Metering for OMD-10

[ml3456]

What metering are people using of the OMD series of cameras? I bought a OMD E-M10, and many photos seemed a little blue using two YS-01 strobes. I think the camera is picking up enough light and underexposing. I have been using center weighted average. Should I be using digital ESP?

Thanks for your advice.

ML

 

[tursiops]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but what does metering have to do with using your strobes?

 

[Foxtrot16]

What metering are people using of the OMD series of cameras? I bought a OMD E-M10, and many photos seemed a little blue using two YS-01 strobes. I think the camera is picking up enough light and underexposing. I have been using center weighted average. Should I be using digital ESP?

Thanks for your advice.

ML

I have the EM-5 and I shot everything in manual including setting the strobes.

For macro I don't really worry about metering I simply choose my F-stop and shutter speed I want and then adjust the power of the strobes as required.

For wide angle (I don't do a lot of wide angle) I use spot metering to meter off the background and then adjust the strobes to fill in the foreground - I usually find that the fore ground will be about 2 stops underexposed and I will individually adjust the power of both strobes (I don't use TTL) to get the correct exposure.

If your images are 'blue' it may be because you aren't getting enough strobe light onto your subject - i.e. the subject is too far away, the strobes aren't aimed correctly or the strobe power settings are too low.

The YS - 01 are a smaller strobe (I have the YS110A) so you may need to increase your power - also you need to be close to your subject as water sucks away the light and I find anything further than 4m away won't have any light on it (the inverse square law) and with the YS 01 you might find that the distance is even less.

Hope this helps.

Karl

 

[deeper thoughts]

good info

 

[jlyle]

By "blue," do you mean a cyan cast? Set the EV to -2.0 or so for a nice dark blue color to background water, use the strobes to light the foreground. Also, remember, strobes don't do you any good on subjects that are more than a yard away from the camera. Water eats light and light must travel from the strobe, to the subject, and back to the camera.

 

[Manneca]

If you are shooting RAW (and you should be) you can play a bit with the color temperature and warm it up a bit. (You'll need software like Lightroom.) If you are really too far away from your subject or the strobe isn't strong enough it will help only a little. But if you're off only a little, then this will help immensely. You can also generally set the temperature in the camera, to correct for too much blue.

 

[ml3456]

Thanks all for your help... I do shoot in RAW mode. The metering sets where the camera will measure the brightness of the picture. All over, centered, averaged, etc. On my M10 its on page 71 of the manual. I would post a it but can't get a copy of the page from Adobe. I do have some new YS-D1's, but trying to see what athers have this set to.

Thanks, ML

 

[ColoDale]

You may also want to consider white balance which I think was alluded to above. It would have some effect on the color temperature you camera expects. For background I shoot the OMD EM5 with two YS02 strobes (no TTL) and use spot metering. I haven't used center weighted much so I can't say there is a difference for color. I almost never have my strobes on full power. I usually don't shoot alot of wide angle and try to get as close as I can to everything else. Some of my photos will have a blue background (especially those pointed to open water), sometimes blue tinted sand or other blue-ish colors that are cyan cast ( I know from post editing that is true). I will be honest and say I don't custom white balance much when shooting and take care of it in the RAW image in editing if necessary. I am not sure if the metering brightness translates into color temperature. You still have to get light on the subject.
I like the darker blue backgrounds for some reason but don't for foreground.

 

[tursiops]

Yes, I understand what the metering options do. What I do not understand is why you think that is related to whether your strobes are working right or not.
Perhaps you could post one of your pictures so we can see what it is that you are concerned about.

 

[sharkbaitDAN]

ML,

I'm assuming you are using the strobes in their TTL mode. You may have to play with metering modes to figure out which works best, and you will likely find that certain modes work better in certain situations. Best way to learn is to get in the water and take note of your settings. Shoot the same scene with the same exposure settings but different metering to see what the strobes do. I shoot everything in manual, and use spot metering to determine background exposures.

Alex