What’s Up?
After two days of absolutely perfect cloudy photo weather at Old Car City, Sunday is seminar day with denise as the star sharing her HDR and creative filtering magic. I will be assisting and doing an image conversion and Photoshop session.
This blog post took about 2 hours to prepare and was published before 7am on the morning of Sunday, October 11, 2015.
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This image was created on the Old Car City workshop with the tripod-mounted Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens (at 110mm) with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera. ISO 400. ??? metering +.7 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6. Cloudy WB: 6000K. Dodge Charger emblem on rusted body |
Diving Into the Micro Four-Thirds Pool…
I planned on taking the Olympus 4/3rds rig out on Saturday morning for a test drive at Old Car City. When we arrived at the location I planned on using my Canon gear but when I discovered that I had the batteries for my 5D III but had left the battery holder for the vertical grip on the counter in the hotel room, I decided to jump into the 4/3rds pool, water or not.
At first, we could not figure out how to turn on autofocus. We asked lots of participants but could not get the thing to work. Then Ellen in the group volunteered to do a web search on the phone. What she found was not exactly correct but it pointed us in the right direction: push the focusing ring forward until it engages. Voila!
Even with AF working it was a struggle at first finding menu items and adjusting various settings. As far as I could figure out, the basic owner’s manual was as worthless as the Canon camera body manuals. In any case, within an hour I was on the freeway cruising at the speed limit…. Read more below.
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This image was created on the Old Car City workshop with the tripod-mounted Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens (at 62mm) with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera. ISO 400. ??? metering +.7 stop: 1/30 sec. at f/16. Cloudy WB: 6000K. Vine on hood of old white car |
The Positives
The coolest feature of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 was touch AF point selection. Working in Live View you simply touch the screen at the spot you want to focus and the camera sets the AF point. It is amazingly simple and works perfectly. Another great feature is the accurate live histogram that is much more accurate than the histograms on Canon digital camera bodies. I opted to work in A (aperture priority) mode using my flower techniques for all of the tripod-mounted shots: Live View (there is no mirror!) with 2 second delay. That gives you absolute sharpness as long as you do not bump into your tripod; I only did that a few times. 🙂
At lunch, I was pleased to learn that Photoshop CC converted the images in ACR; I did not need to update anything. Better yet, the image files are superb: clean, accurate colors with wonderful edge-to-edge sharpness.
When the battery ran out that afternoon and I went to the 1D X/100-400 II on the tripod it felt by comparison as if I were carrying an old truck on my shoulder…. The light weight of my rig was truly astounding. And despite the small size of the camera body I found the handling and ergonomics to be just fine. And though I am not sure why it was great fun. I guess in part from the satisfaction of learning something brand new. But I can see why even superb and serious photographers like Malcolm McKenzie are going the micro 4/3rds route: small size and light weight!
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This image was created on the Old Car City workshop with the tripod-mounted Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens (at 110mm) with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mirrorless Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera. ISO 400. ??? metering +.3 stop: 1/3 sec. at f/16. Cloudy WB: 6000K. Leaf on hood of old yellow truck |
The Big Negative
The single big negative was the battery. Though I did a lot of teaching and helping that morning and did not create many images, the battery was stone dead by mid-afternoon. I was using Live View at all times and that really eats batteries. I did try to remember to shut the camera off when walking around looking for subjects but I would still have to rate battery life as poor. I would imagine that if one were using the camera for a serious session of wildlife photography in a subject-rich location that they would need to carry at least two extra batteries.
4/3rds….
Though a huge fan of 3X2, I rather enjoyed working at 4X3. Denise did not.
My Olympus OM-D E-M1 Questions
What are the names of the various metering patterns on this camera?
When using the touch AF feature on the large rear LCD in the morning there was a single small AF point. For unknown reasons, that afternoon, the small AF point would switch to a much larger AF box. If you know why, please let me know.
I used HDR-1, which creates a single image from four image captures. Does anyone know if there is a way to identify the in-camera HDRs? All of my files show in Photo Mechanic as .ORF files. Additionally, does anyone know if there is an option with HDR-1 to save the four original images? (Note: HDR-3 captures and saves three images at =/- 2 stops but does not–as far as I can tell–create a composite HDR.)
Is there a way to turn Live View on and off?
What is the size of the RAW images files with this camera?
Is there a way to capture at 3X2 with this camera?
Lastly, if anyone has any tips on using this camera they are invited to share.
The M.ZUIKO 40-150 Lens/NOT!
The plan was for us–denise was helping me with, learning a ton about, and making a few images with the OM-D E-M1/M.ZUIKO 40-150 lens–to receive the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens in time for our trip to GA. Alas, that did not come to fruition. As denise likes to shoot much wider on average than me in Urbex situations, she missed the short zoom a lot more than I did. I really enjoyed the flexibility of the 40-150 focal length range with the full frame body.
The combination of the 12-40 and the 40-150 would make for an amazing and amazingly light travel kit.
I was so impressed with the Olympus stuff that I am seriously thinking of trying to arrange to add the 12-40 and extending my loan so that I could bring everything on the Southern Oceans trip…. Space permitting.
Sony note…
Thanks to the kindness of our friends at B&H it looks as if we may be getting our hands on the latest greatest Sony 4/3rds camera body and a few quality lenses for Bosque….
The Bosque Site Guide
If you can’t make or afford one of the two Bosque IPTs, be sure to get yourself a copy of our Bosque Site Guide. All BAA Site Guides are designed so that with a bit of study you can show up at a great place and know exactly where to be at what time on what wind and in what lighting conditions. And on what wind. With a Site Guide on your laptop you will feel like a 22-year veteran on your first visit. Site Guides are the next best thing to being on an IPT. If you plan on visiting Bosque it would be foolish to make the trip without having this guide in hand. Why spend money on gear and travel and then spend days stumbling around in the wrong spot? If you have visited previously, and are still unsure of where you should be at this time of day with that wind, this guide will prove invaluable to you as well. Even folks visiting Bosque for the tenth time will learn a ton as I share my secrets and hold nothing back….
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In 2015, we are offering a 3-DAY IPT before Thanksgiving and a 4-DAY IPT after the holiday. You can attend either and spend Thanksgiving Day with your family. Sign up for both and we will be glad to apply a $100 discount to your balance. We know that there are lots of less costly workshops being offered these days. Many of them are downright cheap. Please remember that you get exactly what you pay for. With us you will have two full time pros there for you every minute we are in the field. Together they have more than 28 seasons of experience at the refuge. If you want the finest in photographic instruction and want to be assured of being in the right spot at exactly the right time every day, do join us. |
Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 3-FULL DAY IPT: NOV 22-24, 2015. $1149. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet and introductory slide program after dinner on your own at 7:00pm on SAT NOV 21.
Just 2 spots left.
Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.
This workshop includes 3 morning and 3 afternoon photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/21, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.
There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.
A $449 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
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In 2015, we are offering a 3-DAY IPT before Thanksgiving and a 4-DAY IPT after the holiday. You can attend either and spend Thanksgiving Day with your family. Sign up for both and we will be glad to apply a $100 discount to your balance. We know that there are lots of less costly workshops being offered these days. Please remember that you get exactly what you pay for. If you want the finest in photographic instruction and want to be assured of being in the right spot at exactly the right time, do join us. |
Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 4-DAY IPT: (three full and two 1/2 DAYS) NOV 28-DEC 2, 2015. $1499. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet at 3pm on SAT NOV 28 followed by an afternoon photo session at the crane pools and the introductory slide program after dinner on your own.
Just 3 spots left.
Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.
This workshop includes 4 afternoon (11/28through 12/1), 4 morning (11/29 to 12/2) photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/28, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.
There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail after July 29.
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Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
Here’s an additional thought since you’re enjoying the mirrorless experience. Consider the full frame Sony Alpha a7 series. With a Metabones adapter you can use all of your Canon glass. However, it would not be a good setup for birds in flight. http://www.michaelfrye.com/landscape-photography-blog/2014/04/18/sony-a7r/
Hi Artie,
After all these years shooting with the biggest canon gear there is, it must feel very disloyal/strange to be entertaining thoughts of using another brand of gear.
While the mirror less gear is still not yet a mature system in most cases, the picture quality is fantastic across nearly all the available brands today.
Mostly what’s missing is battery life and reach as you pointed out already. Tracking is also not quite there yet but getting better all the time.
A mirror less discussion imho must include a look at Fuji.
While I have been married to canon from my earliest shooting experiences with my grandad and still shoot the 5 d3 100-400 ll etc my new and somewhat guilty pleasure is Fuji.
Why?
Size and weight.
Image quality.
Ease of use.
Quality lenses.
Focal length range.
Price.
Let me expand just a bit.
You could get an entire kit in Fuji for the price of your 2-4 lens with significant change.
Fuji glass on Fuji body, easily as good as Leica but 1/4 the price with auto focus.
1.5 crop so bigger sensor than micro 4/3.
Easy manual adjustments with dials on exterior of body. SS, Aperture and ISO all visible along with exp comp dial on top.
Everything you need and nothing you don’t. No junk features.
Easy logical menus and very similar to canon so I find it easy to shoot both bodies side by side.
No in camera HDR as 5 d3 but simple bracketing for later combining in Post. Retains all original frames.
XT1 shoots 8-9 fps ??? (I think)
The best thing I love about Fuji is this .
Firmware upgrades.
Fuji listens to their customers a lot and are responsive to them.
Rather than having to buy a new camera body to get the improved features they give a free upgrade to the earlier adopters of each model. They are gaining a very loyal customer base because of this one feature.
There is a new 100-400 coming next year, and a 1.4x TC later this year. With the crop,factor and TC that will give us 800 equivalent focal length.
The only thing I would miss if I sold all my canon gear is the blazing fast auto focus.
The battery work around is easy.
Throw two extra batteries in your pocket. Job sorted.
I think Alan mentioned that in his comments. I must admit, reading his post in the last blog left me pretty bewildered with the complexity of the oly system. If you have time to do it, look up ” a camera walks into a bar” by Zack Arias. It’s a great fun read and will definitely lighten your day.
Still having fun reading yr blog.
Thanks a stack.
David,
I’ve sold all my Canon gear and gone with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 with four batteries, although I’ve never gone through all of them in one day, but you might. Weight and size were my issues and the tradeoffs were less than optimal tracking of birds and low light capabilities. I find that I take the camera out more often and am having a lot of fun with it. I believe back button focus comes on the AEL/AFL button, but I have small hands and prefer to have it on the Fn1 button. With this setup, the back button focus is disabled if using C-AF. Focus peaking with manual focus is a wonderful feature.
Metering Patterns
With the Super Control Panel visible on the LCD, press the OK button, then use the arrow pad to navigate to the metering mode indicator. With the metering mode highlighted, press Ok again, then use the arrow pad to toggle through the options which will show a label indicating what they are. ESP stands for Electro-Selective Pattern where the camera meters exposure in 324 areas of the frame and optimizes exposure for the current scene.
AF Touch Feature
Touching and/or tapping various areas of this screen triggers different functions.You really need to watch what you touch. Read page 27 of the manual to learn about the 3 little (and I do mean little) icons on the left side of the LCD and what they control, such as the size of the box.
HDR Processed In Camera are HDR1 and HDR2 (HDR2 is more impressive – whatever that means) The others need to be processed out of the camera.
The HDR1 And HDR2 files can be identified by the letter “P” at the start of the file name. Consequently they are usually grouped at the end of a batch when downloaded. I have not found a way to see the individual unprocessed files.
Live View Button
The button on the back of the camera immediately left of the viewfinder will toggle Live View on and off.
Whatever you happen to be doing, try toggling through the Info button to see all your options.
I believe that the rest of your questions have been answered.
Hey Mate, since all of your questions have been answered; I see this after everyone else because of time zones – currently in Australia – I will simply add that I love my OMD EM-1 and the Pro 12-40 and 40-150 lenses.The EM-1 with the 12-40 is my daytime walk around camera; at night I use the 25 f/1.8. I am 200% pleased with the IQ and all of the features. I carry two batteries at all times. Cheers, Jay
Hi Artie,
Glad you are going to give the m4/3 cameras a look. They are very capable. At the moment, the most reach possible is the equivalent of 420mm (40-150+1.4x). Olympus is bringing out a 300/4, but rumour has it that they have delayed the release so they can incorporate an IS system to make them competitive with Panasonic’s new dual IS. Panasonic has announced they will release a Leica DG 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 lens with IS in 2016. That will give folks an equivalent focal length of 800mm and that will make a huge difference for bird photographers who have switched to m4/3.
Pat and I decided earlier this year to do some serious downsizing. We were capable, but getting tired of carrying big Canon rigs everywhere. And not getting any younger. We sold our Canon 600’s in favor of 500’s, bought Panasonic LX100’s as walk around cameras, and bought full sets of Olympus micro four-thirds (m4/3) gear. We still have our Canon gear but use it only for action or when it is cold enough to need gloves. We just got back from three weeks in Hawaii where we took only the LX100 and m4/3 gear. We both were very happy with that choice.
I think Artie is being a bit unfair in calling the battery life poor, at least possibly misleading to someone who has not looked closely into the issue. The Olympus battery weighs 51g, the Canon 7D/5D battery weighs 75g, and they are 1220 mAh versus 1800 mAh. So three Olympus batteries weight the same and provide the same power as two of the Canon batteries. The Olympus sensor is powered all the time when shooting and either the back LCD or EVF is using power most of the time. We each carry three batteries, Pat would almost always go through one in about 1/2 a day, I would often get almost a full day on the first battery. Pat got to her third battery once but was not at risk of using up that battery. We turn the back LCD in when walking and often turn the body off. I used manual focus a lot which might have helped me.
I don’t understand a quibble about 3×2 versus 4×3, I crop each photo to what seems best with no regard to aspect ratio.
The shutter modes are worth studying, in the E-M5 II manual on page 58 and page 95. I mostly use single with anti-shock, this uses and electronic first curtain with a customizable delay. More on this below with exposure bracketing.
Answers to Artie’s questions, keep in mind that we have E-M5 II bodies. I have used an E-M1 once but don’t recall detailed differences. Yeah the manual isn’t the best, nor is the menu system. But the camera is very capable and customizable, it is well worth the effort to read through the entire manual. Of course skipping the obvious neophyte sections.
The AF modes are (E-M5 II manual page 51):
– S-AF, single AF, I never use this one.
– C-AF, continuous AF, I never use this one.
– MF, manual focus, I only use this with the lenses that don’t have the sliding focus ring.
– S-AF+MF, single AF with manual adjust, I use this almost all the time.
– C-AF+TR, continuous AF with tracking, I use this for video of (slowly) moving subjects.
The sliding focus ring that Artie discovered is fantastic, as is manual focus in general. The camera has great focus peaking, which shows a highlight for the in-focus edges. I find it is generally faster and more accurate for me to manually focus with peaking than to move the AF sensor and use AF. Even in very dim sunset photos I could see the peaking on cloud edges.
The AF target (point) issue is explained in the E-M5 II manual on page 48. If you’re in the display showing the focus grid (e.g. if you’re moving the AF target) and you press the Info button you go into a sub-mode where you change AF features with the direction pad instead of moving the AF target. It is easy to press info by accident instead of the up or right parts of the direction pad, one of the downsides of the small size. The sub-mode shows small yellow icons in the lower left. Left/right selects various face detection modes. Up/down selects AF target modes among normal (single) target, small target, group target, and all targets (camera chooses which).
The HDR and exposure bracketing features are not as well done as the 7D II or 5D III. They are in the E-M5 II manual on page 53 (HDR) and page 90 (bracketing). I don’t use HDR 1 or 2 because I don’t control the exposure, the ISO is fixed at 200, and you can’t use a shutter speed slower than 1 second. I’m also not a big fan of in-camera HDR, a matter of personal taste. I use HDR at 3 or 5 frames that are 2 stops apart, or sometimes exposure bracketing with 3 or 5 frames that are 1 stop apart.
The HDR and exposure bracketing flexibility (sophistication) you might be used to with a 7D II or 5D III are lacking. HDR only has automated modes 1 and 2, 3/5/7 frames at 2 stops, or 3/5 frames at 3 stops. Turning on HDR forces the drive mode to high speed continuous, I don’t think there is a way to use a timer or anything else to be hands off for the HDR sequence. Exposure bracketing only lets you do 2/3/5 frames at 1/3, 2/3, or 1 stop apart, or 7 frames at 1/3 or 2/3 stops. The main advantage of exposure bracketing is that you can use single shot with anti-shock. You have to press the shutter button for each frame, but each shot has minimal camera shake.
There are a couple of settings relating to the back LCD and EVF. By default the Fn3 button on the top is set to select between automatic use of the EVF or back LCD; versus EVF only in which case the back LCD shows the control panel. This is in the E-M5 II manual on page 21. You can disable the auto selection, manual page 109. The “Backlit LCD” menu item, manual page 103, lets you set the dimming delay for the back LCD.
RAW images are 4608×3456 pixels. JPEGs can be large (full size), one of four middle sizes, or one of three sizes of small. There are four choices of JPEG compression. Manual page 116.
You can change the captured aspect ratio for JPEGs, but not RAW images. From the E-M5 II manual on page 60: “JPEG images are cropped to the selected aspect ratio; RAW images, however, are not cropped but are instead saved with information on the selected aspect ratio. When RAW images are played back, the selected aspect ratio is shown by a frame.” Interesting aside, the Panasonic LX100 will capture RAW at 16×9 with a few more horizontal pixels than the native 4×3.
Sony does not make a m4/3 (or older 4/3) camera. They make full frame and 1.5 crop mirrorless cameras. The big rage are the full frame A7s, especially the latest A7R II.
I think I’ve gone on long enough, so I’ll skip additional tips. But will be glad to write more if asked. The three Pro zooms are fantastic, f/2.8 in 7-14, 12-40, and 40-150, actual size remember the 2x crop factor. The 60mm 1:1 macro is wonderful, its profile fits within the lit area of my iPhone 6 (yes, 6 not 6 Plus). We can’t wait to get the 300 f/4. The 1.4 TC works on the 40-150 and 300.
This is poorly stated: “I don’t use HDR 1 or 2 because I don’t control the exposure”. What i meant is that HDR 1 and 2 do not let me control the exposure, the camera does everything.
Hi Artie!! – I just couldn’t read today’s blog post without telling you about how much has changed in my camera gear over the last few months. I’m glad to see you experimenting with new equipment, times are a changing! When we made our trip to Antartica a year and a half ago, I bought the OMD-EM1 for my wife, Ellen, to use. At that time the only “pro” lens available was the 12-40, which by the way is superb. We added the panasonic 75-300 which gave a field of view with the 1” sensor of a 600. She used the camera mostly in program mode as she is not really a serious photographer and made some wonderful images. I used it as a travel camera when I didn’t want to lug around all the big Nikon stuff. Fast forward to about two months ago when Sony released their new full frame A7Rii, I got pretty excited. After a trip out west with a friend of mine shooting landscapes, carrying a 35 pound pack, thankfully no 600, I started to research the new Sony system. I ended up renting the new Sony with a 16-35mm lens for a week in early September. Since then I have purchased the A7Rii with several lenses and have not been this excited about photography in a long long time! I have, in the mean time, sold almost all my Nikon gear with the exception of my D4, 600, 80-400 and teleconverters. Essentially my bird stuff. However, I recently added the Sony A6000, a 1.5 crop sensor camera that shoots 11 fps with a fairly fast autofocus. Is it as good as the D4 or 1DX, no, but it’s not bad. I’ve been experimenting with it by shooting some kids sports and I’m starting to get the hang of it. Sony is also coming out with an updated model of this camera early next year, so there may be improvements coming that make this a “pretty good” wildlife camera. And it’s tiny!!! This will be the basis of the kit we bring to Scotland next summer which gives me some time to get the settings down and some practice with the EVF. Oh, I’ve also sold off the Olympus gear as well since these cameras are so small, both Ellen and I can use them for whatever travel we may be doing. Like you, I’m not sure why, but I’m having a blast with this new camera. It’s just so easy to have with you and I find it more versatile and just plain fun.
Anyway, just wanted to share this with you, thought you might enjoy hearing my experiences with some of the new things coming out now. As i said, the times are a changing! My best to Denise, hope you guys are having a great time – talk soon. – Mark
Hi Artie, just saw in the bulletin notice you tried Micro 4/3. This format is huge in Europe and Asia compared to North America; when I used my 2 E-M5s for 2.5 years, up to last fall when I sold all my M4/3 gear, moved to Nikon, then sold all that and now use a Panasonic FZ1000 for recording our Grandchildren’s activities, I came up with what I believe could be one reason this format is not as popular here as overseas, and that may be because of the size of our countries. In Europe and parts of Asia, people are in much smaller areas compared to us, and tend to travel on foot, train and bus more than we do. When we take our kit and go out in the field, it usually means a drive in our cars, and the weight and size of our kit may not be as restricting, just a thought. We spent 3 hours at the rink watching our Granddaughter play hockey yesterday, and all I took with me was the all-in-one camera and a spare battery; no lenses, backpack or camera bag, nothing but my thermos of hot tea. I can do 4K video, or great quality HD video, slo mo, grab 8mp stills from 4K, or take stills, so it really has its advantages for an old git like me. I was doing nature/wildlife with M4/3, and finally got fed up when nobody came up with a good long lens. I tried everything that was available, but eventually it was just frustrating. Olympus announced the 300mm f4 at the same time as the 40-150mm f2.8 last year, but it still has not been released, and no sign of a decent wildlife lens in the future. Auto focus tracking is another issue, very poor, so it isn’t a very good birding setup. I shot over 100,000 images with M4/3, and finally gave up. It is outstanding if all you want is 9-150mm, and some of the primes are amazing, and relatively inexpensive, which is one of the biggest draws of this format. Also, the IBIS image stabiliser on the Olympus cameras is probably the best of any camera in the world. Imo, the only downside to this format is a lack of quality long lenses, and I think you’ll find the same with Sony.
Sorry Artie, Sony doesn’t make a 4/3 camera. There new smaller cameras are aps-c or full frame.
Thanks Mike. I did not realize that the new Sony is 3X2. Denise will love it for sure. a
Thanks for replying.
Artie, you need this book:
http://friedmanarchives.com/OlympusE-M1/
An excellent use of $20 as it has been an enormous help to me, and I think it will answer all of your questions. And, yes, I think everything you are asking is doable. I especially like the ability to set switching between Live View and the viewfinder by just putting your eye to the viewfinder. You just have to remember not to wave your hand across the viewfinder when you are viewing the LCD. I’m also using the Super Menu. The small batteries are definitely an issue. I have two, and will be buying a third. My colleague who is shooting the Fuji XT1 has the same problem, and I think he has about 7 batteries for extended days in the field.
Like you, after many years of schlepping Nikons and Canons, my back will no longer tolerate the weight of those systems. The Olympus has been a dream come true, and so far, I couldn’t be happier with it. I waffled greatly between the Olympus and the Fuji before finally purchasing the Olympus, and at this point, have had absolutely no regrets. And, BTW, because of the weight of the Olympus lens, I also purchased the Tamron 14-150mm zoom. As well as the 9-14mm Olympus, and 60mm macro. So far, so great!
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Best wishes,
Sandra
Many thanks for your excellente suggestions! a