My experience with the Olympus 75mm f1.8

salbano wrote:

Hey Tom,

I checked out your website, and enjoyed reading out the 75mm 1.8. It's on my list. I see that we have something in common, Airshows! My experience is a little different than yours regarding the EM-5 and airshows, and I wrote about it on my website if your interested:

http://wp.me/p2xyD1-c0

By the way, I'd love to attend that Duxford Airshow if I ever get across the pond!

My Flickr Photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steves_photoart/
My Website:
http://www.upatdawnphotography.com

Ah, always love to hear from someone an interest in airshows. I am very fortunate to live in Cambridge which is only 15 minutes drive from Duxford so I probably shouldnt admit it but I do go to all 4 shows they have each year. I am from Scotland originally and my dad often comes down for them and its a very nice way to spend a day. If you ever get the chance, you should jump at it. Its not just the aircraft but the entire experience, it feels far more relaxed than full on military airshows, more civilised.

I read your piece on the EM5, its interesting to read how others find these things. I do particularly like your shot of the Wildcat (although that camouflage doesnt look like anything I have seen a Wildcat in :)). However my one suggestion having read your thoughts (and i can say this as i had the same issue) the 45-200mm is actually pretty poor. It was the first telephoto I got when I had the GF1 as it was the more affordable of the two long lenses available from Panasonic at the time. I have since got the 100-300mm and it is absolutely miles ahead of the 45-200mm. Its actually amazingly sharp at the short end and starts to get a bit soft at 250+ but in between its entirely usable. So if I could make one suggestion, it would be giving that a go. Its still far from perfect. As you rightly point out, the evf blacking out when you hit the shutter button isnt particularly helpful, thats why I actually just shoot single shot and try desperately to time it right (not always successfully). But I would say I have around a 60-70% success rate for getting a usable shot which for m43 is pretty ok I think.

The other thing I use is C-AF (not the tracking version). So the technique I use is shutter priority, C-AF and basically follow the plane and when I got to take the shot press the shutter half way down for a split second and then all the way down, whilst still following the aircraft. I have found that works surprisingly well. It might even look blurry at the moment you take it but invariably the final shot is in focus. Its a bit of a different technique but I have had a fair bit of practice and it works reasonably well. In honesty though, one thing I can be guilty of is using a faster shutter speed than I really should which can lead to the props not being as blurred as they should be but I am still learning. Oh and the other thing is I leave the IS on 5 axis as I have tried all the variations and found that to work best for me.

Thanks for sharing, great to see stuff from the other side!

Cheers
Tom