Help: I love M43 but on the edge

eBrain wrote:

First post; hopefully someone can help without getting into MFT vs FF war

I am long time MFT user and heavily invested in MFT gear. To put things in perspective I started with Panasonic Lumix G5 couple years back, and bought GH4 couple months back to check the latest and greatest of MFT ecosystem before taking a decision. I currently own both bodies and following lenses to put things in perspective: Rokinon 7.5mm, Panasonic 25mm/F1.4, Panasonic 14-42mm Kit, Panasonic 35-100mm/F2.8, Panasonic 45-200mm, and over a dozen legacy primes (Canon FD, Minolta, SMC Takumar, etc)

After shooting for couple years I have realized I like shooting events (indoors), birds, and bokeh. It might me my skills but in my experience my MFT gear is severely laking quality pictures when it comes to above three categories.

Dont get me wrong; please! If there is something within MFT ecosystem costing an additional $2k brining quality pcitures within above 3 categories I am willing to go for it (please suggest lenses and body) but a question naturally comes to mind: why should I continue to invest in MFT? Just because it is light weight?

So here I am .. on the borderline .. thinking what if I sell all MFT gear. Should sell for $4k easily and buying a nice FF body with 3 or 4 lenses lenses for a tiotal of $6-8K should give me the ability to shoot in low light, birds, and bokeh. No?

MFT lovers please help me I seem to be losing interest in my equipment because it is not getting me what I would like to ... Maybe it is my skills or maybe it is my equipment? If it is equipment should I wait for better lenses/technology or move on to FF?

Thanks!

EB

I believe that capturing good images depends on three basic factors coming together:

Equipment - Opportunity - Skill

No matter what equipment you have the other factors to contend with. You can be weaker in one factor if you are strong on the others.

Therefore simply switching gear might not work. Indoor sports require fast long lenses but also position and timing and get exponentially harder as lighting falls off.  Good birding shots are either that one lucky shot where the conjunction with Venus and Mars just happens for you (opportunity) or a lot of hard work positioning and waiting with some seriously expensive kit, skill and knowledge of your gear. Bokeh/dof comes partly from lenses and partly from skill in using it.

You have a fast 25mm which should give reasonable dof effect but would have to be used aperture priority wide open to get narrow dof. But would be nigh on useless as too far away for indoor sports and would be a joke for birding.

You have the 35-100 f2.8 which should do indoor sports at the long end but f2.8 is on the slow side unless the light is excellent and you would need to crank up your ISO quite a lot to enable the shutter speed to capture moving bodies well. Above all indoor sports require good positioning and the acquired timing skills of much practice. Be quite prepared for a lot of quite average captures in order to get those winners. Even professionals need to get quite a few duds along he way.

Birding? good birding is for those that have all three of my essential requirements in vast quantity, or plain luck .. I might have to work at it a while longer yet ....

I would try an Olympus 75/1.8 before I gave up on M4/3.