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Olympus® PEN E-PL1 For Dummies®

Olympus® PEN E-PL1 For Dummies®

by Julie Adair King
Publisher: For Dummies
Release Date: August 2010
ISBN: 9780470879504
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Book Description

A friendly guide to the Olympus E-PL1, the latest trend in digital cameras

Hybrids offer the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and a large sensor in a smaller body. The Olympus E-PL1 lightens your load without sacrificing shooting power and this fun and friendly guide helps you better understand your camera's controls, features, and potential. Veteran author Julie Adair King presents you with examples on how to use your camera's main functions in order to create effective and memorable digital photos.

  • Explains how to work with lenses and shoot in auto mode

  • Covers the on-board controls and situational shooting

  • Addresses manipulating focus and color controls

  • Discusses printing, posting online, and other ways to share images

Get started shooting with Olympus E-PL1 For Dummies!

Table of Contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Author's Acknowledgments
  4. Publisher's Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
    1. A Quick Look at What's Ahead
    2. Icons and Other Stuff to Note
    3. Practice, Be Patient, and Have Fun!
  6. I. Fast Track to Super Snaps
    1. 1. Getting the Lay of the Land
      1. 1.1. Taking a Quick Tour
        1. 1.1.1. Topside controls
        2. 1.1.2. Back-of-the-camera controls
        3. 1.1.3. And the rest . . .
      2. 1.2. Working with Lenses
        1. 1.2.1. Attaching and removing lenses
        2. 1.2.2. Familiarizing yourself with the lens
        3. 1.2.3. Retracting and unlocking the lens
      3. 1.3. Working with Memory Cards
      4. 1.4. Ordering from Camera Menus
      5. 1.5. Monitor Matters: Customizing the Shooting Display
        1. 1.5.1. Enabling and disabling display styles
        2. 1.5.2. Zooming the live display
      6. 1.6. Monitoring and Adjusting Photography Settings
        1. 1.6.1. Setting your control screen preferences
        2. 1.6.2. Switching between control displays
        3. 1.6.3. Adjusting settings via the Live Control display
        4. 1.6.4. Using the Super Control Panel (SCP)
      7. 1.7. Reviewing Basic Setup Options
        1. 1.7.1. Cruising the Setup menu
        2. 1.7.2. Exploring setup options on the Custom menu
        3. 1.7.3. Restoring default settings
    2. 2. Choosing Basic Picture Settings
      1. 2.1. Reviewing the Most Critical Options
      2. 2.2. Setting the Shutter-Release Mode
      3. 2.3. Changing Picture Proportions (Image Aspect Ratio)
      4. 2.4. Stabilizing Your Shots
      5. 2.5. Using Face Detection
      6. 2.6. Choosing the Right Quality Settings
        1. 2.6.1. Diagnosing quality problems
        2. 2.6.2. Considering resolution: How many pixels are enough?
        3. 2.6.3. Understanding file type (JPEG or Raw)
          1. 2.6.3.1. JPEG: The imaging (and Web) standard
          2. 2.6.3.2. Raw (ORF): The purist's choice
        4. 2.6.4. Selecting and customizing the Image Quality setting
    3. 3. Easy Breezy: Shooting in iAuto, Scene, and Movie Modes
      1. 3.1. Going Fully Automatic with iAuto Mode
        1. 3.1.1. Adjusting picture settings in iAuto mode
        2. 3.1.2. Getting more creative with Live Guide
      2. 3.2. Taking Pictures in SCN (Scene) Mode
        1. 3.2.1. Checking out the scene(s)
        2. 3.2.2. Taking a picture in SCN mode
      3. 3.3. Becoming a Movie Mogul
        1. 3.3.1. Shooting your first movie
        2. 3.3.2. Understanding and modifying movie settings
  7. II. Working with Picture Files
    1. 4. Playback Mode: Viewing, Protecting, and Erasing Pictures (And Movies)
      1. 4.1. Customizing Playback Timing
      2. 4.2. Viewing Images in Playback Mode
        1. 4.2.1. Viewing multiple images at a time
        2. 4.2.2. Viewing pictures in calendar view
        3. 4.2.3. Zooming in for a closer view
          1. 4.2.3.1. Using Playback Close Up Mode 1
          2. 4.2.3.2. Zooming in Close Up Mode 2
        4. 4.2.4. Rotating a photo
      3. 4.3. Viewing Picture Data
        1. 4.3.1. Simplified display mode
        2. 4.3.2. Overall display
          1. 4.3.2.1. Interpreting a brightness histogram
          2. 4.3.2.2. Reading an RGB histogram
        3. 4.3.3. Histogram display
        4. 4.3.4. Highlight and Shadow display
        5. 4.3.5. Light Box display
      4. 4.4. Protecting Photos
      5. 4.5. Deleting Photos
        1. 4.5.1. Setting Raw_plus_JPEG delete preferences
        2. 4.5.2. Deleting images one at a time
        3. 4.5.3. Deleting all photos
        4. 4.5.4. Deleting a batch of selected photos
      6. 4.6. Playing Movies
      7. 4.7. Creating an In-Camera Slide Show
      8. 4.8. Viewing Your Photos on a Television
    2. 5. Downloading, Printing, and Sharing Your Photos
      1. 5.1. Choosing the Right Photo Software
        1. 5.1.1. Four free photo programs
        2. 5.1.2. Four advanced photo-editing programs
      2. 5.2. Sending Pictures to the Computer
        1. 5.2.1. Connecting your camera to a computer
        2. 5.2.2. Starting the transfer process
      3. 5.3. Processing Raw (ORF) Files
        1. 5.3.1. Processing Raw images in Olympus [ib]
        2. 5.3.2. Processing Raw images in Olympus Master 2
        3. 5.3.3. Processing Raw images in the camera
      4. 5.4. Planning for Perfect Prints
        1. 5.4.1. Allow for different print proportions
        2. 5.4.2. Check the pixel count before you print
        3. 5.4.3. Get print and monitor colors in sync
      5. 5.5. Preparing Pictures for E-Mail and Online Sharing
  8. III. Taking Creative Control
    1. 6. Getting Creative with Exposure and Lighting
      1. 6.1. Kicking Your Camera into High Gear
      2. 6.2. Introducing the Exposure Trio: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO
        1. 6.2.1. Understanding exposure-setting side effects
        2. 6.2.2. Doing the exposure balancing act
      3. 6.3. Reading the Meter and Other Exposure Data
      4. 6.4. Choosing an Exposure Metering Mode
      5. 6.5. Setting ISO, f-stop, and Shutter Speed
        1. 6.5.1. Controlling ISO
        2. 6.5.2. Adjusting aperture and shutter speed
        3. 6.5.3. Tweaking autoexposure results with Exposure Compensation
        4. 6.5.4. Correcting lens vignetting with Shading Compensation
      6. 6.6. Using Flash in P, A, S, and M Modes
        1. 6.6.1. Understanding the flash modes
          1. 6.6.1.1. Auto flash (P and A shooting modes)
          2. 6.6.1.2. Fill-in flash (P/A/S/M)
          3. 6.6.1.3. Red-eye reduction: Auto (P/A) or fill-in (S/M) flash
          4. 6.6.1.4. Flash-off (P/A/S/M)
          5. 6.6.1.5. Slow-sync flash (P/A/S/M)
          6. 6.6.1.6. Slow sync with second-curtain sync (P/S/A/M)
          7. 6.6.1.7. Manual flash
        2. 6.6.2. Adjusting flash output
      7. 6.7. Bracketing Exposure, ISO, and Flash
    2. 7. Manipulating Focus and Color
      1. 7.1. Understanding Focusing Basics
        1. 7.1.1. Choosing an AF Mode: MF, S-AF, or C-AF?
        2. 7.1.2. AF Area: One focus target or 11?
        3. 7.1.3. Matching autofocus settings to your subject
        4. 7.1.4. Autofocusing on stationary subjects: S-AF and Single Target
        5. 7.1.5. Focusing on moving subjects
          1. 7.1.5.1. Using tracking autofocus (C-AF+TR)
          2. 7.1.5.2. Using regular continuous autofocusing (C-AF)
        6. 7.1.6. Taking advantage of zoom-frame autofocus
        7. 7.1.7. Using manual focus
      2. 7.2. Manipulating Depth of Field
      3. 7.3. Controlling Color
        1. 7.3.1. Correcting colors with white balance
        2. 7.3.2. Changing the White Balance setting
        3. 7.3.3. Using One Touch White Balance
        4. 7.3.4. Fine-tuning White Balance settings
        5. 7.3.5. Bracketing white balance
      4. 7.4. Choosing a Color Space: sRGB versus Adobe RGB
      5. 7.5. Taking a Quick Look at Picture Modes
    3. 8. Putting It All Together
      1. 8.1. Recapping Basic Picture Settings
      2. 8.2. Shooting Great Portraits
        1. 8.2.1. Capturing action
        2. 8.2.2. Capturing scenic vistas
        3. 8.2.3. Capturing dynamic close-ups
      3. 8.3. Coping with Special Situations
  9. IV. The Part of Tens
    1. 9. Ten Cool Creative (And Practical) Features
      1. 9.1. Altering Your Photos through the JPEG Edit Menu
      2. 9.2. Removing Red-Eye
      3. 9.3. Giving a Face the "Vaseline Lens" Treatment
      4. 9.4. Tweaking Color Saturation
      5. 9.5. Bringing a Subject Out of the Shadows
      6. 9.6. Cropping to a New Composition
      7. 9.7. Creating Monochrome and Sepia Tone Copies
      8. 9.8. Exploring the Art Filters
      9. 9.9. Creating a Multiple-Exposure Image
        1. 9.9.1. Shooting a multiple exposure
        2. 9.9.2. Using Image Overlay
      10. 9.10. Adding a Voice Annotation to an Image
    2. 10. Ten More Ways to Customize Your Camera
      1. 10.1. Assign New Tasks to the Fn and Movie Buttons
      2. 10.2. Adjust Focus and Exposure Locking
      3. 10.3. Use Custom Resets to Store Picture Settings
      4. 10.4. Create Your Own Shooting Mode
      5. 10.5. Create Personalized Filenames
      6. 10.6. Speed Up the Image Delete Process
      7. 10.7. Specify a Default Print Resolution
      8. 10.8. Check for Faulty Pixels
      9. 10.9. Change the Timing of the Battery Warning
      10. 10.10. Expand Your Lens Kit