My SOOC JPEG EM1 Mark II settings.

[Mack]

Applies to my Pen-F as well to get better "Straight Out Of Camera" (SOOC) JPEGs too.

First, I meter my lights with a Sekonic color temperature meter. Carryover from my Nikon and video days. This can be omitted if you watch the camera's blue histogram spike on a full-covered gray, white balance card, ExpoDisc 2, or examine the Blue verses Red/Green numbers in the Olympus Viewer 3 software.

I set the CWB into the camera per the chart below since the Kelvin settings into the Olympus seem non-linear so one size doesn't fit all. Generally, mid-noon daylight requires me to raise the 5,200 daylight to around CWB=5,800 Kelvin. Indoors with a low Kelvin is close, but outdoor shadows need a stronger Kelvin boost into the CWB.

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Second, using a Sekonic light meter, I take an incident reading near my ColorChecker Passport and set that into the camera. All settings are normal (default), and set manually for speed, aperture, ISO 200, saturation, contrast, etc. I fill the frame with the ColorChecker Passport too.

Using the Olympus Viewer 3, I look at the RAW file image and target the pointer over the ColorChecker Passports White patch on the left, the Gray (Third from right.), and the Black. The RGB numbers are shown in the bottom pane of Viewer 3 as you move the pointer around. The CC Passport White should read 243, 243, 242. Gray 122, 122, 121. Black 52, 52, 52.

If the Blue number is too high, then raise your Kelvin CWB setting if you do not have a color temperature meter and try again. At some point in your CWB setting, the blue should closely match the red/green reading.

Now comes the fun. If the readings are way off (They likely will be!), then you can alter the curve for the Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights using the Fn2 button in the E1.2 and the rocker button and Info button (To get into the Midtones setting.) to raise or lower the curves to make the three patches match in Viewer 3 with the x-rite values for the white, gray, and black patches.

I ended up with this weird curve setting: Highlights +5. Midtones -2. Shadows +6. I did make a spreadsheet (Below.) to keep track of the settings and how the RGB values were moving about.

Only thing I needed to change was to raise the Kelvin to 6,200 for my flash units indoors. The above curve numbers seemed to track the same too as read off the ColorChecker Passport.

I'm hoping the Shadows with the extra +6 might help me more shadow detail and help me to avoid a lot of post editing work since the SOOC JEPGs match the ColorChecker RGB numbers now in Viewer 3. Prior to the Black +6, that patch was way too dark and in the 20-30's for the RBG numbers and not near the 52. Using only Viewer 3 seems to have gotten me closer than all the sundry software editors (And I have a lot of them!) and all of them seem to have differing opinions as to what looks best as well as the contrast, saturation, and Kelvin and tint differences.

Why the Highlights needed a boost I don't know, but they were low a bit (in the 230's and not 243) from what x-rite suggested given my meter was profiled to the E1.2 with their profiling card and software, and may need to be re-done now with the odd response curve.

Additional:

I added my notes on altering the Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights in the Fn2 Curves which shows how the RGB values change the ColorChecker Passport White, Gray, and Black chips. Object was to get them close to the bold Reference values set by x-rite.

I also lowered the Kelvin from 6,000 to 5,800 Kelvin down the list and you can see the Blue finally coincide with the Red - even though the sunlight measured at 5,140 K with the color temperature meter.

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[stevedo]

Wow, by the time I'd figured all that out my subject would have just wandered off

 

[Mack]

Wow, by the time I'd figured all that out my subject would have just wandered off

Not that bad now. I leave the Curves part alone now which helps me to get back the lack of shadow detail with the +6 Shadows boost. Kelvin I just set to CWB=5,800 K outdoors in sunlight as I know the thing will shoot cold otherwise. Other lighting I meter and alter per the Kelvin chart (Or do a "One-Touch White Balance.") until Olympus figures out what is going on and gets their WB scale fixed.

 

[Giiba]

Do you have the "Keep warm colors" option on or off when doing this?

 

[Mack]

Do you have the "Keep warm colors" option on or off when doing this?

Off.

 

[Giiba]

Off.

I'm just curious as I wonder what effect it would have on your finding the white balance too cool. This option is on by default.

 

[Growltiger]

I'm just curious as I wonder what effect it would have on your finding the white balance too cool. This option is on by default.

I doubt it would make any difference. That setting only has any effect in very yellow light - i.e. indoors. I leave it set to the default setting, on, as I prefer indoor pictures to look natural to my eyes. If you turn it off it makes an indoor picture look more blue, as if it has outdoor lighting.

 

[Mack]

Had to prove to myself the Custom Curve numbers were working so I did another test.

Below is a shot of gray patch chart I printed up in 5% increments from paper white to black (It was 21 steps, but the top row is cropped to show the necessary parts and to fit.). These are SOOC JEPGs too!

The left with the Shadows -5 shows the black patches being distinguished from each other, and the shadow under the black posterboard holding the lock shows the shadow on the left side of the burlap being less dark with more detail than the default one (Default curves are at 0, 0, 0.) on the right. The right one, factory default, seems to go black too quick with the Fn2 Curve set to 0, 0, 0 and why this camera crushes the blacks as it does. Olympus must being thinking like Apple with their contrasty and colorful Retina Thunderbolts as: "People like it that way so we do it that way - even though it technically isn't right."

The Midtones set at -2 seems to make the second column of light grays a bit darker as I guess it should, and also maybe why the Highlights (or whites) needed the extra boost to a +5 to get them white again. I was puzzled by that one, but the Olympus Viewer 3 software seemed to agree with the x-rite ColorChecker Passport numbers as defined by x-rite when I started this adventure.

And yeah, the funky "Olympus Kelvin" had to be kicked up to 5,600 K as the color temperature meter was reading around 4,900 K later in the afternoon when I shot this. Olympus missed their Kelvin mark, imho, and I do not trust it.

For the most part, I can leave my "Custom Curves" alone in the camera being at +5, -2, and +6 and they show up in the lower right in the EVF too. Now I got some shadow detail back. The Kelvin I'll have to deal with on a given lighting basis (i.e. Meter it, and use the above chart since Olympus isn't linear in thinking there either.).

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[PakkyT]

Hi @Mack
Interesting read. After reading it quickly and not understanding what you were doing I re-read is S L O W L Y so my brain could keep up and I think I get it. A couple questions...

The second image, your worksheet was just you going through the steps with the various settings, checking against OV3, and then noting the measured values. So just your workflow getting to those last two numbers which are what you will set your cameras to permanently and the rest of the sheet just shows your work (for partial credit ), right?

And how did you come up with that Kelvin graph (the first image in the post)?

 

[Mack]

Hi @Mack
Interesting read. After reading it quickly and not understanding what you were doing I re-read is S L O W L Y so my brain could keep up and I think I get it. A couple questions...

The second image, your worksheet was just you going through the steps with the various settings, checking against OV3, and then noting the measured values. So just your workflow getting to those last two numbers which are what you will set your cameras to permanently and the rest of the sheet just shows your work (for partial credit ), right?

And how did you come up with that Kelvin graph (the first image in the post)?

You got it!
Second image is me just working the Fn2 Curves numbers towards matching the x-rite values of their ColorChecker Passport using the mouse pointer over the RAW image (White, Gray, and Black RGB numbers.) patches shown at the bottom of the pane in Olympus Viewer 3. No other software was used, just SOOC images off the RAW file with me trying to match the ColorChecker Passport numbers as close as I could. Other software has "different interpretations of the look and data read" so I stayed with Olympus alone for testing - and hoping other editing software will be closer as a result.

The Kelvin graph is what I generated using my color temperature meter and watching the histogram on the camera to line up the red and blue spikes with a WB card, Gray cad, or even an ExpoDisc 2 (The ExpoDisc 2 produces a better histogram "spike" for me than the cards.) under different lighting conditions. It may need to be redone as there are some irregularities I've seen with other Kelvins as it isn't linear as expected (Might be some more humps or valleys in it.) but it's close. I wasn't too happy with the Olympus skin color against the Nikon and I'm suspicious of their Kelvin generated numbers overall as skin was looking blue in daylight and more with studio flash unless I spent more time in post editing. Bumping the camera's CWB Kelvin up a bit helps (I generally use about +800 K more outdoors and with flash set into the Olympus CWB over what my meter tells me.) as a result of this nonsense.

I redid my Sekonic meter profile this AM to see what happens with the Curves being set into the Sekonic L478-D meter using their data software and Profile II card. Below shows the the darker line which is the original which shows the black toe portion that kept my blacks from showing any shadow detail. The magenta one is the new Curves Profile that lifts the shadows out of the blacks and less contrasty. At -3 stops, the old one stayed pretty black for me so now it's about 15-20 RGB points brighter in prints (I color control/manage 6 printers too!). White shoulder is a little more tolerant before going into pure paper-base white given the -2 setting for the midtones.

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[PakkyT]

I was just looking at the manual for my mark1 E-M1 and no midtone setting. Just Highlight and Shadow.

 

[Mack]

I was just looking at the manual for my mark1 E-M1 and no midtone setting. Just Highlight and Shadow.

Well, that bites! Another juicy morsel they buried into the E-M1 Mark II I guess.

Fwiw, I pulled out the Pen-F and "Surprise! No curves adjustment in there either." Just an Auto, Normal (Shadow <--???), a High, and a Low curve (Whatever those are?) and how those nonadjustable presets affect the scene is the unknown.

Guess the E-M1 Mark II has the better pre-image adjustments over the older E-M1 Mark I, and even their newer Pen-F too.

 

[wimg]

Well, that bites! Another juicy morsel they buried into the E-M1 Mark II I guess.

Fwiw, I pulled out the Pen-F and "Surprise! No curves adjustment in there either." Just an Auto, Normal (Shadow <--???), a High, and a Low curve (Whatever those are?) and how those nonadjustable presets affect the scene is the unknown.

Guess the E-M1 Mark II has the better pre-image adjustments over the older E-M1 Mark I, and even their newer Pen-F too.

Yes, you can with a Pen-f, just use the profiles option. You can even set a curve directly, and save it.

Kind regards, Wim

 

[Mack]

Yes, you can with a Pen-f, just use the profiles option. You can even set a curve directly, and save it.

Kind regards, Wim

Wim, where did you find the curves at in the Pen-F? Are you referring to the Olympus "Presets" which are non-adjustable but can be stored in memory?

I'd like to lift the shadows out of being black in the Pen-F much as I could with the E-M1.2. Might be able to get a quick idea with the Sekonic meter and their Profile II card like the comparison graph above with their Shadow or Low Highlight Preset - maybe.

I was sort of annoyed that Olympus SOOC JPEGs need work unless refined or tuned in camera, but at least they gave me the option in the E-M1.2 to fix it. Too bad their Kelvin isn't correct though against the color temperature meter, but at least the option to correct that is there but doing so shouldn't be necessary, imho. Changing 200 K can make a gray card or skin go visibly orange or blue pretty quick. No wonder that there seems so much indecision on the post-processing methods out of the camera among users given the sundry software variations too.

 

[Growltiger]

The original E-M1 has Highlights and Shadows control. Press the special button and turn the dials. You see the curve changing.
(If you configured it something else, hold down the button and turn the rear dial to change what it does.)

The E-M1 II has the same, but added midpoint setting. You press the button and then press the Info button, and now you can set the midpoint as well.

The Pen F is the same as the E-M1 II, you can set the midpoint in the same way.

 

[Mack]

.....
The Pen F is the same as the E-M1 II, you can set the midpoint in the same way.

Where are you seeing this?

My Pen-F under "Gradation" in the SCP (On right side of LCD, and third down on screen.) only shows Shadow Adj./AUTO (The default), Gradation Normal/NORM, Gradation High Key/HIGH, and Gradation Low Key/LOW. Just four "Presets" and no way I've found to adjust with a curve anywhere? (I could have sworn it had one prior to last update?).

Unless the last firmware upgrade to 3.0 removed that function.

 

[Growltiger]

Where are you seeing this?

My Pen-F under "Gradation" in the SCP (On right side of LCD, and third down on screen.) only shows Shadow Adj./AUTO (The default), Gradation Normal/NORM, Gradation High Key/HIGH, and Gradation Low Key/LOW. Just four "Presets" and no way I've found to adjust with a curve anywhere? (I could have sworn it had one prior to last update?).

Unless the last firmware upgrade to 3.0 removed that function.

You are looking in the wrong place entirely. The feature is called Highlight/Shadow control. See page 44 of the new V3 manual.

As I said, you press the button with the curve on it (on the E-M1 II) - but the Pen-F labels that button Fn2. If you don't see a curve appear, then you need to configure the Fn2 button differently. If it is set to multifunction you hold the button in and rotate the rear dial to show the curve icon. After doing that the button will bring up the curve when you press it. The Info button then gives access to the midpoint setting.

 

[wimg]

Where are you seeing this?

My Pen-F under "Gradation" in the SCP (On right side of LCD, and third down on screen.) only shows Shadow Adj./AUTO (The default), Gradation Normal/NORM, Gradation High Key/HIGH, and Gradation Low Key/LOW. Just four "Presets" and no way I've found to adjust with a curve anywhere? (I could have sworn it had one prior to last update?).

Unless the last firmware upgrade to 3.0 removed that function.

This: it used to have it for sure.

I have been looking again, but so far haven't found it yet. Weird.

The moment I do I reply here again.

Kind regards, Wim

 

[wimg]

Wim, where did you find the curves at in the Pen-F? Are you referring to the Olympus "Presets" which are non-adjustable but can be stored in memory?
....

You are looking in the wrong place entirely. The feature is called Highlight/Shadow control. See page 44 of the new V3 manual.

As I said, you press the button with the curve on it (on the E-M1 II) - but the Pen-F labels that button Fn2. If you don't see a curve appear, then you need to configure the Fn2 button differently. If it is set to multifunction you hold the button in and rotate the rear dial to show the curve icon. After doing that the button will bring up the curve when you press it. The Info button then gives access to the midpoint setting.

This: it used to have it for sure.

I have been looking again, but so far haven't found it yet. Weird.

The moment I do I reply here again.

Kind regards, Wim

Ok, found again .

It's a little more complex I guess.

You need to move the curve button, the one underneath the Mode-button, to the right, than adjust the curve that appears with the dial just next to it, and/or the menu nav buttons. You can actually move the bending points for the curve, and adjust the bends to your liking. Midtone may be set by pressing the menu button when you are in that screen.

I also thought you could set the stored profiles, but I am not entirely sure right now, requires some experimenting.

What is nice is that you see the effect immediately in the display window. I do not know (yet) how precise it is, however.

HTH, kind regards, Wim

 

[Mack]

You are looking in the wrong place entirely. The feature is called Highlight/Shadow control. See page 44 of the new V3 manual.

As I said, you press the button with the curve on it (on the E-M1 II) - but the Pen-F labels that button Fn2. If you don't see a curve appear, then you need to configure the Fn2 button differently. If it is set to multifunction you hold the button in and rotate the rear dial to show the curve icon. After doing that the button will bring up the curve when you press it. The Info button then gives access to the midpoint setting.

Thanks! Finally found the darn thing.

Found it underneath the PASM dial as a "Lever" with the curve symbol in white (Old eyes didn't spot that one looking down on the top of it on the tripod!). Weird part was it wasn't working and reading the V3 manual I backed up a few pages to setting the front wheel to CRT and still nothing. When I moved it over to Mono it started working! I put the front dial straight up and it still is working so the Curves part is now operational on the Pen-F same as the EM1.2. Don't know why it wasn't seen until I moved the front dial to Mono and back. Weird stuff.

Anyway, it's pretty much the same as the EM1.2 now. Whew!