HDR Mode is almost perfect

I don't know much about this camera accept the fact it is brand spanking new. I assume such a new camera has Wi-fi connectivity and app/software on your phone to control it -- and I assume one of the most basic function of that app is to take a shot.

 

On my E-M10 I set one of the directional arrows to pull up the timer modes. Can you not do this on the E-M5 ii?

 

Truthfully, I have never used HDR, yet. I just thought it would be odd to remove a timer mode when using other camera features. Especially HDR. Being able to set the 2 second timer would be very valuable when taking HDR.

 

I had the same complaint with my GX7, seems like such an obvious need I can't believe neither Panasonic nor Olympus thought to include this capability. Does any camera model offer this?

 

IIIRC my old Sony NEX could have a timer before shooting an HDR shot.

How do we ask Olympus for this?

 

I have the same problem with my e-p5. So far, I can only use this with the wifi app.

 

I don't shoot HDR, but am intrigued. Curious why would I need a delay?

 

Olympus designers have always been positively retarded when it comes to bracketing ... we should count our blessings that it's now possible to activate a bracketing mode with function key instead of having to dig into the menus.

 

Ok that makes perfect sense! Sorry I must have a case of the "Mondays" to not pick that up as I use that often on other shots, but not HDR. I got my Em5MkII last week and haven't put it down! Really loving that camera.
I came from a Panny G3 and it's a huge leap for me. Most said the menu system was cumbersome, but I found after about 5-10 minutes it is set up really well (once you set up your shortcuts and what not).

Although I would be curious what the EM1MKII will offer over this? I was really waiting out for that, but the EM5MKII is great! I can always sell this if need be if there is a big difference; Olympus cameras hold their value well.

Thank you for the reply.

 

I agree about the menus. They are not bad at all. I have seen worse.

 

I have the same issue with the E-PL7. Remote function on the smartphone does not work either, because the phone app does not allow you to select HDR mode (at least not on my phone).
I also don't get why the hell you cannot select a 2 sec timer - I assume that could be easily fixed software-wise with a firmware update.

My workaround: using a tripod, I manually 'de-focus' so everything is unsharp, then touch the screen to take the photo. I found touching the screen induces less shake than pressing the shutter button, plus the camera does take a little time to focus again, so by the time it fires, the camera should be still.

 

I use the Remote Shutter mode rather than Live View mode in the smartphone app to trigger the shutter remotely (having first set up HDR on the camera itself).

I agree with everyone else that it would be useful to be able to combine HDR with the self timer.

 

It is the same on the EM-1. The HDR mode works very well handheld (assuming of course that you have a sufficiently high shutter speed) and thus on those occasions it does not need a delay.

However, if you are using a slow shutter speed for HDR you are almost certainly using a tripod. If you are doing that then it is not really much effort to use the bracketing function and set a self timer delay. Or indeed use your phone as a trigger fro the HDR mode as per alan1972's suggestion.

The other thing you could consider is setting up an "HDR tripod" myset and assign it to one of the positions on the mode dial. You could for instance set a low ISO, custom self timer and exposure bracketing. Then all you need to do is set up you tripod, put your camera on it, dial in the myset and hit the shutter release. For hand holding just use the HDR function.

 

You only need to press the shutter once if you set up the custom timer with the same number of frames as the bracket. E.g. if you set up a 5-frame bracket you could set the custom timer to take 5 frames at 0.5 second intervals with a 2 second delay - it will then do the full bracket with one shutter press. It is a little fiddly if you have to keep repeating it but as Ribble said you could set it up as a Myset if you were going to do it frequently. This also allows you to use the zero-second anti-shock setting which (at least on the EM10) is disabled in HDR mode.