Dear all, just want to say I started a new thread hoping you guys can help me out in a very short time frame. I tried checking the m43 thread but it seems they are going a little bit slow and I have a bit limited time. I own an Olympus EPL-1 that comes with the dual kit lens (14-42mm + 40-150mm). I have an oncoming trip Vietnam in less than 2 days to attend for my friends wedding. Wondering if anybody familiar with the settings (exposure, flash and etc) suitable for the event? I imagine it will be just like most venues where the incandescent type of (yellow/orange) lights will play a major role in the lightings.

I will be packing only the 14-42mm lens along with the camera and 2 fully charged batteries which i think will be more than enough for my 3 days trip.

Reason why I am asking the question because I have not been using the camera for some time and I prefer the camera shall be able to work when I was there without excessive settings. Any advice and tips is very much appreciated.

TLDR: I need a foolproof method to turn m43 into a point and shoot camera.

do you have an external flash for your camera that supports TTL?

Set the camera to Program mode it will be your P&S camera. And yes, bring a smaller value for events as there might be many people in the picture and you got limited space in wedding reception dinner area.

You can always start playing around like 1-2 hours before the wedding reception starts, so that you know what F/value and shutter speed to use. I'd suggest you stick to maximum of 400 ISO value as higher value will tarnish your hard work.

EDIT: I wouldn't worry much about the lighting as there are software that can tweak the color; namely picasa, lightroom and many more. Of course the result will not be as nice as taking a picture under a normal light but you gonna take what you can salvage.

This post has been edited by Belphegor: Jan 8 2015, 08:56 AM

ISO 400 - cleaner images that are generally blur, what's the point?

He should just go ISO 1600, noisy images but at least he would have 2 stops faster shutter speed to freeze moments.

shutter mode most the time.....
bust shot.... coz you full of memory XD...

then portrait....

... hide behind some flower/object to get some front-bokeh while focus on background's person/object....

raw/jpeg for faster no need process for some shots, while you can still edit raw of some photos...

play around with your camera... get use to P or some smart auto function you got in your camera first... see what's camera use for e.g. in low light, what iso/shutterspeed/aperture the camera use... from there you might see what the diff if you increase/decrease those settings using M mode

ISO800 still okay but ISO1600 is quite noisy for some certain cameras. Of course I cannot judge on EPL-1 as I do not own them. Furthermore, we do not know what kind of venue does the wedding reception dinner is going to take place. Could be in a ballroom, or a well-lit hallway, or even a poorly-lit area.

@8066, may I know what kind of pictures you will be shooting in general? candid shots or still shots?

This post has been edited by Belphegor: Jan 8 2015, 10:13 AM

Does your camera have a manual mode which has the auto ISO like what most camera have. There is no 100% foolproof method. Even using auto mode which always pops up the flash for you and make you look like a fool.

I don't know about other sifus with other cameras. But from my personal experience, when I am about to give someone a camera like maybe my mom or my sister who doesn't know much about camera settings to take a picture for me and my baby, I always use the TAv mode on the Pentax. So I would set the shutter at 50 or 80 of a second and the lowest f number you can have and let the ISO fly what ever number it wants to fly. Like what bro Goldfries said, rather have a noisy image which you can still safe than a blurred image which will create even more noise if you sharpen it in PP. Compare to the auto mode, at least you still have some control on the +- Compensate setting. White balance and all, just leave it to auto I suppose. Oh, and the Focusing Points, just set it to auto also I guess. Unless you have mastered the focus in the middle and recompose method.

Cheers bro and happy learning.......

agree with goldfries, try bump your iso up to get a decent shutter speed so u can capture the moment. a rather noisy image is better than blur shots.

go get a 3rd party flash that can TTL with oly epl1 the safest way for u

Thanks for all the response, I'd go through each of your questions


I'm afraid not, the built in flash is very limited of 10m. But I try to do best with what I have.

Could be a combination, but I am thinking more of candid shots? I wont be taking too much photos to be honest but I hope that I can still capture a few decent shots when I decided to. If it is broad daylight I trust the camera P settings is more than enough, my only concern is during darker surroundings when the image then to become more blurry due to low light condition.


It has:
M mode - for manual aperture and shutter speed
S mode - for manual shutter
A mode - for manual aperture
P mode - for full auto
iauto mode - P mode but different interface I guess (pic attached)


To summarise all your points,
- I should be wise to choose between the higher quality image using ISO 400 if I feel the lighting condition allows and switch to higher ISO 1600 for capturing the moment albeit of comprimise in quality with darker lighting conditions.
- Saving the files in RAW for faster processing, but to my understanding RAW files are very big am I right? What is the recommended resolution?
- Hide behind an object or flowers to create bokeh sounds like a good idea

I try not to be obsessive with the settings, I want to socialize a bit and take some photos when I meet some new friends, can you imagine the frustration of seeing the photos when you pass it to somebody else and result was not to your satisfaction but you wouldn't want to trouble people to go for another shot.

Quality of a camera is definitely better than an iphone but its useless if I pass it to somebody else to snap the photo and they do not know how to use it, even to go as far as changing the ISO.

To clarify on my tldr, I want to be there to have fun, and the camera will be there to capture the moment I wish to capture, I didnt want the outcome of the photo to obstruct me from having fun. I like quick and simple tips that when the time comes, it take me a quick few seconds to change and non intrusive at all if I ask a third party to do it for me, as it is very simple to do so.

I'm liking the idea of creating a front bokeh while focusing on people behind, something I can do myself. And also taking note of the surrounding and changing the ISO respectively. Please keep them coming

Does the M mode allow the camera to use auto ISO. WHich means you can still have control over the Aperture and shutter but the cam will decide the ISO for the right exposure. And you just need to +- the compensation if your need to adjust your exposure.

For the time being, I think you should just forget about getting artistic shots. Get more of the guest group shots and portrait of the bride and groom. In the end, those are the ones that the bride and groom will appreciate most. Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers and happy learning.......

without built in flash I would just go with 1/80 | f/5.6 | auto ISO for manual mode, assuming it has auto ISO.

about the choosing of ISO - if you're going to run and gun then you wouldn't have the time. I would go ISO 1600 straight.