Olympus E-3 Digital User Manual
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D I G I T A L T E C H N I C A L S U P P O R T
O L Y M P U S I M A G I N G A M E R I C A I N C .
( 8 8 8 ) 5 5 3 - 4 4 4 8
h t t p : / / s u p p o r t . o l y m p u s a m e r i c a . c o m
©2008 Olympus Imaging America Inc.
Page 23 of 26
Last updated on February 28, 2008
Sometimes when I’m shooting in dim light I have difficulty getting
the camera to focus. What can I do?
Digital cameras autofocus by detecting differences in the contrast between light and
dark areas of the image projected onto autofocus the sensor. If the light is dim or the
image has somewhat flat contrast, the camera may have difficulty focusing. The E-3
has an AF Illuminator feature that uses the flash to illuminate the subject just before the
exposure is made, thereby assuring autofocus.
To enable the AF Illuminator:
1. Open the camera menu by pressing the [
MENU
] button.
2. Using the Down Arrow key, go to the
Y
(Custom 1) menu.
3. Toggle right to enter the
Y
menu, and then toggle down to AF ILLUMINAT.
4. Toggle right and select ON.
5. Press the [
i
] button to apply the setting.
6. Press the [
MENU
] button to exit the menu.
When I’m shooting close-up subjects, I can hear the lens trying to
focus and see it trying to focus through the viewfinder, but it does
not secure focus. What can I do?
If the lens seems to be unsuccessfully searching for a focus point, you may be too close
to the subject matter for that particular lens. Lenses have a minimum focusing distance,
and zoom lenses have different minimum focusing distances at different zoom settings.
If you back away from the subject, the lens will focus at some point.
If you intend to do macro or close-up photography, you may want to invest in a macro
lens or the EX-25 Extension Tube.
The E-System has two macro lenses:
• The Zuiko
®
Digital 35 mm f3.5 Macro has a 35 mm format equivalent focal length
of 70 mm and focuses from 5.75” (146 mm) to infinity.
• The Zuiko Digital ED 50 mm f2.0 Macro has a 35 mm format equivalent focal
length of 100 mm and focuses from 9.45” (240 mm) to infinity.
The EX-25 Extension Tube mounts between the lens and the camera body and reduces
the minimum focusing distance of E-System lenses by moving the lens 25 mm away
from the camera sensor. Lenses mounted with the EX-25 are not able to focus to
infinity. It is necessary to manually focus lenses mounted with the EX-25 for more
accurate focus. A table of the adjusted focusing distances of E-System lenses when
mounted on the EX-25 can be found
here
.
After inserting an 8GB Hitachi Microdrive™ memory card into the card
slot, the card access lamp blinks and I am unable to shoot. Why is this
happening?
When using an 8GB Hitachi Microdrive cards in the E-3, the card access lamp may blink
for up to two to three minutes the first time the card is inserted into the card slot. When
the card access lamp stops blinking, the camera is ready to shoot.