Short Shoot with Olympus EM-1

Recently I was asked by the marketing department where I work to do a photo shoot for promotional purposes. I was very excited to do so (and a little nervous since it’s been a while). I work for a Polytechnic, so the shoot was to revolve around student life and the images needed to be generic enough to be used for various marketing material.

The photography planets must have aligned that week, because at almost exactly the same time, my local camera shop offered me the chance to take away an Olympus OMD EM-1 with Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens for an afternoon. It’s been sitting on their shelf for about a year now, and I gaze at it longingly every time I’m in the store, so I’m fairly sure they expected me to love it so much that I would buy it and not give it back!?  And it was close – so very close….

Unfortunately I can’t post any images from the actual photo shoot itself, since it was an ‘official’ job for my employer. So really, this is just going to be my impressions from using this set-up. I only had it for a few hours, but in those few hours I used the camera exclusively and intensely for a range of portrait and lifestyle images, with just the 12-40mm f2.8.

Yes, I know, I broke the cardinal rule in photography – never use new/unfamiliar gear for the first time on a ‘real’ shoot. But while the EM-1 was a new camera for me, it is also similar enough to my OMD EM-5 Mk2 that I wasn’t fumbling around looking for buttons or dials that would slow me down. No, it’s not exactly the same – but close enough. I did have a couple of hours with the EM-1 to set it up the way I wanted and to familiarise myself with its layout – which certainly helped. And the menu system is practically identical, which also helped. So using new gear straight away on a job doesn’t really phase me as much as it probably should :-)

What were my impressions of the EM-1? In a word – fantastic! I can certainly see why it’s the top of Olympus’ micro four thirds OMD line. Ergonomically I found it vastly superior to my EM-5 Mk2 – meaning that it fit my hand and balanced with the 12-40mm more comfortably, which is probably not surprising. In fact, going back to the EM-5 Mk2 after using the EM-1 was a bit disappointing, which was something I wasn’t really prepared for. In all honesty, the EM-5 Mk2 felt like a toy after using the EM-1 for the afternoon. It made me realise that the EM-5 could really use the grip attachment for better handling, even though I’ve resisted the temptation (and expense) so far.

In all other respects the EM-1 shoots similarly to the EM-5 Mk2 (and original EM-5 I’m sure). It’s quick to focus, has the same gorgeous EVF, same hi-res lcd screen (although it’s not fully articulated – something that I do prefer on the EM-5 Mk2), and produces the same 16MP files. In short, it was a joy to use and I’d have one in an instant – if I could afford one.

Alas, I had to hand the camera and lens back at the end of the day. And despite their best efforts, I didn’t put any money down on it. If I won lotto things would certainly be different. But until then, the OMD EM-5 Mk2 will (more than) suffice. I could possibly sell my EM-5 Mk2 and get enough for a second-hand EM-1 body. But there are pros and cons for both cameras. I really do prefer a fully articulated lcd screen – if for nothing else than to be able to reverse the screen into the body so as not to use the screen most of the time. That’s not possible with the EM-1, although the rumours are that the upcoming EM-1 Mk2 will have the fully articulated screen. So maybe I will hold off for the Mk2 version?

Finally, a quick word (or two) on the Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 Pro lens. It’s a superbly made lens, and the images that come from it are crisp and gorgeous – even at f2.8. Is it too heavy for a micro four thirds lens? Not really on the EM-1 – but possibly on the other OMD bodies? Especially naked (and by that I mean sans battery grips). The copy I used had a fairly stiff zoom ring – not as smooth as I would have liked, although I assume this would loosen up over time? And while the constant f2.8 aperture is nice to have, in the micro four thirds system this gives an equivalent depth of field as an f5.6 lens on a full frame SLR. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have a constant f2.8 aperture than not – but when you effectively double it for the purposes of producing bokeh, then the f2.8 starts to be less impressive. That’s when the 45mm f1.8 comes into its own. All that being said, there’s no doubt the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro is an exceptional walk-around lens on the EM-1 body.

My new Computer is a PC!

The title of this post might not seem very controversial, but for someone like me who has been a die-in-the-wool Mac user for the last 20 years, it’s something akin to sacrilege!

I’ve wanted to upgrade my existing iMac for a few years now. It was a very old Intel iMac 20” – one of the original white models, that was struggling to run my Adobe products with its maxed out 4Gb of RAM and 2Ghz processor. I couldn’t upgrade it to the latest OS, and had to make a cup of coffee waiting for the machine to start up. So yeah, it was time for a change. Get a new Mac then, right?

Generally, the answer would have been yes – without hesitation. But a couple of things had happened in the last year that gave me serious pause. First, for over a year now I have been using a PC at my graphic design day-job. And really enjoying it. It didn’t take me long at all to get used the Windows operating environment, and the machine is super quick and incredibly stable. More stable, in fact, than the new iMac I was using in my previous job. 

Second, and perhaps more telling, was Apple’s decisions around some of their software and hardware that I’m not particularly happy with. I’m not going to lie – Apple’s decision to stop supporting Aperture upset me – a lot. I still don’t really understand their reasoning and am quite angry about it. Which may seem very petty, and maybe it is. But it has also come on the back of what I see as a major lack of interest shown by Apple to their desktop computer users. It seems to me (and others), that Apple are far more concerned with selling the next iteration of the iPhone and iPad than they are with the iMac – and from Apple’s perspective, probably with good reason. They don’t sell 6 million iMac’s in the first week of a new release, but are practically guaranteed these sales figures when the next iPhone is released. So fair enough – for Apple it makes perfect business sense.

But I’m still of an age where I want to work from a home desktop computer for most of my design and photography work. I need to see that there is a future in my chosen system, and I just don’t get that anymore from Apple.

I decided, therefore, to take a very serious look at Windows PC desktops. And the more I looked into it, the more excited I got about actually being able to build my own system – from scratch, with individual components I could hand-pick myself depending on my budget. The complete antithesis of Apple’s pre-configured iMac.

As a photographer and graphic designer, I’m not intimidated by technology, or a hands-on, do-it-yourself type of approach. In fact, I prefer it. So in the end, the decision was actually quite easy, and I literally gave my iMac away while I began my search for the computer parts I would need for a custom build.

All the components laid out on the table before the big build.

Budget is always the biggest constraint in any technology purchase. There is the system I would like to have, and then there’s the system I can afford. After a lot of reading, internet searching and online watching, I decided to go with an AMD system that represented best-bang-for-the-buck. I purchased the AMD A8 7600 3.8Ghz Kaveri APU with a Gigabyte FM2+ motherboard supporting 4k displays, 8 Sata3 6Gb connections, USB 3.1 and 16GB’s of RAM, with a 240GB SSD drive for the operating system (Windows 10) and a Western Digital Black 1TB HDD for extra storage. I also installed a DVD optical drive, internal card reader, and went with a 20” Asus LCD monitor. All for about $850NZ. And the fun part – my son and I got to build it ourselves!

Because it was our first ever PC build, we took it slowly – checking everything three or four times to make sure we got it right. So the build took us about three hours. But it was three hours well spent, and when we fired it up and installed the OS, everything worked perfectly.

The inside of the case all complete and cable-managed.

The allure of Apple is not as strong for me as it used to be. I was a die-hard iPhone user, now I have a Samsung Android phone. I was a card-carrying iMac disciple, now I’ve build my own PC. And I don’t even own an iPad (although my wife does). My 16 year old daughter has just started her first ever part time job, working at McDonalds, and she’s saving up for – guess what – an Apple iPhone. Probably the new i7. 

Me? Well, I think she’s crazy (but all her friends have them – so there you go). The next phone I get will almost certainly be running Android– or maybe even Windows? Guess that makes me an ex-Apple fan boy? Truth be told, I can’t ever see myself going back! Alas, poor Apple, I knew it well…..

Musings on the new Olympus Pen-F

Advertising for the new Olympus Pen F

The new Olympus Pen-F starts shipping this month (here in New Zealand) and, not surprisingly, it's creating a lot of internet buzz. Breaking away from the more consumer oriented Pen series cameras, Olympus have created the Pen-F to appeal to the more 'enthusiast' end of the camera market. Yeah - you and me :-)

As someone who loves the early Olympus Pen film cameras (aesthetically speaking at least), this new 'digital' Pen is indeed very enticing. I'll admit that if a large bucket of cash landed in my lap this month, the first thing I'd do (after paying off the mortgage and all that other boring stuff), is go out and get the Pen-F. In a heartbeat. Why?

Well, for a start, the internet buzz and early reviews of this camera coming in from the USA has been overwhelmingly positive. It's a superbly made, fantastic looking (let's not deny it) Olympus Pen with a built-in OLED electronic viewfinder (finally for a Pen camera), 20 megapixel sensor with the amazing 5 axis image stabilisation that we've come to know and love.

Top View of the new Pen-F

As you can see from the top-down view, the new Pen also places many of the cameras more important functions (like exposure correction) on the outside of the camera for quick access. All advertising for the camera so far has centred around street shooting, and the Pen-F certainly gives off a strong street-shooters vibe (a-la Fuji's cameras).

I'm not a street shooter though, so why else would I be interested in the Pen-F? Well, for a start, I am looking for a back-up camera for my EM-5 MkII, and so a small, light, and fully featured camera like the Pen-F would be just the ticket as a second body. I'm writing this blog post while off work for a week with a torn disc in my back. While not camera related, this nevertheless makes me ever more aware of my ageing body (I'm approaching 50!) and desire to cut down on the gear that I carry. Just a year ago I was a firm believer in the 'bigger is better' (heavier is better) approach to photography. But that was before the EM-5 MkII changed all that. Now I'm even loathed to put an external grip on my cameras, whereas when I was a DSLR shooter it was the first accessory I purchased.

So a small, light (relatively) and fully-featured compact Pen body like the Pen-F would be just the ticket as a back-up/second body combination with the EM-5 MkII. In reality, I'll probably end up getting a second hand Panasonic G 'something' or earlier consumer line Pen, since the bucket full of cash probably won't eventuate :-(

Olympus Pen-F in all black

Why bang-on about the Pen-F at all then, since I'm not likely to get one? Well, one feature excites me above all others on the new Pen-F, that I'm hoping I will get to have eventually on the EM-5 MkII. And that's the new colour modes, controlled on the Pen-F by that funky dial on the front of the camera.

With this new dial on the Pen-F, you can get to some very cool new monochrome and colour presets. There are three in each, with a 'normal, Tri-X style and infrared mode' in the monochrome set (each with varying levels of grain selectable) - while the colour sets give a 'chrome' look to jpegs (again similar to the Fuji film simulations that people love). This is VERY cool, and very exciting. And I hope that it's just a firmware tweak so that these settings will eventually be available as an upgrade for the EM-5 MkII? Please Olympus.....

Olympus look to have another stellar product in the Pen-F. A recent interview with Japanese executives from the camera division seemed to indicate that the Pen-F is a 'test' camera for them. A toe-in-the-water for a higher class of enthusiast-level Pen cameras. If it sells well (and I think that it will, despite it's initial high asking price), then we may well see more of this style of fully-featured Pen down the track. I certainly hope so.

Olympus OMD EM5 MkII Abstract Landscapes

A photographer friend of mine (Hi Stew) and I went out shooting last evening to grab a sunset along the Coast Road.

Unfortunately, it didn't really eventuate - even though the night before (and the one after) were fantastic! Murphey's Law in practise once again :-(

17 Mile Beach Sunset. Olympus OMD EM5 MkII with Zuiko 12-50mm f3.5/6.3. F4.5 @ 80th sec. ISO 500

It never got better than the image above, with fairly flat lighting, but still some elements of colour. Whenever I'm presented with these conditions I think of two things; black & white and ICM (Intentional Camera Movement).

Olympus OMD EM5 MkII with 9mm Fisheye bodycap lens. F8 125th sec at ISO 1600

So I tried the black and white first, although there isn't a lot of contrast in the scene to really make black and white work. It's OK, but not great.

The light, what there was of it, was fading fast - perfect conditions for the long shutter speeds required for ICM photographs. But if you want to 'intentionally' blur your images with an Olympus mirrorless, then you need to turn the Image Stabilisation OFF first - it really is that good.

Olympus OMD EM5 MkII with 12-50mm EZ lens. F16 @  0.8secs, ISO 200

I aslo turned Auto ISO to OFF, setting the camera at its lowest ISO of 200 (for longer exposures). I then began to move the camera around as I exposed - effectivley 'painting with light' with the camera as the paintbrush. There are an infinite number of ways of moving the camera, so the results are practicaly limitless - and a whole lot of fun.

Olympus OMD EM5 MkII with 12-50mm EZ lens. F16 @ 2.5secs, ISO 200

With some colour still in the sky, the exposures weren't too long - only about 2 to 3 seconds. This is long enough to get some movement, but short enough to still retain a lot of the detail in the image. The result is a mysterious lansdcape that is obviously blurred, but still very readable as a landscape picture.

Olympus OMD Em5 MkII with 12-500mm EZ lens. F11 @ 3.5secs, ISO 200

The longer the exposure, the less landscapy the images are - and the more abstract they become. I'm a huge art  lover, and one of my favourite artists is Turner. His abstract expressionist paintings have always inspired me, and I strive for that look and feel in my ICM images.

Olympus OMD EM5 MkII with 12-50mm EZ. F16 @ 5secs. ISO 200.

ICM is a lot of fun and can really create some strikingly beautiful images. Granted, they may be more like paintings than traditional photographs - but therein lies the joy of experimentation.

Olympus OM-D EM-5 MkII with Zuiko 12-50mm EZ. F11 @ 8secs, ISO 200

Next time you're faced with a landscape that isn't quite doing it for you in terms of light and drama, think about slowing down your camera and trying some ICM (Intentional Camera Movement). It can be very counter-intuative at first - especially if you're used to shooting landscapes on a tripod. But once you start seeing the results on the lcd screen, and realise how liberating it can be to intentionally shoot for blur, then I think you'll be hooked on the technique. Enjoy!