Losing my landscape mojo

A few posts ago I talked about my general lack of interest in taking photos over the past couple of years, and how this might be turning around with macro photography. Hoping that this macro passion might re-kindle my excitement in general, I decided to head out last evening to photograph the sunset at my local beach. In years gone by, an outing such as this would have got me very enthused and eager to be out with camera in hand. Every sunrise and sunset was a photo opportunity, and I could get rather grumpy if I missed capturing a beautiful sunset.

Wind-sprayed waves, Cobden beach. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 400

The signs for a colourful sunset looked promising, although the wind was very strong on the exposed beach. Not great for setting up a tripod and trying to keep a camera still - but excellent for capturing some fairly impressive wave spray!

I put the 45-150mm Panasonic on my E-M1 and racked it all the way out to 150mm to get as close to the spray as I could. The setting sun was back-lighting the waves perfectly and supplying enough light that I could hand-hold the camera in the wind and still get sharp images. The image stabilisation in the E-M1 (and Olympus cameras in general) is the best in the world, and is truly impressive. But image stabilisation won't correct subject movement, so a decently fast shutter speed was also required.

Washed up. Olympus E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm f2.8. f/5.6 @ 1/60th, ISO 200. + Polariser

I had headed down to my local beach for two reasons. One - it was close and I didn't have to travel far. And two - I knew the tide was going out and an old shipwreck that I'm fond of photographing would be revealed on the beach.

The wreck itself has broken into two sections. The image above is of the section that is higher up the beach and away from the water at low tide. I liked the deep red rust colour complementing the blue of the sky and the neutral grey of the beach pebbles, especially when using a polariser on the lens to intensify the blue of the sky. I'm attracted to old rusty machinery in the natural environment as a subject anyway (who isn't), so it was an obvious choice for a quick snap.

Cobden Beach Gold. E-M1 with 45-150mm. f/7.1 @ 1/160th, ISO 400

Then the sunset kicked-off. And boy, did it kick-off! The image above is NOT processed with extra colour vibrancy or saturation increase. That's really what it was like. Just the deepest, richest, golden-orange I've seen in the sky for quite a while. It was beautiful to witness, and yes, exciting to capture. I'm glad I was out, and glad that I got it on an SD card. Been there, done that...

Shipwreck at Sunset, Cobden beach. E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/5.6 @ 1/60th, ISO 200

What I was really there to photograph - the shipwreck exposed in the water - was a tougher challenge than I had expected it to be. The 'low' tide didn't really go out far enough to get some long-exposure sea interaction happening, and this meant I couldn't really get close enough for the compositions I was after.

I took dozens of images, varying my angle to try and get what I wanted. The above image is the best I could do. It's OK, but really doesn't 'do' it for me.

And really, that's the feeling that I get from all the images I took that evening. When I got home to process them, I looked at them all in Lightroom and thought 'meh'. I practically had to force myself to process any of them. And the sunset was stunning! 

Am I losing my photography mojo? Finally. After all these years?

I turned my computer off in disgust, and went and had a shower. Hands up who does some of their most productive thinking in the shower? (Yes, I see those hands...). I think I've come to the conclusion that I haven't lost my passion for photography (I'm very keen to get underway with some macro fungi images), but that, after 20+ years living in the same place, I've finally lost interest in my local landscape locations.

I've probably photographed down at my local beach, local lake, local waterfall, local rocks, local (you get the idea) literally hundreds of times - and I'm just not that interested anymore. Even in great light.

I think that when I returned from my amazing photography holiday two years ago, where everything was new and exciting, and found myself back among the all-too familiar, I just lost interest. Familiarity really does sometimes breed contempt.

Which sounds terrible. And it partly is terrible. I'm so lucky, as a photographer, to live in such a beautiful, and accessible, part of the world. I should be grateful. And I am. Honest. But I am also (if I'm still being honest) a bit bored with my local landscapes. As landscapes.

Does that mean I'll stop taking local landscape photos? For a while probably - yeah. In fact, I've already practically stopped as it is. Does that mean I'll never take another local landscape image? No - course not. It just may be a while....

Panasonic Lumix G 45-150mm f/4-5.6 lens review

As a landscape photographer, I have a tendency to shoot all my images at the wide-angle end of the focal range. When I'm photographing at a lake, a waterfall, a beach, or a sunset, I'm usually trying to fit a decent amount of the scene into the frame. As such, my Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 lens will spend 95% of its life firmly attached to my camera (until such time as I can afford a 7-14mm f/4).

But what about the other 5% of the time? Well, that's for when I need a bit more 'reach'. Something a little more in the telephoto end of the range. And it's why I kept my Panasonic 45-150mm f/4-5.6 when I was selling everything else.

Waiting for Dinner. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm lens. f/5.6 @ 1/500th, ISO 800 

If you are looking for a lightweight, well-constructed, reasonably priced, and very sharp telephoto lens for your micro four thirds system, then look no more!. The Panasonic Lumix G 45-150mm f/4-5.6 Asph. Power O.I.S. lens (to give its full title), fits the bill perfectly.

How small and how light? At only 210 grams and 73mm (at the wide end - 110mm when extended for full telephoto), the lens is small and light enough to always have in your camera bag. Even the filter size for the front is a tiny 52mm, saving you money over larger - more expensive - filters.

With a focal range of 90 to 300mm in 35mm camera full-frame terms, this lens is the epitome of the 'smaller' and lighter' promise of micro four thirds - without compromising on quality.

To keep the weight down, Panasonic have used quite a bit of plastic in its construction, but there's also metal where it counts (such as the lens mount). And as stated, they haven't skimped on optical quality. The lens uses 12 elements in 9 groups. Two of these are aspherical lenses, and one is an UHR (ultra-high refractive index) lens. This means that image distortion is minimised, resulting in clearer, sharper images. Add to this Panasonic's Power O.I.S. (optical image stabilisation) built into the lens, and you have a very fully-featured lens.

Finally, the lens can often be found for as little as $300.00NZ new (as of September 2021), and obviously even cheaper on the used market. This is outstandingly good value for a lens with such an impressive focal range. And to top it off, Panasonic even throws in a lens hood, even at this price. Kudos Panasonic (and are you listening Olympus!?).

At the beginning of this review, I mentioned that my 'need' for a telephoto lens was somewhat limited. But there's no reason it should be that way - even predominantly as a landscape photographer. Because I'm not just a landscape photographer. None of us are really. We are parents who take photos of our children, grandparents who take photos of our grandkids, and passionate creative types who take photos at all types of events. Chances are, then, that a telephoto lens is going to come in quite handy on most (if not all) of those occasions.

Greenstone Speedway, Sunset. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm lens. f/5.6 @ 1/320th, ISO 200

And then, of course, there is landscape photography. Which is not a genre unique to only wide-angle lenses. Telephoto images can be very effective when shooting the landscape. To be honest, I probably don't use mine enough in the landscape - to the detriment of my images.

The above image - Greenstone Speedway, Sunset - was shot recently with the Panasonic 45-150mm lens, and it's one of my favourite images of this year. It's also a shot that I couldn't have taken with the wide angle, since it was impossible to get close enough to the subject to achieve this composition.

So, since I'm planning on using the lens a lot more for 'serious' landscape work, I thought I'd better test it out a little to see if it was up to the task. If you've read my previous post, where I reviewed my Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8, you'll know my 'testing' methodology. Which is to say, I don't use test charts, brick walls, or studio environments. I actually go outside, find a landscape, set the camera up on a tripod, and have at it! Then I look at the results in Lightroom at 100%, and see if I'm happy or not. Job's a good'n.

It may be difficult to tell from a web-file on this blog, so let me tell you what I can see full-screen in Lightroom (and you'll just have to take my word for it).

Above are 100% crops of a photo taken of the Greymouth Wharf. The wharf itself was probably about 500 feet away from me (across the other side of the Grey River). For all these images, the lens was extended to the full 150mm telephoto end (a 300mm full-frame field of view). Not usually the most optimal settings for image sharpness - wide open and at full zoom.

Nevertheless, at these settings (f/5.6 @ 150mm) the lens is already very sharp! That's pretty impressive - and I must admit I was surprised. I thought for sure that f/5.6 would be only acceptable, and that it would be even sharper stopped down to f/7.1 or f/8. But this wasn't the case - not with my copy of the lens at least. At f/6.3, at f/7.1, and at f/8, there was no discernible increase in sharpness. That is to say, they were all just as sharp as each other! This is very impressive. I even checked to make sure that I somehow hadn't mixed up the files.

I hadn't. f/5.6 is excellent, as is f/6.3 and up to f/10. It's from f/11 and above that the lens actually gets softer - and this is to be expected. 

Cobden Tiphead, Sunset. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm lens. f/7.1 @ 1/200th, ISO 200

The optical performance of the Panasonic Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6, even wide open at the extreme telephoto range, has blown me away. It's sharp - plenty sharp - and is optically an exceptional performer. It focuses quickly on my E-M1 (although it does hunt for focus a little in lower light), feels solid and well built, has a metal lens mount, and produces superb images. For very little money. Seriously - what's not to like!?

If you are looking at specializing in wildlife, bird or sports photography, then of course you are going to want to invest in a little more serious telephoto gear. Something like the Lumix 100-400mm Leica f/4-6.3 or the Olympus 150-400mm f/4.5 Pro. And notice I said 'invest', since neither of these options could be reasonably called cheap (or lightweight).

Greymouth Wharf. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm lens. f/7.1 @ 1/500th, ISO 200

But for the rest of us, fortunately, there's the exceptional Panasonic Lumix G 45-150mm f/4-5.6. I'm so glad I kept this lens when deciding what to sell so I could afford the 12-35mm f/2.8. For the price, it's an amazingly good lens. I'm pretty sure I'll be making a lot more use of it for my images going forward.

An easy 5 out of 5 stars and very highly recommended if you are looking for an affordable telephoto lens for your micro four thirds system. If you are choosing between this and the Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6, I would say go for the Panasonic. They are both optically excellent, but I think the Panasonic has it over the Olympus in terms of build quality (Olympus has a plastic lens mount). Just saying...

Photo walk No.2 during Lockdown

Spring has sprung here in New Zealand. Yay!

On the West Coast, that often means wet weather - unfortunately. But, as luck would have it, the first week of Spring has instead brought some wonderful sunny days. And with it, comes a chance to get out and stretch the legs, in my local neigbourhood, during Lockdown.

'Spicy' revisted. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6. f/5.6 @ 1/640th, ISO 400

We are very fortunate to have some rather picturesque places within walking distance of our home. These include; a beach, farms, an estuary/lagoon area and tiphead. So there is no shortage of interesting subjects to photograph.

Having said that, when you are confined to a reasonably local area - one that you've walked almost daily for several years - familiarity can breed a little contempt. To 'spice' things up (excuse the pun from the image above), I decided on my second night's walk around the same area, to just use my telephoto lens. I kept the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f/4-5.6 Asph Mega OIS lens when I sold all my others, because although I don't use one all that often, I do find a telephoto handy to have. It's also very small, and very light-weight for a telephoto, so takes up hardly any space in the camera bag.

Going around the same area, in the same evening light, you can't help but sometimes be attracted to the same images. I couldn't help myself as I walked past this public rest area again on the second evening. I just had to stop and take the exact same image as the previous night (see last post), but this time with the telephoto lens. If nothing else, I thought it would make for an interesting comparison between the two lenses.

And interesting it is! For while I gave a glowing review of the Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 and said how super sharp and clear the images were that I got from it - I actually think the image I took with the 45-150mm is actually sharper! 

Waiting for a Wave. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 1600

My overall impression of this small, light, cheap telephoto zoom lens is that it is, indeed, very sharp - even wide open at f/5.6 and 150mm (300mm equivalent on full-frame). Just like its Olympus sibling (the M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6) that I have raved about in the past, the Panasonic Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6 punches way above its weight, and has the capability of producing seriously great images.

Of course it doesn't compete with the truly pro glass of the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro or the Panasonic Lumix 35-100mm f2.8. But at a fraction of the weight, size and cost of these pro lenses, the Lumix 45-150mm f/4-5.6 is a no-brainer if you need a 'good' telephoto lens for the odd occasion when you need one. Pro wildlife or bird photographers look elsewhere. But for the rest of us, the Lumix or Olympus cheap telephotos are well worth owning.

Spring is in the air. OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic 45-150mm. f/5.6 @ 1/320th, ISO 800

Telephotos are great for getting a bit closer to the action if you're a sports and/or wildlife shooter. But they are also a great option for portraiture and landscapes. Their narrow field of view, compression of elements within an image, and their ability to 'isolate' a subject, are all helpful ways of telling a particular story. And they can also be used to zoom in on unsuspecting subjects if you are in 'stealth' mode. 😄

The photo above, of the couple watching the sea crashing against the rocks, was obviously taken from behind, but also from a fairly long distance away. They were completely unaware of my presence, allowing me to wait with my camera poised to capture just the right moment. I probably stayed for about 10 minutes taking a series of images, as the sea crashed around them and they enjoyed the view. The telephoto lens has compressed the elements within the image, to make it look like the sea is crashing around them a lot closer than it actually was. From the photo it looks like they are in serious danger of getting wet! But in reality, the waves were a good 15 to 20 meters away from them and well out of harms way.

Spring sunset silhouette. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/8 @ 1/320th, ISO 800

The photo above was taken at exactly the same time as the photo of the couple watching the sea spray. Three young women turned up to also watch the sunset, and as they were getting ready to walk down along the rocks, I noticed that they made a prefect silhouette against the setting sun. I fired off two shots before they moved further down the rocks and the effect was gone.

Once again, the telephoto lens has allowed me to grab the shot from a good distance away, with my subjects completely unaware they were being photographed. I don't always shoot this way - I guess it feels a little bit 'creepy' or a bit paparazzi? But in both scenarios above, none of the people in the photos can be identified, none were photographed in a 'compromising' situation, and the final result is - I hope - very tastefully done. No one - as they say - was harmed in the making of these photos.

Heading out to fish. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 40-150mm. f/8 @ 1/80th, ISO 1600

Many photographers who think of landscape images, think only in terms of wide angle lenses. But a telephoto lens is an invaluable part of every landscape photographers kit. As mentioned above, it can help isolate, compress, and simplify a scene - all exceptionally useful techniques when shooting landscapes. A wide-angle (or ultra-wide angle) that tries to include a massive vista can often lead to unimpressive images. Whereas if you isolate, frame, and capture a smaller portion - maybe just the one area of light as it caresses the peak of an impressive mountain - then you will often come away with a much stronger composition. Indeed there are many mountain landscape photographers who would say that their telephoto lens is their most used optic.

Blaketown Tiphead Shipwreck Monument. E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/5.6 @ 1/60th, ISO 800

Whether you use a telephoto lens a little, or a lot, it's always a good idea to have one in your camera bag. The Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150mm f/4-5.6 Asph Mega OIS (to give it its full name) is an excellent choice for someone on a budget, but who still wants a well made (metal mount), sharp and lightweight lens. When I was selling all my lenses to purchase the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8, the Lumix 45-150mm was the only lens I decided to keep. And I'm very glad that I did.

As a landscape photographer, who wants to travel light, I don't need the heavier, more expensive 'pro' versions of this lens. I'd mostly shoot them at around f/5.6 to f/8 anyway. And at those apertures, the cheap, light and inexpensive (relatively speaking) Panansonic 40-150mm f/4-5.6 is probably about 95% as sharp as them anyway!

What I do occasionally wish for, however, is a little longer reach. Something like the Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 or Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6. At 300mm on the long end, that equates to a whopping 600mm angle-of-view on a full-frame system! If I was a bird or wildlife photographer on a budget, I'd definitely have one of those. But I'm not, so they will have to wait. My use-case for a lens with that sort of reach is even more limited than with the telephoto I already own! 

On the other hand, my sister-in-law actually owns the Olympus 75-300mm, so I may get to 'play' with it one day and do a quick review? Could be fun to take to a wildlife park - once we get out of Lockdown, of course.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 fixed

Horray! My E-M1 is back from being repaired, and is fully functional once again! Yay!!! I'm super excited to have it back (can you tell?).

Homeward bound. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm f2.8.  f/6.3 @ 1/640th, ISO 200

I'm even more excited to have it back so that I can now, finally, use it with the Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 lens that I purchased recently. The lens arrived while my camera was away getting repaired, so I haven't been able to shoot with it yet. But that all changed yesterday (as I write this), when we made an emergency trip back home to Greymouth from Christchurch. 

Emergency trip you say? Yes, I do. Let me explain...

My wife and I had traveled to Christchurch the previous weekend, to meet our beautiful new baby grand daughter, Arabella. I had planned to stay for a week (and had taken the week off from work), while my wife was going to stay on a bit longer to help our daughter and her partner with looking after their two-and-a-half year old as well as the new baby.

But then COVID hit New Zealand again. And we went into a nation-wide Lockdown. The Delta variant of the virus was picked up in Auckland, but the people had traveled extensively, so the whole of New Zealand went into Lockdown.

Southern Alps Panorama. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/6.3 @ 1/800th, ISO 200

Initially, the South Island where we live, was placed into Lockdown for three days (until midnight Friday), with a 48hr window of opportunity from the Tuesday when Lockdown began for people who were away from their places of residence (that would be my wife and I visiting in Christchurch), to get back home.

Adding to the urgency (if that wasn't enough), was the fact that it also happens to be winter in New Zealand. The roads that we needed to travel on to make it back home are often closed due to snow and ice. A quick check of the long-range forecast indicated that more snow was indeed likely over the next few days, so we had a very narrow window of opportunity to return home - or remain in Lockdown at our daughters in Christchurch! Most people think that this is only the beginning of a larger, extended Lockdown period. So we made the decision to pack-up immediately and both head home.

Canterbury hills dusting. E-M1 with Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8. f/6.3 @ 1/320th, ISO 200

In one sense, this is very bad timing. I still had three days to go of my time with our new grand daughter, and my wife was intending on staying longer. But in another sense (getting back to my camera), the timing was perfect. I had an email from Greg at Photo and Video on Monday afternoon telling me that the camera was back from repair, and was I still around to collect it. Of course I jumped in the car and went straight there, delighted that it had been repaired and I just happened to be in Christchurch to collect it. And the very next day, the country went into Lockdown. If I'd decided to wait until the next day to collect it, then it would have been too late.

One-lane Bridge ahead. OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/6.3 @ 1/200th, ISO 200

Of course I would of rather had the camera, been in Christchurch for another few days, came back when originally intended, and not been in Lockdown! But going into Lockdown knowing that my repaired camera was in Christchurch, just sitting there, and couldn't get to me, would have been torture! Fortunately that's not the case.

The repair slip from A&E Electronics states that they 'dismantled removed and replaced rear encoder dial', which is exactly what I thought they would do. Total cost of repair - $250.87. Photo & Video split the costs with me (which they didn't have to do) so I payed $125.00 NZ for a repaired rear dial on an E-M1. Fingers crossed that it stays repaired, and that I have no more issues with it.

I am thrilled that I have it back. I am delighted that it's now repaired. And I do love using it. But now there's that little niggle....

Lake Pearson, Winter. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 12-35mm. f/6.3 @ 1/320th, ISO 200 

I had assumed that I would get to try out the Panasonic Lumix lens in Christchurch, with portraits of my grandson and grand daughter, at the f2.8 range. Which it would have been brilliant for. But again, the best laid plans...

Instead, I got to use it on the trip home to the West Coast, through Canterbury, and some stunningly beautiful evening landscapes. And I ain't complaining! On a good day (which fortunately this was) the landscape in winter is simply spectacular. The light isn't too harsh, the white mountains are crisp and clear against the blue sky, and the views are gorgeous.

I think the photo above - 'Lake Pearson, Winter' is my favourite from the trip. I love the play of light and shadow through the hills, the way the lake glows blue from the sky, and of course the white dusting of snow on the surrounding hills, perfectly lit by the early evening light.

Alpine glow. OM-D E-M1 with Panasonic 45-150mm. f/6.3 @ 1/250th, ISO 200

Most of the images shot on the trip home were taken with the Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f2.8. For one, I wanted to test the lens out for the first time. And two, the scenery fits the wider 24mm end of the lenses focal length. But for some - as in the image above - I needed to zoom in closer on the distant mountains to achieve the composition I was after. For this, I used the only lens that I kept when I was selling lenses to buy the 12-35mm - the Panasonic 45-150mm f/4-5.6. With the 12-35mm and the 45-150mm I have an excellent combination of small, light (relatively speaking) lenses with a focal range from 24 to 300mm (basically). I would like to get the 35-100mm f2.8 Panasonic Lumix at a later date, as it's the prefect compliment to the 12-35mm. But that's probably a lot later down the track. If I stick with micro four thirds?

It's too early to give a definitive answer on whether I like the Lumix 12-35mm f2.8 or not, and whether it was worth selling almost all my other lenses for. Early indication of IQ is very promising, although I don't think I enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 pro. But as I said, it's very early days.

Now that I have my E-M1 back from repair (woo-hoo), and some time to really try out the 12-35mm f2.8 (thanks to Lockdown), expect a further analysis of this lens soon. Thanks for reading, and stay safe everyone.

Oh, and by-the-way... Happy World Photography Day! 📸

Olympus OM-D E-M1 fun continues

The fun of shooting my 'new' Olympus E-M1 system continues and I am trying to take very opportunity I can to get out and use it. My kit is now also complete, with the inclusion of a speedlight (more on that in a future post).

I recently had to take a trip for work, and knew that I would have a chance to stop along the way to take a few quick pictures. So I took the E-M1 with me to see what I could find to photograph as I traveled.

Old Bedford. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with M.Zuiko 12-50mm EZ. f5.6 @ 1/200th, ISO 200

I'm a sucker for rusty old cars as subjects (what photographer isn't?), so I couldn't pass up the chance to stop and take a few photos of this beauty. The reddy-oranges and browns, greens and yellows all compliment each other and create a vibrant portrait of this old vehicle ending it days on the side of the road. Not a particularly dignified way to end your days perhaps, but it certainly makes for a great photo.

The theme of 'old and abandoned' was going to be a re-occurring theme throughout the images taken on this outing. The West Coast has a lot of 'rusty relics' and old buildings that make for great images. Although I have to say that my excitement at finding another dilapidated building or abandoned classic truck to photograph is always tinged with a sense of sadness. Whenever I look at them, I can't help but think about the lives they touched when they were brand new and full of potential. Such is progress I guess?

Abandoned House, Ikamatua. Olympus E-M1 with M.Zuiko 12-50mm EZ. f6.3 @ 1/500th, ISO 200

I had photographed this house quite recently, with the Fujifilm X-E2. But it was on a different day, with very different lighting conditions. The X-E2 image (in this blogpost here) was taken on a very blue-sky day, with a large cloud floating above the house - which I really liked. The above photo has a lot less contrast, since it was shot on a very overcast day. It softens the mood, but brings out heaps of detail in the old wood - which I also really like.

The E-M1 may 'only' have a 16MP micro four thirds sensor, but it is still capable of extracting a lot of extra fine detail. One of the major benefits of micro four thirds are the lenses sharpness and clarity, since the sensors smaller size allows for light to reach the entire sensor more symmetrically, hence avoiding corner distortion. It may sound like marketing hype, but in my 'real-world' experiences, all the lenses I've used on the Olympus cameras have been extremely sharp, edge-to-edge. Even the kit lenses and the very cheap and plastic telephotos produce sharper images than they have a right to, considering their price.

St Patrick's Catholic Church, Ikamatua. E-M1 with M.Zuiko 12-50mm EZ. f10 @ 1/200th, ISO 200

Case-in-point is the above photo of St. Patrick's Church. Shot at f10, focused on the front gate, and set to the widest zoom (12mm to fit everything in), the resulting image is bitingly sharp all over the frame. Some of that has to do with the f10 aperture - which on a smaller micro four thirds sensor is f20 full-frame equivalent - but even stopping down the aperture won't make an inherently soft lens sharp.

I'm not going to continually try to defend the micro four thirds sensor, since its detractors will rubbish the system no matter what you say. However, for those who are open to a different point of view, and who might be generally interested in micro four thirds but only ever hear negative comments, I think it's worth showing how good the images really can be from the system.

As mentioned, it was a very dull and overcast day when I shot these photos, which meant that the sky was really just one large expanse of white cloud. Even my naked eye couldn't perceive any detail in the sky, and the ORFs (Olympus Raw Files) were certainly a bright, bland white when first imported into Lightroom. I was careful not to 'clip' the highlights when shooting, so I knew there was probably some detail there, but didn't hold out much hope of getting anything interesting in the way of clouds.

Grabbing the 'Highlight' slider and moving it all the way to the left to increase highlight definition made a huge difference, and brought back sky detail that I wasn't even aware was there. These smaller sensors are derided for their 'poor' dynamic range - usually by photographers who have invested a lot of money in larger sensors for 'superior' dynamic range. 

And yet the truth is that the E-M1 holds up remarkably well in terms of its ability to capture dynamic range. DXO Mark rate the E-M1's sensor as capturing almost 13 stops of dynamic range (12.7 Evs to be exact). In comparison, the APS-C sized sensor in the Canon 80D can handle just over 13 stops (13.2 Evs) - probably only around half a stop more than the Olympus. The E-M1 sensor actually has better dynamic range capabilities than the APS-C Nikon D300 and Canon 7D. That's hardly a terrible result for the micro four thirds sensor. And yet the notion that their sensors exhibit poor dynamic range still persists! 

I'm not trying to argue that the sensor is 'best in class' - of course not. There are many sensors - both APS-C and full-frame, that beat it for high dynamic range. But if your exposure is there, or there abouts, then you should easily be able to recover two to three stops of information easily. If you've blown the exposure by four to five stops (or more), then you probably need to question photography as a hobby and should maybe consider taking up painting instead? Just saying...

End of the Road. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Lumix 45-150mm. f/6.3 @ 1/200th, ISO 200

I started with an old car, so I thought I would up the ante and end with a couple of them 😉

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 is an impressive bit of kit, no matter how you look at it. Yes, it might be coming up 8 years old now, but so what? That just means it's a bargain on the used market - especially for a pro-spec'd body (weather-sealing, rugged construction and 150,000 rated shutter).

I'm constantly amazed by the plethora of 'is it still good enough' videos that talk about the 'old' cameras as if they came out with Noah on the Ark! Of course it's 'good enough' - certainly for 99% of what most photographers would want to use it for. If you're a pro sports shooter then this camera probably isn't for you. But if you are a pro sports shooter, then you probably knew that already. If, however, you just want to photograph the kids playing soccer on the weekend, then have at it! The E-M1 will be plenty fast enough.

It's also not a video-centric camera, so serious video shooters should look elsewhere. But don't dismiss the micro four thirds platform for video. Check out the GH Panasonic Lumix line if video is important but you also like to shoot stills with the same camera body.

About a year ago, sensationalist Youtubers' who make their money producing 'click-bait' videos claimed that "micro four thirds was dead." So of course they all went into prophetic rapture when Olympus announced it was selling its camera division to JIP a few months ago. "Olympus is dead. Micro four thirds is no more. See, we were right!" they collectively cried.

Yeah? Well hang on a minute there Bucky. The Olympus camera division may be no more, but JIP (Japan Industrial Partners) fully intend to continue the Olympus micro four thirds line under a new name: OM Digital Solutions. Products that were already in development will be released, and warranties for all new products will be honored. So if you purchased an OM-D E-M3 at the beginning of the year, the warranty for the product is still valid.

Old Church, Totara Flat. Olympus OM-D E-M1 with M.Zuiko 12-50mm EZ. f8 @ 1/400th, ISO 200

Of course no company is bullet proof. Not even Canon or Sony. Kodak proved that twenty years ago. But micro four thirds is far from 'dead'. And neither is the DLSR, which is the new doomsday prophecy. JIP may not be able to sustain and grow OM Digital Solutions in the long-term. Who knows? But that's at least what they are setting out to do. Better that than Olympus simply shutting down their camera division altogether (they retain a 5% share in OM Digital).

Maybe they will limp along like Ricoh has with Pentax - releasing a new camera every few years, but not really setting the world on fire with new products? Maybe keeping the Olympus faithful happy will be all that is required to sustain their business model? But whatever happens, the Olympus camera you have now, and the lenses you have - and can still get for it - will work for a very long time to come if taken care of properly. In all honesty, I could probably quite happily use the E-M1 that I have now until the day I retire from this hobby. And I'm hoping that's at least another twenty to thirty years!