Micro 4/3 A question for OM-D E-M5 users

[Jock Elliott]

Sometimes when I am trying to shoot the sky, the autofocus won't lock on the clouds. There is not enough contrast I guess. So I focus on a distant object -- a building or a tree -- and press the shutter half way to lock the focus. But this also locks the exposure, which isn't necessarily what I want for the sky.

So, have I got this right? To allow the focus to lock but allow the exposure to "float," I set the focus mode -- in this case, S-AF, meaning single autofocus -- so S-AF mode 2. According to the manual, this sets to focus to S-AF and does not lock the focus but allows the auto exposure to continue.

EM5 users, does this square up with your experience?

Cheers, Jock

 

[Ray Sachs]

I think to shoot the sky the easiest thing to do is just to put 'er in manual focus mode and set the lens to infinity. Most of the sky is infinity far away and damn few clouds would be close enough to be OOF. And if you're shooting in any sort of light, you can close the aperture down to have a LOT of DOF... And then, once you've taken focus out of the equation, you can half press anywhere you see fit to set the exposure and then recompose if necessary...

-Ray

 

[Luke]

Ray is probably right about that being the easiest solution for shooting the sky as you intend. But there definitely should be a way to decouple focus and exposure. I no longer have one to answer that question for you. I know that on some cameras I have assigned the focusing to a different button, and then the shutter release just locked exposure and fired.

 

[pictogramax]

Why not just focus as Ray suggested, while setting the camera to manual mode for tuning the exposure to your exact desire?

 

[Luckypenguin]

You can assign AE-L to a button and lock the sky exposure first before focusing elsewhere. Conversely you can also assign AF-L to a button as Luke mentioned that allows you to use "back button autofocus" such that a half press of the shutter button is solely to set the exposure. M mode is also a good method however as the E-M5 does have a WYSIWYG exposure preview as long as you don't have the "live view boost" display option turned on.

 

[Jock Elliott]

You can assign AE-L to a button and lock the sky exposure first before focusing elsewhere. Conversely you can also assign AF-L to a button as Luke mentioned that allows you to use "back button autofocus" such that a half press of the shutter button is solely to set the exposure. M mode is also a good method however as the E-M5 does have a WYSIWYG exposure preview as long as you don't have the "live view boost" display option turned on.

I'll have to look and see what my "live view boost" status is.

Cheers, Jock