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©2008 Olympus Imaging America Inc.
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Last updated on February 28, 2008
How do I select which ISO setting to use?
Think of the ISO values as film speeds. Low ISOs such as 100 and 200 are better suited to
situations in which there is a lot of light – outdoors scenes. ISOs such as 400 and 800
would be used outdoors where there is plenty of light and fast shutter speeds are desired –
sports and air shows, for example – or indoors for available light shooting. ISO 1600 and
above would be used where there are very low light levels, such as indoors or at night.
How does the E-3 combat noise commonly found at high ISOs?
Digital cameras vary the light sensitivity of the image sensor by varying the gain voltage
applied to the sensor, much like turning up the volume on a stereo. When the gain voltage
is increased, as it is when shooting with higher ISOs, the sensor becomes hot. Hot pixels
perform differently under extreme conditions. The result is a graininess known as “noise.”
Noise occurs whenever sufficient heat has built up on the image sensor. Therefore, it
can also be seen in images with long exposures, such as night photographs, due to the
additional heat generated by charging the sensor for an extended period of time.
All digital cameras include technologies to minimize the effects of noise. The E-3 uses a
new sensor that dramatically decreases noise. In addition, it combats noise with two
methods: NOISE FILTER and NOISE REDUCTION.
The NOISE FILTER function is found in the menu. It has four options: OFF, LOW,
STANDARD and HIGH. The majority of digital cameras have a default noise filter that is
always on. Some photographers feel that this reduces detail, so Olympus has included
the option to not use a noise filter at all.
If the Noise Filter is set to OFF, it is recommended to set the SHARPNESS setting to –2. If
SHARPNESS is set to 0 it may exaggerate the noise when no noise filtering is being applied.
The NOISE REDUCTION function can also be enabled from the menu. After the first
exposure, the camera makes a second exposure of equal length with the shutter closed.
It then, in effect, overlays the two images, finds the hot pixels in the second image
(essentially, any pixels that aren't black) and deletes the corresponding pixels from the
first image. This doubles the shooting time. If the first exposure is 12 minutes 30 seconds,
the second, black exposure will also be 12 minutes 30 seconds for a total exposure time of
25 minutes.
What do the fractions in the Manual Flash settings represent?
The photographer has the option of using different power settings in the Manual Flash
mode to balance the fill flash with available light exposure. Celebrity and news
photographers use fill-flash outdoors to throw a little extra light into shadows to “open”
them up and get a more pleasing image. This technique is also used in landscape and
travel photography to show a little more detail in the shadows of foreground subjects.
The fractional settings (FULL, ¼, 1/16, 1/64) allow the photographer control over how
much light is needed to fill the shadows at varying distances. The sync speeds used are
between 1/60 and 1/250 second.
I shot in the RAW format and I need a JPEG image, but I’m away from
my computer. How can I convert the RAW files to JPEGs in the field?
The E-3 has a RAW editor in the camera menu that allows the photographer to not only
convert the RAW file to a chosen JPEG record mode, but also apply white balance,
sharpness, contrast and color adjustments in the converted JPEG image.
