The Basics: using custom pre-sets

[994]

I've been using MILCs since 2009. It's only a month ago that I stumbled upon what you all probably know, but was a revelation for me - what to use the custom presets for. I don't know how I missed this.

I used to think custom presets were for very different and niche settings. And of course, they can be for that. But in reading Ken Rockwell's (!) review of the RP, which has 3 preset positions, it became so clear the power of presets.

I now use the presets for general purpose settings.

• C1 - for my general shooting, which is static objects. A-mode, center point S-AF with small AF point, RAW, aperture set to the widest aperture setting I have (1.2, pre-set with the Oly 17/1.2), and let SS and ISO float on auto. I actually do RAW+JPG, but that's mostly because I need the JPG to check critical focus on an Panny body.
• C2 - A-mode, B&W, square aspect, jpg, sharpness, contrast etc dialed in the way I like it.
• C3 - people pictures. A-mode, Face and eye detect, RAW + jpg with portrait colors.

IF the G85 had usable PDAF, I would do a sports mode with C-AF and a min shutter speed, but that's not really useable on the G85.

I used to say I shoot in A mode or P mode, but now I move between my C-presets mostly.

Any rate, this might be all old to everyone else, but it was a revelation to me! Maybe I can pass it along

 

[Hendrik]

Welcome to the club. I like to think of the custom settings (on Olympus either Myset or Cx) as the opportunity to carry around several different cameras in one body. The beauty of it is that you (not a committee of manufacturer engineers) get to choose which cameras they will be. The downside is that you then have to practice with each mode to be fluent when you use it. The details will vary between camera models and brands but the mindset to use custom settings is portable and useful. All in all, a net gain.

 

[PakkyT]

C2 - A-mode, B&W, square aspect, jpg, sharpness, contrast etc dialed in the way I like it.

Not familiar with Panny cameras and if it is supported or not, but why not shoot in JPG+RAW here as well. On my Oly you would get the Square B&W shot but also a raw file in case you later wished you had the full colored version or hadn't cropped it square?

I use the first custom "MySet1" on my Olympus every time I pick it up. It is my "normal" mode and I have long been in the habit of activating this MySet right after power on to ensure all my settings are reset the way I expect them. This prevents, for example, shooting a bunch of shots during the day and not realizing I left the ISO cranked up really high from the night before when I was playing with a manual focus lens with night shooting (yes real world example that happened to me).

 

[roelwillems]

After envying the custom modes on the EM-1.2 for quite some time I also learned (from someone at the forum) that you can reprogram the EM-1.1 ART, SCN, Photo Story and Video on the shooting mode dail with MySet presets.

Most are set up primarily for landscape photography:

ART = Allround shooting setting for landscape not on tripod (e.g. ISO 200, S-IS auto, WB Auto, RAW, single shot, S-AF MF)
SCN = Settings for landscape on a tripod (equal to ART but with the image stabilisation off)
Photo Story = Monochrome, but as I still have this custom mode set to RAW I end up with a color image. Which is the point as I use the monochrome viewfinder image to help focus on the composition.


I do sometimes enjoy trying to capture birds/animals and also have a "fast action" custom mode setup:
Video = Shooting mode programmed for fast action (sequential shooting mode, C-AF TR, auto ISO)


I have programmed all 4 on both bodies equal so I can just grab any camera and set it to the correct mode to use it for the intended subject.

 

[demiro]

@WT21 does this make you wonder what else you've been missing out on?

 

[994]

Not familiar with Panny cameras and if it is supported or not, but why not shoot in JPG+RAW here as well.

Or why not just shoot normal and crop and process later? I think just the challenge of it, and freeing my OCD mind from trying to "perfect" the picture later in post.

 

[PakkyT]

Or why not just shoot normal and crop and process later?

There is value in setting up the camera for how you think you may want to show the photo later, such as monochrome, different crops, digital zoom, any of the built in filters, etc. because it helps you to see what you want or how it will look. Same with other JPG only adjustments you can make like Keystone correction or highlight/shadow adjustments. But it is nice to have the raw file later in case you decide you don't like the camera choice you made.

and freeing my OCD mind from trying to "perfect" the picture later in post.

There is always that. Sometime having the raw file available might make you think you can do it better. The worst part is you spend 15 minutes getting the photo just right. Then decide to look at the out of camera JPG version and find yours is either no better or even worse.

 

[oldracer]

I like them as a means to put the camera into a known and stable configuration. Without this, any time I make a change I have to remember to reset it when I go back to normal shooting.

Acually what I would like is a computer app that read and stored configurations from the cameras, then let me one-click reset them to pre-designed configurations or to factory defaults. Frosting on the cake would be the ability to read and write configurations from a microSD card in the camera slot.

 

[PakkyT]

Acually what I would like is a computer app that read and stored configurations from the cameras

Don't the newer models of Olympus allow you to save your Mysets with the Oi.Share phone app?

 

[oldracer]

Don't the newer models of Olympus allow you to save your Mysets with the Oi.Share phone app?

I don't know. I have never heard of that, but I'm shooting GX8s, so not helpful to me.