M43 for professional work

Bluevortex · May 4, 2015

Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

Paulmorgan · May 4, 2015

Bluevortex said:
Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

Mirror-less is still growing.

Kevdog · May 4, 2015

Bluevortex said:
Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

I think it is growing. I know a semi-pro who switched to m4/3 a few years ago. He shot all primes back then, but now just owns the two Oly pro zooms. He does well enough to pay for new gear every year and still have some left over!

SkiHound · May 4, 2015

History and momentum play a big role. The Nikon F was a go to professional body for years, Canon brought strong improvements to AF and kind of took over the professional sports photography market. Both companies have long history, both have very extensive systems, both have tons of 3rd party support, etc. And until fairly recently, Canon, Nikon, and Pentax were pretty much the only games in town if you wanted a really robust, weather sealed body. I have a relative who is a professional photographer; she does mostly architectural corporate work. She shoots Canon but is really not much into gear at all. In fact has mostly kind of dated bodies and last time I talked with her she saw no need to upgrade. Uses some specialized lenses, and lighting. Will never change systems. Interestingly, after showing her some of my m43 stuff she bought an E-PL5 with kit lens, 17, and 45 for her personal use. When professionals have established systems and they trust those systems for their bread and butter, they generally aren't very eager to system jump. There are professional photographers using m43 and Fuji systems. There's at least one National Geographic photographer who shoots Olympus. Here are a few links you might want to take a look at.

http://ryanbrenizer.com/2012/08/review-olympus-om-d-e-m5/

http://shutterleaf.co.uk/blog/olympus-omd-em5-for-wedding-photography-experience-with-3-micro-four-third-camera-bodies-a-review

10 Amazing Photographers Who Use the Olympus OM-D E-M1 on the Job

www.mirrorlessons.com

https://www.damianmcgillicuddy.com/--

SkiHound2

Explore SkiHound2’s 702 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

cnyram · May 4, 2015

If I were going pro (events/wedding) I probably would have stayed with my Fx Nikon gear. You really need that ability to manipulate DoF easily and I've found working fast to be easier with larger gear. I'd be leery to do paid events with a body that does not have a backup card, one bad card and you have a lawsuit.

SkiHound · May 4, 2015

I agree about a 2nd card for things like weddings. You don't get do overs with stuff like that.

agachart · May 4, 2015

GH4 wedding cinema and photograph

d3xmeister · May 4, 2015

cnyram said:
If I were going pro (events/wedding) I probably would have stayed with my Fx Nikon gear. You really need that ability to manipulate DoF easily and I've found working fast to be easier with larger gear. I'd be leery to do paid events with a body that does not have a backup card, one bad card and you have a lawsuit.

PeteCET · May 4, 2015

Yes, there are some (very few) freelance in landscape, photojournalism and stock using M43 but staff on big agencies are all on Canon or Nikon and for serious sports M43 has still no glass.

OzRay · May 4, 2015

I used 4/3 gear exclusively for around six years for news and sports photography for a Melbourne newspaper. I've done weddings (though never again) and portraiture as well. I'd do it with m4/3 without hesitation. Honestly, card failures are so rare that they aren't an issue, battery management is a much greater concern (DSLR or m4/3), especially with flash.

And for serious sport, you just need to buy a 4/3 90-250mm f2.8 or 300mm f2.8; that's if you're serious.

--
Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
http://australianimage.com.au/wordpress/

Sergey Borachev · May 4, 2015

cnyram said:
If I were going pro (events/wedding) I probably would have stayed with my Fx Nikon gear. You really need that ability to manipulate DoF easily and I've found working fast to be easier with larger gear. I'd be leery to do paid events with a body that does not have a backup card, one bad card and you have a lawsuit.

--
RMillsphotography.com

So stupid, isn't it? The E-M1, GH4 and E-M5 II are so pro like and attempting to attract more pros with their alloy build, waterproofing, fancy grips, big EVF, pro grade lenses and yet do not have something so basic for pro's and so simple/easy to put in - an extra memory card slot.

Donald B · May 5, 2015

been shooting dance schools, events and school grads with an on site studio setup for 6 years now with Pentax k7, would shoot up to 1000 portraits over 2 days, tethered to a hd monitor. I have shot my last 2 shoots with my epl5 streaming live view to a hd monitor and absolutely love this camera leaves anything from cannon, Nikon and Pentax for dead in my field. very happy with the results and the extremely fast and less effort these little cameras can achieve.

cheers don.

--
Pentax k7,fz150,xz1 and a new oly m43 e-pL5 my toys.

lattesweden · May 5, 2015

I would prefer not to get an extra card slot in the body of my camera but would love if the add-on battery grip had one. That way I could choose if I wanted to go small with only one card in the body or go "pro" with the extra battery grip and and also an extra card there.

NCV · May 5, 2015

Bluevortex said:
Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

The phrase "Looking the part " is the answer to your question. Image and looking the part is often more important than capability in professional photography particularly the Wedding photography sector.

I think M43 is fine for reportage and other sectors where the client does not see the camera gear employed.

Then there is the back up card factor, nice to have on a paying events job.

http://nigelvoak.blogspot.it/

Donald B · May 5, 2015

NCV said:
Bluevortex said:

Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

Click to expand...

The phrase "Looking the part " is the answer to your question. Image and looking the part is often more important than capability in professional photography particularly the Wedding photography sector.

I think M43 is fine for reportage and other sectors where the client does not see the camera gear employed.

Then there is the back up card factor, nice to have on a paying events job.

http://nigelvoak.blogspot.it/

LOL. clients don't care if im using a 10.8 volt tiny dewalt drill or a 24 volt dinosaur Makita all they are worried about is the end result. same with me using a epl5 tethered to a large hd monitor , they look at the whole setup and go WOW nice system not some clunky dslr with lens the size of 2 litre coke bottle.

cheers don

Donald B · May 5, 2015

NCV said:
Bluevortex said:

Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

Click to expand...

The phrase "Looking the part " is the answer to your question. Image and looking the part is often more important than capability in professional photography particularly the Wedding photography sector.

I think M43 is fine for reportage and other sectors where the client does not see the camera gear employed.

Then there is the back up card factor, nice to have on a paying events job.

http://nigelvoak.blogspot.it/

funny thing is last week I seen a guy I know working for a news paper with a brand new canon 1dxxxxx, shooting Anzac day ,I thought what an idiot a good quality point and shoot would have done a better job. this guy was a lousy carpenter with good tools and an even lousier photographer with the so called pro gear. looked so old school constantly checking the rear lcd screen LOL. must of missed so many good shots trying to see if he actually got the shot. its all about the images not the gear.

cheers don

yslee1 · May 5, 2015

I use m4/3 for my work; it's mostly commercial stuff that doesn't always require the following advantages that are currently present in DSLRS, which by the way are not unique, just the result of a more mature product as a whole:

Fast PDAF and tracking: Sports, some wildlife, and some events shooters will appreciate this.
Clean ISO 6400 and usable ISO 12k: Just the advantage of going with a larger sensor that can be mated to fast lenses, which brings us to...
Mature lens system for specialised tasks. m4/3 doesn't have tilt-shift lenses, lacks really good long telephoto options (where's that 300/4 and 70-200/2.8) and could do with a fast wide-angle prime too.
Also, larger sensor means more pixels. While in truth many jobs don't really need more than 3-6 megapixels (the limits of social media and A4/Letter sized prints), there's the occasional job that does need more. Also if you take on more prestigious jobs it becomes a must-have anyway, for whatever reason.

gregs4163 · May 5, 2015

Bluevortex said:
Forgive me for asking but do many people on here use M43 equipment for paid professional work?

I was recently at a wedding, there were two photographers on the day loaded with Canikon equipment, lenses that looked akin to telescopes etc. They surely had thousands £'s of equipment and certainly looked the part. Then there was little old me with my modest EPL5 and now having had an opportunity to compare my own pics against the pro, I think my little camera did just great! Quite surprising really. I even had some comments saying as much.

This got me thinking, how common is M43 among pro togs? Given we have the EM1 and a range of pro lenses, is this system now mature enough to be considered a pro alternative to the usual Canikon route? What are the drawbacks compared to SLR?

Blue

I use m4/3 equip for all my Professional work, I shoot weddings and portraits in and out of the studio. I found I really don't compromise anything. For weddings my primary camera is my E-M1 w/ 12-40 and my 40-150 and I have my GH3 w/ Sigma 60, love that lens for portraits!

Fri13 · May 5, 2015

Tell me who has got a malfunction to their card that has rendered card uncoverable?

I havent found one that i could not have recovered totally without resolting to data recovery companies services.
All what ia required is to take card out, store it to bag and take a new card and you get all photos except maybe the last one from the card.

The dual slot in cameras isnt a backup, it isnt bringing safety or higher probability to get photos stored. It just, and only makes it easier to get the photos out for those who arent so skilled to use computers (people who can just launch Photoshop, email files and go to facebook).

Fri13 · May 5, 2015

That i wished Olympus would had done with the grip, just by looking the amount of pins in bottom of camera.

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