Using custom dial modes for recipes
Because many recipes rely on white balance shifts, and because switching color profile slots on the camera is awkward, a lot of recipe enthusiasts save recipes into the custom modes instead.
How modes, profiles, and white balance relate
Each of the five custom modes on the OM-3 (C1–C5) gets its own set of four Color Profiles. The B/M/S/A/P modes all share one set of four Color Profile slots — set Color Profile 1 in M mode and it’s the same profile in S or A, but a C1–C5 mode has its own.
White balance and WB offsets follow the same pattern: shared across B/M/S/A/P, separate for each of C1–C5. White balance is tied to the mode dial position, not to a Color Profile slot, so all four Color Profiles within a mode share the same white balance.
Save Settings: Reset vs. Hold
Custom modes C1–C5 can be set to behave two ways when you power off or switch modes:
- Hold — any changes you make, such as edits to a color profile, are saved automatically when you power off or switch modes.
- Reset — changes are discarded unless you go into the custom mode menu and perform an Assign: Set.
Reset is nice when everything is configured and you don’t want to accidentally change something or forget to change it back. It’s frustrating, though, when you’re trying to enter a color profile and expect it to persist.
Keeping track of recipes across custom modes
The OM-3 lets you name the custom modes (C1–C5), which helps. Individual color profiles still can’t be named, so it can be hard to remember which profile is saved in which slot of which mode.
One approach is to keep Color Profile slots 1–4 consistent in theme across modes. A pattern that works well mirrors the default profiles:
- Profile 1 — the normal day-to-day recipe (“normal”).
- Profile 2 — a little more contrast and saturation (“a little punch”).
- Profile 3 — heavy contrast and saturation (“bold and punchy”).
- Profile 4 — reduced contrast and saturation (“light and airy”).
You can also use the Camera Settings page to record which profiles are loaded into which slots of which modes. It also filters for recipes with compatible white balance. It relies on you to keep it accurate, but it can be handy.
Low-tech options work too: write them in your camera notebook, or print a cheat sheet and tape it to the bottom of the camera or behind the screen.