Thoughts from those using both m43 and Full Frame DSLRs - that certain something?

robonrome wrote:

I find myself vacilating between two systems, my m43 kit around a G3 now replaced with G5 with a suite of quality lenses and a full frame Canon 5D (recently upgraded from 5D2 to 5D3) again with a suite of high quality glass.

I love the convenience of m43. My back seriously suffers when I cart around the canon kit. I've done pixel peeping comparisons between the two that frankly show very minimal differences ...and truth be told not always in the canon kit favour (obviously depends partly on the desired DoF).

I trekked in Nepal last year and bought the G3 and a 14-45 + 20 + 45 as a lightweight kit. At the last moment I weakened and tossed in the 5D2 with a 70-300L and the 24 TSE (I knew I would have a porter to share the load).

While I was on the trail the G3 was a godsend. I just couldn't have made it with the big canon around my neck...each step at those altitudes was a challenge. Similalrly even in the cities and towns sightseeing I generally opted for the convenience and unobtrusiveness of the G3 with 20/1.7.

When I returned home to Australia, I found I'd taken nearly 90% of my shots with the G3 and only 10% with the Canon, and remember thinking that was pretty stupid lumping along the 5D.

A few months later I ended up going through the many thousands of images and culling them down to those few I though were best and printing A3 sized prints from six of them to adorn the walls of my hallway. Well as I look at them now, without thinking it seems that these six best were all taken with the 5D2 (five with the 70-300 and one with the 24 TSE) and I'm kind of wondering how and why that came to be when I had almost 10x as many images from the G3.

I'm thinking why... what is it about the much fewer images from the 5D2 that appealed more than the far more numerous ones from the G3 months after the event, especially when the images are mostly deeper DoF where the IQ differences are not that great? Is it because the effort of dragging out the 5D meant I was being more purposeful or deliberate in my photography, is it because the G3 lacks the potential m43 IQ magic suggested for the EM5. Something other?

Anyway, wondered if anyone else had similar or contra thoughts on their FF vs m43 at the point the rubber hits the road (prints for display).