Olympus’ High-Resolution Mode
Inspiration to shoot Hi-Res mode
I’m thinking about Olympus’ High-Resolution Mode as I pack for my upcoming six-week adventure to the Faroe Islands in the North Pacific. There should be bird opportunities, but most of our pictures will be landscapes. With that in mind, I thought about purchasing the Fuji GFX 100, which is a medium-format digital camera I rented a while back that produces incredible results. But I’ve hesitated due to the size and cost of the body and the equally sizable cost of the two lenses I would want to pair with it.
One of the many computational features housed in the new Olympus OM-1 camera body is the high-resolution mode. High Res allows us to capture original raw files as large as 80 megapixels from the camera’s 20-megapixel sensor. How does it do this?
OM-1 Industry Leading Image Stabilization is the Key
OLYMPUS’ class-leading image stabilization technology is the key to the high-resolution mode. OLYMPUS was the first to pioneer image stabilization on the image sensor. They realized that moving the sensor could also give the camera the ability to create a larger image.
Merging four or more images into one
By adjusting the 20-megapixel OM-1 sensor ever so slightly in all directions, then taking those separate images and merging them into one, taking the 20-megapixel sensor and turning it into the equivalent 80-megapixel sensor. There are three different sizes you can get with high-resolution mode, which include 25, 50, and 80 megapixels. To get the largest size of 80 megapixels, you need to be on a tripod and in Tripod mode.
The video I have embedded at the top of this blog post does a great job of explaining all the intricacies of high-resolution mode. It’s quite detailed and very well done.
Let’s See How This Goes
The Faroe Islands will be a great opportunity to try this technology out. Stay tuned to see how well high resolution works. I’m hoping it does a great job.
ShariOn Sep. 19th, 2023
Dan, can you suggest some common scenarios where medium rez just wouldn’t be good enough and it’s worthwhile to use high rez? Particularly for hand held shots (that’s 99 per cent of my shots). Or should you just stay in handheld high rez mode all the time?
Daniel J. CoxOn Sep. 19th, 2023
Good question Shari. I guess I’m one to go with the largest file possible if I’ve made a decision to setup and wait for an image to happen. My only reason for shooting the high res mode is for pictures I think might have value as a very large print. Even then I’m not convinced the new upsizing software isn’t just as good or better than the High Res mode. I’m still testing it all. Thanks for joining the conversation.
Rick PophamOn May. 18th, 2023
Can’t wait to see what you do with it! I’ve been so captivated by the OM-1’s subject detection with birds that I haven’t thought of using this feature yet.
Mircea BlanaruOn May. 16th, 2023
I use for a year or two the HiRes Mode with my Olympus OMD E-M5 Mark II and a Vario Elmar 14-50mm 4/3 lens via an adapter. At this camera it is compulsory a tripod. I opted for an in-camera developing JPEG image which has 40MPixels dimensions. I use also a Sigma DP3 Merrill (for 7 years right now) which has 59 MPixels interpolated images as good as high class cameras. I didn’t observe notable differences between the two devices and I am absolutely sure you will be delighted by the OM-1 results. I wish you to return at your home with tones of excellent images!!!!