E-M1 - A camera for National Geographic Photogs and other explorers..

[Martin.au]

marike6 wrote:

daddyo wrote:

I am sick to death of hearing the equivalence nonsense thrown out every time a FF fan shows up on this forum. I use my cameras professionally, and when I am shooting in a low light conference room and my E-M5 meter tells me that my exposure is f/2.8 @ 1/8 Sec at ISO 1600, does not magically change to f/5.6 if I reach in some auxiliary bag pull out a FF boat anchor and look through the viewfinder -- period.

The topic of this post is how National Geographic photographers, who are almost exclusively shoot FF either Nikon or Canon gear, should adopt the EM-1. Which begs the obvious question "with what glass?" m43 is traditionally a consumer MILC system so it's not like there is a ton of high grade super telephotos floating around in the system. So we were just trying to figure out how an EM-1 could ever make in into the bags of elite National Geographic photographers as a replacement of their usual FF gear.

Sensitive much?

Nobody said anything about exposure, but DOF equivalence and shallow DOF as topics come up on this forum all the time.

Well, I believe Ira Block (Nat Geo) uses the Gh3, 12-35, 35-100 and 100-300.

One thing that baffles me is why everyone assumes Nat Geo = supertele. A whole lot of National Geographic style work seems to be reportage style work concentrating on people, landscapes, etc. This is where the size difference would be most relevant.

However, if you need supertele, then the E-M1 has access to the 300 f2.8, 90-250, 50-200 and 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.

 

[arbuz]

Acrill wrote:

Richie S wrote:

This is unlikely to end up in the hands of wildlife shooters, unless as a backup, scouting system. If you invest the time and effort they do into this stuff then simply put you want the best, and i mean, the best possible output you can reasonably manage.

Comments like this are an embarrassing display of ignorance. The least you can do is a bit of googling and link checking before you post.

Read this story about John Isaac, chief U.N. photographer and an excellent wildlife photographer.

He used an E-5 and Olympus 90-250mm 2.8, a lens that should be a great fit with the E-M1.

Olympus DSLRs have long been popular with serious wildlife photographers due in large part to the fantastic optical quality of their telephoto zoom lenses..

The crane and eagle photos are great:

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0013463/...ohn-Isaacs-close-encounters-of-the-avian-kind

So he used E-5. not EM-1. E-5 with premium lenses has very fast AF, which is a key in this subject area.

So far there is no evidence or even claim from olympus that E-m1 will focus close to what E-5 is capable of. On the contrary, dpreview first impressions say that AF with 4/3 glass is reasonably good but no one should expect native experience.

I would be really more careful before calling someone post "embarassing ignorance@.

 

[arbuz]

Elix wrote:

arbuz wrote:

I do now, however you don't have 300mm F4 glass on m4/3. you have only darker zooms which will not compete in detail and will force to use higher ISO that further deteriorate IQ. I.e. even APS-C has clear advantages over m4/3.

Excuse me?

1Prime 50mm f/2.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

For a "dark zoom", try 90-250mm f/2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

In case you don;t know, these are higly regarded SHG series lesens, native 40-150mm f/2.8 will come later next year.

That is only about olymous, other excellent MFT alternatives are available today from Panasonic.

Not sure how your answer is related to m4/3. All that glass is 4/3, very good on E-5. not even close on E-M1 for fast action. Prove me wrong.

 

[Mark Thornton]

arbuz wrote:

Acrill wrote:

Richie S wrote:

This is unlikely to end up in the hands of wildlife shooters, unless as a backup, scouting system. If you invest the time and effort they do into this stuff then simply put you want the best, and i mean, the best possible output you can reasonably manage.

Comments like this are an embarrassing display of ignorance. The least you can do is a bit of googling and link checking before you post.

Read this story about John Isaac, chief U.N. photographer and an excellent wildlife photographer.

He used an E-5 and Olympus 90-250mm 2.8, a lens that should be a great fit with the E-M1.

Olympus DSLRs have long been popular with serious wildlife photographers due in large part to the fantastic optical quality of their telephoto zoom lenses..

The crane and eagle photos are great:

http://www.adorama.com/alc/0013463/...ohn-Isaacs-close-encounters-of-the-avian-kind

So he used E-5. not EM-1. E-5 with premium lenses has very fast AF, which is a key in this subject area.

So far there is no evidence or even claim from olympus that E-m1 will focus close to what E-5 is capable of. On the contrary, dpreview first impressions say that AF with 4/3 glass is reasonably good but no one should expect native experience.

I would be really more careful before calling someone post "embarassing ignorance@.

"However, side-by-side use suggests that, while the E-M1 focuses at a similar speed to the E-5 in good light, it is more prone to occasionally slowing down and juddering the lens into focus than the E-5."

From http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympus-om-d-e-m1/7

 

[Mark Thornton]

arbuz wrote:

Elix wrote:

arbuz wrote:

I do now, however you don't have 300mm F4 glass on m4/3. you have only darker zooms which will not compete in detail and will force to use higher ISO that further deteriorate IQ. I.e. even APS-C has clear advantages over m4/3.

Excuse me?

1Prime 50mm f/2.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

For a "dark zoom", try 90-250mm f/2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

In case you don;t know, these are higly regarded SHG series lesens, native 40-150mm f/2.8 will come later next year.

That is only about olymous, other excellent MFT alternatives are available today from Panasonic.

Not sure how your answer is related to m4/3. All that glass is 4/3, very good on E-5. not even close on E-M1 for fast action. Prove me wrong.

With relatively little hard evidence available, why are you so sure that the E-M1 has not achieved good performance on 4/3 glass?

Mark

 

[Martin.au]

arbuz wrote:

Elix wrote:

arbuz wrote:

I do now, however you don't have 300mm F4 glass on m4/3. you have only darker zooms which will not compete in detail and will force to use higher ISO that further deteriorate IQ. I.e. even APS-C has clear advantages over m4/3.

Excuse me?

1Prime 50mm f/2.http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

For a "dark zoom", try 90-250mm f/2.8 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/333503-REG/Olympus_261008_150mm_f_2_0_ED_Lens.html

In case you don;t know, these are higly regarded SHG series lesens, native 40-150mm f/2.8 will come later next year.

That is only about olymous, other excellent MFT alternatives are available today from Panasonic.

Not sure how your answer is related to m4/3. All that glass is 4/3, very good on E-5. not even close on E-M1 for fast action. Prove me wrong.

"The old 4/3 300mm f2.8 worked fine; the AF wasn't as fast as the Micro 4/3 lenses, but then it's much older technology and a very specialised lens that many won't have. There are two shots (horses) in the set shot on this lens. The longest Micro 4/3 I shot with was the 75mm f1.8 which worked perfectly, even wide open. I think Olympus needs to work on some new long glass, specifically designed for this camera. A 200-400mm f2.8 would be very welcome"

From Edmond Terkopian, who has actually spent some time testing the 300mm on the E-M1.

My shots with the Olympus OM-D EM-1; It's a rather fab camera!

 

[peevee1]

marike6 wrote:

peevee1 wrote:

marike6 wrote:

Elix wrote:

marike6 wrote:
The high grade UWA zooms?

Here.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/358162-REG/Olympus_261009_7_14mm_f_4_0_Zuiko_ED.html

Holy mackerel, $1800 for a 14-28 f/4 (f8 equivalent in FF DOF equivalent) lens?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with f/8 FF DoF for landscape/interior lens, you would probably stop it down further, to at least f/11 or f/16 (and would not be able to shoot without tripod at base ISO even in daylight).

For landscape photography it's more than fine. f4 max aperture is not great for natural light, low-light interiors. The Olympus 12 f2 although not nearly as wide, could be useful in this situation.

Shooting at 14mm-28mm from the corner of a room with FF camera at f/2.8, you'll end up with most of the room out of focus. If there is not enough light, then wide aperture and large sensor will not help you in this case, longer shutter speed will - i.e. a tripod or good stabilization, which Nikon/Canon UWA lenses lack by the way and Olympus has the best.

 

[Nakiphoto]

AndyMulhearn wrote:

Nakiphoto wrote:

Magnum photographers; Moises Saman and Peter van Agtmael use ther current EM-5 as their main cameras already. In other words; we already have so much choice in wonderfully competent cameras.

http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/the-knowledge/ideastap-meets-magnum-magazine

Do they get to do much Wildlife Photography in Afghanistan then?

The opening post was "E-M1 - A camera for National Geographic Photogs and other explorers.."

Actually; I'd bet that a photojournalist would be harder on gear when working in Afghanistan than a wildlife photograper would be.

Anyway it's good to see real photographers who are at the top of their game using them for work rather than reading typical internet blog photographers reviews..... Most of whom are only shooting run of the mill work anyway....

 

[AndyMulhearn]

Nakiphoto wrote:

AndyMulhearn wrote:

Nakiphoto wrote:

Magnum photographers; Moises Saman and Peter van Agtmael use ther current EM-5 as their main cameras already. In other words; we already have so much choice in wonderfully competent cameras.

http://www.ideastap.com/ideasmag/the-knowledge/ideastap-meets-magnum-magazine

Do they get to do much Wildlife Photography in Afghanistan then?

The opening post was "E-M1 - A camera for National Geographic Photogs and other explorers.."

While this is true, the content of the original post, and much that follows, references wilderness and wildlife photographers.

Actually; I'd bet that a photojournalist would be harder on gear when working in Afghanistan than a wildlife photograper would be.

I suspect it evens out but the range of optics needed in photojournalism may be one covered as well by m4/3 as APS-C or FF.

Anyway it's good to see real photographers who are at the top of their game using them for work rather than reading typical internet blog photographers reviews..... Most of whom are only shooting run of the mill work anyway....

Agreed.

 

[Geesix]

If you did you would know the way Olympus implement them as use either one of of them at the time. The only way you can back up from one card to another is to copy each picture manually.

I and like most people fill both slot with card just in case when I am in the middle of shooting important shot and one of them is full, the camera will switch to the other one so I can keep shooting. That is why some people here say that it is not useful since the SD card size can be big nowadays.

 

[Acrill]

arbuz wrote:

So he used E-5. not EM-1. E-5 with premium lenses has very fast AF, which is a key in this subject area.

So far there is no evidence or even claim from olympus that E-m1 will focus close to what E-5 is capable of. On the contrary, dpreview first impressions say that AF with 4/3 glass is reasonably good but no one should expect native experience.

I would be really more careful before calling someone post "embarassing ignorance@.

I stand by what I said.

His post that this system will not work for serious wildlife photographers displays embarrassing ignorance of the fact that the Olympus E-system has long been a prime choice for serious wildlife photographers.

Olympus themselves say that the E-M1 is the successor to the E-5.

Dpreview corrected their statement and note that focusing with the E-M1 and 4/3 zooms is faster and better than on the E-5.

You are out of date.

 

[G Sciorio]

Mjankor wrote:

Sure seems like a perfect system for photographers who need good IQ, but have to take cameras far into the wilderness.

Lightweight, weatherproof, and freeze proof, and with good tracking AF to keep the wildlife photographers happy.

The E-M5 was almost there, but the E-M1 looks pretty close to perfect. I just wish it had two card slots.

Ira Block shoots for Nat Geo with the GH3 - http://www.panasonic.net/avc/lumix/dslm/gh3_special/gallery/ira_block/