Astronomers use a similar red dot sighting device for "star-hopping", which is a method for finding objects too small or too dim to be seen by the naked eye. The trick is to leave both eyes open when using a red-dot finder, with your dominant eye focused through the finder. The other eye gives a much broader field of view and preserves your depth-of-field perception. In addition, your eyes do not get as tired from squinting one eye while using the device.
I have astigmatism in my left eye and I get pain when I close it and use my right eye when looking through a traditional view finder. I think the Olympus EE-1 would be great for anyone who has eye problems and needs an easier way to use a viewfinder during photography. I am so impressed with this. I never knew such a thing existed. Thanks Peter.
I found this sight useful when photographing eagles, cranes etc in Japan. Two points: 1, It needs to be calibrated for distance but one can adjust the viewing method by aiming (say) two sight diameter 'above' for distant if calibrated for close and vice versa if calibrated for distant to cope with vertical paralax. And 2, removing the sight and then replacing it can ruin the calibration however if one mounts it in a standard way, say twist firmly to the right each time can cope with a looser fitting hotshoe.
I bought one last year to help with birds in flight, did not get to use it too much but it was helpful when I did use it. I have only 400mm the longest lens so its not as useful, probably more useful at 560/600mm and more. The only downside I found for this product is the loose calibration dials and no locking ability of them, every time I don't have it on the camera I have to recalibrate it because the dial was moved when manipulating the device off-camera.
First, calibration on a tripod is indispensable for larger focal lengths because only slightly movements will result in huge differences on the aimed focal plane far away. E,g. Turning the camera only 2 mm with a 200 mm lens focusing at 10 m distance to the left or right will result to move the focus outside the primary field of sight - the horizontal length if field of view is abou 870 mm! For a distance of 30 m it is about 2,60 m! Ufortunately the calibration result seems to be dependent on the distance of the focused object. It is the more indispensable the higher the speed of the object and the smaller the object! Even for non moving objects it is fine for bringing them into the EVF where fine tuning can be done. I personally try to learn to associate the upper left edge of the hot shoe with the central point of the EVF or screen to become independent of the EE1. But it seems to be a long way...
If you leave the strap on, it allows you to better brace the camera with the dot sight. I hold the camera away from my body, with the strap tight around my neck, and twist my whole body to follow the birds. Works great.
Recently bought one. And first it looked good, but found a bit difficult to use to track flying birds. This is by simply physics, as you calibrate EE-1 with target 10m away, it may work perfect for the subject which is 10m away. But if it is far from 10m the red dot will points out lower than the subject and if closer than 10m, it will indicates higher than the subject as we mount EE-1 on the hot shoe. With bracket if we attach EE-1 in line with the camera sensor, different story. But should have problem in horizontal way. Taking everything into account, better way to get along with this device is to set focus point "9 points" or more, I believe!
I like mine. I use it with my 40-150mm lens. You don't need to use a tripod for calibration, but it helps. A nice feature is that you don't need to have you eye aligned with it for it to be accurate. I've seen some people try it for macro photography as well, but that's more tricky since it only works well at a specific distance if you set it up to be used up close. I was told to not use the flash when I had it mounted and decided to visit an indoor zoo that I walked past and decided to visit :)
If you are a dinosaur like me using an Olympus E-1 where the viewfinder is so far to the lefty of the body I am guessing this would be no use to me. I look through the viewfinder with my right eye while the left sees the whole view, much like a well know rangefinder camera. I have used this technique with Olympus 150mm and 300mm lenses successfully this way.
They are very good for setting the lens field in places where there is little to identify the position like a lot of bushy foliage with a bird sitting in the middle of it, wherever you point the lens it all looks the same and you need an overall perspective. I have one of these on my Astro telescope where they have been usual for decades and of course the sky doesn't look easy through the scope so you are totally reliant on a finder. OBTW congrats you made the cut. Over the last week I got angry and snapped, I have never heard such monumental drivel as most of the output on photography RU-vid by people who clearly haven't a clue what they are talking about. I deleted about 20 Photo streams; I am keeping your stream and look forward to your regular videos ;-)
I use another technique. I have taught myself to keep both eyes open. So one eye to the viewfinder and the other eye see the stuff around. I do this when photographing animals, sports and airshows. Works great for me, and I feel the system is more stable this way.
Peter, you make a very good point about the red dot sight allowing you to see much more of the landscape than the restrictive view through the electronic viewfinder. I'm a professional photographer, and one area I specialize in is Aviation photography, where super telephoto lenses are essential. There's two ways to capture a fast-moving aircraft (or bird): 1) [ with blurred motion background ] you track it as it moves across the sky. The red dot sight is great for this, as it helps you get the aircraft back in your sights if it escapes from the narrow view of the super telephoto. Otherwise, you'll waste time searching, and miss some great shots. (Note: IBIS should be OFF, as it can't cope with diagonal movement.) 2) [ with a frozen background and, maybe some slight motion blurring on the aircraft ] the other use is in what we call the "ambush" technique. That's where you frame your picture and wait for the aircraft to fly into the viewfinder. If you've only got the camera's inbuilt viewfinder, you won't know when the aircraft will fly into frame. So you'll be rushed to take the shot when it does. Also, the pilot might vary the aircraft's flightpath, and you won't know. But with the Olympus red dot sight, you can see the sky around where you're hoping to capture a good background -- say a dramatic mountain or building (which will also help with exposure levels vs a bright sky) -- and you can adjust your framing so you're calm and ready when the aircraft enters your chosen backdrop. (Note: here you can use Full IBIS.) With an Olympus red dot sight, this is actually the easier technique. Just ensure you have a fast Shutter speed.) On exposure. Ideally, you expose for the aircraft and not the sky (else you'll get a silhouette). So, finding a darker backdrop than that over-bright sky can really help. Dramatic clouds are the friend of the Aviation photographer, because they bring your picture alive and (in the right conditions) will decrease the contrast. Always try to position yourself up Sun, so the sunlight falls onto the aircraft and reduces the brilliance of the sky. But you don't have to capture aircraft in motion. Peter's images of the RAF Red Arrows are superb, and show how dramatic and interesting pictures can be, if you just take the time to frame the right picture. Rick (Aviation photographer in the UK)
@Peter Forsgård having just had a RU-vid suggestion that I watch your review of Olympus' red dot sight again. One thing stood out. As with so many photographers who've not had the luxury of attending a full-time 3-4 year photography degree course, followed by several years as an apprentice at a world-renowned photography studio, I must say that you're not holding your camera and lens correctly! Why on earth are you holding the lens tripod mount? I also get the impression that your main grip is with your right hand on the body of the camera. No, no, no, no! Particularly with a long lens, you must cradle the lens in your left hand. No holding by the tripod mount! The fingers of your left hand should be free to access the focus ring (for manual focus or fine focus adjustments) as well as the f-stop aperture ring. Also, the zoom ring, where appropriate. Cradling the lens in your left hand ensures maximum stability, while releasing your right hand for pressing various buttons, especially the shutter-release, without any risk of induced camera shake. This is crucial. Ask any rifle marksman. He/she will tell you that trigger-release must be smooth. If you're trying to hold the rifle with a grip of your right hand, it is physiologically impossible for your trigger finger not to be adversely affected by trying to grip something. The same is true with your camera shutter-release. Never, I repeat Never, attempt to hold your camera steady in your right hand! Once you are correctly holding your camera setup by cradling the point-of-balance in your left hand, then that hand should never leave the camera. Hence, and wrist strap also goes on your left wrist (a common amateur mistake is having it on the right side of the camera). For many people this (initially) feels counter-intuitive. But think on it. Your right hand is for scratching your nose, opening door handles, adjusting camera body settings, and in photography, it is crucial it has only one task at the moment you want to press the shutter. That is to smoothly press that shutter-release button and nothing else.
@@rickbear7249 Wrong, the correct technique is to wrap you left arm down under and around the lens and operate the controls in reverse fashion with your left hand while your elbow supports the lens, the right hand goes up over the top to adjust focus and zoom because you need that fine motor control from the right hand to get precise fine focus
That's an interesting product Peter. Rifle scopes suffer from the same problem with high magnification and trying to find the subject - field of view is too reduced. "Awkward" is the right word.
There was a Flypast of Vintage WW2 planes to celebrate 85 years for the Royal New Zealand Airforce. I chose a location not far from my home, and waited patiently for the planes to approach, I heard the roar of engines and suddenly there they were, . . . BUT . . . i COULD NOT FIND THEM WITH MY em1 mK2 AND 300MM f4 LENS AND 1.4 X #####!!!!!!!!!?? DANG IT, looks like I need that EE-1
This is excellent information... I am enjoying the new E-M1X and I have quite a list at BHPhoto these days. The EE-1 will be extremely useful for birds, aircraft (perhaps) and future endeavors into astrophotography. I'll be eager to see if I can accomplish the latter and cope with image noise to acceptable levels (I've lots of practice with that after so many years using 4/3 and older processors). Thanks, as always, for sharing your observations.
Yes Always have a problem with birds suddenly appearing in flight. Impossible to get them in the frame with my 300mm lens plus x1.4 TC as NO time!! Olympus kindly gave me a free Dot Sight EE-1 with my new EM1X so going to try it out. Assume the numbers on the off / switch increase the brightness of the Red Dot so I can still see it when pointing into the sky. I guess calibrating the Dot Sight to the lens before I go out will work ok - assuming I take care not to touch calibration wheels. Thanks for posting this useful clip.
I think you've missed an important point Peter. If you've bought it for its real purpose you are not going to "ditch" it later. I know you are not a bird photographer, but try chasing an 8cm bird quickly flitting around a tree in leaf at 20m distance, it's the only aid available I know about. With a 300mm + 2.0 multiplier I can't say the keeper rate is very high even then! Much easier for raptors and larger birds.
Hi Peter as always a great review and helpful video. I have one of these and think it a good unit. To operate hand held is tricky as you pointed out. I am considering an "L" bracket or handle attached to the lens mount to make for a more balanced and manageable handling in use. What do you think?
L-bracket is good if you make vertical images. But with the 300m f4 you do not need it. You can turn the camera by rotating it. The lens collar is great for that.
I got one of these for Christmas last year, you may have inspired me to use it with my 40-150 pro. Wonder if when Olympus will bring out a 100-400 for us normal users to use it with.
Try it with a fast cruising eagle or falcon an the EE-1 will disappear in your bag. Learning to find the bird through the evf is easy. Takes some hours of training an then you got it for ever. If its on a machine-gun in a Flying Fortress - OK, that makes sense. Maybe. ;-) Greez, Martin
Hello Peter, Thanks for your Reviews - very helpful! I'm just getting the Mkiii and 40-150 and very much looking forward to that! GLOVES. i think I see you have gloves you can use with the Camera? Which do you recommend for down to -5deg please? Cheers and thanks Ian
I will have to keep that in mind when I get more of a birding lens. I just took some city bird photos of Sparrows. I will have to post it on Instagram and mention you so you can look at them.
Your review didn't really tell me what I needed to know. 1) Can this device be used with focal lengths as short as 100-200mm? (35mm equiv.) 2) would there be a parallax error if used at really close distances -- like nearing minimal focus distance for the 14-100 f4 lens? 3) Does it hold its calibration when you open and close the sight?
Yes, but it works best with longer lenses. Yes, there is a parrarlax error if the distance is close. On the other why would one use this if the distance is short. It is meant for finding the bird with long lenses. It does.
@@ForsgardPeter I'm not quite sure of my application for this. I shoot Weddings. My thought was I might be faster at "in-the-moment" grab shots with this contraption than I would with "Tunnel Vision" peering through the EVF. By the time I swing the camera up to get the shot I see, the moment may have passed. Weddings happen quickly -- and those fleeting moments of emotion are quite brief. I hoped I may catch a few more with this device. I do recall seeing those wire-frame sighting guides on the old Speed-Graphic cameras; I was hoping this may be equivalent. Side-Note: Typically, the item of interest, may be the closest to my camera -- so I could set the focus area to quite wide -- then the camera would choose the item that is closest. Thoughts?
the general advantages are very good (i.e. finding birds with telelenses), but I have problems to keep it in the position as ist was calibratet. As I almost never use a tripod, it is also a disadvantage, that you need a tripod to calibrate. May be I could get some help here to fix it a better way???
Hello Peter. What happens if I calibrate the device - say at 12 meters - but suddenly I have a bird at 8 or 20 meters? Will it continue to focus on the bird regardless of the initial 12 meters and the flight is erratic, or will that calibration only works in the range of 12 meters? I hope you have understood my question. You may have answered the same question in another thread, but I don't have much time to go through all of them. Thank you very much from Chile.
Nice i have thought about getting something like that, hope it will be useful for you Peter, how do people become olympus visionarys? and how did you become a visionary?
I wanted the same here, made this the other day for my P1000, cost me £35.00 , works great ( would fit most cameras with a hot shoe mount I think ), ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MuSYFsZqTeg.html
As you say, the drawback is having to calibrate for each lens. I bought mine on that well known auction website to say money as I think they are overpriced.
You use it for city bird's, aha :-)) From your bla bla I can judge that you not much experience with the dotsight... Otherwise you would mention the real pro and cons of it And there are real downsides to it...
