How to disable auto brightness adjustments- Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

[cwilli62]

I have a new to me Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.

When using it to view samples on a computer monitor, if I adjust the brightness of the bulb or open/close the aperature, the camera automatically adjusts the brightness. I want it to NOT do that. I want to be able to adjust brightness on my own so that I can shadow properly while looking at organisms. Someone on the forum gave me one suggestion but it didn't work for me. So I thought I would start a new thread that is relevant to the topic.

Any ideas on how to adjust the settings to not auto-adjust brightness level?

[imkap]

Switch to Manual mode, (M) on the dial

https://digital-photography-school.com/ ... beginners/

[jfiresto]

I could believe Manual mode (M) will work, but as the microscope sets the aperture, I suggested shutter preferred (S) mode. S mode only controls what the camera can, and frees up the other, programmable dial for something else, such as "ASA" or color temperature. But whatever works for you! (ADDENDUM: The single control dial on an E-PL8, the E-M1's cute cousin, still tries to set the aperture, stuck at –.–, in M mode. Your Mark II may have fixed this.)

[imkap]

I could believe Manual mode (M) will work, but as the microscope sets the aperture, I suggested shutter preferred (S) mode. S mode only controls what the camera can, and frees up the other, programmable dial for something else, such as "ASA" or color temperature. But whatever works for you! (ADDENDUM: The single control dial on an E-PL8, the E-M1's cute cousin, still tries to set the aperture, stuck at –.–, in M mode. Your Mark II may have fixed this.)

Yes in this setting S works as M, my Sony does not allow anything but aperture or shutter speed on dials... I hate this

[imkap]

ISO should not be set to AUTO.

[jfiresto]

+1. Turning off auto-ISO and turning on anti-shock also did and does wonders for the resolution.

[cwilli62]

I could believe Manual mode (M) will work, but as the microscope sets the aperture, I suggested shutter preferred (S) mode. S mode only controls what the camera can, and frees up the other, programmable dial for something else, such as "ASA" or color temperature. But whatever works for you! (ADDENDUM: The single control dial on an E-PL8, the E-M1's cute cousin, still tries to set the aperture, stuck at –.–, in M mode. Your Mark II may have fixed this.)

Thanks for chiming in again. The reason that I posted this question separately is to 1) Not stray too far off topic in the other thread and 2) I am sure it is something that I am doing wrong, but I can't seem to get it to work as you say in S mode.

I did try M mode and that seems to work for me.

[cwilli62]

ISO should not be set to AUTO.

What would you recommend for the ISO setting?

[imkap]

Higher the ISO more sensitive the sensor is so you have more light on your photo. Consequently the quality of the image degrades as some grain appears, depending on the quality of your sensor more or less grain appears with higher ISO.
So you put ISO as low as you can while still having enough light on your image... Same as with regular photography

Search the Internet for exposure triangle or photography triangle...

[zzffnn]

Stay under ISO 800 for micro four thirds sensors, if possible. You can de-noise using softwares but that will reduce resolution.

Try using speedlite as light source for best image quality.

You can always adapt an old fully-manual DSLR lens to m5/3 sensor with an lens mount adapter. For m4/3 sensors, afocal (photography inch over 10x visual eyepiece), an 28mm lens is ideal. You don’t need high aperture. Stop down the old lens 1 stop for sharpest images.

[cwilli62]

Got it. Thanks, y'all. ISO 200 seems to be the sweet spot for my setup.

[jfiresto]

I like ISO 200 the best as well. At least it used to be that Olympus ISO 100 was just ISO 200 overexposed a stop and then halved.

[richbart]

I had trouble with my 5D mark ii being able to control lighting using the EOS Utility. It cleared up when using live display mode on EOS. Now I’m happy with lighting and brightness.