ROBIN WONG

The tiny flash FL-LM3 that comes with most Olympus OM-D cameras is underrated and deserves a bit more attention. This little clip on flash proves just how innovative Olympus can be as a camera maker. The attention to detail is impressive and it shows just how much Olympus cares in giving the best they can for their consumers. Unfortunately not many people have written or discussed about the Olympus FL-LM3 flash so I thought it is time I dedicate a blog article and a short video (click here) to showcase just how awesome this tiny dude is. 

Olympus FL-LM3 was first introduced during the launch of Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera back in 2014. Ever since, the FL-LM3 flash has been included with most top tier Olympus cameras, such as E-M1 Mark II, PEN-F, E-M1X and E-M5 Mark III. However, for some bizarre reasons (please don't ask me), Olympus decided not to include this super handy little flash with their latest flagship the E-M1 Mark III. 

Here's a list of reasons why I think the Olympus FL-LM3 flash is genius:

1) BOUNCED-FLASH WITH TILT/SWIVEL HEAD

Typically the default built in pop up flash that comes with a DSLR, or any flash attachment that comes with mirrorless cameras are almost an after-thought with poor implementation and almost useless function. These flashes are usually fixed in position and fire directly on camera, straight in front of subject resulting in harsh, ugly and unpleasing looking outcome with burned highlights and deep shadows in all the wrong places. Usually, to dramatically improve flash photography, all you have to do is upgrade to an external flash that allows you bounce capability - swivel the head around to fire the flash at a larger surface, bouncing the light off onto the subject. This will produce a more even, flattering light, especially on human portraits. 

Olympus takes the best bit of an external flash - tilt/swivel head to allow bounced flash photography and make that available in their tiny FL-LM3 which comes with most of their OM-D cameras. Straight out of the box, without spending more money, you can have the benefits and capabilities of a bounced flash!

Typical direct flash photography - harsh/undesirable result

Tilted the flash head to bounce off side white ceiling, the result improved significantly. 

2) POWERFUL

For a tiny build and small footprint, this FL-PL3 packs quite a big punch. It is perhaps not the strongest "built in flash" out there, but the rated power of GN9 at ISO100 is nothing to scoff at. Certainly if used correctly it is powerful enough to light up the entire medium sized room. Olympus also managed to increase the power output from their previous FL-LM1/FL-LM2 models, which were rated GN7 at ISO100. Of course the tiny FL-LM3 was not supposed to be used for vigorous flash photography, if flash is an integral part of your shooting workflow you should definitely consider getting a dedicated external flash, which provides much more power, flexibility, control and creative freedom. 

3) NO BATTERY NEEDED

The cool thing about this tiny attachment flash, though it is somewhat an external flash, it draws power directly from the camera's hotshoe mount connection, and requires no additional battery to operate. I have seen cases where my friends brought their awesome external flash and as they power the flash on, the batteries were blinking low, or worse, they forgot to even bring their batteries for the flash. Less things to worry about, the FL-LM3 works fine just being mounted at the top of the camera. This can be a practical, life-saving back-up solution in incidents where the batteries for your external flash runs out, or fails. 

4) FULL MANUAL CONTROL

I don't understand why some camera manufacturers (not going to name brands here, else people attack me mercilessly) decided to exclude full manual control function for their built in flash, or the attachment flash that comes with their cameras. I think the ability to control exactly how much flash output I want to fire is extremely crucial, even for beginners or newcomers to flash shooting. The last thing we need is an overblown image due to wrong/inaccurate metering which can happen, and just by having the option to override the camera's decision can make or break the shot. Thankfully for all Olympus cameras, even the lowest level PEN Lite series allows you to take full control of flash shooting. 

5) WIRELESS FLASH TRIGGER COMMANDER

Yes, that tiny flash can serve as a commander to trigger other Olympus external flash units wirelessly off camera. I use this primarily for product photography as well as insect macro shooting. The ability to have the light off camera, control the direction of the light and how it falls onto the subject can significantly change the way your photographs look. This little dude is the commander that triggers the other flashes optically. I have shared my step by step guide on how to do wireless flash shooting with Olympus system before, so if you want to find out more, do check out my insect macro photography article here (click). 

6) WEATHER-SEALED
The FL-LM3 flash is fully weather-sealed against dust and splash to match the reliability of flagship Olympus OM-D cameras. If you have watched the video I have also poured water directly onto the flash. This sets the Olympus flash apart from other manufacturers who have weather-sealed bodies - you are required to tuck in the pop-up flash for full weather-sealing. Olympus allows you full use of the flash even in harsh shooting environments. 

Do bear in mind that the Olympus FL-LM3 is NOT compatible with all Olympus cameras. Generally cameras that are newer than E-M5 Mark II is compatible with the FL-LM3 flash. Here is a full list of cameras (at the time of writing) that are compatible with the FL-LM3 flash. 

E-M5 Mark II

PEN-F

E-M1 Mark II

E-M10 Mark II

E-M10 Mark III

E-M1 Mark II

E-M1X

E-M5 Mark III

E-M1 Mark III (though not included in the box)

Do you use the FL-LM3 flash in your own photography? Share your thoughts and experience!

Finally, after many attempts, I have a lightning photograph that I am somewhat satisfied with. Not perfectly happy yet, but good enough to share here. I did a blog article and an accompanying video (go see if you have not) sharing how to capture lightning with Olympus Live Composite mode just before this post, and I kinda wish I have this particular photograph as the final example of what can be accomplished. The image examples in that previous post was good enough to demonstrate how Live Composite works but definitely not something I was proud of. This time, the lightning striked much closer to where I was shooting from and the streaks captured were more dramatic. I finally got some vertical bolts!

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III and M.Zuiko 25mm F1.8

Live Composite used, F6.3, ISO200, shutter speed 2 seconds, shooting duration about 5 minutes in total. Camera on tripod of course. 

Don't ask me why the sky was purple. My science teacher would have answered it has something to do with ion particles in the air when the lightning happens that generates certain colors. I don't have the exact science explanation behind this, and I certainly do not have that much time to Wikipedia/Google it up. 

As I have mentioned in my previous article, shooting lightning also largely depends on luck. Now that I am still under lockdown in Malaysia and cannot move around freely to reposition myself, the view from my balcony will have to suffice. 

One fine evening I got distracted by the lightning flashing in the sky repeatedly outside my window view from my workstation, and I decided to pay closer attention. I have tried shooting lightning before, not actively chasing lightning, but when there was a storm I would see if I can position myself to get a decent lightning strike, but to no avail as the lightning was always not within the framing possibility. This time, it was within reach and I decided to set up my Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III on the tripod at my balcony (overlooking the same direction where the lightning was actively flashing in the sky) and I managed to capture a few decent shots. I thought, why not make an article on how to capture lightning using Olympus cameras?

The main problem with shooting lightning is the unpredictability of where and when the lightning is going to strike. There are a few solutions to this problem, the most practical one using a lightning detector/trigger system, a device that detects the change of ion charge in the air just before the lightning is about to strike and it trips the shutter release just in time to capture the shot. I don't intend to become a full time lightning chaser and whenever there is a thunderstorm I honestly prefer to just hide inside my house and maybe curl up into a ball on my bed, not living life dangerously going outside and be crazy. So this method is a no no for me, as I would probably use it once or twice and forget about ever having purchased a specialist equipment. 

The second solution is to leave the shutter open for a long duration of time to capture any lightning that will strike within the long exposure. This is quite effective, but depending on the lightning condition, if the sky was not completely dark and you leave the shutter open for too long, this will lead to overexposure, ruining the shot. The third solution which I did not discuss in the video was to use time lapse setting, having the camera to continuously capture a sequence of images non-stop and when the lightning strikes the camera will surely have successfully grabbed the shot. I believe many serious lightning chasers are using time lapse method and the cool thing about using time lapse is that you can then merge the many shots into an interesting time lapse movie that can be really dramatic. 

How did I capture lightning with Olympus camera? I used Live Composite setting of course, and it is closely related to the second solution - leaving the shutter open for a very long duration of time - instead of worrying about the risk of getting an overblown image, the Live Composite does it's trick to maintain balanced exposure, no matter how long the duration of shoot is.

I have blogged about what Olympus Live Composite is, how it functions, and the steps required to activate and shoot with Live Composite. In that article (click here), I was sharing about how to shoot Star Trail, but the explanations and how to step by step guide are every bit similar and applicable for shooting lightning, so I will just refer you to that article if you want to find out more about Live Composite. 

Olympus Live Composite is technically an advanced bulb mode. Instead of a single 15 minutes exposure image, which will most likely gather too much light even in the evening, the Live Composite allows the image to be taken at much shorter exposure duration - say 30 seconds each image. The camera will seamlessly and continuously capture image after image consecutively for 15 minutes, in total shooting about 30 shots of 30 seconds exposure each image (30 shots x 30 seconds = 15 minutes duration). The camera employs additive brightness blending in the composite mode, when merging the images together, the camera will compare the base image (first) against subsequent images, and any part of the other images that has brighter region than the base will be added into the first image. This works very well if you are shooting fireworks, light trails on the highway, star trail in the sky or in this blog, lightning in the sky. The brighter part of the sky due to lightning strike will be blended additively onto the 30 seconds image, successfully preventing the overall image to be overexposed. 

The cool part about Live Composite? The compositing of the images, and the effect of the light additive blending happens live and can be previewed in real time from the LCD camera screen, while the Live Composite process is still running. When the lightning strikes and that lightning bolt was captured and merged into the composite image, you can literally see this happen while the camera is still shooting. So far, this neat feature is only available in Olympus cameras, and some newer Panasonic bodies, but I am unsure if the Panasonic variants have the same full functionality as Olympus Live Composite. 

If you use Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X, there is a B mode (Bulb) on the mode dial, turn to B and find the Live Composite mode (there are only 3 modes, Bulb, Live Time and Live Composite). 

If you use Olympus E-PL9 or E-M10 Mark III, turn the mode dial to AP mode (Advanced Photo) and find the Live Composite setting by navigating through the menu. 

If you are using any older Olympus camera bodies, such as E-M1 Mark II, E-M10 Mark II, E-M5 Mark II, PEN-F, E-PL8, then you need to go to the M mode on the mode dial (Manual), then adjust the shutter speed (typically rear command dial), slow it down until it reaches 60 seconds, then keep going you will find, Bulb, Live Time and finally Live Composite. 

As the compositing process is happening, images being merged, you can see the results and effects live, during the shooting process, as previewed on the LCD screen.  

I know this particular shot is not really that special, but I managed to capture quite a few motion elements all at once. The lighting, air plane flying by, traffic on the highway (bottom left) and also a short burst of fireworks!

Here is my shooting process in short:

1. Mount Camera on tripod

2. Activate Live Composite mode

3. ISO200, F-number almost widest, Shutter Speed 1 second (adjust accordingly to your situation)

4. 3 presses of shutter button - first to capture a base shot, second to start the live composite process, and third to end the shooting

5. Repeat until the desired effect is achieved. Luck is important. 

I know that my lightning shots from this session were not really that great, nothing to shout about, and honestly there are many better shots out there, but hey, I am doing this to share as much as I can about using Olympus cameras in different shooting scenarios. Shooting lighting can be fun, and I genuinely believe Olympus Live Composite is such a wonderful feature that can push the boundaries of creative photography processes. 

If you have not used Olympus Live Composite, you have no idea what you are missing out. Go find some beautiful stars to shoot star trail, or go up high on a bridge to capture light trails on the highway, shoot beautiful fireworks shots, or if there is a thunderstorm, capture the lightning!