EM1, a dog and a frisbee

Got out to shoot a few images over the weekend with our lab/pit mix.  Sharing a few that I'm happy with.

I like this shot the best !

Well done.

fuesting wrote:

I like much!

Thank you!

Opseuman wrote:

I like this shot the best !

Well done.

Thanks!  Just curious, which shot were you referring too?

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Nice work. 40-150 Pro? What focus setting are you using?

Asking because I have a new pup to keep up with (his senior housemate poses no focus problems whatsoever) and am fiddling with the best settings. At six months he's fast; if he gets much faster he may be illegal. This was with C-AF:

E-M1+40-150 Pro

Keep up the good work.

Cheers,

Rick

Great shot as well, and a great looking pup!

I used CAF and the center focus block (9 AF area, if I remember right) and the highest frame rate. I didn't spend a lot of time testing different settings out, as it was cold and I just wanted to get her out to burn off some energy

I was throwing the frisbee with my left hand, and then putting the camera up to my eye and trying to find her and firing away. So not the best technique, but still managed to get a few keepers.

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Keith Schmidt wrote:

I was throwing the frisbee with my left hand, and then putting the camera up to my eye and trying to find her and firing away. So not the best technique, but still managed to get a few keepers.

Okay, now I'm reallyimpressed! Somehow reminds me of the gunslinger in old westerns who'd throw a bottle in the air and shoot it with his six-gun after drawing from the holster. "Now you were saying, sonny?" [twirl and holster] "Uh, nothin' mister."

Luckily I have a dog wrangler (daughter) to handle the critter so I don't have to do the one-hand thing. Plenty of challenge with two.

Cheers,

Rick

That's pretty funny Rick  I can hear the old cliche western music as I read that!

Keith, I don't think your mix got stirred very well. It has a perfect Lab head, complete with diamond eyes, and a pit body. But a very nice looking dog.

/Bill

WGHalvorsen wrote:

Keith, I don't think your mix got stirred very well. It has a perfect Lab head, complete with diamond eyes, and a pit body. But a very nice looking dog.

/Bill

Thanks Bill!  I have to admit we were a bit nervous when we initially started to figure out she was part pit, but she's the sweetest dog we've owned, and just a big baby.

Very nice photos and great looking pup. I love that last photo ... profile)

Robert

Beautiful dog and great shots! I find running dogs to be a real challenge for AF systems and am impressed that you got any keepers while also throwing the frisbee. I have a Nikon D800 that I have used with various lenses and have struggled. Most of my best shots have been while my pups were swimming, since that slows them down, or at the end of the throw, before they have a chance to build up speed.

Were you happy with your EM I's AF performance or are you eyeing the EM II?

PhotoguyCanada wrote:

Very nice photos and great looking pup. I love that last photo ... profile)

Robert

Thanks! She really is a beautiful dog - gives me a great subject when I'm bored and can't get out somewhere to shoot.

ChicagoMike wrote:

Beautiful dog and great shots! I find running dogs to be a real challenge for AF systems and am impressed that you got any keepers while also throwing the frisbee. I have a Nikon D800 that I have used with various lenses and have struggled. Most of my best shots have been while my pups were swimming, since that slows them down, or at the end of the throw, before they have a chance to build up speed.

Were you happy with your EM I's AF performance or are you eyeing the EM II?

Thanks!

I'm generally happy with the EM1AF performance. I don't think I'd use it if sports/action were my main photography subject, but it does pretty well all things considered in those situations. A couple things it has in it's favor - it acquires focus really, really fast - faster than just about any DSLR I've used. You can shoot wide open and get sharp photos - the focus is just so accurate. I've never had to deal with any front or back focus. And despite all the talk about always wanting more shallow DOF (which I admit to at times ), it can be an advantage in these types of situation because a little more is in focus compared to what you'd get at f2.8 on APS-C or FF.

I have thought about the EM1 II, and I'm still on the fence. I don't see much that it offers that fills any issues/gaps I feel like the EM1 has. I'd like a bit better high ISO, although I generally just leave my EM1 on auto ISO with a cap of 6400 and it does pretty well.

I'd also like a bit more latitude from a dynamic range standpoint, although again, this hasn't been a huge problem for 99% of my shots.

So I've considered a bunch of things. I've had the EM1 for over 3 years now (which feels like an eternity for a digital camera). It still works great and is better than i am as a photographer. But, I like technology and always wonder if I'm missing out on anything. Thought about a Fuji XT2, and it looks like it would be great. But don't want to give up IBIS.

I thought about a Sony A7RII - it's amazing, but expensive. I can get past the body price, but the Sony lenses are crazy expensive, and overall bigger/heavier than I want.

I did pick up a Nikon D750, along with a 24-120 and 50mm 1.4. It's fantastic. I was walking around the house taking photos of things, literally in the dark with the 50mm wide open, and at ISO 8000. I kept saying "this thing is a witch!" (think my wife thought I was nuts). Its remarkable in that respect. And the ability to recover shadows and highlights is awesome.

BUT, it's huge, and heavy, and not nearly as nice to use as the EM1. And I miss IBIS for the primes. So I doubt I'll keep it.

Sorry, long-winded answer. Still thinking about the EM1 MKII, but will wait a bit to see more real world use/samples, and see what RAW images look like once Adobe is ready.

Appreciate your thoughtful reply. Your comments about accurate focusing and depth of field are spot on. I have rented the 70-200 Nikkor for a couple of shoots and found that using it wide open was not ideal for running dog shots. Using the lens at 2.8 meant that any focus issues knocked the eyes out of focus and more or less ruined the shot. And most shots suffered from some kind of focus issue.

No text.

She looks and sounds like a delightful, well cared for dog. And you have a great set of photos of her. Thanks for sharing them.

/Bill