Minimum Shutter Speed - workaround

[yakky]

Not sure if this has been posted before, I couldn't find anything here.

I was looking for a minimum shutter speed function similar to what Nikon and Pentax have. I shoot kids, and they move fast. Indoors the camera is choosing 1/60 or slower depending on light. Sometimes as low as 1/30. This means blurry. While there is no absolute minimum shutter speed function, there is something very close.

In custom menu F, Flash Slow limit goes to 1/160 on my E-PL3 and 1/250 on my E-PM2. Setting it to the max value (1/250) means it will increase ISO until it hits that speed. When it reaches max ISO, it starts ramping shutter speed back down.

Is it perfect no, especially on the E-PL3, I wish it went higher, but 1/160 sure beats the heck out of 1/30 for shooting kids indoors.

 

[bcaslis]

Is this with flash or without flash? Why not use shutter mode for a minimum speed? I guess I'm not understanding the problem here. Is this minimum speed in program mode?

 

[Luckypenguin]

The thing to be aware of using this workaround is that there are situations where you do want the Auto ISO logic to follow the normal 1/35mm focal length rule lest you end up with a bunch of high ISO images that didn't need to be.


Samsung is probably the current leader in Auto ISO logic:

http://www.seriouscompacts.com/showthread.php?t=22960

 

[Ray Sachs]

It can be set as high as 1/320 on the EM1 and, I believe, the EP5 as well...

-Ray

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

How does the camera behave in "S" with, for instance 1/250th sec?

 

[yakky]

Is this with flash or without flash? Why not use shutter mode for a minimum speed? I guess I'm not understanding the problem here. Is this minimum speed in program mode?

This is without flash.

Because if I use S mode and there is more light in a certain area that I'm shooting, I'll get a higher aperture which I don't want. I want to set the rock bottom shutter speed for fast moving subjects. If I can get a faster shutter speed, I'll gladly take it. This is all about having a fast enough shutter speed and keeping ISO below a max threshold.

 

[Luckypenguin]

It can be set as high as 1/320 on the EM1 and, I believe, the EP5 as well...

-Ray

That's right, the maximum number is determined by the design of the shutter mechanism and the fastest time in which it can expose the entire evenly over the duration of a flash burst, and both these two have higher specced shutters than the previous generation.

 

[MajorMagee]

Have you tried M mode, but with the Auto ISO function enabled? This gives you full control over shutter and aperture, but the camera will still automatically adjust the ISO to correct the exposure for you.

 

[gs3xr_fun]

Have you tried M mode, but with the Auto ISO function enabled? This gives you full control over shutter and aperture, but the camera will still automatically adjust the ISO to correct the exposure for you.

That is normally how I shoot when I want to control the DOF and freeze the motion and not have to worry about the image being underexpose.

 

[Ray Sachs]

Have you tried M mode, but with the Auto ISO function enabled? This gives you full control over shutter and aperture, but the camera will still automatically adjust the ISO to correct the exposure for you.

Right, but it won't let you adjust exposure compensation in this mode, which makes it much less useful - it automatically adjusts for dead-neutral exposure. My other two cameras (RX1 and Nikon A) allow for auto ISO in manual mode but they also allow for exposure comp (and the Nikon also allows for a direct minimum shutter speed up to 1/1000 with auto ISO in A mode). But neither Oly or Panasonic has seen fit to go there...

-Ray

 

[Luckypenguin]

Using M mode also significantly reduces the window of exposures you have to work with. If it gets brighter and you hit the minimum ISO the camera has no adjustments left and will overexpose when it could instead be choosing a faster shutter speed. It also means that more often than not you will be shooting above the camera's base ISO.

Programmable auto ISO logic seems like such a simple feature to offer, especially if it is nothing more complex than being able to specify a shutter speed limit override.

 

[Ginny]

For an example if I am on "A" mode, how can I set min Shutter Speed and leave ISO on auto? Seems like Olympus won't let you do that, but how can you guys avoid that? Or have to choose to shoot in different mode?

 

[Ray Sachs]

For an example if I am on "A" mode, how can I set min Shutter Speed and leave ISO on auto? Seems like Olympus won't let you do that, but how can you guys avoid that? Or have to choose to shoot in different mode?

Yeah, that's the point of the OP - there's no direct feature to do that (as there are on several non-m43 cameras), but there's a workaround using the flash sync speed on Olympus bodies. The limit varies by model - on the EM5 it's 1/250 while it's up to 1/320 on the EP5 and EM1. If you want a faster minimum than that, you're out if luck.

-Ray

 

[Drdul]

I'm resurrecting this thread from 2013 in case anyone who's relatively new to the forum hasn't seen this handy tip. I only just clued into the flash slow limit setting as a way to maintain a higher shutter speed with auto-ISO in aperture priority mode, and I'm sure there are others who don't know about this.

I was taking pictures a couple of days ago in partly cloudy conditions. When the sun was shining I was getting shutter speeds of 1/1000s, but when the sun went behind a cloud I was getting speeds as low as 1/80s, and with people moving through the frame I was getting a lot of unwanted blur. I switched over to M mode, but when the sun came back out from behind the clouds I overexposed a few images when I didn't change back to A mode in time. Conditions were changing too quickly to be flipping back and forth between A and M modes, and I thought "It would be nice if I could specify a minimum shutter speed in A mode." With a quick bit of Googling I found this thread. I have now set a MySet/custom setting on both my cameras that I call "A-Fast," which is aperture priority mode, auto-ISO and a flash slow limit of 1/250s (the fastest my cameras will go). I've left A mode at the default 1/60s setting as I occasionally want blur in my images, and I don't want to be stuck at a higher minimum shutter speed all the time. But for variable conditions like I encountered a couple of days ago, my new "A-Fast" mode is going to be great.

 

[CyVan]

Hmm is there something like this for Panasonic cameras? My flash sync speed defaults to 60s too, would love to push it to 200 w/o having to go into M mode

 

[barry]

Note the Flash Slow Limit has no effect if Silent Shutter is on.