Setting IBIS For Legacy Lenses On Olympus E-PM2

Digital Moments: Setting up IBIS (in-body image stabilization) for legacy and vintage manual focus lenses on the Olympus PEN E-PM2.

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I am with the Olympus E-PM2 and SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8 combo here, doing evaluative shoots in the half-frame format (3:4 image aspect ratio) for my posts on the Net. The SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8, produced by Pentax from 1976 to 1984 as part of the lens series for Pentax M 35mm SLR film cameras is a true pancake with 5 elements in 4 groups and only 18mm deep.

The lens is of good repute and came with good credentials - Sharpness @ 8.1, Aberrations @ 8.3, Bokeh @ 7.4, Handling @ 7.8, and Value @ 7.8 on PentaxForums. On the E-PM2, the lens is equivalent to an 80mm short tele on a full-frame camera, a good candidate for photography genres including portraiture, street photography, product and still life, landscape and nature, and event shoots.

Digital cameras with an IBIS (In-Body-Image-Stabilizer) system, like the E-PM2, do not take too easily to the lens, and other legacies as the lens does not have electrical contacts to communicate with the camera. Without this connectivity, the camera will not register the lens focal length and the IBIS system will be ineffective.

For the system to work with legacy lenses, the lens focal length must be registered with the camera's registry index, and done manually for each lens. On the Olympus E-PM2, which has an archaic menu system, the register is nestled rather intricately a few layers down the menu interface.

To get the lens focal length to be registered on the E-PM2's registry index, do the following:

• Turn the camera 'On', press the 'Menu' button, access the 'Setup' menu, and press 'OK', 
• On the next screen, use the Down Arrow on the Joystick Pad to navigate down to the 'Shooting Menu 2' menu item,
• From the 'Shooting Menu 2' screen, use the Right and Down Arrows on the Joystick Pad to navigate to the 'Image Stabilizer' menu item,
• From the 'Image Stabilizer' screen, use the Right Arrow on the Joystick Pad to navigate to the next screen, and use the Right Arrow on the Joystick Pad to select 'Still Picture' and you will access the 'Still-I.S.' screen,
• From the 'Still-I.S.' screen, use the Right Arrow on the Joystick Pad again to access the 'Image Stabilizer - Focal Length' screen,
• Use the Up/ Down Arrow on the Joystick Pad to select the focal length (from 8 to 1000mm) you want to set the IBIS to, and press 'OK' to set the selection.
• Half-press the shutter button to return the camera back to image capture mode.

Hope it works just as well for you!

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