Monday, 13 April 2015

Critical manual focusing with the Olympus Image Share App. and an Olympus OM-D EM-5



Retro? Moi?

Olympus OM-D EM-5 II + Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4. Camera controlled by Olympus Image Share App. and manually focused using my iPad screen. Downloaded to iPad, edited in Snapseed, uploaded to Instagram, facebook, twitter and Google+.

Another use for the Image Share App. when used on an iPad, is to get very accurate manual focusing. I used the iPad screen to accurately focus my Voigtlander 58mm lens wide open at f/1.4, without having to resort to the fiddly function button routine on the camera. 

The App. unfortunately doesn't allow me to shoot in the high-res mode, but if I wanted to shoot a still life, for example, with an MF lens and focus was critical, I could use the app. to focus. And then shoot the picture on the camera. For studio photographers, location and architectural photographers this could be a lighter, smaller and cheaper alternative to current tethered shooting rigs. And it gives the Olympus OM-D E-M5 yet another boost to it's professional aspirations. 

Imagine this plus 7-14mm, 12-40mm and 40-150mm f/2.8 lenses and you have a lightweight, mobile pro kit for a variety of commercial uses. Again I have to say this shows the potential of a well designed set of wi-Fi options. It's great when it works and let's me do things like this. Other manufacturers should take note of what Olympus (and of course Panasonic, whose app. Is even better) are offering. m4/3 leads the way again.