM-D E-M5 Mk.II to replace my Lumix GH1, still working but obviously quite obsolete. Then I added a 9-18mm Zuiko ultra-wide angle zoom, followed a few days ago by a 12-45 F4 PRO lens.

Since I love macro, I tried to test the camera's internal Focus Stacking feature, but I noticed with some disappointment that my E-M5 Mk.II camera seems NOT able to support Focus Stacking when it is coupled with the 12-45mm F4 PRO lens (the related menu item remains greyed out).

I checked better the specifications: while in the lens' specs it's written that it supports Focus Stacking, in the camera specs it does not appear in the (short) list of the supported lenses. So, I also checked the specs of the more recent E-M5 Mk.III (same lenses list) and the top E-M1 Mk.III camera: well, the 12-45 PRO only appears in the E-M1 list!

So, I'd like to know if it's only matter of waiting for a future FW upgrade from Olympus (after all, the very similar 12-40mm F2.8 PRO lens is instead supported!), or there's any technical reason that definitely prevents this feature to work with my combo. I tried to post this issue to Olympus support site, but I hadn't an answer. Does anyone in this forum have better information?

Thanks a lot!
Ivan

With the same camera settings, does stacking work with any of your other lenses? I think the 12-45 was released after both of the E-M5's you mention, so the documentation may not be up to date.

 

[Z-Shooter]

But the OP was asking about the E-M5-II. The last official firmware for the E-M5-II was released before the 12-45 f4 Pro came out, and does not support focus stacking with that lense. Speaking from personal experience with both....

Can confirm that focus stacking works with the E-M5-III. Functionality for it with the 12-45 f4 Pro was added with firmware version 1.1.

My response was to @RAH who questioned my "typo".

 

[jk4u59]

It is doubtful that the OM-D E-M5 Mk.II will ever receive another firmware update from Olympus, which is what would be needed for your camera to "officially" support focus stacking with the 12-45 F4 PRO lens.

But all is not lost. There is a firmware hack available for the E-M5-II that enables focus stacking with pretty much all autofocus lenses. Many of us (myself included) have used this firmware on our older cameras to enable focus stacking with the newer lenses with no issues.

The information about the modified firmware for the E-M5-II (and other cameras) can be found here.

@ColorBlind GREAT! This would solve my problem! I'll try as soon as possible to do this upgrade!

I had just collected several infos on the issue:

• the most recent available FW version, that is 4.1 for E-M5 Mk.II (same as mine, by the way)
• the official specs published on both US and Italian site (that I don't trust very much...) for both E-M5 Mk.II and Mk.III cameras (and i was right: my lens appears in the Mk.III specs of the US site, but still does not appear in the Italian one...). No hopes for Mk.II, instead: 12-45 is not part of the FS-compatible lenses in all specs.

and was preparing to post an enquiry to the Olympus USA support team, but I was just fearing what you said: "It is doubtful that the OM-D E-M5 Mk.II will ever receive another firmware update".

Now you come with a perfect workaround! I'll carefully check the procedure steps and report here the result of the upgrade.

Hoping to have no problems...

Thanks again,
Ivan

 

[John King]

When the 12-100 was released, FS was not available with it. About 12-24 months later, there was an update that enabled this feature.

So do not lose hope for the 12-45.

 

[jk4u59]

When the 12-100 was released, FS was not available with it. About 12-24 months later, there was an update that enabled this feature.

So do not lose hope for the 12-45.

Hi,

that's what I'd like to see, but I fear that Mk.II is going to be slowly left behind by Olympus, perhaps just to enhance the Mk.III sales. After all, it would be a typical commercial policy.
In the automotive industry environment it's a standard procedure, carefully planned, to keep low the features of the cheapest models, in order to justify the higher price of the most expensive ones.

Anyway, let's see...

Bye

 

[John King]

Hi,

that's what I'd like to see, but I fear that Mk.II is going to be slowly left behind by Olympus, perhaps just to enhance the Mk.III sales. After all, it would be a typical commercial policy.
In the automotive industry environment it's a standard procedure, carefully planned, to keep low the features of the cheapest models, in order to justify the higher price of the most expensive ones.

Anyway, let's see...

Bye

Ivan, focus stacking was added to the E-M5 MkII for all compatible lenses with f/w v.4.0, including the 12-100.

Maybe this also works for the 12-45?

[Edit] sorry, left out the URL!

http://dl01.olympus-imaging.com/ww/ud2/ENU/0001/1180/index41a.html

 

[jk4u59]

Ivan, focus stacking was added to the E-M5 MkII for all compatible lenses with f/w v.4.0, including the 12-100.

Maybe this also works for the 12-45?

[Edit] sorry, left out the URL!

http://dl01.olympus-imaging.com/ww/ud2/ENU/0001/1180/index41a.html

Hi,

it would be nice, but (me too checked that page already) it states clearly that: "..."M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-100mm F4.0 IS PRO" is also compatible. ", so they explicitly mention the lens model. I assume some work must be done to support each particular model.

Anyway I did a real test, and when mounting the 12-45 PRO the "Focus Stacking" menu item remains grayed out.

 

[John King]

Anyway I did a real test, and when mounting the 12-45 PRO the "Focus Stacking" menu item remains grayed out.

Oh bugger .

 

[jk4u59]

Oh bugger .

Wait... I did the test before updating the fw with the "improvement" described above. I hope the patch overcomes this limitation, but... I'm still thinking twice before trying to burn FW, since it's never a riskless procedure!

 

[ianpiper]

Interesting thread. I'm seeing a similar issue with my E-M1 Mk I and the 12-45 Pro lens. That is my only lens so I can't try a different one. The camera firmware is the latest (4.6). When I enable Focus Bracketing the Focus Stacking option on the next screen is greyed out. The Olympus support page specifies this lens, so I'm a bit baffled. Does anyone else have this issue?

 

[MetilHed]

Interesting thread. I'm seeing a similar issue with my E-M1 Mk I and the 12-45 Pro lens. That is my only lens so I can't try a different one. The camera firmware is the latest (4.6). When I enable Focus Bracketing the Focus Stacking option on the next screen is greyed out. The Olympus support page specifies this lens, so I'm a bit baffled. Does anyone else have this issue?

The lens is compatible with the FS feature, the body isn't compatible with this feature using this lens. This whole thread is exactly about that (albeit with a different, and newer) model body. The latest firmware came out long before the lens did.

Where is the baffling part ?

 

[PakkyT]

The Olympus support page specifies this lens,

Note that the page you are referencing is part of the OM-D E-M1 Mark III set of support files (see bottom left corner of page).

Where is the baffling part ?

That page he referenced isn't really clear when you jump there via a posted link (nor the URL wording) that the page is specifically for one camera model. So I can see how it is very easy to believe this is a general article for all models that support stacking.

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

Olympus says that with firmware release 1.1 on the E-M5 Mark III, it is "possible to use focus stacking photography with 'M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-45mm F4.0 PRO.'" And they are up to firmware version 1.4 by now. But for some reason it was greyed-out when I tried to use it last week. I suspect it is a byproduct of some other setting that I turned on. I will have to investigate this.

 

[Holoholo55]

Don't forget to check that your lens firmware is also up to date.