Photography News Issue 39

Photography News | Issue 39 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test 57

Pro Capture

The Pro Capture mode of the OM-DE-M1Mark II allows you to shoots Raws at 60fps using single AF and 18fps with continuous AF via its electronic shutter. With the mechanical shutter the maximum shooting rate is 15fps which is still very impressive. This shutter type is better suited to action and avoids any risk of distortion. To test 60fps Pro Capture, Olympus provided an archer to shoot arrows at a row of balloons filled with water and powder, allowing us to capture the decisive moment of the arrow bursting the balloons. By half-pressing down the shutter release and focusing on the subject the camera automatically prepares to record the previous 14 frames. On the count of three, the arrow was to be fired. On three I pressed the release completely down and held it down for a full sequence of the balloons bursting. I was amazed at the result and the silent shutter makes it ideal for photographing wildlife. On reviewing some of the images you can see the arrow before it’s even fully pierced one of the balloons and then see the moments instantly after it burst. The camera’s ability to capture so rapidly is sure to appeal.

Performance: exposure latitude

Correct exposure

-1EV

-2EV

+1EV

+2EV

While we always try to aim for the perfect exposure, sometimes we might need to do a little tweaking in post-processing. Shooting in manual mode I took one Raw shot with a correct exposure, as metered by the camera (1/500sec at f/8 in this case). I then adjusted the exposure at +/-4EV in 1EVsteps. At the time of writing, Lightroom/Photoshop could not handle Raws from thiscamerasoIusedtheOlympusViewer3software.WiththisIwasabletothen correct the exposure of each image and compare it with my original correctly exposed image, but the software is limited to amaximumof +/-2EVcorrection. Looking at the -2EVexposed image once corrected there appeared to be quite a bit of noise and a slight difference in colour from that of the correctly exposed image. The corrected -1EVshot also hadnoise but a lot less than the -2EV image. In this slightly truncated exposure latitude test, the Mark II is okay rather than spectacularwithunderexposurewhile very goodwith overexposure.

Above These test shots of Ascot’s grandstand were taken on an 12-40mm f/2.8 lens at ISO 200. The correct exposure was 1/500sec at f/8.

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