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Olympus - Useful Tips
 
 
Let's try using Auto Bracket

Exposure compensation or flash

Take pictures of children from their eye level

Use White Balance to bring out flower colors

Use the zoom to give flowers a more solid feel

Macro only possible on compact digital cameras

The trick is to press the lens right up against the glass

A histogram is handy for shooting in bright places

How slow synchronization works

ISO sensitivity, tripods, noise and picture quality

Use White Balance to alter your photo's impression

Let's try using Filters

Using the focus lock correctly

Select White Balance depending on the lighting conditions

Shoot flowers of a tree from a high point

Control the shadow by adjusting the lighting

Let's try using Special Effect Filters

Two ways of reducing blur
Let's try using Auto Bracket

When shooting pictures, it is often difficult to decide what exposure setting should be used. One big advantage of digital cameras is that you can delete unwanted pictures after a shooting session. Therefore, it is recommended that you take extra pictures with various exposure settings. In such a case, the BKT (Auto Bracket) function - if your camera supports it - will come in handy. BKT is a function that allows you to take successive pictures while gradually changing the amount of exposure compensation. You can shoot as many pictures as required simply by keeping the shutter button pressed.

In most camera models, BKT is located within [DRIVE] mode in the menu. You can set the amount of change in the exposure compensation and the number of pictures that will be taken.

* This is the menu screen of SP-500UZ.

To shoot, simply continue pressing the shutter button. Pictures will be recorded in the following order: If you let go of the shutter button in the middle of auto bracketing, the pictures that have been shot up to that point will be recorded.

The pictures will be recorded from left to right, in the following order:
[BKT] Correction value: 1.0 / Number of pictures: 5

 

 

 

 

  

 ±0

 +2.0

 +1.0

 -1.0

 -2.0

The pictures will be recorded from left to right, in the following order:
[BKT] Correction value: 1.0 / Number of pictures: 5

 

 

 

  

+2.0

 +1.0

 ±0

 -1.0

 -2.0

 
Exposure compensation or flash

When shooting pictures indoors or in a dimly lit location, you need to change the camera setting so that the subject will be adequately illuminated. Methods using exposure compensation or flash are available. Which option you should use will differ depending on the picture subject and the conditions for taking the picture. It is easy to use the flash to illuminate a subject. However, when you use the flash, pictures may seem unnatural since the flash eliminates ambient lighting conditions. By contrast, using exposure compensation preserves the ambient lighting, which results in a more natural-looking picture. However, the shutter speed may drop, making it more likely for subject or camera movement blur to occur. If you are in a situation where blurring may occur, you can increase the ISO sensitivity setting. Increasing the ISO sensitivity, however, may result in more noticeable noise. There is no definite answer as to which method is better, so it is probably best to take your pictures using both the flash and exposure compensation.

Compare these pictures taken with exposure compensation and flash

 

 

 

 

 
Shot using exposure compensation: The subject's facial expression and the incoming light are adequately visible, but the bright areas in the background are overexposed.
  
Shot using flash: The entire picture is nicely lit, but the interior/exterior brightness and the atmosphere of the interior lighting are not accurately reproduced.
Take pictures of children from their eye level

When you take pictures of children or places where children play, try to take the picture from a height that is level with the child's eyes and not from above. If you take the picture from an adult's eye level, the picture will be looking down, showing mostly children's heads and not really showing their facial expressions. Also, since perspective is accentuated with the zoom at wide-angle (W), children's heads will be emphasized and their bodies will look smaller than in reality. By squatting and taking the picture so as to have your eyes level with the child's eyes you will get much better results.

Try different eye levels

Picture taken from the parent's eye level
When the picture is taken from an adult's eye level, the head is over-emphasized and it's difficult to see the child's expression. In addition, the ground appears as background resulting in a dull picture.

 

 

 

 
 
Picture taken from the child's eye level

When the picture is taken so it is level with the
child's eyes, the facial expression comes out
really well. Try squatting and taking the picture
so as to have your eyes level with the child's eyes.
 
 
  

 

 

Picture taken from a height lower than the child's eye level
From time to time, try taking the picture from even a lower height. Since the perspective is accentuated with the zoom at wide-angle (W), the legs will seem longer giving the child a taller, more slender figure. Compact digital cameras are light and small enough to make it easy to take pictures from very close to the ground without using the viewfinder.

   

 

 
Use White Balance to bring out flower colors

There is an endless variety of flowers in an endless array of colors. A digital camera may not be able to effectively capture the color of some flowers. For example, light pink flowers may appear white. The same is true for light yellow flowers. Try changing the white balance in order to bring out the subtle colors of such flowers. The white balance is normally set to [AUTO] unless you change it. In many cases, just changing the setting to [] or [] can bring out these subtle colors. Try adjusting the white balance when it seems as if the colors do not appear the same way they do in real life.

Compare the effects of different white balance settings

     
 
 Shot using WB at AUTO
 (White balance = Auto) The color of
 the flower seem more faded than in
 real life



  
 Shot using WB 
 (White balance = Sunny Day) The pink
 color of the flower seems a bit
 too strong.



  
 Shot using WB 
 (White balance = Cloudy Day) White
 balance is adjusted so that the red tones
 are increased, as blue tones tend to be
 accentuated when taking pictures on a
 cloudy day. Notice that the red tones
 of the grass in the background are
 also increased.
Use the zoom to give flowers a more solid feel

The camera has a built-in zoom. The zoom can enable taking pictures of a wide area using a wide angle setting or enlarge distant objects using a telephoto setting. It allows you to both adjust the area being captured and produce a variety of effects. For example, if you take a picture in an area where there are many flowers blooming, using a wide angle setting gives the impression that the flowers are spaced some distance apart. Using a telephoto setting decreases the distance between the flowers, giving the impression that the flowers are blooming close together. The perspective appears more compact than the distance perceived by the eye. This is known as “Perspective Compression”, and it makes it appear as though there are more flowers.

   
 
 The same background with the flower
 appearing farther away, giving the
 impression that the flowers are only
 blooming sparsely.		  
 The same background with the flower
 appearing much closer, giving the
 impression that the flowers are
 blooming richly.
Macro only possible on compact digital cameras

With a compact digital camera, you can take a close-up of one part of a subject just by selecting the macro setting. You can easily take close-ups of flowers, and a compact camera really can take macro pictures that can give a single-reflex camera a run for its money. These are wide angle macro pictures. With a single-lens reflex camera, it is hard to take close-up pictures with the wide field angle that a compact camera has. There are no lenses for this purpose, either. Taking wide angle macro pictures - wide macro photography - is a photography technique that can only be performed on compact cameras. Although the feeling you can produce with a large unfocused area using a telephoto lens on a single-lens reflex camera is hard to match, wide macro is a speciality of the compact camera.

Compare these pictures taken from different angles



   
 
 Maximum close-up in normal macro
 mode The subject is enlarged, but the
 surrounding scene is unclear.		  
 Close-up in super macro mode The
 subject has been enlarged, and the
 surrounding scene is also visible.


* With some camera models, the zoom will be fixed to zoom-in even in super macro mode.

The trick is to press the lens right up against the glass

When you take pictures through glass, for example pictures of fish at an aquarium, one thing you should be aware of is the light reflecting on the glass. Indoor lights or lights from the surrounding aquatic tanks are often reflected in the glass, and if you take pictures normally, the fish do not appear clearly. There are also times when the camera itself is reflected in the glass and shows up in the picture. You can take great-looking pictures and prevent all of these unwanted reflections by pressing the camera lens right up against the glass when you take your pictures. You yourself may also be reflected in the glass and appear in the picture if you are wearing bright-colored clothing. You can avoid this by wearing darker colors. You can use this technique not only in aquariums, but also when you take pictures of night scenes from building observation decks. The key to taking aquarium or night scene pictures is to press the lens right up against the glass.

   
 
 Reflection of the photographer is
 visible on the aquarium glass.		  Picture taken with the camera lens
 pressed against the aquarium glass.
A histogram is handy for shooting in bright places

When you use a compact digital camera, you usually look at the monitor when taking a picture. Some cameras do not have optical viewfinders that are available on conventional film cameras. A monitor allows you to accurately frame your pictures and is convenient because of the various information that it displays. However, it may be difficult to see the monitor when outdoors on a sunny day because of the surrounding light. Not only is framing the picture difficult, it is also hard to determine the right level of exposure. A histogram can be an effective way to determine the exposure when it is difficult to see the monitor. A histogram displays the distribution of light in the subject that is framed, and is a convenient tool for determining the exposure in bright, outdoor locations. Unlike the exposure meter, a histogram displays the light distribution. You may need some time to get used to using a histogram, but once you do, it can be very convenient.

     
Shot at correct exposure:
The histogram graph is not
touching the left or right border,
and no part of the picture is
balck-crushed (underexposed)
or white-clipped (overexposed).
  Shot using +1.0 exposure
 compensation: The histogram graph
 is touching the right border. In the
 picture, the white flower is
 white-clipped (overexposed),
 resulting in burnt-out highlight
 details.		  Shot using -1.0 exposure
 compensation: The histogram graph
 is touching the left border. In the
 picture, areas other than the white
 flower are black-crushed
 (underexposed), resulting in loss
 of details.
How slow synchronization works

For taking pictures using the flash in [SCENE] modes like [NIGHT+PORTRAIT], a shooting method called slow synchnozation is used. Note that you will need to familiarize yourself with various operations if you wish to use slow synchronization shooting without relying on predefined settings such as [NIGHT+PORTRAIT]. When you use slow synchronization mode, such as in the [NIGHT+PORTRAIT] shooting mode for example, you can avoid mistakes by understanding how the camera works. Let's look at how the operation works in order.

1. Have the subject to stand at a distance where he/she will be adequately illuminated with the flash. Make sure that the subject is standing close to the camera as the light of the built-in flash does not travel very far. Also, the light of the flash is stronger when the background is dark and far away. It may also help to adjust the exposure compensation to a negative value.



2. Set the shutter speed so that the background can be shot at the right brightness without using the flash. Make sure that the background is illuminated by the lighting and can be captured nicely using a slow shutter speed. You can set the shutter speed independently on cameras that have S (Shutter Priority Auto) and/or M (Manual) mode.



3. Take the picture with the shutter speed set in 2 above using the flash, and slow synchronization shooting is complete. You can easily perform slow synchronization shooting if your camera has the [NIGHT+PORTRAIT] shooting mode. Even if this shooting mode is not available on your camera, you can achieve the same effect if your camera has a [SLOW] option in the flash setting.
ISO sensitivity, tripods, noise and picture quality

There are two methods to take pictures of night scenes: You can either use a tripod to prevent camera movement and use slow shutter speeds, or, set the ISO sensitivity higher so that the shutter speed will not be too slow. However, setting the ISO sensitivity too high increases image noise, resulting in a grainier picture. Even if you use a low ISO sensitivity setting, the image noise may still become noticeable in the picture if you use slow shutter speeds. You might think that pictures of night scenes tend to contain plenty of image noise, however, it is possible to prevent this problem by taking your pictures before it gets completely dark. If you take pictures when there is still some light remaining, the dim light ensures that the shutter speed is not too slow, and there is no need to increase sensitivity. However, be sure to use a tripod. Even though there is still some light, the shutter speed is not fast enough to prevent blurring when you take pictures holding the camera in your hands.
Use White Balance to alter your photo's impression

When taking pictures of night scenes, most light sources are artificial. There is the fluorescent light that spills out of buildings, mercury lamps, and many other types of lights. To take pictures in colors closer to real life, leave the white balance setting to [AUTO]. Changing the white balance modes to [], [] or [] results in different color tones, creating pictures with a different feel from those shot in [AUTO] mode. You can experiment using different settings.

Let's try changing the WB (white balance) setting
     
  
 WB at AUTO
 Using [AUTO], you can normally take
 good pictures even if different types
 of lighting are mixed.		   
 Set to  [Sunny Day]


   
 Set to   [Cloudy Day] You can take
 a warmer looking picture with slightly
 accentuated red tones.
     
 
 Set to   [Tungsten] This setting
 eliminates the reddish cast emitted by
 the light bulb (tungsten lighting),
 resulting in accentuated blue tones.		   
  [Fluorescent] is not significantly
 different from [AUTO], as night
 scene lighting is relatively similar.		  
Let's try using Filters

There are two types of lens filters available: (1) general filters that are used to reproduce colors accurately; and (2) special effect filters that are used to create special photographic effects. General filters include skylight, ND and PL filters. By getting familiar with the characteristics and effects of each filter, you can use a compact digital camera to shoot pictures that rival those taken with an SLR camera.

[Skylight filter/UV filter]
This colorless, transparent filter does not affect visible light, and is mainly used for the purpose of absorbing ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet is invisible to human eye, but it can have a subduing or dulling effect on picture colors.This filter is used to allow correct color reproduction by means of absorbing ultraviolet light. This filter is available in several different types depending on the UV absorption rate. However, it is used more frequently for the purpose of protecting the lens as all camera lenses have UV absorption coating themselves.

[PL filter]
Also known as a polarizing filter. This filter is also used in sunglasses. It has the effect of reproducing vibrant colors by eliminating light reflection. A PL filter for photo shooting has a dual frame structure. You can remove the light reflection by mounting the filter on the camera and rotating the filter frame. You need to use the circularly polarized type of this filter. Let's look at some examples of the effects that can be obtained using a PL filter.

Reduce the reflection on water surfaces

   
 
 Without PL filter		  
 With PL filter


Obtain more vibrant blues for the sky
   
 
 Without PL filter		  
 With PL filter effect


How to use PL filters
When using a PL filter, you should be aware of the conditions when it is most effective. When shooting a water surface, this filter is most effective when the camera's angle is between 30 to 40 degrees against the light-reflecting plane. You cannot obtain good effects if the camera is almost completely horizontal or vertical to the plane. When taking pictures of the sky, it is most effective when the camera's angle is around 90 degrees against the light-reflecting plane. The angle is not as important in the case of the light reflection on the surfaces of tree leaves, and good results can be obtained with relative ease. You can always check the effects in the monitor as you rotate the filter frame, so take pictures while checking the effects as needed depending on the shooting conditions.

   
  Shooting water surfaces  Shooting the sky


[ND filter]
This filter is used to reduce the amount of light that enters the lens. If you wish to capture the flow of the water or the motion of the subject in your picture, you need to use slow shutter speed. However, slow shutter speed cannot be used if there is too much light. ND filter allows you to use slower shutter speeds by reducing the amount of light. Thanks to this filter, you can use slow shutter speeds even if you are not able to set smaller aperture values. A several types of ND filters (e.g. ND2, ND4, ND8, etc.) are available depending on the amount of light it can reduce. The larger the number, the bigger the amount of light the filter reduces. Let's look at some examples of the effects that can be obtained using a ND filter.
Using the focus lock correctly

Out-of-focus is one of the biggest reasons for feeling that a picture is not shot well. There are many causes for out-of-focus pictures. One common case is where you intended to focus on the subject, but the actual focus was on its foreground or background, or on a different subject. The focus lock would come in handy in such a case. Focus lock allows you to set the focus on the desired focusing point beforehand, and then move the camera to obtain the desired composition.

Taking a commemorative picure with an art object in the background: To obtain a clear view of the art object, the two people stood apart from each other, but this resulted in the camera focusing on the background rather than on the people in the front. Let's use the focus lock to make the camera focus on the people.



Familiarize yourself with the shutter button operations first. Press down the shutter button slowly. When you have gently pressed in the button halfway, you will feel resistance and the button will stop there. You can press down the button further by putting a little more force in your finger. Pressing the shutter button down until you feel resistance is referred to as "pressed halfway", and pressing the button all the way down is referred to as "pressed completely". The camera sets the focus on the subject when the shutter button is "pressed halfway", and takes the picture when "pressed completely".

Move the camera and set the focus on one of the two people. Make sure to check in the monitor as you do this. The camera produces a beeping sound when the subject snaps into focus. The picture in the monitor will also be in focus. You can check the actual focusing point by the AF target mark displayed on the screen. The   is also displayed on the screen when proper focus is attained. If the camera has failed to attain proper focus, it will not produce a beeping sound and the  will blink. In such a case, let go of the shutter button and then press it again. While the shutter button is pressed halfway, the camera will maintain its focus setting. The camera will remain in this status until you press the shutter button completely.



Keep the shutter button pressed halfway, and move the camera back to the desired composition. Press the shutter button down completely without letting go of the button (i.e. keep it pressed halfway). The shutter is released (the picture is shot).



Let's look at some examples where the focus lock function comes in handy.
Taking pictures of flower fields in full blossom: There are similar-looking flowers everywhere, and sometimes you cannot get the camera to focus exactly on the flower you want. Let's try locking the focus on the exact flower that you want to shoot.

   
 The camera focuses on the flower
 near the picture center

 Lock the focus on the flowers in the
 front, and then adjust the composition.


When taking pictures of a fast-moving subject, the camera often cannot attain proper focus in time even if you press the shutter button at the right moment. In such a case, you can lock the focus beforehand on something that is at the same distance as the subject, and press the shutter button completely when the subject enters the frame. In this example, the focus is locked on the ball beforehand, and you are waiting for the right timing for the shot while keeping the shutter button pressed halfway.

   
 Press the shutter button completely
 exactly when the dolphin touches
 the ball

 Lock the focus on the ball beforehand
 and stand by
Select White Balance depending on the lighting conditions

Many types of lamps are used for lighting. Although similar in appearance, there are also several different types of fluorescent lamps, such as daylight fluorescent and white fluorescent lamps. The color of the light differs for each type of lighting. Therefore, shooting the same white subject under different lightings can result in bluish or reddish pictures. White balance is a function that allows you to avoid these light color influences and take pictures in correct colors. If you have difficulty shooting in correct colors, try changing the white balance setting.

This picture was taken with the light that comes in through a paper screen and a light bulb illuminating the interior


[] leaves a reddish cast emitted by the light bulb (tungsten lighting) unchanged, but you can accurately capture the atmosphere of the place. You can set the white balance mode to [] if you wish to shoot in correct colors. However, as the camera tries to reduce the red tones, the blue tones of the sunlight behind the paper screen will be accentuated.
         
 AUTO
 Automatic white
 balance		  
 WB at
 Sunny Day

   
 WB at
 Cloudy Day

  
 WB at
 Tungsten		  
 WB
 Fluorescent 1
Shoot flowers of a tree from a high point

There are many trees that bloom flowers including cherry, plum and magnolia. If you shoot tree flowers from under the tree, you are likely to end up with flower pictures with sky as the background. The contrast will be beautiful if the sky is blue, but the whole picture will become rather dull in the case of gray skies. In such a case, try shooting from a different viewpoint. Shooting from a distance using a telephoto lens will let you take a picture without the sky as the background. A telephoto lens will also give flowers a more solid feel, thereby producing more stereoscopic pictures. If there is a higher point nearby, you can accentuate your picture by shooting it from a bird's-eye-view. The trick for shooting tree flowers is "from a high point, using a telephoto lens".

Compare these pictures taken from different angles

     
 
 Shot from a high location using
 a telephoto lens		  
 Shot looking up at the tree, resulting in
 sky background		  
 Shot at same height as tree, resulting in
 other trees obstructing view
Control the shadow by adjusting the lighting

The brightness is often insufficient when taking pictures indoors. However, you do not need to prepare an extensive lighting set-up. You can utilize the light that comes in through the window. Soft lighting can be obtained by placing the subject near the window where the light shines in. However, the subject will produce a shadow as the light hits it from one direction. Pictures containing hard shadows do not look very impressive, but you can use a simple household object to fix this problem.

The subject was placed near the window where the light shines in

     
     
 The brightness may be OK, but shadows
 will appear where the light does not
 directly hit, resulting in a contrast
 between light and dark.

A sheet of drawing paper was used to reflect some of the light from the window onto the subject

   
   
 The light also reaches the other side of
 the subject where there is no window,
 and the brightness is well balanced
 throughout the picture.
Top
Let's try using Special Effect Filters

There are two types of lens filters available: (1) general filters that are used to reproduce colors accurately; and (2) special effect filters that are used to create special photographic effects. Typical special effect filters include cross filters, softening filters, etc. These are effective when you want to change the atmosphere in the picture.

Cross Filter
Fine grid lines are engraved on the glass surface of these filters. When shooting decorative lights or similar scenes, the lights in the picture will shine as little crosses. The stronger the light sources in the picture, the more pronounced the effect will be. You can observe the effect by simply holding the filter over the lens, so you can take the picture while checking the effect on the screen. Many times these filters include double frames so by rotating the frame you can change the direction of the light crosses.
   
 
 Without filter
  
 Using a Cross Filter

Soft Focus Filter
With these filters you can soften contours in the image to obtain a softer, hazy picture. When you shoot decorative lights with a soft focus filter, you can get a picture with a dreamlike ethereal effect. These filters can also be used to shoot portraits. You can observe the effect by simply holding the filter over the lens, so you can take the picture while checking the effect on the screen.
   
 
 Without filter
  
 Using a Soft Focus Filter


Other filters
Special effect filters include also diffusion filters that result in a clear image at the center but blur the surroundings, color effect filters that create special color effects, and close-up filters useful when you want to enlarge the subject as if with a magnifying glass.

There are numerous other types of special effect filters designed for SLR cameras. These filters are attached to the lens so it is necessary to match the size of the filter to the diameter of the lens of the SLR camera. With compact digital cameras there aren't many models where a filter can be attached to the lens, but you can still use filters by holding them over the lens and checking the effect on the monitor.
 
 

Note that when using special effect filters it may be difficult to focus correctly. First mount the camera on a tripod and press the shutter button halfway to lock the focus. Keeping the shutter button pressed halfway, hold the filter over the lens.
Two ways of reducing blur

When the subject is not illuminated enough, the camera will try to keep the shutter open longer so as to let more light in. This situation is referred to as a slow shutter. If the camera or the subject moves at such a time, it will appear as blur in the picture. The camera offers two ways of preventing this: (1) Using higher ISO sensitivities and (2) Using the CCD-shift Image Stabilizer function.

How does shutter speed affect the picture?

   

 
 Shutter Speed: 1/500 second
 Fast shutter speed.
 At daytime, with enough
 light, you can 'freeze' the
 fountain in the picture.

 
 Shutter Speed: 1/5 second
 Slow shutter speed.
 After sunset, when it is dark,
 the water in the fountain will
 seem to flow in the picture.


When will the picture be blurred?
1. If you move the camera when you press the shutter button.
2. When the movement of the subject is faster than the shutter speed and it cannot be 'frozen'.
3. When you use the zoom or the macro mode to enlarge the subject.
The reason for camera blur is the same in cases 1 and 3. However, when the subject is enlarged, even smaller movements of the camera will be magnified and appear as blur in the picture.
     
 
 1. Shutter Speed: 1/2
 second. The movement of
 the camera appears as
 blurring in the picture.
  
 2. Shutter Speed:
 1/40 second. The subject
 moved as the shutter
 was activated.
  
 3. Zooming in to enlarge
 the subject. The shutter
 speed is not particularly
 slow but smaller movements
 are magnified.

Using higher ISO sensitivities
By increasing the sensitivity to light, the use of slow shutter speeds can be avoided. The camera will automatically use higher ISO sensitivities to match the brightness of the subject.
Using higher ISO sensitivities makes the use of slow shutter speeds unnecessary.
Using higher ISO sensitivities results in more noise in the picture, giving it a grainier appearance.
This method is more effective when your priority is to take a picture without blurring and without using the flash, even if the quality of the picture is slightly reduced. This way you can also 'freeze' the movement in the picture.

     
     

Using CCD-shift Image Stabilizer function
This image stabilization method involves mechanically moving the CCD - the image capturing device that serves as the 'film' of the camera.
The shutter speed and ISO sensitivity will not be affected whether or not the digital image stabilization is activated. Slower shutter speeds will be used depending on the subject's brightness.
It may not be possible to prevent all blurring when it is too dark and the shutter speed is set too slow. Also, it may not be possible to reduce blurring when there is too much movement.
Since a slow shutter speed is used, the blurring will be prevented but water flowing and lights of cars will still leave a trailing image.
* In Olympus cameras the CCD-shift image stabilization is referred to simply as "Image Stabilizer".