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August 29th, 2012
Despite conflicting signals coming from the Federal Reserve's consumer credit data (namely ghastly student loan debt burdens), household deleveraging continued apace in the second quarter. According to the New York Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit released Wednesday, household indebtedness fell 0.5% (-$53 bln) to $11.38 tln in Q2. After peaking at 95.6% of real GDP in Q3'08, household indebtedness was just 83.3% of real GDP in Q2'12. The dark side of this report, however, was an alarming rise in delinquencies for student loan payments, which even the Fed says may be underreported by half.
In the second quarter, the number of consumers with a foreclosure notation added to their credit reports fell to 256,000, the lowest since mid-2007. Credit card balances are their lowest in a decade and off nearly one-fourth (-22.4%) from the Q4'08 peak. At just 10.9%, credit card delinquencies are now the lowest in 10 quarters and trending lower. Auto loan debt (+1.8%q/q) is rising faster than student loan debt (+1.1%q/q) but the delinquency rates for student loans increased to 8.9% in the second quarter. By the Fed's own admission, delinquency rates for student loans in this report likely understate actual delinquency rates because almost half of these loans are currently in deferment, in grace periods or in forbearance and therefore temporarily not in the repayment cycle. According to the authors, "This implies that among loans in the repayment cycle delinquency rates are roughly twice as high."
There were some $25 bln in new seriously delinquent (NSD) student loan balances in the second quarter. As a percentage of all NSD balances, student loans took up 19.3%, their largest share in 8.5 years of reporting. NSD student loan balances in the second quarter climbed to where NSD credit card balances peaked in the last recession (Q1'09). The trend in rising NSD student loan balances by no means looks complete and it looks entirely plausible for these loan balances to soon surpass NSD mortgage balances, currently at $82 bln but in a downtrend. Extrapolating the trend of the last four quarters, it will take only six more quarters (Q4'13) for this degeneration to occur.
Economists at National Bank Financial Economic Strategy wrote Wednesday, "Student debt has soared in recent years to reach a record 28% of non-mortgage household debt in Q2. While student loans account for 8% of total household debt, they accounted for a disproportionate 13% of delinquencies in Q2. That's over twice the share of delinquencies seen in 2010Q1 when student loans accounted for 6% of total debt. The spread has never been that big between the students' share of total delinquencies and the students' share of total debt. With the US government decision two years ago to back student loans, the growing problem of delinquencies makes the task of reducing the federal budget deficit a bit more challenging."
The loan products listed above affect the consumer asset-backed securities market, as when delinquencies rise, yield and payment rate metrics fall (and vice versa). In their Consumer ABS Monitor for August, strategists at Barclays Securitization Research wrote Wednesday, "Bank card performance at the trust level was mixed [during the July collection period]. Half the trusts we track reported higher charge-offs, but two-thirds reported improving delinquency and yield metrics."
Analysts at Morgan Stanley Research wrote Friday, "Equifax said consumer credit continued to improve across most segments in July*: credit card 60+ day delinquency ratio declined -21% y/y, auto 60+ DQs declined -35%, first mortgages 30+ DQs declined -15%, and revolving home equity 30+ DQs declined -7%. Student loan delinquencies however, continued to deteriorate (60+ DQs up +14% y/y) given weak employment opportunities for new graduates."
* The Federal Reserve reports July consumer credit on September 10. In their June report, nonrevolving credit held by the federal government rose to $470.7 bln, a 29.9% increase over the June 2011 level and a 406% increase over the December 2007 level. Consumer loans held by the federal government include loans originated by the Department of Education under the Federal Direct Loan Program, as well as Federal Family Education Loan Program loans that the government purchased from depository institutions and finance companies.
According to tables provided by Citi Research, Triple-A student loan ABS have a spread to LIBOR that is double that of credit cards in the 3- and 10-year spaces and 85% higher in the 7-year space. For 10-year Single-A student loan ABS, expect a spread of 350 bp over LIBOR, more than 3.5 times what you would expect to pay for (earn from) 10-year Single-A credit card ABS. The rate of delinquencies suggests spreads will continue to widen.
The hyperbolic rise in student loan debt has become more than rhetoric in the fall political races. Now that delinquencies have also started to accelerate, dealers feel that a monetary or fiscal policy solution can't be far off.


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Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich
I love all things ice cream and have a soft spot for Pop Tarts, but I don't know about this Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich that Rakka made by squishing a scoop of peppermint ice cream between two cookies and cream Pop Tarts. She says it was "so very wrong but so disgustingly, deliciously right."
(Oh, who am I trying to kid? I would totally eat it!)

subset: commoncrawl


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Monster and Military.com Lead Initiatives to Match Employers with Transitioning Service Members and
Monster and Military.com Lead Initiatives to Match Employers with Transitioning Service Members and Veterans this Veterans Day
Monster and Military.com teams hold special events and activities this Veterans Day to honor those who have served
MAYNARD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Monster Worldwide (NYS: MWW) , the worldwide leader in connecting people to job opportunities, and Military.com, the nation's largest military and veteran membership organization, showcase their series of initiatives to honor veterans in the workforce and to connect transitioning service members with meaningful employment opportunities.
The Military Skills Translator, Veteran Virtual Career Fairs, the upcoming release of the Veterans Talent Index and the December Veterans Employment summit are efforts indicative of the organization's commitment to serving the full spectrum of veteran employment needs. Monster already provides employers with tools that help them attract veteran talent on a regular basis, including veteran friendly job postings, veteran power resume search tools and access to the Military Career Ad Network.
"Veterans often have a hard time translating their own skills and shifting their mindset out of military culture and into civilian culture when talking to a hiring manager," said retired Rear Admiral "T" McCreary, Vice President at Monster Worldwide and president of Military Advantage. "Conversely, industries and companies that do not take the extra time to learn about a veteran's skills are missing a highly trained worker who could easily fill part of the job gap that is being attributed to the lack of a skilled workforce."
Military Skills Translator
The job search process for veterans continues to be unfamiliar and lacks familiar structure for these men and women. Similarly for employers, locating veteran talent and aligning military experience to role requirements, has been a great challenge. Monster and Military.com's 'Military Skills Translator' converts military specialties into civilian occupations and identifies similar occupations for the user to consider. The product also features career paths other veterans with similar backgrounds have taken and provides networking between veterans and transitioning personnel for mentorship on education opportunities, transition challenges and career advice based on job specialty.
Veterans Virtual Career Fairs
Monster and Military.com are committed to veteran employment issues on an ongoing basis. The company will continue to host virtual career fairs to give veterans yet another tool to help get them back to work. The next Veterans Virtual Career Fair will run November 13-15th and is designed as an easy one-stop-shop to connect veteran seekers with the 30+ employers participating in the career fair who are looking for veterans who have strong team-oriented and leadership qualities.
Veterans Talent Index
Monster.com will release the third Veterans Talent Index (VTI) on November 15, in conjunction with Monster's participation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "Hiring Our Heroes" event. The VTI, first introduced in November 2011, offers a snapshot of the current veteran hiring landscape in order to help connect veterans and employers more effectively. As this is our third VTI report, we can now focus on trends and emerging issues, which will enable us to provide insights and recommendations to help close the veterans' employment gap.
National Veterans Employment Summit
On December 12, Monster will host a National Veterans Employment Summit in Washington, D.C., where leaders from both the public and private sectors will meet to share best practices and discuss the next challenges to be faced in the veterans' employment arena.
For more information on veterans employment issues and how Monster and Military.com are actively working to get vets back to work, please visit Military.com. Please also visit MonsterThinking to participate in ongoing discussions on both blogs where thought leaders will share best practices and insight into employment issues and recruiting and networking tactics and approaches.
About Military.com
Military.com is the nation's largest online military destination serving over ten million members, including active duty personnel, reservists, guard members, retirees, veterans, family members, defense workers and those considering military careers. Military.com enables the 30 million Americans with military affinity to access their benefits, advance their careers, enjoy military discounts, and stay connected for life. Military.com develops efficient affinity marketing and communications programs for government agencies and companies serving this market. Military.com is a business unit of Monster Worldwide, Inc. More information is available at www.military.com.
About Monster Worldwide
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYS: MWW) , parent company of Monster®, is the worldwide leader in successfully connecting people to job opportunities. From the web, to mobile, to social, Monster helps companies find people with customized solutions using the world's most advanced technology to match the right person to the right job. With a local presence in 55 countries, Monster connects employers with quality job seekers at all levels, provides personalized career advice to consumers globally and delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit http://www.monster.com. More company information is available at http://about-monster.com.
Monster Worldwide
Kristen Gugliotta, 978-461-8089
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Wednesday, April 4, 2007
A month in covent garden
12 comments:
- Freddie & Hollie said...
Congrats guys... best of luck there. Say hi to jade and anika from us.
- April 4, 2007 at 4:37 AM
- Seb said...
Have fun. And luck. Looks good. Nice place. Woo, week of the two word sentence. Don't have anybody to say hi to over there, so Val say hi ti Kristin, please. And by the way: Sorry for not answering the xing-mail. Was at ADC that weekend. Everything fine with your teeth?
- April 4, 2007 at 5:58 AM
- Marcus Brown said...
Well Done.
- April 4, 2007 at 6:05 AM
- Waldemar said...
@seb: i told her hi :) my teeth are fine, thank you! maybe we could have a coffee on this weekend, im gonna be in hamburg visting my family.
@f&h: blimey, they dont take teams for this bbc2 thingy, what a shame!
- April 4, 2007 at 6:13 AM
- Seb said...
when will you arrive in Hamburg? I am here until Friday. If you arrive then maybe we can meet for a coffee?
- April 4, 2007 at 6:18 AM
- Marcus Brown said...
Munich is better than Hamburg.
- April 4, 2007 at 8:44 AM
- Waldemar said...
ok, first we had the east-coast / west-coast thing in the US, then german rappers tried to battle out which city is the best, now everyone please welcome Munich vs. Hamburg to the blogosphere :D I vote for hamburg
- April 4, 2007 at 8:56 AM
- Marcus Brown said...
You'd loose Waldemar. You'd loose.
- April 4, 2007 at 9:02 AM
- Seb said...
Waldemar you are right.
And Marcus, come on, don't be reserved. Let's do this Hamburg-Munich-Video-Battle. Come on. I miss Marcus Brown sitting in front of a video camera with a glass of wine or beer philosophising about things. Come on, man.
- April 4, 2007 at 10:14 AM
- kristin said...
Guys, guys you are so wrong! Leipzig is the best town!
- April 4, 2007 at 12:00 PM
- Christos said...
I vote for Berlin althougn i'm not German, but i've been also to Koln, Stuttgard and lived in a small village Erphingen (or something like that)
GOOD LUCK guys with your placement, Val i will be free next week so we can go for a drink and have a chat
- April 4, 2007 at 5:21 PM
- Marcus Brown said...
Look, can you all stop already. It's Munich, and not Berlin, Leipzig and certainly not Hamburg.
If you want to do the video battle Seb, that's fine with me. But you start.
Servus ihr Lieben.
- April 5, 2007 at 12:46 AM


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Customizing the Olympus E-3
Making the Camera Work Your Way
My other articles related to the
Some time ago I wrote an article Customizing your E-500, which turned out to be perhaps the most popular piece in the Photo at that time, generating lots of reader feedback. It was followed with another one, dealing with the E-510 and E-410.
In response to quite a few requests, here is a similar article about the E-3. It is based on my six weeks spent with the camera (thanks are due to my friend Don), enough to develop some preferences regarding most of the settings, and to provide you with some advice and help in tailoring the E-3 to your needs and taste.
Note of February, 2009: This is the final version of the article (as far as anything here is final). Some information was added or revised when I was working on a similar write-up for the E-30; during that time I spent another two weeks with Don's E-3, which gave me a chance to verify some details and update the text considerably.
If the E-510 was very customizable, the E-3 is even more so, with a few more options to tweak, so that the camera works the way you want it to — well, to a large extent at least.
This flexibility may seem a bit overwhelming at first: there are about 100 parameters you can (and should) preset; this may affect not only the convenience of working with the camera, but also the results it will deliver.
The settings and preferences available can be roughly divided into three groups; to make my job easier and to avoid repetitiveness in the text, I'm going to color-code them as follows:
Unavoidably, there will be some overlap between the first three groups; the borderlines are somewhat fuzzy, so my color coding is just a general guidance, not a rule.
NOTE: Upgrading the firmware will revert all your camera settings to factory defaults. You will have to repeat the customization process every time you perform an upgrade.
In the following walkthrough I will follow, just to focus your attention, the order in which the preferences or settings are listed in the menu system.
As mentioned above, most of these parameters do not really customize your camera; they may be more or less frequently changed during a shooting session, sometimes from one frame to another. This section provides just some reasonable defaults; storing them in one of the two available Reset slots (or two My Mode ones will allow you to restore the whole configuration quickly.
There are two menus dedicated to these settings: Camera 1 and Camera 2, accessible via camera icons with digits 1 and 2, but some of the parameters can be changed only via direct buttons or from the Control Panel; we'll start from these.
These settings are not available from the menu system (which makes the menu structure simpler; I would like some others to go as well), but you may want to adjust them, so that they are saved as a custom reset or one of My Modes for a quick recall.
This is the setting most likely to be changed from one frame to another. After shooting, however, I like to put it back at -0.3 EV. This is a relatively safe value, at least for sunny weather outdoors situations, and it helps to protect the highlights from washing out.
Even if you get a quick shot with this compensation while it was not really needed, you can stretch the image tonality to get the highlights right (at some expense in noise); if, however, your highlights burn out, you will not be able to restore them.
I prefer keeping this at (always On). It actually means that the flash will fire every time, but only if I raise it before. (On with red eye reduction is another reasonable default).
Read here about other available flash modes.
This is where you can choose between single-frame and sequential shooting modes (the latter high- or low-speed); from here you also can set the self-timer or IR remote mode. Obviously, this setting should default to single frame, to be changed as a need arises.
What the "low" sequential speed means is set from another menu.
Read here about other drive modes.
This setting has three positions: Off, IS1, IS2, with IS1 being stabilization in two dimensions, and IS2 — in one (vertical only). It is listed here, because its value is being stored in custom reset or My Mode slots.
While the feature may be used quite often, I believe it is better set to Off by default.
This setting screen also allows you to enter a focal length of a legacy, manual lens you may be using with image stabilization. While the setting is irrelevant until you actually mount such a lens, you may enter here your most often used value if you wish.
Like the one above, this setting should rather default to Off: you do not want the camera to enter Live Mode on a reset. (It is possible that you may want to have it enabled, though, in one of your My Mode presets.)
|Except for the two first entries (quite out of place here), this menu deals exclusively with the parameters of the imaging engine. Of these, only ISO and Noise Reduction affect raw images; the rest are just stored as values in those, so that they can (but do not have to) be used "as shot" in the raw-to-RGB conversion in postprocessing.
Pre-empting your question: some of the menu item images below are highlighted (yellow background) — it does not mean anything; I just happened to have them shot this way.
This not a setting, but an operation (or rather a choice of two): erasing all images from the currently selected card, or formatting it. While the erase operation is faster, formatting may sometimes be necessary if a card is corrupted or has been formatted in a different device.
This also seems to be rather misplaced: from this sub-menu you can set, reset, or recall a complete camera setup. This function will be discussed in a separate section.
This sub-menu allows you to predefine a number of Picture Modes, each being a set of image processing parameters; the final effect is not unlike giving you a choice between a number of "films" to use. (One distinction: Picture Modes are chosen independently of the ISO setting.)
The Picture Modes can be also recalled from here, but it is much easier to do it from the Control Panel.
There are four color Picture Modes, one monochrome, and one — user-defined.
The contrast, saturation, and sharpness values you choose for a given mode are not absolute, they are applied on top of base offset assigned by the designers to each mode and, for no good reason, kept secret from the photographer.
While Olympus software applications (be it Master or Studio) do not offer any insight into the actual (i.e. summed-up) image parameter values, Mr. Phil Harvey wrote the most powerful EXIF data reader in existence, EXIF Tool, which allowed me to extract also the absolute values.
EXIF Tool is a command line application, and therefore may be difficult to use. This is why Mr. Bogdan Hrastnik of Slovenia wrote a very helpful front end for it, called EXIF Tool GUI. If you put both programs in the same folder, you need only to run the second one, and it will show you all possible EXIF information in a windowed environment.
Olympus SLR users may also download my own little file, exiftoolgui.ini, and put it in the same directory; then the program's Custom tab will show only the relevant parameters decoded from the Olympus proprietary data, so that you will not have to search for a needle in a haystack, scrolling through screenfuls of all the weird stuff camera manufacturers put into the EXIF data.
The table below shows the base (hidden) values in the first column, and then my recommended adjustments (the Adjust column), followed by the resulting absolute settings (shown as Total).
|Picture Mode
|Picture tone (tint)
|Neutral (none)
The table may need a few comments:
After customizing all "films" to your liking you will have to choose the one to be used as default when the camera undergoes a custom reset. Natural seems to be an obvious choice here.
You can choose between Normal, Auto, Low Key, and High Key. While Olympus does not explain what these settings really do, it looks like Low Key and High Key move the central part of the tonal curve down or up, respectively, therefore making the mid-tones darker or lighter (with smaller impact on tonality near the ends of scale). This is what I see in histograms when comparing otherwise identical images. (If you are not familiar with tonal curve manipulation: this is not the same as just decreasing or increasing the exposure!).
The Auto setting is new to the E-3; it seems to extract more detail from shadows by lifting the part of the tonal curve to the left of mid-tones. This may be useful when photographing bright scenes with large areas in shadows, which otherwise could become unreadable.
My feeling is that the Auto, Low Key, and High Key settings do not bring into play anything I couldn't do easily in postprocessing, especially if your images are saved raw (although out-of-camera JPEGs also leave enough latitude for these adjustments). This is why I rarely venture outside the Normal setting which is the default and also a part of my custom reset setup.
The Auto gradation became a part of my preset Custom Picture Mode (which is otherwise identical to my Normal, so that I can quickly switch to it. Note that the gradation setting is saved only as a part of that mode, but not of any others, a slightly confusing design.
This menu option is shown with an icon resembling a shower head turned sideways. From here (or directly from the Control Panel) you choose between the Olympus raw format (ORF) and one of the four JPEG size/compression combinations (the TIFF format is not supported and I'm not missing it). These combinations cannot be adjusted here; they are preset in one of the Settings 1 sub-menus, and you have to do it there between choosing them here.
Two of combinations I use most often are Large/Superfine and Large/Fine; if you are not using the raw format, the real choice will be just between them. Actually, I find the latter sufficient for all I'm doing, so this is my custom reset default. (Only for some samples, intended for intense pixel-peeping, I sometimes switch to Large/Superfine, at the expense of using 50% more storage space.)
Changing this setting "on the run" is a bad idea. I've seen too many cases of using a setting by accident, just by forgetting about it; the most painful one was when somebody spent a few hours shooting product pictures and ending up with 1024×768 JPEGs.
Some photographers, even advanced ones, leave the WB at Auto all the time. Manual setting works usually better, as long as you remember to change it when shooting under different conditions. Most of the time (outdoors) I keep it at Sunny (5300°K). This is what I'm using as my custom reset default, but some people may prefer Auto here, if just to be on the safe side.
In addition to a number of WB presets (described here), the camera allows you to define an individual correction for each of the presets; this correction will then be applied every time that preset is used. You can tweak each preset to your liking, but I really never felt a prevailing need to do this, so I leave this alone.
The adjustment is done separately in the red/blue and green/magenta dimensions as described in the Global WB Adjustment section. Note that the compensation applied here will override that defined previously on the global level; see that section again.
If you really care about tweaking the color balance precisely, you will be probably saving images in the raw format anyway, and in such a case all this becomes irrelevant, as the WB compensation happens only at the stage of converting the raw image to RGB.
The E-3 also allows you to define one custom white balance (CWB) setting. I've put 2500°K in that slot, as this is useful when shooting under lower-wattage bulbs, for which the standard incandescent (3000°K) setting is too warm. The color temperature for this setting can be entered directly from this menu, or through the Control Panel (by pressing the Exposure Compensation button when CWB is selected).
While this menu can be used to choose between one of the available four Reference WB slots (which are also stored in the reset data), the only way to fill such a slot is by use of the Function button (if it is assigned to this function, otherwise forget about it). This makes sense. More importantly, you can assign an individual adjustment to each of the Reference WB settings.
Storing Reference WB as a part of a custom reset setup makes more sense than it may seem at the first glance. For example, I'm using one of the slots for the daylight fluorescent panels I'm using in much of my tabletop shooting; the next time I just choose the slot, without having to re-do the measurement.
This sets the image sensor gain, or, roughly speaking, its responsiveness to light. I prefer to do it manually, with the default at ISO 100, moving to higher values only when needed.
If you leave this at Auto, the camera will move the ISO up when it considers the required shutter speed too slow for safe handholding (the upper limit of this adjustment is defined elsewhere). Better depend on your own judgement.
This option turns on the low-light, static noise reduction which is done by subtracting a "dark frame" from a taken picture (again, see my noise article). Even if it is set to On, it will be actually activated only at longest exposure times, generally from two seconds up. This means that you can leave it on all the time.
When you switch to the sequential drive mode, noise reduction will become temporarily disabled (and no longer accessible from the menu), to avoid the extra delay between frames.
Anyway, this setting is applicable only if you are using those long exposures, so for most photographers it is largely irrelevant.
By this Olympus refers to removing the random (non-static) noise from recorded images during the raw-to-RGB conversion. This always leads to some detail being lost in the process, even if the result may look more pleasing than the original. The process should not be confused with Noise Reduction, addressing the static noise at long exposures, and described in the previous section.
For more on the two kinds of noise, refer to my Noise in Digital Cameras article.
There are four values of this setting: Off, Low, Standard, and High. The first one, most likely, does not disable the filtering entirely, just sets it to some base value. How these presets work also probably depends on the ISO setting.
Noise filtering should be always considered in combination with image sharpening applied. A more detailed analysis of this subject for various ISOs can be found in a separate article, to which you can refer if you want to choose your own settings here.
If you want the short version, here it is: set NF to Low (assuming you're mostly using my Natural Picture Mode described above) and forget about it. The default Standard setting is too fuzzy for my taste.
The E-3 does not allow this setting to be memorized separately for every ISO value (or for individual Picture Modes); this might have been a nice feature.
As opposed to the Camera 1 menu, this one sets various picture-taking options which affect both raw and JPEG images.
Remember again, I'm not recommending that you use these Camera settings all the time, but that you set them as your personal defaults to be restored when the custom reset (or My Mode) option is used.
You may be a bit surprised that I'm putting this setting into my Red (set and leave alone) category, while Olympus makes it accessible via a (semi-) dedicated button, but read on.
First of all, the choice between (ESP matrix) and (center-weighted) depends on your shooting habits and preferences; once you decide on one, you will not be switching on-the-fly to the other, unless you are after unpredictable results.
Second, using
The latter completely eliminates the need for an external control for this adjustment. My sincere advice: set the metering pattern default here to either ESP or center-weighted (for most users it will be ESP, unless you are accustomed to the other one), assigning the spot mode to the AEL function.
The ESP setting has two flavors: one "plain" and one denoted as "ASP+AF". The latter puts higher weights on the matrix area over the currently used AF sensor. The choice is made from a sub-menu into which the ESP branches, and the chosen flavor will be then used whenever the ESP metering mode is active. On the other hand, using the AE lock with spot metering will be very effective in protecting the highlights from burning out in high-contrast images. Most people who complain about limited dynamic range of their camera just do not know what spot metering may be used for.
The highlight and shadow variants of the spot mode are just gimmicks: the same effect (and more) can be achieved with the regular spot mode and exposure compensation ("I want this to be at +2 EV").
Unless you are using a remote setup of multiple (compatible) flash units, keep this setting at Off and forget about it. If you are using such a setup, you may activate this just before the multiple-flash shooting session.
Start from zero (remember that my preferred way is to apply the flash compensation on top of the "regular" one, not instead). You may want it adjusted if your flash tends to under- or over-expose on a regular basis, i.e., if your default exposure compensation with flash is different than without. Once you do that, keep it there, and adjust exposure the same way as without a flash, i.e., with the plain control.
The choice here is between Single AF, Continuous AF, and Manual Focus (two more modes, S-AF+MF and C-AF+MF, use AF in conjunction with MF). Usually the selection will not be done from the menu, as the two other ways to do it (Control Panel, direct button) are more convenient.
Single AF makes a good default, as it works best in most cases, except for rapidly moving subjects, but then you can switch to Continuous AF as needed with an external control.
The S-AF+MF and C-AF+MF modes are included for compatibility with all Four Thirds lenses; the latest ones (at least the 12-60 mm ZD; I'm not sure about others) allow you to "touch up" the focus manually regardless of this setting.
I am not quite sure how useful is the mixed C-AF+MF mode: continuous autofocus with manual adjustment? Frankly, I've never had a need to use it, and I never did. You may have to experiment with this setting on your own to see how much it is worth in the context of your shooting needs and habits.
On the first level, this menu entry allows you to choose between the full 11-point array (when the camera decides where to focus), a five-point cross pattern (referred to as Dynamic Point, just to make it harder to guess), and a single spot. Suit your preferences here; I've settled down on the cross, but many users prefer a single point as giving them most control, while some go for all points, a kind of snapshot mode.
On the second level, you can use this menu to choose the AF area for the two latter modes. This may make sense in some situations (like shooting from a tripod), but not as a preset. Leave the spots at center in your default, if applicable.
A well-hidden extra option here is that once you've selected the target position, you can "register" it by pressing simultaneously the Function and exposure compensation buttons. Once "registered", this position can be quickly recalled at any time by pressing [Fn] alone, but only it that button was previously assigned to this function.
From where I stand, this may not be the least useful feature on the E-3, but it certainly belongs to the bottom 10%.
For the single-spot mode you can additionally set the AF point sensitive area to "regular" or "small", but this is, for reasons known only to Olympus, done from one of the Settings sub-menus.
Olympus calls this Anti-Shock, but this is really the old mirror lock we've known since the Seventies. It helps to avoid, in critical applications, vibrations caused by the mirror action. Obviously, this is useful only in tripod shooting.
Once you set the delay to a non-zero value, the sequence of drive modes (accessible by pressing the dedicated button) doubles in length, including mirror-locked versions of all; this is denoted by a small diamond shown next to the drive mode icon (or the icon blinking in the top info panel).
Some of these "mixed" modes do not make sense: for example, adding a mirror lock delay before every frame in a "high-speed" sequence. Some others are questionable, like applying a self-timer delay, then raising the mirror up, and applying a delay again. What would be wrong with raising the mirror right away and using just one delay? Messy.
This may seem like a bit strange way of providing this functionality, but at least mirror lock can be, once set here, activated without going into the menu system, and that's most important.
From my past experience, the delay of 2 seconds is long enough for most of the mirror-induced vibrations to die out, and this is my recommended default — if you are planning to use mirror lock at all. Otherwise, set it to Off, to time and confusion when changing drive modes.
Out of four kinds of bracketing provided by the E-3 this is the most useful; in critical applications you will possibly use it a lot. Set the default to Off, activating as needed.
Another setup, with this bracketing enabled and the drive mode at Serial High, may be handy when saved in one of My Mode slots.
Useless and wasteful, see here (interestingly, Olympus just follows the crowd providing this option). Instead of using WB bracketing, if expecting WB problems, switch to the raw mode. Set this to Off and ignore.
This may be useful in exceptional situations, when you want to experiment with different -to-flash ratios, mixing both kinds of light. For any other purpose normal exposure bracketing should be fine, unless I'm missing something. Anyway, set this to Off, to be activated only as needed.
This is really autoexposure bracketing by means of changing the ISO only. (Yes, at extreme ISO value it works only in one direction, leaving some frames identical.) Again, Off by default.
This group of camera settings is huge: more than seventy items. It contains mostly user preferences, customizing not just the shooting parameters, but the ways in which the camera works, including the way in which shooting parameters are being set.
While my assignment of various settings from the previous chapter to the color-coded groups was, to some extent, arbitrary and reflecting my shooting habits, most of the settings described here will be in the Red group: to be set just once, as soon as you know what your preferences are.
|This menu underwent a total shake-up, compared to the E-510. Most notably, it now branches into nine sub-menus (denoted with letters from A to I), grouping, mostly at least, functions of similar nature.
|Obviously, this submenu groups preferences related to focusing, except for focus lock, which is in Settings B.
This setting allows you to enable or disable the autofocus aid light, used when the available light is not bright enough for reliable autofocus. Depending on the flash you are using, this AF light can be generated in two different ways.
In either case, the setting allows to turn the AF aid off. It is irrelevant if the flash is not raised or if the external flash is turned off.
I prefer to have the AF Assist turned On. You may want to disable it when using the built-in flash to trigger slave units, when it may release them prematurely.
This allows you to choose in which direction you will have to turn the manual focusing on Olympus Four Thirds lenses in order to change the focus towards infinity. The feature, although far from being essential, allows you to stick to your habits acquired with manual lenses you are (or have been) using.
Unless that is the case, just ignore this choice.
You are photographing a sports game, using the C-AF mode. From time to time someone a few feet in front of you gets up to bring himself a beer; your AF system is desperately trying to change the focus, then — to change it back. This feature disables such an adjustment when the focus change would be large and sudden. I would keep it On, even if my experience in continuous AF is very limited, as I use it very rarely.
By default, the AF point used in a successful focus estimate briefly lights up in red in the viewfinder. This behavior can be disabled here. Most of us will want to keep it On.
According to Olympus, this changes the effective area of the AF sensor used in the single-point mode. The choice is between Normal and Small, the latter denoted by [.]s in displayed indicators and covering just the AF point outline shown in the finder. I wasn't actually able to see a difference in how both settings work, so I'm keeping the default Normal.
This is used to choose how turning the control dial (while the AF point selection button, [...], is pressed) moves from one such point to another:
Play with the camera using all three settings decide what you like best; it is personal. I found Spiral most to my liking — but I do not move my AF point around often.
!!! If this is activated, turning off the camera will reset the lens to infinity. In most cases this saves you a fraction of a second in the first picture taken when you turn the camera on again; the camera is also more transportable in this state. Set this to On.
When the camera is in the bulb exposure mode (manually-timed shutter), and set to manual focusing, you can turn the focus ring, either accidentally or on purpose (to get a special effect: a picture partially de-focused). Here you can disable the focus ring for the time when the shutter stays open to avoid an unintended defocusing.
Very few camera users use bulb timing, and those who will, have an idea what they want here. I keep this option at Off, not that it matters.
|These may be options most important in customizing (as opposed to using) your camera, as it adjusts the controls to your liking. Changing these preferences too often may lead to confusion and erratic camera behavior, so setting them once and forever (or almost so) may be a good idea.
If you are using two or more different Olympus cameras, you may try to make them respond to controls in a similar way (as much as it is possible due to differences in controls).
The two control dials in the E-3 are used not only in conjunction with direct buttons (about that, read here), but also alone, controlling the basic exposure parameters. How do they exactly function in the latter capacity is adjusted from here.
Obviously, the adjustable parameters (and therefore dial functionality) depend on the exposure mode you are in. Here are the options:
Note that in my recommended setup the front dial always (where applicable) controls the exposure compensation. The rear one changes the control variable (where applicable, again) or aperture. Only the shutter speed moves from the rear dial (shutter priority, when it is the control variable) to the front one (manual, where it is the secondary one after aperture). This could not be avoided. I've got used to this arrangement within a few hours after it was set up, and I like it better than the best one I was able to come up with for the E-510 (which only has one dial).
Getting rid of the exposure compensation button made using the camera more natural, as this is the functionality I access most often. This was helped by the fact that the dials are not so easy to turn by accident. (Still, for people who find themselves doing that, an option to disable the stand-alone use of dials might have been a helpful addition.)
This is actually a sub-menu used to define how the camera's AE and AF functions behave when the [AEL/AFL] (or Lock) button, right of the finder eyepiece, and/or the shutter release are pressed.
This choice is made independently for each focusing mode: single, continuous, and manual. In each case you choose one of the pre-packaged combinations.
Switching between SAF, CAF, and MF is not done from here; you can do it either from the Control Panel or with use of a direct button.
The factory-default presets here make good sense. Still, if you know what you want, they may be worth changing to your taste. (Another option is to follow my advice, skip the details and jump straight to my recommendations, which are not much different.)
Here is the complete listing of available options. I just hope it is less confusing than the description in the camera's manual. (If not, suggestions how to improve it will be appreciated.)
I'm sorry if this description was too long; this could not be helped. On the bright side, this is a part of the setup which you will be doing just once. Now, the short version:
My recommendation:
Use either the defaults, shown in the menu as
When this is set to OFF, the Lock button works like described in the previous section: you have to keep it down in order to keep the autoexposure frozen (or, in the CAF Mode 3, see above, autofocus continuously adjusting). When this is ON, that button will act as a toggle: the first press will turn the lock (or CAF) on, the second — off. The reading will stay locked (or CAF active) after the picture has been taken.
The feature is useful when the exposure has to stay identical for a number of frames (like in panorama sequences), but it may also be quite dangerous: it is too easy to forget that the lock is active.
This is why I would recommend keeping this setting at Off, unless working in the toggle mode is already your second nature. Even when shooting panorama sequences, I prefer to set the exposure in metered manual before the first frame.
The Function, or [Fn] button at the top-right of the camera's back can be assigned to just one of a number of available functions. This is, obviously, an important choice, as the number of external controls is always limited. The available options are:
By providing these eleven (!) options Olympus is trying to make everybody happy (at the same time making everybody confused). There is, however, nothing really wrong with it, as the setting, once done, remains hidden and does not stand in your way when operating the camera.
The choice is, indeed, simpler than it may look. Unless you need to switch rapidly to and from a designated My Mode, or to switch easily between the two underwater modes, assigning the [Fn] button to the Reference White Balance seems to make most sense, as this feature remains totally inaccessible in any other way, period.
If you are not using Reference WB (and you really should, otherwise you're missing a very handy tool), then you can put any secondary-importance function on this button. Frankly, I do not know what I would have chosen in such situation: perhaps just a duplication of the exposure mode button?
If you wish, you can swap the Function button with the Lock one, see below.
The functionality of this menu item is described elsewhere. Leave it alone until you have all other settings tweaked to your needs and taste.
You can adjust the length of the "grace period", within which you may use a control dial to adjust the setting assigned to a "direct button". The available options are
While in the beginning, still gaining familiarity with the camera controls, you may want to use a time-out of 5 or 8 seconds, after a few weeks you will probably want to set it to three seconds.
Here you can swap the functionality assigned to the Lock and Function buttons, if you find the role reversal up to your liking. Actually, I did that once, a few months ago, on my E-510, but after a few weeks reverted to the default assignment, marked as Off.
The cursor keys can be set for AF point selection in a short period (30 seconds or so) after the shutter release was half-pressed, without a need for pressing the
I keep this option disabled. It was introduced only in Version 1.3 of the firmware (February, 2009).
Only three functions are in this group, although I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more in one of firmware updates; for example, "Use sequential drive mode with bracketing". We'll see.
February, 2009: Nope.
This option defines the camera's behavior in the S-AF (single-focus) mode, being disabled by default. Activating it will make the camera take a picture whenever you press the shutter release button regardless of whether it was able to focus properly. The default Off setting seems to make more sense, so I would keep it.
This setting also determines if the picture will be taken if the flash is not yet recharged.
Similar to the above, but for the C-AF (Continuous AF) mode. That mode is recommended for fast-moving objects, and the camera uses the predictive AF then anyway (extrapolating the subject movement and "outguessing" its future position). Because of the predictive AF and because in such situations it is better to risk an out-of-focus frame than no frame at all, the default On setting here makes sense.
See the remark above on flash.
While the drive mode setting allows a choice (among others) between high and low sequential speeds, only here you define what "low speed" actually means: from 1 to 4 frames per second. My preference is 3 FPS, as differing more from the "high" value of 5 FPS.
|These are really secondary-importance adjustments, and, unless you are up to setting your camera up right now, you may safely skip this section until that time.
From here you can enable or disable the beep the camera makes when autofocus is achieved, at least in the single AF mode. I prefer to keep this On, as quite often I am too focused on other things in order to watch the AF confirmation light in the viewfinder. In rare situations when the beep may be found disturbing, I just break my no-menu rule and just disable it.
This defines the period of inactivity after which the camera will enter the low-power sleep mode, disabling the LCD and all controls; then when any control is pressed, your E-3 will almost instantly (with just the dust-off delay) spring to life.
This time-out can be set to Off (never go to sleep), 1, 3, 5, or 10 minutes. Entirely a matter of taste; I prefer 3 minutes.
The infrared remote receptor is disabled in the sleep state; when you are using the RM-1 or RM-2, you may want to disable the sleep feature.
Similar to the above, but governs how soon will the monitor backlighting go off (which saves quite a lot of juice). The choice is between 8, 30, and 60 seconds plus Hold. I find
Even with Hold the monitor will go off when the sleep time comes.
After the camera goes to sleep, its internal clock still keeps ticking, and (by default) the camera will turn itself off for good after four hours. To be activated again, it has to be turned off and on again.
This feature can be disabled (set to Off) from here, but I prefer to keep the default.
This is the mode in which the USB interface is turned on when the camera detects the connection. Here are the options:
The default Auto option is a safe choice, but if you never operate the camera remotely, Storage will be more convenient.
With this if set to Off, the Live View display will be accounting for the picture-taking parameters i.e., it will approximate the resulting picture. In the ON position, the display may be brightened for better visibility (at the expense of some jerkiness).
The live histogram does not work right with the boost enables, so it has to be ignored.
By default I prefer to keep the Live View Boost off, except when shooting in infrared; in that case this may be the only way to make the preview visible.
You may have a framing aid (which is the proper English term) superimposed on the Live View display. There is a choice between:
Depending on that choice, one of these will be shown in the sequence of live display modes when the [Info] button is repeatedly pressed. Suit yourself, but after some playing around I just reverted to Off.
This group of settings changes the limits, steps, and time-outs. Once again: set them once and never come back.
A notable exception is that here you also decide what metering pattern will be used with the AE lock; this may be one of the more important decisions you will have to make in the customization process.
This is the step used in exposure compensation, shutter speed, and aperture adjustment. The choice is between 1/3, 1/2, or 1 EV. While 1 EV is OK for shutter or aperture (except in metered manual mode, where the other factor does not adjust automatically), exposure compensation requires more precision: 1/3 or 1/2 EV will do, depending on any habits you might have developed already.
While I keep this at 1/3 EV, some people may be happier with 1/2 EV: with almost the same precision you go through fewer steps when making changes.
This is the step with which the ISO (sensor gain, or effective sensitivity to light) can be adjusted. It can be chosen as 1/3 EV (ISO 100, 120, 160, 200...) or 1 EV (ISO 100, 200, 400...). The finer, 1/3 EV step has no real advantage: I find that the usual 1 EV is good enough for any purpose, and it requires less scrolling through available values. Therefore 1 EV is my recommendation (feel free to disregard it).
EV stands for Exposure Value, or a product of scene brightness and exposure time; it is often used to describe differences in the amount of light or in response to it. The scale is logarithmic: 1 EV more corresponds to twice the amount of light; 1/3 EV — to about 26% more (note: 1.26×1.26×1.26 = 2). The values in the 1/3 EV ISO sequence are approximate, but this accuracy is more than good enough for any purpose.
This is actually not one setting but two independent ones.
This determines if the Auto ISO will be accessible in the manual exposure mode.
The choice is between P/S/A (autoexposure modes only) and All (which includes manual exposure).
In the original version of this article I was wondering why I would ever want to use auto-ISO in manual exposure. A few months later I know. If you choose All and set ISO to Auto, the manual exposure mode becomes a shutter-and-aperture priority AE: you set these two parameters, and the camera will adjust the third one (ISO) as needed to provide proper exposure, if possible. Manual is no longer manual, but some users may like it this way; besides, all it takes to disable this feature is to move the ISO setting off Auto.
Unlike in P, A, and S autoexposure modes, you will not be able to dial in any exposure compensation (with or without using the compensation button); this makes the design somewhat inconsistent.
Anyway, this is a minor decision. I've set this to All, if just to play with the new feature when it strikes my fancy.
This is a choice which metering pattern will be used when the exposure is locked with the [AEL/AFL] button (not by half-pressing the shutter release!).
Spot metering makes most sense here, because when you use the lock button, this means you're pointing the camera at the point you would like to actually meter at. This is why I'm recommending this, instead of the default Auto setting, by a large margin. Additionally, in this setup you will never have to explicitly change the metering pattern again: using the Lock button is enough.
Here you set the time limit after which the shutter will close even if you are still holding the shutter release depressed. (No, I do not expect someone to hold down the button down for twenty minutes, but the release can be locked with a wired or infrared remote, to the same effect.)
The default of 8 minutes seems OK: when was the last time you have used an exposure longer than that?
This sub-menu is shown as
This is the fastest shutter speed which the camera will use with flash. While the default is 1/250 s, you may set that limit to any value down to
Longer speeds increase the input of the ambient light to the final result, softening the harsh flash light a bit, but this may cause WB problems, common with mixed light sources.
These problems will be most visible in the program or aperture priority mode, as then the camera will set the shutter as it pleases, usually close to the 1/2F (one over double focal length) rule, to maximize the ambient light share. They can be, however, easily avoided, see the next setting.
I would recommend here to set the highest value, i.e., 1/250 s, for a number of reasons. If longer shutter speeds are desirable, use shutter priority to get exactly what you want.
This feature allows you to avoid mixed-light problems mentioned above. It is new in the E-3. The shutter speed used with flash in program and aperture priority AE modes will never get below the value set here (unless you choose the Slow flash mode.
The default of 1/60 s usually provides some softening of the flash with ambient light, but if you want to avoid that (for consistent white balance), you may consider raising it all the way to 1/250 s. I don't mind the slight yellow cast when using flash under ambient light, so I keep it at 1/60 s.
You can choose how the + dialed flash exposure compensation is applied:
I find the On option more intuitive; see also my remarks of flash compensation in general for more arguments in favor of this choice.
|In a way similar to the Camera 1 menu, the preferences in this group control some aspects of the raw-to-RGB conversion, directly affecting generated JPEG images, but not raw ones. Still, they are being remembered in raw files, to be used as the "as shot" settings in postprocessing.
Here you can define common color corrections (both in Red/Blue and Green/Magenta) which will be shared by all WB settings, including Auto and Reference ().
These corrections will override ones, if any, previously defined for the individual WB presets or reference WB slots (it will also be applied to any reference WB readings made afterwards, but not to the custom °K setting). Therefore if you would like to use a specific correction for some WB choices and a "global" one for all others, define the latter first as described below, and then override it for the specific settings as described here. And, really, do not mess with this setting much, or, at least, do not mix it with individual corrections.
The adjustment is done in "steps" of undocumented size. A positive correction shifts colors towards red or green; negative — towards blue or magenta. (Arrow keys are used to switch between color dimensions and to move the values up or down.)
Unless you think the E-3 colors need to be shifted overall in a given direction (say, all to become warmer), leave this setting alone. That's what I did.
A choice between sRGB (used by practically all computer displays and printers) and Adobe RGB, said to provide a wider color gamut. If you are not 100% sure what Adobe RGB really is and how you can benefit from it, just forget about it and use the default sRGB.
Every lens has a degree of vignetting or light fall-off: images are getting progressively darker towards the corners. This is especially visible in wide-angle lenses, and can be (partially) addressed by using a strongly retrofocus lens design.
A large part of this phenomenon is purely geometric in nature (as opposed to being an optical flaw of the lens itself), and cannot be cured by any means. Actually, this is the part which is smaller for retrofocus lenses.
The E-3 can compensate for light fall-off, doing it at the stage of raw-to-RGB conversion, with use of the lens information passed from it to the camera circuitry. This information tells the camera how much to brighten the image towards the corners to level out the effect.
Here you can turn this function on or off. I see no reason not to have this set to On.
Here you define the four JPEG resolution/compression presets which then will be available for a quick recall from the menu (or, better, from Control Panel). Each of these presets gives you the choice of two factors:
Every preset will be named with a concatenation of the two corresponding acronyms; for example, LSF standing for Large+Superfine; those names will then be used everywhere as needed.
I never had a need for more than two such combinations: one for more and one for less critical uses. Certainly, the first two presets have to be LSF and LF; while the other two do not really matter (for me at least), I've set them as LN and MN, just in case of an emergency, running out of card space.
(This happened to me once, during a trip to Japan in 2002, when a 256 MB card used to cost $200).
Now we came to the place where you define what Medium and Small, used above, mean. The following choices are available:
If you are not using non-native resolution files, these choices do not matter; just in case, set the largest sizes available: 3200×2400 and 1280×960.
|Some preferences regarding card file system access are set here. Some more of the same kind are scattered over the Settings 2 menu.
Setting this to On allows you to delete the currently viewed image with a single press on the red trash can button, without any confirmation.
I would suggest keeping this at Off, but setting the Yes/No default to Yes; deleting a file would then require a confirmation with just a single button press.
This is relevant only if you save images in duplicate, as raw ORF and JPEG. When the Delete (trash can) button is pressed while an image is being viewed, the camera may delete just one or both versions, depending how this preference has been set. I've set this to RAW+JPEG (both), to avoid confusion.
This defines how the numbers in file names (see Edit File Name), are assigned when an empty card is mounted. There are two choices:
I prefer Auto, as it provides images with ordinal numbers regardless of the date, folder, and card used.
If the card is not empty and contains, in the currently used folder, a file with a serial number above the current counter, the latter will be moved up.
A good rule to follow is to assure that a card inserted into the camera does not contain any images; this will allow to avoid surprises.
This criptic name refers to an option defining the default (highlighted) answer to a Yes/No query on file delete. If this is set to No, then deleting a file requires pressing a cursorkey in addition to the [OK] button. I found this a bit annoying, therefore my cameras have this set to Yes. (I still have to delete an image by accident.)
This double protection seems too much to me; I prefer the Yes setting, where I need to press just [OK] after the Delete button to confirm the operation.
This choice does not affect other confirmation screens; for example resetting the camera to a the custom preset.
This setting is completely irrelevant, just leave it alone.
Adobe, I believe, started embedding the DPI (dots per inch) information into bitmapped images. This is, to be frank, moronic: a 2000×3000 pixel image file is that, regardless of what DPI you set there. Unfortunately, many people were made to believe that this is somehow significant, and, perhaps for some compatibility purposes, Olympus now puts this information into its image files.
This double protection seems too much to me; I prefer the Yes setting, where I need to press just [OK] after the Delete button to confirm the operation.
This choice does not affect other confirmation screens; for example resetting the camera to a the custom preset.
This setting is completely irrelevant, just leave it alone.
Adobe, I believe, started embedding the DPI (dots per inch) information into bitmapped images. This is, to be frank, moronic: a 2000×3000 pixel image file is that, regardless of what DPI you set there. Unfortunately, many people were made to believe that this is somehow significant, and, perhaps for some compatibility purposes, Olympus now puts this information into its image files.
Here the designers put some (exactly: two) of the things which did not fit anywhere else (the rest is in the Settings 2 menu; decisions on that were probably made by tossing a coin).
The good news is that you will be never coming back to this menu again.
When you select this and press [OK], the camera enters the cleaning mode: the mirror goes up and the shutter opens, so that the dust barrier in front of the image sensor becomes accessible for cleaning — if you remove the lens, of course.
Be careful: if the battery gets low during that time, the shutter will close, with the mirror returning down, and one or both will be likely damaged.
The E-3 has an external light receptacle, placed between the grip and lens mount, and used to help the Auto WB circuitry to do its job. (This is very much like an ambient light meter, although not as effective as a hand-held one pointed away from the subject, the most accurate method.)
By default this detector is turned on, and I would leave it this way, although it matters only when you use the Auto White Balance.
This menu is a relict form the previous Olympus models, being a grab bag of odds and ends.
Be warned: the logic stops here, proceed at your own risk.
This is not really a preference setting, but a maintenance function. A properly set clock allows your pictures to be correctly time-tagged. Set this once to your home time zone and leave it there, adjusting once a year if needed.
The camera does not automatically switch to the daylight savings time (it would have to know its location and the local law). If you want to account for that, the setting has to be changed by hand. I chose not to do it, and keep the "winter" time all the time (this is the "real" time zone time, more closely related to the actual time of the day.
I've also given up on moving the camera's clock every time when arriving to a different time zone. Sooner or later you'll forget to do it, and then things may get messy. It is just not worth the trouble.
Accurate time stamps become more important if you are carrying a GPS recorder and then use a software application to tag your files with the location where the picture was taken.
The choice between Compact Flash and xD-Picture card is not really a preference setting, and it should be rather in one of the Camera menus, not here. Anyway, set it to the card you use more often, and in need you can always change it from the Control Panel, without diving into the menu system. Keep in mind that CF cards usually are faster and less expensive; this is my default.
This allows you to (slightly) change the Olympus file naming convention, which combines the date picture was taken with a serial number. Actually, you will lose nothing by just skipping this section; I'm providing it just for the record.
A file name format is
Pmddnnnn.JPG or _mddnnnn.JPG
where the name elements mean the following:
For example, PB260832.JPG means a picture taken on November ('B') 26, with a serial number of 832, saved in the JPEG format in the sRGB ('P') color space.
This convention can be slightly modified: the first two characters can be set to any of your choice (the defaults are shown in the menu as Off).
For Adobe RGB images (JPEG or raw; in the latter case this means just a flag) the first character is hardwired to '_', and only the second one can be redefined. You will be able to change it only if the camera is actually set to use the Adobe RGB color space.
There is nothing wrong with the default settings here, but some users, with more than one Olympus camera, may want to set the first letter different for each. Why not?
I rename my files as soon as get them off the camera anyway, to include full date, with the leading year. If you do something like that, then this section becomes irrelevant.
In addition to setting the display brightness manually, there is also an Auto option here, using a small light receptor near the monitor to measure the ambient light and to adjust the display accordingly. This sounds like a good solution, but I found it a bit distracting: the display reacts to slight changes in camera orientation.
Adjust it to your liking; I'm fine with the default (zero) manual setting.
Depending on the market, the choice of selectable UI languages may vary. You can also install one additional language using the Olympus Master to access Olympus Web server.
This is the signal standard used when the camera's monitor output is sent to a TV set. You may choose between NTSC and PAL, depending on your country.
This stands for "Recording View" which is a brief review of the just-taken picture on the monitor.
Here you define for how long the image is displayed. This can be set to any value between 0 and 20 seconds, with 0 disabling the review (this will extend the battery life), and 3..7 seconds being a reasonable choice for a quick check.
There is also an option to set this to Auto — in this mode the camera automatically enters the "regular" image review mode with all its implications: you can browse images, magnify a fragment, switch between viewing modes, delete a file, etc. In other words, the Auto option saves you one (green) button press, compared with doing the same explicitly.
To be used occasionally (every six months or so, or as needed) to map out the few bad pixels which may show on your sensor.
Displays the installed firmware version for the camera body, lens, and external flash (if mounted and on).
Storing and Recalling Setups
The camera setup, including almost all parameters listed above, can be saved as a package in one of two available custom reset slots or in one of two My Mode ones. While both ways are largely similar, there are some important differences in how they are used and how they work; these will be discussed as needed. In either case, restoring (or switching to) a setup by one of these methods is faster, easier, and less error-prone than doing it one-by-one.
Two different setups can be saved in, or recalled from, two such slots available. This is done from a menu option named Custom Reset Setting in Camera 1. Using this feature is not quite obvious, so I have no choice but to describe it in its entirety.
Selecting RESET in [3] instead will clear the slot. Keep in mind that both setting and resetting a slot are done without the usual confirmation.
Once your chosen settings have been stored, the whole package can be restored at any moment:
Pressing [OK] when the (top) RESET option is highlighted will reset the camera to factory defaults, after a Yes/No query. This does not destroy the packages stored in the other reset slots (or in My Mode ones.
A few of the preferences or settings I am discussing above are not stored in custom reset slots, for a number of reasons. This means that they will not be restored to your presets when a custom reset is performed. In most of the cases these are settings which rather should survive the reset process (and be the same for both reset slots), but in a few the assignment seems to be arbitrary: why would the Continuous AF Lock be not stored, being clearly a shooting preference?
As we have no choice here but to accept whatever design decisions were made, quoting the full list of excluded settings wouldn't make much sense. It is available as a table in the camera manual: Functions that can be registered... (p. 134 of the English version).
One case, however, has to be mentioned: exposure mode (or shooting mode). This means that after a custom reset you have explicitly to switch the camera to program, aperture priority, or whatever your usual choice is.
Once you have set up the camera according to your needs, preferences, and taste, the whole setup should be stored in one of the reset slots, so that the camera can be easily restored to your preferred state. I am not sure how to use the second slot; maybe it can be useful for your alter ego? Variations of the setup aimed at particular applications or shooting conditions are better served by My Mode slots.
Even if you have used one of the previous E-System SLRs, you may have no experience with this feature, as it required assigning the [Fn] button to it, and that button was perhaps more useful for other purposes. In the E-3, My Mode presets become genuinely useful, as they can be accessed as any other exposure modes (say, aperture priority).
There are two My Mode slots available, of which one is "current" (or, as Olympus puts it, "executed"). This distinction is meaningful only if the [Fn] key has been assigned to temporary My Mode activation, otherwise it is completely irrelevant.
Storing a camera setup in one of these slots involves a procedure identical to that in the E-510. It is not quite straightforward, therefore I would recommend reading this while actually handling the camera.
Importantly, My Mode also stores the current exposure mode (like aperture priority), unlike a custom reset slot.
If you have set the [Fn] button to temporarily invoke the "current" My Mode, then pressing the [OK] button in point [3] above will make that mode "current". This is irrelevant if you are assigned the [Fn] button to some other purpose (like I did).
The major difference between custom restore and My Mode is that while the former resets the camera to a given state, the latter is rather used for quick switching to a given preset combination and back.
Activating a My Mode preset is done in one of two ways. I already mentioned the first one: pressing and holding the Function button will temporarily recall that preset. This, however, requires giving up any other functionality we could use that button for — and I'm not giving the Reference WB up so easily.
The other way is to access My Mode as one of the exposure modes. Originally, switching among exposure modes takes us from Program to Manual and Bulb; as soon as any My Mode slots are filled, they will be added to that sequence. Thus, a My Mode can be activated by pressing the Mode button (to the left of the prism) and turning the rear control dial.
If that is done, both the top status display will show a My 1 or My 2 icon next to the symbol of the exposure mode. This may mean, for example: "I am My Mode 2, based on aperture priority, with custom settings".
If you change any parameters while in My Mode, these changes will not be remembered: leaving that My Mode and entering it again will bring you the settings as originally saved in that slot. This makes sense: if you've been messing with the settings while in My Mode and want to revert the changes, just exit this My Mode and enter it again.
If you adjust any settings before entering My Mode, all will be remembered when you exit it. This makes sense, too: you do not want leaving My Mode to do a reset.
How to utilize the two My Mode slots? You may have your own ideas on that, but I prefer to use the first one for my default setup (like the custom reset), just to have a "panic button" option, with a way back to what I was doing before; the second one can be used for a particular kind of shooting you do often (say, tabletop or portrait).
Well, this was a long piece of reading, but that could not be avoided. This is the price we are paying for having all these options to choose from; nothing comes free.
One final piece of advice: resist the temptation of changing the camera settings all the time. A setup which may look good when done on your sofa may turn out to be a disaster in the field. Simpler is better, and here you will have lots of opportunities to shoot yourself in the foot. Do a first setup, using my recommendations modified to your liking (but not just for the sake of being different), and live with it for a month or two. After that you will know better what you would really like to have changed. Rinse and repeat. But not just for the heck of it.
Thanks are due to the many Readers whose help was essential in cleaning up and otherwise improving this text. (You know who you are, J-Marc, Geffen, Hans, and others.) Most of all, thanks do Don of Columbia, MD, who was willing to live for the total of two months without his favorite toy, just to give me a chance to get familiar with it, and to share that familiarity with you.
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The McKinney Gazette. (McKinney, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 1886
Description: Weekly newspaper from McKinney, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.
Date: May 13, 1886
Creator: Thompson, Clinton
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
Partner: Collin County Genealogical Society


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but can i write at a particular memory location repeatedly?
Quotebut can i write at a particular memory location repeatedly?You can. There is a limited number of write cycles available, but that number is greater than 100,000.Why do you need to keep counting from the same value? Are you implementing some kind of hour-meter?
I need store data into the flash
QuoteI need store data into the flashFlash memory is read-only. You can't store data in flash memory at run time.
If the EEPROM is not enough, and you want to be able to change it, use external I2C EEPROM memory. A normal size is 8kbyte, but more is possible.


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This course discusses how project management concepts can be applied to IT projects, including the concepts, methodologies, and tools of project management as they relate to IT.
Learn More>>
Complete the form below and click the Reset Password button. If
we find your password, we'll send password reset instructions to the e-mail address
we have on record for you.


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NAPLES, Italy — The European Space Agency (ESA) faces the uncomfortable choice of either actively removing its dead Envisat satellite from low Earth orbit or risk being held liable if Envisat damages another satellite, a member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) said.
Because it elected to continue operating Envisat until it had too little fuel to be powered to a lower orbit, as international guidelines prescribe, ESA could be held liable for negligence, or even gross negligence, if Envisat or pieces of it damage an active satellite in the 100-plus years Envisat will remain in orbit, according to the IISL analysis.
In a presentation in Naples, Italy, to the 63rd International Astronautical Congress, Martha Mejia-Kaiser, an IISL member from the Autonomous National University of Mexico, said Envisat is a "ticking bomb" that poses an unusually large danger to a heavily populated corridor in polar orbit at 780 kilometers in altitude.
Space news from NBCNews.com
Teen's space mission fueled by social media
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: "Astronaut Abby" is at the controls of a social-media machine that is launching the 15-year-old from Minnesota to Kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the International Space Station's next crew.
- Buzz Aldrin's vision for journey to Mars
- Giant black hole may be cooking up meals
- Watch a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse online
- Teen's space mission fueled by social media
Launched in 2002, Envisat has a 26-meter cross section, weighs some 8,000 kilograms and, importantly, was not passivated before it suddenly went silent in April. [Photos: Envisat Satellite & Earth Views]
Propellant remnants, still-charged batteries, residual gases and other stored energy only add to the danger posed by the satellite.
Mejia-Kaiser said it would have taken just 60 kilograms of fuel to lower Envisat's orbit by 30 kilometers, to 750 kilometers. From this orbit, natural forces likely would have forced the satellite into the atmosphere within 25 years — as international guidelines urge operators of low-orbiting satellites to do.
Instead, ESA continued operating Envisat as an active and highly valued environmental-monitoring satellite until its unexpected shutdown.
"Why did ESA prioritize the operating of Envisat until the last drop of fuel rather than the stability of this precious area in outer space, and the welfare of this valuable orbit?" Mejia-Kaiser said in her presentation. She added that while Envisat was launched before orbital-disposal guidelines were published, the decision to continue operating it was made well after ESA signed a code of conduct that adopts these guidelines.
"ESA's choice of futures is reduced to the expensive options: to actively remove Envisat or to become liable and pay compensation in case of future collisions," she said.
ESA and other space agencies are studying future debris-removal technologies that today are viewed as overly risky and expensive. Space law experts disagree over whether the agency could be sued for negligence, an action that would be without precedent.
- Worst Space Debris Events of All Time
- Envisat Failure Changes ESA Calculus on Sentinel Launches
- Envisat Records Staggering Amounts of Environmental Change | Video
© 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.


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Katy Perry Getting Serious With New Boyfriend Baptiste Giabiconi
Hey, Russell Brand? Katy Perry seems to be moving on just fine. The 'Part of Me' singer is rumored to be getting serious with her new squeeze, Baptiste Giabiconi — so much so that he's considering moving to Los Angeles to be closer to his gal.
"He's considering moving to LA, at least for some time," Giabiconi's rep told the New York Post. "He's really focusing on his music career from France, but he's always traveling for his modeling career."
Giabiconi's rep confirmed the relationship with the whipped cream shooting pop starlet as well. "It's new, they're feeling it out, but they're spending a lot of time together."
The duo have been spotted laughing and getting cozy at various Paris nightclubs, with spies telling the Post, "Katy looked really happy and in a good place."
It turns out that while their relaysh is new, Giabiconi's actually had a crush on Perry for quite some time. When she was still hitched to Brand, Giabiconi told a magazine, "If I could make her divorce her husband, I'd marry her." Sounds like someone is trying to make his dream come true!


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SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Nearly 70 percent of San Diego residents believe the embattled mayor of California's second-largest city should resign following allegations that he sexually harassed a former aide and at least two other women, according to a poll by local media.
The results marked a 10-percentage-point increase in the number of respondents who thought Bob Filner should step down since city residents were asked the same question two weeks ago, just after the scandal broke.
Both polls were conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the San Diego Union-Tribune and local television station KGTV.
The findings were released late on Wednesday, after a third woman, school psychologist Morgan Rose, publicly accused the 70-year-old Democrat and former U.S. congressman of making lewd comments and unwanted advances toward her.
The first woman to come forward, former press secretary Irene McCormack Jackson, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the mayor on Monday, and a number of prominent local Democrats have called on Filner to resign.
As accusations first surfaced against him on July 11, even before the alleged victims themselves went public, Filner acknowledged having engaged in inappropriate behavior toward female staff members and said he was seeking professional help. But he has so far insisted that he would not resign.
Filner was elected mayor last year after a 20-year career as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for a district that encompassed the southern portion of San Diego and much of the rest of California's border area.
In a survey of 700 San Diego residents on Tuesday, 69 percent said Filner should go, compared with 59 percent on July 12, according to the Union-Tribune website. Another 24 percent said Filner should remain in office and 11 percent said they were not sure.
Separately, 87 percent of respondents on Tuesday said they were familiar with the sexual harassment allegations against Filner and 66 percent said they thought those accusations were true. The SurveyUSA poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 to 4.3 percentage points.
Filner made a rare public appearance on Thursday at a groundbreaking ceremony for a San Diego trolley construction project. He declined to address questions about the scandal.
"I see you've found a way to attract media attention to our efforts on the trolley," he said during the event.
Laura Fink, a political consultant, became the second woman to publicly accuse Filner of unwanted sexual advances when she told a local television station on Tuesday that Filner patted her buttocks at an event in 2005, when Filner was a congressman.
"I'm a Democrat and I agree with his political values, but if he can't represent his values, he should step down," Fink told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
"This isn't just a personal transgression. He doesn't go after women on equal footing. He goes after women who need something from him, whether it's their jobs or their causes," she said.
Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Ken Wills


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Feb. 27, 2008
Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State University and head coach Mark Krikorian has announced that junior forward Mami Yamaguchi will forgo her senior season to pursue her professional soccer career.
Yamaguchi, the 2007 Hermann Trophy winner, has signed a contract to play with Umea IK of the All-Swedish League. Umea IK is a member of UEFA, the Union of European Football Association. Umea IK captured the UEFA Women's Cup in back-to-back seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
"We are thrilled for Mami," stated Krikorian. "It has been a goal and dream of hers to be a professional soccer player. In a way, I hope that Florida State University has contributed to her success."
Yamaguchi led the country in points (66) in 2007, while finishing second in goals (24) and assists (18). The Tokyo, Japan native was recognized as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and was a consensus first-team All-American.
The junior forward played a vital role in leading the Seminoles to the national championship game for the first time in school history. In the 2007 NCAA Tournament, she paced the Seminoles with three goals and eight assists. Her eight assists rank as both a single-season and an all-time postseason school record.
Following a record-breaking season for Yamaguchi, she ranked first all-time in career assists with 30 and sits second in points (94) and goals (32). She began the season registering a point in her first 10 games, while setting the school record by scoring at least one goal in seven consecutive games. Yamaguchi registered a point in 22 of 27 games for the Seminoles in 2007.


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I love this picture because of everything it isn't.
It isn't anywhere close to the best picture I've taken.
It's blurry
It's grainy
The colors are all off
Oh my god, the sneakers.
But when I look at this, all I can see is the sound of laughter in the air, the feel of cold on my skin. I see, with crystal clarity, one gloriously perfect moment that flew past you both so fast it bent and blurred the world in its wake.
In that fleeting moment, I see you. I see you joyous, and I wish you 39 more years of it.


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Authorities in Bryan County say autopsy results are in and charges will soon be filed against the family of a 21-month-old toddler that was mauled to death by seven pit bulls.
Detective Donnie Thomas says the autopsy shows Monica Laminack died of injuries consistent with a dog attack and the results do not show any foul play.
Investigators say the child was left alone when she was attacked in the family's backyard on Elm Drive in Ellabell.
Bryan County Sheriff's Office says they completed their interviews with the family on Wednesday, but they are giving the family more time to grieve before those charges are filed.
Charges are likely against the mother, Summer Laminack, 18, but investigators would not confirm if this is still the case or if any other charges will be filed.
The sheriff plans on meeting with the district attorney to discuss this case now that the interviews and autopsy are done.
Copyright 2013 WTOC. All rights reserved.
844 Government
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
(225) 383-


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The Inertia 6 Light Pendant is an Indoor Ceiling fixture by Corbett. This fixture is recommended for the beautification and illumination of a variety of rooms including but not limited to Foyer, Hallway, Bathroom, Bedroom, Dining Room, Kitchen, Living Room, etc.
This Inertia Pendant is a/an Corbett Lighting design.
Prop-65 CA Residents: WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
- Height -18 inches Diameter- 24 inches
- Weight - 20.8 lbs
- Backplate/Canopy Width - 06.5 inches
- Stem Kit - Stem - Adjustable
- Lamping - 6 50W 120V G9 Wedgebase - Xenon
- Bulb Included - Yes
Listing & Safety Rating Location:
- Listing - UL
- Safety Rating Location - Dry Location
About Corbett Lighting (Hudson Valley Group)
For more than 40 years, Corbett Lighting have created and manufactured beautiful lighting for residential, hospitality and commercial/contract markets and is an industry leader in unique, high-quality interior lighting. Every fixture from Corbett is representative of the Company's passion for design, quality and value. Designing with an open mind for inspiration, you will find light fixtures that blend real world elements and trending styles throughout the Corbett Lighting Collection.
Corbett Lighting's interior collections allow discerning consumers to showcase superb craftsmanship while showing their creative side within their homes and places of business. Ingredients such as delicate handmade Japanese paper, stylized and unique materials, hand applied finishes, glass and shades are meticulously applied to each lighting family by Corbett Lighting's in-house design and engineering team for the highest caliber of quality.
It is a privilege for Luxury Lighting Direct to be Corbett Lighting's premier authorized distributor. It is our commitment to you to make sure your interior lighting fixture shopping experience is an exceptional one. Please contact us with any questions regarding Corbett Lighting; it is our pleasure to assist you in your pre- and post-purchase experience.


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Hickenlooper: Please send money — to my friend Andrew Romanoff
Gov. John Hickenlooper has ponied up $2,400 to help retire Andrew Romanoff's congressional campaign debt, and he's asking others to join in.
"Bipartisan leaders like Andrew don't come around very often," Hickenlooper says in his e-mail appeal. "We should let him know we appreciate all that he has done, and all he is doing, to make our world a better place."
Romanoff, the former speaker of the House, sold his Wash Park home in 2010 to finance last-minute ads against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in the Democratic Senate primary. Romanoff lost and still is about $250,000 in debt.


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I hope that post gets a few more hits this week, since Women's Voices for the Earth released their new report called "Household Hazards." The report details new information about potential hazards of household cleaning products. From the report:
"In most cases, when we choose a cleaning product, we are primarily concerned with whether or not it will do the job, going on the assumption that if a product is sold in the grocery store, it must be safe for use in our homes. This report questions that assumption. Household cleaning chemicals, like tens of thousands of chemicals found in the consumer marketplace, are available to the consumer with virtually no information on the potential consequences for human health and little oversight by the government."
The report looks specifically at five common chemicals in cleaning products: monoethanolamine (MEA), ammonium quaternary compounds, glycol ethers, alkyl phenol ethoxylates and phthalates, and their associations with asthma and reproductive problems.
WVE's top recommendation is to make your own cleaning products - it's safer and cheaper, and of course Bugheart has already gotten us started with some great recipes. Check out WVE's website and the report to find out how to encourage manufacturers to get rid of their toxic ingredients, and how to urge our elected officials to pass safer chemicals policy.


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Mail Bonding: Any way you cut it, Jadeveon Clowney is a risk
Each week, Sporting News college football writer Matt Hayes will answer questions from readers in his Mail Bonding column:
Q: We get it, Hayes, you don't like (Jadeveon) Clowney. But please tell me how the NFL has him as the best prospect in the draft, and you can't find a good thing to say about him?
Curt Thomas, Greenville, S.C.
Hayes: Let me first explain the thought process of South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. First and foremost, nothing comes out of Spurrier's mouth without intent and purpose. So when Spurrier described Clowney's work ethic last week as "just OK", you better believe that's what he thinks.
MORE: Buyer beware on Clowney | Clowney runs the 40 | Future first-rounders
I don't care if he later backtracked — like he did last season after initially questioning Clowney's desire when Clowney refused to play in a game because he was injured — Spurrier never, and I mean never, says something he doesn't mean.
If you're still not convinced, watch game tape. Not just the highlights the local television station rolls every night — but every play of each game. Here's what one AFC scout told me this week: "He's an incredible talent; you can't teach the things he can do. But you have no idea what you're getting from him game to game."
Bottom line: Clowney could be Bruce Smith or Aundray Bruce. Take him at your own risk.
MORE MAIL BONDING: Ohio State | Miami-Golden | Title sleeper | ACC vs. SEC
Send questions to Matt at firstname.lastname@example.com or on Twitter @Matt_HayesSN


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December 14, 2010
Recipes | Poached Pears | Tuscan Pasta Dinner Party | Dessert
Poached Pears
2 pears, peeled
2 cups of red wine
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
In a saucepan, cook over low heat, wine, sugar, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon & cloves. Bring to a simmer. Cut the pears in half vertically, and core them, removing the seeds and stems. Cook the pears on low in the liquid for 5-10 minutes on each side. Turn them off and leave them in the liquid until you're ready to serve. To serve, heat the liquid and the pears for 5 minutes until they are warm.
1 comment:
I love desserts. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I will surely try this out.ReplyDelete
Take the Dessert Personality Test and find out your personality on the basis of your favorite dessert. I have taken the test and have enjoyed a lot. Hope you too will enjoy it. Have Fun!!
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