Question on AF expectations with EP-2?

[Rurouni]

Hmm okie. I was guessing that the larger aperture lens would have an easier time locking on. Seems that more dependent on the AF motors used at this current stage of m43 development

 

[powergoo]

Erm? My experience with 45-200 is opposite from yours. I got it to focus slightly faster than oly 14-42 in indoor.

For the 20mm needs to hunt but can get it most of the time.

I shld have stated, mine was a E-P1 to be exact, i presume it's the same AF as e-p2..

Scenario, i was doing a indoor seminar shoot in a 800 seat auditorium, generally darker than wedding dinner setup . It was a 4 day event...i was nervous using e-p1 for such event...but like spidey said use MF if AF fails. lighting was iso 800/1600, 1/25-1/50 sec & f3.5-f5.6 kind of light. the 45-200 in this case was quite hopeless even when trying to find a contrasty subject...FYI, i was shooting walking seminar speaker. day 3 i swop my e-p1 with GF-1 and i knew that was it difference in AF perf was huge in such situation! Of course my keeper's rate shot up drastically !

 

[Rurouni]

I shld have stated, mine was a E-P1 to be exact, i presume it's the same AF as e-p2..

Scenario, i was doing a indoor seminar shoot in a 800 seat auditorium, generally darker than wedding dinner setup . It was a 4 day event...i was nervous using e-p1 for such event...but like spidey said use MF if AF fails. lighting was iso 800/1600, 1/25-1/50 sec & f3.5-f5.6 kind of light. the 45-200 in this case was quite hopeless even when trying to find a contrasty subject...FYI, i was shooting walking seminar speaker. day 3 i swop my e-p1 with GF-1 and i knew that was it difference in AF perf was huge in such situation! Of course my keeper's rate shot up drastically !

That's a pretty tough setting to be using a non 2.8 lens for any camera. Got any images from the event for us to have a look at the lighting? Also did you get better AF lock from the assist beam?

 

[powergoo]

flash wsn't allow and no AF assist as well. was disabled. Almost have to recall my EOS system for use haha.
FYI, i was using both the panny14-45 & 45-200 lens. wish I had the 20/1.7 but I need a zoom

I understand that it was tought and can expect slower AF, but e-p1 was not able to AF in quite a bit of scene. I find that wasn't acceptable. I know can overcome by MF, but then for a used $700 cam body, i expect more...so got to consider if it's a acceptable trade-off compared to a dslr.

Speaker also told me the pictures were better taken the 3-4 day. Guess the faster AF enable me to 'nail' the decisive moments which is the requirement.

Sorry cant post those photos.

 

[Rurouni]

Thanks powergoo for sharing your experience. I think my expectations are somewhat similiar to yours in terms of what I expect the Pens to be able to do.

 

[henavs]

Rurouni, check out the videos of AF test between E-P2 & GF1 with 20mm f/1.7.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=660880

E-P2 likes to rock the focusing before locking, but its not as bad as most ppl claimed

 

[Rurouni]

Thanks henavs for sharing those links. Indeed that is what I have observed of the EP-2 and GF-1 in the shops during my limited test-drives.

Right now I like the GF-1 for its layout and AF, but prefer the EP-2 for its excellent EVF which I find to be better than the G1. I think I'll let the month of March settle down first with the upcoming camera announcements (G2 and G10 - big question here is if the G10 is a direct competitor to the E-PL1 or a replacement to the old panny L camera) The Samsung NX10 is also coming out and that is a very interesting cam as well, though personally once the size gets to SLR dimensions it won't make sense for what I want now, which is an unobtrusive digital rangefinder that doesn't cost a bomb.

 

[hellfire8888]

I tried E-P1 with zuiko 70-300 (4/3 lens) which is not a fast lens to shoot Beyond at a open concert night time. I shoot at 300mm most of the time at iso1600 and focus is slow but i guess with this type of setting E-3 would also suffer..cause it is a slow lens. I was standing at least 2 basket ball court away..

Image crop a bit.. Beyond..

verdict..outdoor concert at nite: slow but still usable..

more images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chongchiang/sets/72157623110782776/

And inside a seminar..i manage to capture joe mcnally without issue
the setup is e-p1 + 14-42 kit lens.

however when the lights become challenging the focus is slower but still manage to focus,.


shooting outdoor at night also is not an issue as long as there are lights everywhere..

i even use it to shoot fashion.! E-P1 + zuiko 70-300 lens

that should give an idea on how is the AF performance and what it can be applied for..the key word contrast...if no contrast the LED trick is good ..and no the red AF illuminator on the Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R would not work on E-P1 and E-P2.

 

[powergoo]

hey hellfire, @ iso 1600, wat's yr speed & aperture setting like?
it seems to be at least 1/125

 

[Rurouni]

Thanks for sharing the pics, good handholding technique (unless you were using a monopod?) for the concert shots, v tricky lighting.

I don't think I would be disappointed much going EP-2 or GF-1 both seem to be good cameras, I'll go try them out at the shops a few more times to get a better impression. Maybe by the time I try out the cameras a bit more the G2 and G10K would be out already (announcement this Mon SG time I think?)

 

[powergoo]

Thanks for sharing the pics, good handholding technique (unless you were using a monopod?) for the concert shots, v tricky lighting.

I don't think I would be disappointed much going EP-2 or GF-1 both seem to be good cameras, I'll go try them out at the shops a few more times to get a better impression. Maybe by the time I try out the cameras a bit more the G2 and G10K would be out already (announcement this Mon SG time I think?)

yes, if can hold, do wait.....be wise

 

[hellfire8888]

my setting at concert are:-

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: -0.7 EV

no monopod...all handheld.

anyway just upgrade the ep1 to ep2..ep2 is twice the fun with the EVF

 

[clubgrit]

Tested the ep2 out at the shops. AF felt pretty ok and a bit faster than a typical compact.

However this was done in bright lighting. I plan to also use the Ep2 for dinner functions or other chill out sessions at say Dempsey road areas. Would the level of lighting there be too low for the ep2 to lock on?

Also I read from the forums that the Ep2 AF is quite accurate with minimal back or front focusing. Is this independent from the type of lens used? If so is it due to the way the CDAF works?

In such situations, EP2 will be fine. Just make sure there is contrast. Even some DSLRs cannot AF lock on to pure black, white, or other color on their focusing point.

I would recommend the Lumix 20mm however for more success being a faster lens at f/1.7 than the kit lenses, and 20mm is a nice focal length for such situations you mentioned.

I don't know if Olympus dealers sells the body only, though. If they do, the next question is whether they can bundle in the 20mm ...

All expectations differ. Like at the Canon section of this forum, some complain about the "slow" AF of the 5D MK2. E-P2 will not be for these folks. Although I have been able to take some fast movements using AF, it really is not a sports camera - i.e. high rate of success with fast movement shot. But for the use you mentioned, should be fine.


.

 

[Rurouni]

Yea for me I do not need D3 focus speeds as long as the AF is faster than a PnS and doesn't hunt too much that's fine.

Would be nice to have EP-2 EVF with Ricoh menu system and GF-1 focus algorithm though haha, but will just wait for the new announcements in Mar before finally deciding. Normally I wouldn't play this sorta waiting game, but since I already have other cams to shoot, guess can save some $ and wait for market to stabilise.