How to Find and Use the Advanced Computational Features of OM System Cameras

The OM-1 and OM-5, and their Olympus predecessors, have many unique functions. Here are some common ones, where to find them, and what they do.

In a recent article, I wrote about the advantages of the Micro Four Thirds standard and why there is such a large migration of people to it. OM System cameras, in particular, have unique and unusual innovative features that set them apart from other brands.

Although most people who migrate to the OM System do so because of the size and weight advantages, it’s also those other distinctive features that make the cameras stand out from the crowd. Most of these are due to something that is overlooked by camera reviewers and photographers alike: the powerful processor. That, combined with the faster speeds of the smaller, especially the stacked BSI Live MOS Sensor of the OM-1, enables the cameras to offer functionalities that are not currently possible with other models, or are being adopted years later.

The Fastest Raw

Firstly, there is shooting speed. Twenty months after its release, the OM-1 is still ahead of the game. On release, the OM-1’s ability to shoot up to 120 raw frames per second (fps) outshone everything else. Other brands of cameras are finally appearing with similar shooting speeds, but they are only shooting JPEGs and not raw. For example, the Nikon Z9, a fabulous camera but costing more than double the price of the OM-1, shoots up to 120 fps too, but that Nikon model can only manage JPEGs at 30 fps and above.

The OM-1 shoots 50 fps raw with autofocus and auto exposure tracking. Other brands’ flagship cameras have frames-per-second performance more on par with the smaller OM-5.

You can find the shutter settings in the super control panel. To get the fastest frame rates, use the silent shutter options.

Never Miss the Action With Pro Capture

Also tied to high-speed performance is Pro Capture. Combined with the previous feature, this is part of the reason why so many wildlife photographers are choosing OM System cameras. Pro Capture continuously buffers images while you have the shutter button half-pressed. When you fully press the shutter, button, it permanently records the buffered frames that happened before that, thus removing your reaction time that may otherwise result in you missing the shot.

The OM-1 saves up to 60 frames, and the OM-5 30 frames. Even the new TG-7 Tough compact has this feature, recording half a second before the shutter button is fully pressed.

Other brands are catching up with this feature on their highest-end models.

Live Time and Live Bulb

I am putting these two computational photography features together because they carry out the same basic function, and as a regular shooter of long exposures, it’s something I use a lot. The system allows you to watch the exposure gradually develop on the Live View screen, and that includes seeing the histogram gradually move to the right. The only difference between them is that with Live Bulb the exposure continues so long as the shutter button is pressed, while with Live Time the exposure is started and stopped with two separate presses of the button. You can operate these using the OM Share phone app.

On the newer OM System cameras, the functions are found by turning the mode dial to B (Bulb). On older models, you need to switch to manual mode and wind the shutter speed beyond 60 seconds. (That’s another big advantage; most cameras limit automatic exposures to a maximum of 30 seconds.)

When you have selected the LiveTime or LiveBulb mode, if you press the menu button options appear that allow you to choose how quickly you want the preview to update. For shorter exposures, you should choose a faster refresh rate. It will refresh anything from ½ second to 60 seconds. At ISO 80, it will refresh a maximum of 24 times. This reduces as you increase the ISO.

Live Composite Mode: Adding Solely New Light

LiveComp mode is a real boon for those who enjoy light painting, or shooting fireworks, star and light trails, and lighting. You will find the setting adjacent to the LiveTime mode, as shown above. Instead of balancing the image's exposure with the aperture and shutter speed, you use the aperture and ISO. The shutter speed is fixed at half a second.  After shooting an initial frame to set LiveComp up, you press the shutter again and the camera will continuously scan the scene, shooting additional frames but only adding new light to the initial exposure. Its effect is that you never overexpose the shot and the result is very similar to a long exposure.

I have used it to shoot lightning and fireworks. For photographing lightning during the day, the half-second exposure is too long an exposure, so I used it in conjunction with an ND 1000 filter. It's also a useful function and also for lighting up the interior of properties

Live ND, Leave Those Filters at Home

As a seascape photographer, I use the Live ND filter a lot. Having them built into the camera is therefore a real boon. That is especially so during bright daylight when even an ND1000 filter would extend a 1/1,000th-second exposure to just one second. Being able to push that by up to six stops enables me to shoot much longer exposures.

I like to travel light and simplify my camera equipment. For those dawn sea shots, I don’t have to carry ND filters with me. Moreover, switching filter strengths in the camera is much faster and easier than changing physical filters. However, I can use the Live ND feature in conjunction with a physical ND filter and achieve long exposures during daylight without stacking filters and losing image quality.

To activate the Live ND shooting, you must be in shutter priority (S) or manual mode (M). Then, on the OM-1, you go to Camera Menu 2 > 1. Computational Modes > Live ND Shooting. With the OM-5 and the earlier Olympus cameras, Live ND Shooting is in Shooting Menu 2. Press OK and then switch it on and select the required ND Number.

In-Camera Focus Stacking

Where focus bracketing is a common feature of many cameras, in-camera focus stacking is a rarity. Panasonic has a version of it, but it’s produced using the 4K (8.3-megapixel) video feature. The OM System cameras produce full-resolution images, e.g. 20.1 megapixels with the OM-1.

With one press of the shutter button, the OM-1 and OM-5 will take multiple bracketed shots and merge them into a single image. This is especially useful for macro photographers as the proximity of the camera to the subject results in a shallow depth of field, even if the aperture is reduced. However, it can also be used for larger scenes when you want to have more depth in a shot but benefit from a wider aperture and faster shutter.

With the OM-1, focus stacking is in the same menu as the other Computational Modes: Camera Menu 2 > 1. Computational Modes > Focus Stacking. With the OM-5, you will find it in Shooting Menu 2 > Bracketing > On > Focus Bkt >Focus stacking.

With both cameras you have the option of changing the number of shots the camera takes, and how far apart each shot is focussed.

The feature is only available with the OM System PRO lenses.

Using In-Camera HDR (High Dynamic Range)

HDR brackets exposures and combines them into a single raw file. I use this all the time when shooting contre-jour at sunrise and wanting to get the detail and colors in the sky as well as the details in the dark foreground rocks. It’s also fabulous for real estate photos when I want to shoot the inside details as well as what you can see through the day-lit windows.

Again, it is found in the same menu position on the OM-1, camera Menu 2> 1 Computational Modes. On the OM-5 it is under shooting menu 2.

Traditionally, exposures are bracketed with the camera on a tripod. However, I get perfect results using it handheld too, thanks to the outstanding image stabilization.

High Resolution (Hi Res) Mode

On the OM-1 and OM-5, this is found in the same menu location as the previous functions above.

The camera uses the sensor-shift technology to create a composite image. With the camera tripod mounted, you can produce an 80-megapixel image. You can also use the feature handheld and get a 50-megapixel image. Although the newest cameras work exceptionally well with some moving subjects, such as flowing water, there are limitations, especially if you are using a slower shutter speed to capture moving subjects. For landscapes, still life, product, and real estate photos it works exceptionally well for me. It also works for portraits if using a permanent light source.

Starry Sky Autofocus for Nighttime Landscapes

Starry Sky AF focuses on the stars and then moves the focus forward to get both the stars and as much of the landscape in focus as possible.

If you've tried shooting long exposures on dark, moonless nights, you know it's a struggle: autofocus won't work and you cannot see to manually focus. Starry Sky AF is a feature that saves a lot of trouble.

You activate this setting in the Super Control Panel under the other Autofocus settings, or you can also press the AF button. There are also settings for it in the menu. On the OM-1 it is under Menu location AF 1. On the OM-5 go to Custom Menu (cog) A4. You have a choice between Accuracy and Speed, those are self-explanatory but the former needs the use of a tripod.

The Best Weathersealing and Built to Survive

OM System Cameras and the M.Zuiko PRO lenses are weather-sealed to the IP53 standard.

Even before the cameras were upgraded to that level, the weather-sealing was outstanding. While I was standing in a river, shooting a long exposure, my camera’s tripod leg slipped off a rock tipping the camera onto a rock. It then bounced and fell into the water. When I noticed a, I waded over to it, picked it up, dried it off, and continued shooting. 

What Do You Think?

It’s amazing the technology that is available in cameras today, and it is good news for the entire industry that the OM System is so innovative and leads the way, introducing new technologies that other brands adopt later. It's good news that Canon and Nikon now have their equivalent of Pro Capture, and it would be great if they made it available across their entire range and not just in the top-end models.

Some of these I use more than others. HDR, Live ND, Live Comp, and Live Time I use a lot, Pro Capture I am starting to use more, whereas I don’t have a call to use the Hi-Res mode.

Are you using these functions? Does your camera have unique or unusual facilities that you use? Are there other camera functions that don't exist that you would like to see invented? It would be great to hear about it in the comments.

You can see the range of OM System cameras and lenses by clicking or tapping here.