Post by Owen Y on Dec 15, 2017 17:21:02 GMT 12
I've been using one of these since mid-2014 & have given it a pretty thorough workout over the past 3-4 years. I use it a lot when travelling, for general & 'street' shooting, I like something unobtrusive (relatively), fast & portable.. I used an Olympus OM-1 film camera for over 20 years & was accustomed to it's compact size & reliability - especially when toting additional lenses. Here's the comparison: I chose it because I wanted a compact camera (490gm with 14-42mm pancake lens) with a reasonably large sensor (Micro Four-thirds) & without schlepping around a DSLR sized camera. Comparison with say a Canon EOS 650D: Or perhaps a fairer comparison might be with the mirrorless, APS-C sensor sized, Canon EOS M100: But when you add a big APS-C sized lens, the reality looks a little different:
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 15, 2017 17:27:44 GMT 12
Sensor size comparison:
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 16, 2017 8:54:54 GMT 12
How small?.... E-M10 MkI with 'pancake' 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 EZ (28-84mm equivalent) & 40-150mm f4-5.6 (80-300mm equiv.) zoom lenses. The 14-42mm lens was fitted with Olympus's cute LC-37C Automatic Lenscap (not bundled standard).....
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 16, 2017 9:24:41 GMT 12
These 'kit' lenses are quite decent, more than adequate performance & lightweight.... (14-42mm, shot at 42mm, wide-open f5.6, 1/100s, ISO250.) (40-150mm, at 102mm, f5, 1/160s, ISO250.) A little soft in contrast, which can be nice for portraits.) Images straight out of camera.
|
Post by michaelw on Dec 16, 2017 11:09:29 GMT 12
they look good
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 16, 2017 19:03:39 GMT 12
Thanks mw. Unfortunately, after a trip to Rajasthan (including quite a bit of time spent in & around the Thar Desert environment) in 2014, the EZ pancake lens, with its electronically controlled zoom, failed after returning home! Olympus supplied a warranty replacement, but I nevertheless felt less confident about electronic zooms in particular. A couple more examples from the excellent Oly twin kit lenses.... (And why photogs are drawn to Rajasthan.) Using the wee 14-42 pancake (at 42mm, wide open f5.6, 1/250s, ISO640).... And the 40-150mm tele-zoom (96mm, f5, 1/200s, ISO500).... Next: I decide to blow some serious dosh on the 12-40mm, constant aperture f2.8, PRO Zoom....
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 17, 2017 15:56:44 GMT 12
Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 PRO - I thought that this PRO-series, 24-80mm equivalent, constant-aperture, weatherproof, high quality zoom lens might be a one-lens solution to all my needs. However, it was not....
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 17, 2017 19:02:34 GMT 12
This the sort of 'bokeh' that a lens like this will give you.... So, what was my problem with it?
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 17, 2017 19:22:15 GMT 12
Size..... The E-M10, with the 12-40mm PRO on board, whilst still compact compared with equivalent DSLR combos, is no longer the lightweight, near-pocketable camera, I like for carrying & unobtrusive shooting. (12-40mm PRO on an Olympus E-M1 - compared to the 14-42mm pancake 'kit' lens on the E-M10.)
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 18, 2017 7:59:46 GMT 12
So, this beautiful but costly (over $1k) lens was sold, 7 months after purchase. And the $$ enabled me to fund a 2nd Olympus E-M10 (MkII) camera body, with some change in the bank Thus the journey leads me back to..... using 'prime' lenses.
|
Post by michaelw on Dec 18, 2017 9:20:23 GMT 12
a circular journey of re-discovery
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 18, 2017 21:20:35 GMT 12
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 19, 2017 15:35:49 GMT 12
Sidebar: Micro Four Thirds, as you may know, is a format system for mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras, developed jointly by Olympus & Panasonic. As can be seen by the sensor sizes above, the frame ratio is 4:3 instead of 3:2, which although a smaller sensor than say APS-C size, allows a larger portion of the lens image to be used, ie. more efficiently. This, together with the removal of the SLR mirror, means that the camera depth can be made much shorter, camera & lenses are smaller & lighter weight. The viewfinder can be either optical (rangefinder style) or electronic without an SLR pentaprism - EVFs can also advantageously display 'live-preview' of image exposure, etc. Additionally, Olympus & Panasonic Micro 4/3 cameras use the same lens mount & you can use both Oly or Pana lenses interchangeably - wider choice & less costly lens options.
|
Pundit
Post by rocl on Dec 19, 2017 19:42:19 GMT 12
great camera the om-1. better camera than i am a photographer. i've had 2, as my 1st one was stolen. one is sitting in a drawer with 3 lenses. in fact one of the lenses was my 1st ever purchase on trademe! i also gave one to my daughter and that is in a box in the spare room with the last of her stuff. she's 33!
i explored the sony nex f3 for a while and loved what it could do. i looked at the olympus's as i have the warm fuzzies from the om-1 but price/performance/availability on tardeme) led me to the sony. lovely camera but that lens sticking way out in front!
eventually the realisation that i really just want a point and shoot for the odd occasion i take a photo led me to a sony rx100. great little camera that really does fit in the pocket.
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 19, 2017 22:38:19 GMT 12
Sony RX100 - a great camera from all reports, now in its 5th iteration I believe. Big 1" sensor (4x bigger than regular point-&-shoots), fast f1.8 Zeiss lens, compact, lightweight, beautiful design..... Nothing wrong with a so-called "point-&-shoot". I regard it as an advantage to have an unobtrusive, compact, portable - but fast-handling, capable camera. I get better shots when can get closer & interact without the intimidation of a big camera - and these days, cameras like the RX100 are a good example of v capable, but compact cameras. The Fuji X100 is another - I am seriously considering swapping my Olympus E-M10/17mm f1.8, for a Fuji X100F, in the future. Good photography, IMO, is more about "seeing" the shot, than about the equipment. The camera that got me excited about getting back into photography again, was the modest little Canon S90 point-&-shoot: (This was my S90, which was pimped with a Richard Franiec custom grip ) Small & inexpensive, but with slightly bigger than usual 1/1.7" sensor & decent low-light performance, it could give me shots in adverse light conditions, like this...... (1/60sec, f/4.5, ISO 3200 ) (1/50sec, f/2, ISO 3200)
|
Post by michaelw on Dec 22, 2017 10:00:45 GMT 12
the s90 was a true high performance compact, using the same sensor as the bigger g10 it produced similar quality photos in a much smaller package.
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 22, 2017 11:04:28 GMT 12
Indeed the Canon G-series was used by some of the world's most famous phographers (G12, in this case I think - I read that she also has a 5D MkII )
|
Post by michaelw on Dec 22, 2017 12:27:15 GMT 12
had a g12 before getting the x100. it had a true 10mp sensor, the g10 also had 10mp, interpolated to produce an "effective" 14.7mp. despite the processing i much preferred the g10 to the g12. should have kept it !
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 22, 2017 14:52:38 GMT 12
|
Post by michaelw on Dec 22, 2017 16:05:07 GMT 12
a simple take (too simple ?) on the compact mirrorless camera. it takes decent pictures but is like holding a piece of wet soap. x100f when finances permit or new smartphone with decent camera ?
|
Post by Owen Y on Dec 22, 2017 16:17:33 GMT 12
or new smartphone with decent camera ? Everyone (with a cellph) is a photographer these days
|