Like many, I have had many experiences with different systems. Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus all have found cameras in my bag at some point. But it wasn't until I chose the M system did I really feel like I had found the one. Sure, I swayed away after owning the original M but I came back. Also like many, I was introduced to the M during the great fire sale of 2013. It was such a great bargain back then and little did I know how much I would fall in love with it.
I am going to post a favorite photo taken each year I owned an M camera to chronicle my adventures over the years.
2013 - Punchbowl Falls. One of my first adventures with the M. I ended up not brining any kind of telephoto lens with me, which I regretted after shooting this image. Also, I shot this jpeg, so I was not able to recover any of the highlights from the blown-out waterfall. Still, the image itself came out pretty good. This was also before the log fell down, slightly obstructing the view. A fire occurred in 2018 and heavily damaged this area. It has yet to open.
During 2014, I tried a Sony NEX-6 but eventually came back due to the poor quality of the lenses at the time. Also, Sony relies heavily on software correction for their lens faults while Canon you often don't notice lens faults (or at least as much).
2014 - Portland Japanese Maple tree. This tree is one of the more photographed trees around. I work an 8-5 job so I have to guess as to the timing of the fall colors. I have never caught it perfectly on fire like you may see some other photographers have.
In 2015, I stepped up to the M2 and M3 cameras. This was the year my family and I went to Oahu, Hawaii. I used the M3 mostly but had the M2 as a backup. I got some nice images from the M3 but was never in love with the colors. I also tried a Sony RX100 this year but couldn't accept the IQ from a 1" sensor after using the M.
2015 - Oahu, Hawaii - Lanai Lookout. We spent 5 days in Oahu during this vacation and stayed in a house near the North Shore. We only went to Honolulu twice (once to visit Waikiki and once to visit Pearl Harbor) and the contrast between the two sides of the island is quite interesting. On this day we decided to drive down the southeast tip of the island and along the coast. We made several stops along the way with this being one of them. I loved the layers here and took several images trying to time the waves perfectly.
So in 2016, I actually sold both M2 and M3 and went back to the original M and bought a 7D for my kid's sporting events (originally bought a 50D but I wasn't getting good results so I went with the 7D. Since it had the same sensor as the M I knew the results would be to my liking).
2016 - local lighthouse. There aren't many interesting items to photograph locally, so this lighthouse is photographed a lot. Since it's local, I am lucky enough to be able to quickly go there (20 minute drive) if I think good conditions are going to occur. This day I had one a good sunset and it made for a great image.
2017 was the year I upgraded to the M6. I remember originally buying it with the 18-150mm lens and EVF2 but eventually sold them both. I was fine with using just the screen in sunlight and don't mind "holding it out like a dirty diaper" (as a previous member had posted some time ago LOL).
The M6 is a pretty substantial upgrade from the M. My plan was to get the M converted to IR eventually.
2017 - Mt Adams Evening. Taken from just outside of Glenwood, WA I pulled over along the road and captured this scene with the lovely golden light. I think the cows to the right as some interest to the scene.
In 2018 I kept shooting with my M6. I did try out a Canon 6D but the size/bulk did not sit well with me. And for me, the slight increase in IQ just was not worth it. So, since I wasn't going to invest anytime soon in a new camera system, I concentrated on traveling around locally more and just exploring.
2018 - Great Prosser Balloon Rally. I like to go to this event almost every year. It's definitely a heavily photographed event and since I go almost every year it's difficult to come up with a fresh and interesting image. But I think this year I got lucky.
And here we are in 2019. I am still shooting with M6. I did purchase an original M converted to IR early in the year and enjoyed shooting with that. At that time I still had my original M and ended up selling it. I enjoy shooting IR so much I sold my IR M and purchased an M5 and had it converted. This allowed me to use the same batteries for my main camera and IR camera.
Recently, with the price cuts of the Canon EOS R, I was very tempted to switch to that system. Some people utilize both systems using each in the appropriate situation but I was afraid (again) that I would not like the weight and bulk of FF glass. So I purchased a backup M6 recently to have when I travel. The nice thing is because the camera is so affordable, I don't have to baby it and worry about it getting wet/sandy/whatever.
2019 - Mt Hood and Lavender Field. I tried visiting this lavender field a second time this year and thankfully the clouds cooperated just enough to get a good image. The unfortunate thing is there are not that many compositions at this location so it's doubtful I will be back any time soon but we'll see.
The M system is not for everyone. But I feel like it works for me and it will be hard for me to find something to take it's place.
