First look 27
Photography News | Issue 63 | photographynews.co.uk
this setting but I tried it on more sedate fare, namely commercial jets taking off from Heathrow. I could see the focus zones picking up and tracking the jets as they got closer before finally passing over my head. Yes, the subjects were not that challenging but I can see the potential so I am looking forward to trying the mode on the Red Arrows and the like. I found AF performance of my pre-production sample to be very good. Responsive, quick and sensitive in low light. It seemed to struggle a little on high frequency subjects so, it was more twitchy on bird feathers which, to be fair, in poor light lacks contrast anyway and I thinkmost systemswould struggle. Usedwith the focus lever, using zone and single AF point modes mostly, I was impressedwith how it generally performed with the conditions I faced. The E-M1X’s five-axis in-body image stabiliser has the services of a new gyro sensor. The upshot of that is that this new camera offers a claimed 7.5EV benefit with the 12- 100mm f/4 IS PRO lens and helps with the High Res shot mode too. Here the camera gives the option of Tripod High Res shot which gives a 80-megapixel file, or Handheld High Res shot for shutter speeds like 1/60sec and slower. Handheld High Res shot mode produces a 50-megapixel image from merging several shots and now there’s the opportunity to use it with the right subject just like any camera mode. In the absence of a 12-100mm f/4 I tried the IS mode with the 40-150mm f/2.8 and 300mm f/4 telephotos. Assessing practical benefit is tricky because it depends on your starting point. So with the 300mm (600mm equivalent on 35mm format) you could say that
At 15fps this drops to a burst of 148 Raws without buffering. Either way, we are talking a serious number of shots and surely more than enough for most situations. The E-M1X has a focus joystick to move AF points around the 121 focus spots. AF points can be moved around with the four- way rear control pad or using the touchscreen, whether your eye is up to the finder eyepiece or not. The AF system offers plenty of set-up options within the 121 zones with the choice of single zone (large or small), five, nine, 25 and all 121 working. The single and zone
options can be moved around the whole 121 layout and each pattern can be scrolled through by pushing in the AF joystick and using the front input dial. There is even more potential in the A2 AF/MF menu under the item Target Mode Settings. Here you can make your own custom AF grid using the 11x11 121 zone to suit the subject. So, for example, you can choose a 1x9 AF pattern to photograph a tall thin subject or go for a horizontal 3x8 AF grid to deal with aeroplanes Your custom grid can be added to the default list of AF patterns to select from.
Speaking of planes, the E-M1X’s menu item A3 AF/MF has a Tracking Subject option where there’s the choice of motor sports, trains or aeroplanes for continuous AF tracking. There’s obviously great potential here for Olympus to offer more options. Motor sports could be funnelled down further to four-wheel or two-wheel sports and perhaps different wildlife subjects canbe added–birds (large andsmall), big cats, different insects and so on. I did try the aeroplane tracking mode using the 300mm f/4 lens. Olympus probably has the Red Arrows and the like in mind for
Above Intelligent subject AF tracking is available on the OM-D E-M1X. A passenger plane climbing soon after take off is probably not too challenging for the E-M1X but it showed the tracking system’s effectiveness. The entire sequence comprised 34 shots. Taken with the Olympus 300mm f/4 lens with an exposure of 1/2000sec at f/4.5 and ISO 400.
The E-M1X has a focus joystick to move AF points around the 121 focus spots
Autofocus
Above The E-M1X’s AF system uses 121 zones in a 11x11 grid, but it has some advanced features that action and nature users will appreciate. For continuous AF the camera is equipped with a tracking subject mode with aeroplanes, trains and motor sports the three options. You can also tailor how you want the 121 zones to work in addition to the single, five, nine and 25 zone options. In the 11x11 grid, you can choose (in odd numbers) which points you want working so, for example, for a thin subject you could set a 11x1 focus grid
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