Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge Jamie. I don't know if you have been taught your photography at College/Uni or whatever, but I am sure most of your Macro knowledge is self taught. It is extremely giving and kind of you to share with your followers. Please keep it coming! Warm feelings & regards to you.
Thanks, this has been so helpful. Explaining flash has really helped as I had no idea about the mm bit and had mine set way off. Once I changed it to the smallest possible (12mm) it made a massive difference to the amount of light reaching the subject, which in turn enabled me to reduce the flash power and then speed up the rate of shooting. Would never have worked it out on my own!
This is really useful. Thank you so much. I’m a Sony a7riv user but just got a em1 mk3 to have a go at bracketing. It’s so different to Sony and I’ve been puzzled by some of the settings. Now I know!
Massively helpful thanks. I’m shooting with the EM5 Mk III which I think is just the EM1 Mk II in a smaller body, so detailed settings are really helpful. Agree with your comments re: f/5.6 - seems to work nicely for landscape stacks too incidentally. I didn’t know the bracketing function limited the shutter speed so that’s good to know. Focus zoom setting was knew to me also. I’ve got a Cygnatech diffuser on the way over from Aus. Will look at getting a Raynox next. Cheers.
Thank you, I’ve moved from a Sony a7iii to Omd em1 mk ii for macro and had got stuck with the flash for focus bracketing. I will now not being chucking the whole lot in the bin! I’m not sure what was causing the problem but following your video has solved my problem. Really helpful.
Super helpful! You brought up settings I wasn't aware of. Changed a few and I can already see results. OM systems has so many customizable settings that it can get a bit overwhelming. Thanks for sharing!
When you don't use a flash, you are able to bracket with higher shutter speeds. But when the flash is turned on, the highest shutter speed you can use is 1/50. This is so the flash is synced with the electronic shutter
Thanks mate, I bought the same setup a couple of months ago and was having so much trouble setting it up for macro, there is not much info on setting up this system for insects on youtube and I was losing interest!I’m in Australia originally from uk and the Bugs here 0:18 are now coming out so your information has been great, thanks heaps and keep up the good work.
Super helpful video. I’ve just got into macro and have the same camera system (OM-1, 60mm lens v350o and Cygnustech diffuser). Great to hear about metering mode and the 1/50 exposure for bracketing. Many thanks. 👍😉📸
Thank you for the detailed video! It’s hard to find information on flash sync. I didn’t realize it’s electronic shutter for auto bracketing and mechanical shutter for manual.
Hi Jamie, nice video! I've same your flash, same setting on my om-1 but when I go forward to 1/8 in to the flash the picture are very dark! How you handle it and fix it?
@@JamieSpensley Hi Jamie, Would you use a lens hood for the Olympus 60mm macro f2.8? If you use the Cygnus tech with this lens would that negate the need for a lens hood ?
Hi Jamie, thanks for the great tutorials, the are really helpful to me, because I'm preparing to switch from Nikon to Olympus for my macro work. Two questions are still open: How can you do focus bracketing when the focus mode is in manual? And do you have to move the camera, while the camera shoots? Thanks in advance for your answer, Guido
I've never seen much point in setting the aspect ratio in camera. As you say, for RAW it doesn't make any difference to the recorded image, anyway. I've never tried with JPEG, so I'm not sure if the aspect ratio is 'hard-baked' into the file, but if that is the case, I would see that as a pretty good reason to avoid it altogether. All you're doing is using less of the sensor and you run the slight risk of losing something off the edge of frame that in hindsight you might have wanted to include. The only possible advantage I can see, is if you're required to use a specific aspect ratio - say for a competition or specific use case. Then defining the aspect ratio in-camera would, indeed, help with composition. I'd hazard a guess though, that most of us adjust the crop on a significant percentage of our shots in post; apart from a certain American UA-camr who, for some daft reason, insists that you shouldn't ever crop in post. Mind you, not much of what he says actually stands up to closer examination 🙄🤔😁
Hi, Jamie Using in-camera focus bracketing and stacking, with flash, should I be using electronic or mechanical shutter? How does the flash keep up with the incremental bracketing shots?
Hi, your great photos inspire me. I want to shoot insects with my fuji Xt4 body and fuji 80mm macro lens. But I am very curious about one thing. Can I shoot handheld like you with the stacking feature on fuji cameras? on my fuji the interval can be selected as 0 or 1 or 2 etc.. seconds. And can my godox tt685ii flash overcome this? I also have a diffuser but I haven't used it yet :)
You should be able to shoot handheld like me. I'm not familiar with Fuji's bracketing system but I had a quick google and it looks very similar to the Olympus one. As long as you stay extremely still, you should be able to achieve handheld stacks using bracketing. Your flash battery has a high mAh so it should be able to shoot fast if you shoot on a lower power such as 1/16 to 1/64.
Hi Jamie, I have just recieved my om-d e-m1 mark ii and 60mm lens and the sane Godox flash but my diffuser is currently one of this pop out things that fit over your lens. Would this mean I would choose a narrower zoom setting?
Hello, I have an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera, but I can’t configure the flash with an electronic shutter. What settings do you use, or is this not possible on my camera model? Thank you.
Let me get this straight, when using mechanical shutter, I can focus bracket at 1/250th flash sync as opposed to only 1/50 flash sync speed when using electronic shutter?
When using the bracketing mode on olympus cameras, you can only use electronic shutter for it to work. And electronic shutter limits you to a 1/50 flash sync speed. But if you want to use mechanical shutter, you'll have to manually focus bracket by physically moving the camera when taking pictures
There is an exposure calculator on the back of your camera (the 3, 2, 1 thingy) and metering mode effects how your camera reads exposure. For my style of macro, this doesn't matter much, as I usually just change my settings until it looks exposed on the back of the camera
Why would metering mode matter when you use manual mode on both the camera and the flash? Or maybe there is a reason for why metering mode is not talked about so much? 🙂
I’ve been playing with this and can’t get it to work at all on my e-m1 iii. I’ve tried everything and I am at a loss. Using e-m1 iii, godox tt350o, 60mm
With much trial and error I finally got it to work. Only problem I am having now is recycle time on my tt350 flash. If I do a 20 shot bracket, half are coming out dark. Wondering if the v version of the flash does better. My version uses AA batteries.
My v350o has a few frames come out dark at 1/16 power. Anything higher such as 1/32 and 1/64 has no problem. But yeah, a lithium ion battery is better than a AA battery
Yep that’s it, research it and didn’t realize the aa version was so bad with recycling. I will need to upgrade. As far as the setting, still not sure what I changed to get it working but I hope it keeps working. Thanks again for the video and the help.
Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge Jamie. I don't know if you have been taught your photography at College/Uni or whatever, but I am sure most of your Macro knowledge is self taught. It is extremely giving and kind of you to share with your followers. Please keep it coming! Warm feelings & regards to you.
Thanks, this has been so helpful. Explaining flash has really helped as I had no idea about the mm bit and had mine set way off.
Once I changed it to the smallest possible (12mm) it made a massive difference to the amount of light reaching the subject, which in turn
enabled me to reduce the flash power and then speed up the rate of shooting. Would never have worked it out on my own!
Awesome, glad to have helped!
This is really useful. Thank you so much. I’m a Sony a7riv user but just got a em1 mk3 to have a go at bracketing. It’s so different to Sony and I’ve been puzzled by some of the settings. Now I know!
Glad it was helpful!
Massively helpful thanks. I’m shooting with the EM5 Mk III which I think is just the EM1 Mk II in a smaller body, so detailed settings are really helpful. Agree with your comments re: f/5.6 - seems to work nicely for landscape stacks too incidentally. I didn’t know the bracketing function limited the shutter speed so that’s good to know. Focus zoom setting was knew to me also. I’ve got a Cygnatech diffuser on the way over from Aus. Will look at getting a Raynox next. Cheers.
Thank you, I’ve moved from a Sony a7iii to Omd em1 mk ii for macro and had got stuck with the flash for focus bracketing.
I will now not being chucking the whole lot in the bin! I’m not sure what was causing the problem but following your video has solved my problem. Really helpful.
Great to hear!
Work like a champ thank you very much Amigo keep up the great work.
Much appreciated 👍
Thanks a lot for this step-by-step! I was getting frustrated and I see where I was getting lost! Keep em coming!
No worries, glad it helped!
Nice video Jamie. You touched on a couple of topics I had not considered. Thank you,
Super helpful! You brought up settings I wasn't aware of. Changed a few and I can already see results. OM systems has so many customizable settings that it can get a bit overwhelming. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it helped!
Another fantastic video! What focus selection do you usually choose?
Thx for sharing your presets. The max flash time with the V350 is 1/50 (bracketing mode) right? Is faster possible?
When you don't use a flash, you are able to bracket with higher shutter speeds. But when the flash is turned on, the highest shutter speed you can use is 1/50. This is so the flash is synced with the electronic shutter
1/100 for OM-1
Brilliant.. Thankyou Jamie this was just what I was after :) If you have any editing tips I would love too see it!
I have a video on how I edit focus stacks but I plan on making more editing videos soon
Thank you for this helpful and very well made video. It's fun to look over your shoulder when you take these great shots.🙂👍
Thank you!
Thanks mate, I bought the same setup a couple of months ago and was having so much trouble setting it up for macro, there is not much info on setting up this system for insects on youtube and I was losing interest!I’m in Australia originally from uk and the Bugs here 0:18 are now coming out so your information has been great, thanks heaps and keep up the good work.
Glad it helped! I bet Australia is great compared to the UK for interesting subjects
Super helpful video. I’ve just got into macro and have the same camera system (OM-1, 60mm lens v350o and Cygnustech diffuser). Great to hear about metering mode and the 1/50 exposure for bracketing. Many thanks. 👍😉📸
Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful 😁
Thank you for the detailed video! It’s hard to find information on flash sync. I didn’t realize it’s electronic shutter for auto bracketing and mechanical shutter for manual.
You're welcome, glad it helped!
Hi Jamie, nice video! I've same your flash, same setting on my om-1 but when I go forward to 1/8 in to the flash the picture are very dark! How you handle it and fix it?
Very Useful information. Thanks so much
Un tuto vraiment super 👍
Thanks Jamie. That was very informative.
You're welcome 👍
Excellent information. And very clearly explained. Thank you.
Much appreciated!
@@JamieSpensley
Hi Jamie, Would you use a lens hood for the Olympus 60mm macro f2.8? If you use the Cygnus
tech with this lens would that negate the need for a lens hood ?
@@RoyMacro I use it without a lens hood
@@JamieSpensley
Thanks Jamie. Appreciate you taking the time to reply. Thanks also for your generous sharing on YT.
Hi Jamie, thanks for the great tutorials, the are really helpful to me, because I'm preparing to switch from Nikon to Olympus for my macro work. Two questions are still open: How can you do focus bracketing when the focus mode is in manual? And do you have to move the camera, while the camera shoots? Thanks in advance for your answer, Guido
I keep the camera still and it automatically takes all the different focal planes for me. Even when in manual, the bracketing mode does its thing
@@JamieSpensley Thanks for your reply, it helps me a lot. Now I'm convinced for changing my camera system to OM (for my macro work). Cheers, Guido
Great video man, thanks!
Glad you liked it!
I've never seen much point in setting the aspect ratio in camera. As you say, for RAW it doesn't make any difference to the recorded image, anyway. I've never tried with JPEG, so I'm not sure if the aspect ratio is 'hard-baked' into the file, but if that is the case, I would see that as a pretty good reason to avoid it altogether. All you're doing is using less of the sensor and you run the slight risk of losing something off the edge of frame that in hindsight you might have wanted to include.
The only possible advantage I can see, is if you're required to use a specific aspect ratio - say for a competition or specific use case. Then defining the aspect ratio in-camera would, indeed, help with composition. I'd hazard a guess though, that most of us adjust the crop on a significant percentage of our shots in post; apart from a certain American UA-camr who, for some daft reason, insists that you shouldn't ever crop in post. Mind you, not much of what he says actually stands up to closer examination 🙄🤔😁
Hi, Jamie
Using in-camera focus bracketing and stacking, with flash, should I be using electronic or mechanical shutter?
How does the flash keep up with the incremental bracketing shots?
Very informative content. 👏
Thanks 👍
Completely agree Tony learning so much from his videos!
Have you ever used and had success with the Olympus STF-8?
I am thinking of buying that flash for macro photos.
I've never tried the STF-8. I've only ever used a flash and diffuser combo for macro
Hi, your great photos inspire me. I want to shoot insects with my fuji Xt4 body and fuji 80mm macro lens. But I am very curious about one thing. Can I shoot handheld like you with the stacking feature on fuji cameras? on my fuji the interval can be selected as 0 or 1 or 2 etc.. seconds. And can my godox tt685ii flash overcome this? I also have a diffuser but I haven't used it yet :)
You should be able to shoot handheld like me. I'm not familiar with Fuji's bracketing system but I had a quick google and it looks very similar to the Olympus one. As long as you stay extremely still, you should be able to achieve handheld stacks using bracketing. Your flash battery has a high mAh so it should be able to shoot fast if you shoot on a lower power such as 1/16 to 1/64.
Thank you so much! Best wishes...@@JamieSpensley
Really helpful, thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Hello Jamie
Why my flash doesn’t lights when I do focus staking? I have done everything as you mentioned but my flash doesn’t fire.
Hi Jamie, I have just recieved my om-d e-m1 mark ii and 60mm lens and the sane Godox flash but my diffuser is currently one of this pop out things that fit over your lens. Would this mean I would choose a narrower zoom setting?
I'd just keep it on the widest zoom setting
Hello, I have an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera, but I can’t configure the flash with an electronic shutter. What settings do you use, or is this not possible on my camera model? Thank you.
The E-M5 Mark II is compatible. Try changing the charge time in the bracketing settings. If that doesn't fix it then I'm not too sure
Let me get this straight, when using mechanical shutter, I can focus bracket at 1/250th flash sync as opposed to only 1/50 flash sync speed when using electronic shutter?
When using the bracketing mode on olympus cameras, you can only use electronic shutter for it to work. And electronic shutter limits you to a 1/50 flash sync speed. But if you want to use mechanical shutter, you'll have to manually focus bracket by physically moving the camera when taking pictures
Manual aperture, shutter speed, iso and flash. What difference does the metering mode make?
There is an exposure calculator on the back of your camera (the 3, 2, 1 thingy) and metering mode effects how your camera reads exposure. For my style of macro, this doesn't matter much, as I usually just change my settings until it looks exposed on the back of the camera
Why would metering mode matter when you use manual mode on both the camera and the flash? Or maybe there is a reason for why metering mode is not talked about so much? 🙂
I’ve been playing with this and can’t get it to work at all on my e-m1 iii. I’ve tried everything and I am at a loss.
Using e-m1 iii, godox tt350o, 60mm
With much trial and error I finally got it to work. Only problem I am having now is recycle time on my tt350 flash. If I do a 20 shot bracket, half are coming out dark. Wondering if the v version of the flash does better. My version uses AA batteries.
My v350o has a few frames come out dark at 1/16 power. Anything higher such as 1/32 and 1/64 has no problem. But yeah, a lithium ion battery is better than a AA battery
Yep that’s it, research it and didn’t realize the aa version was so bad with recycling. I will need to upgrade.
As far as the setting, still not sure what I changed to get it working but I hope it keeps working.
Thanks again for the video and the help.
i thought i seen someone say that the OM-1 can use 1/100 in bracketing mode not sure if its true anyone got any ideas.
Om-1 Moved number up to 1/100 all previous were 50