you have probably misinterpreted the concept of DOF (depth-of-field) vs the focusing point system.

by doing "make the green box into full screen rather than just one spot" you are basically asking the camera to automatically choose among the available areas .. so when u half press the shutter it then shows which area (one box) it has chosen to look for the focusing point. the size of this one box (which can be changed thru magnification icon) will make the camera look at a bigger or smaller area within the box for critical focusing.

once a focusing point is selected (either auto or manually) .. how much of the area (or focal plane) away from the focusing point is in focus ... that's DOF.

DOF can be influenced by a number of factors. the most common way usually mentioned to get more DOF is to shoot by using a smaller aperture (higher f-stop number)

ok, first to avoid misunderstanding ... by saying "able to focus to bigger area" do you mean u want more of the subject and it's surrounding in the picture taken to be in focus ?

if the answer is YES to the above then you should be looking at factors that affect DOF (depth-of-field).


as for making the "green box bigger" feature ... that's actually referring to influencing the size of the area which the camera's samples when looking for object to auto focus.


i am not sure if E-PL3 has this feature but for E-P3 (and i believe E-M5 too) here's the steps from Oly's FAQ page :-

so, say if you chose 14x magnification for the zoom frame you will see a very small green box which means the camera will look in this small area only when attempting to look for object to focus.

how much of the subject will be in focus (which has been chosen during auto focus with this focus area) .. that will depend on DOF.

when focusing from close-up distance or using lens which gives high magnification .. that reduces the DOF.

as i mentioned earlier, one of the easier choice to increase DOF is to use a smaller aperture (higher f-stop value) eg. f/11 and above.

your next question i guess will then be how can you keep the shutter speed fast enough to make this shot handheld. well, that's possibly why ppl use a tripod (and perhaps remote shutter), use macro ring flash/lighting, high ISO (like the often mentioned 6400-wow-E-M5-great-to-have option).

you can also google for a technique called 'focus stacking' but that is requires software and taking multiple photos with differing settings ...


This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jun 17 2012, 05:16 PM

btw, your m42 lens that was for sale ... sold?

This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jun 19 2012, 01:45 PM

great, was just helping 'divert' your attention to something else ... muahahah

if you are still on a budget ... i'd suggest you think about the NEED for the lens.

of course, you'd want to be happy owning it and being able to use it ... but think about it critically ... do you really use or get to use it as much as you'd like on what you want to snap.

if the answer is yes by all means go for it (assuming no other factors like money is a problem of course)

i'd be surprised if the count changes in the future

This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jun 19 2012, 04:25 PM

there's an option to switch on Multi View display for Exposure Compensation and White Balance.

check out Page 40 of your E-PM1's user manual

i'm not familiar with what's available in NEX or how it works but i was just mentioning the nearest form of preview function available in E Pen series.

there's also an option which you can set to programmable buttons (Fn1, Fn2 or REC) which let's you preview DOF.

sounds like AF tracking (or face priority if that is an option in GF2) is turned on.

perhaps just quickly browse thru the advanced operation manual for GF2 and see how you can turn it off. might as well read more about the capabilities of your new camera too ...

sorry i have not used that camera before to give you a more precise answer.

then it might be the Focus Mode .. also double check if all the settings for Touch Shutter is met

i was attempting to find infinity focus @ f/11 for my VM 25mm lens mounted on E-P3 and this was probably the closest i got.



has anyone used this combo before ? would appreciate if anyone could share their findings about this.

till then, i'll continue testing it as well as it's a pretty fun combination for street shooting

This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jun 21 2012, 09:26 PM

to be more precise (in case you checked a different option) i think what 67zai meant was to check if you currently set the focusing area option to 1-area vs 23-area or other ...

it's diagonally opposite the North Bridge Road exit of City Hall MRT station. basically the building before you cross the traffic lights to Funan Digital Mall.

right next to that exit (on the left) is a church. if you turn right, it's heading towards Raffles City mall.


This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jun 22 2012, 04:15 PM

just updated my E-P3 firmware successfully yesterday but i noticed that there was no description displayed for the lens attached (m.zuiko 45mm 1.8) in the Olympus Camera Updater dialog box.

is this normal ? i can understand that there is no update for the len's firmware but it did not even show what lens was attached which is a little weird.

if memory serves, E-P3 RAW support added around LR3.5 and E-M5 RAW support added in LR4.1

it's fair to assume that the SAME manufacturer should adhere to a fixed standard for their RAW file format but unfortunately in reality it isn't like this (so far).

here's an interesting read ... the possibilities why no one has adhered to a standard may be explained in the article
http://www.dmcphoto.com/Articles/RAW1/index.html

This post has been edited by yangkuo: Jul 19 2012, 04:40 PM

for users of E-P3 here, what is the typical battery life when it's not in use but stored in the camera ?

mine seem to drain as fast as though camera is being used for some shots even though it is sitting idle in the camera.

if i leave the battery out of the camera ... and put it back few days later... the charge seems to be there. so i suppose it's not the battery's issue.

does your battery drain quickly even when the camera is not used ?

i assume you keep the battery inside the camera after using it ... and leave it as such till the next usage.

thanks for the reply.

i would assume that SHOULD be the right behaviour. looks like i'll be sending my E-P3 in for a check-up at the hospital one of these days...