This is a story about getting the best of both worlds, I think.
I've been using both MFT and a Sony FE for a several years now. Just a little under two years ago I made the decision to trade the E-M1 II for a Sony A7III, mainly because of the AF shortcomings of the E-M1 II vs the a7 III - I chose the A7, because it nailed eye-AF so much better. I did retain both systems, just continued with an E-M10 II to justify getting another expesive camera body. But certainly the upgrade from A7 II to a7 III and downgrade from E-M1 II to EM10 II meant that I started to use the Sony system much more.
So, I've had both systems for quite a while now and I really haven't been able let go of the MFT system. I just don't see the Sony system (or Canon or Nikon for that matter) being able to replace MFT. I simply find Olympus (MFT) enjoyable to use in a way that other systems don't achieve. The way it feels to use an Olympus camera is just ...great. And then there is the size and quality of the lenses... There are a lot of quality lenses for Sony FE (I also use Canon L-glass via an adapter) but the size difference compared to an MFT setup is so enormous that I often gravitate to using MFT lenses anyway, because it's just easier and more fun
Honestly, the ease and fun of photography with light gear is under appreciated!
Now with the release of the E-M1 III, the biggest factors that I had for not getting an E-M1 have been fixed. Mainly the reasons from the top of my mind at the moment are:
Now, you wouldn't think that the starry sky AF would be any kind of deciding factor for choosing a camera... Well, a few months ago I went shooting for northern lights and stars with the A7 III and I almost botched the whole shooting trip because of focusing problems. The temperature was quite freezing, at around -15C or a bit colder. I just put the lens (24-105) on infity focus (big mistake, I know) and shot away.... And I got nothing but blurry images. I then gradually adjusted the manual focus and finally found the correct focusing distance to stars - at around 1.2 meters!
Now, when your toes are almost freezing off, because you've been walking around and standing in one place for hours, you tend to get a little careless around small things like focusing.... This freezing lesson reminded me that temperature can severely affect the focusing distance and thus how correctly focused your photos turn out...
When I read about the starry sky AF, I knew immediately that I would have use for it - no more botched shots because I'm too cold and shivering to check the focus properly :-D
So... I am also quite partial to fish eye lenses. This is how things come together on this one.
At times, you have to ask yourself if you want to peep pixels or have fun...
--
pics: http://500px.com/arnrna
http://www.pbase.com/arn
I've been using both MFT and a Sony FE for a several years now. Just a little under two years ago I made the decision to trade the E-M1 II for a Sony A7III, mainly because of the AF shortcomings of the E-M1 II vs the a7 III - I chose the A7, because it nailed eye-AF so much better. I did retain both systems, just continued with an E-M10 II to justify getting another expesive camera body. But certainly the upgrade from A7 II to a7 III and downgrade from E-M1 II to EM10 II meant that I started to use the Sony system much more.
So, I've had both systems for quite a while now and I really haven't been able let go of the MFT system. I just don't see the Sony system (or Canon or Nikon for that matter) being able to replace MFT. I simply find Olympus (MFT) enjoyable to use in a way that other systems don't achieve. The way it feels to use an Olympus camera is just ...great. And then there is the size and quality of the lenses... There are a lot of quality lenses for Sony FE (I also use Canon L-glass via an adapter) but the size difference compared to an MFT setup is so enormous that I often gravitate to using MFT lenses anyway, because it's just easier and more fun
Honestly, the ease and fun of photography with light gear is under appreciated!Now with the release of the E-M1 III, the biggest factors that I had for not getting an E-M1 have been fixed. Mainly the reasons from the top of my mind at the moment are:
- improvements in AF (eye-AF)
- Hand Held High Res mode
but also - improvements in image stabilization
- Starry sky AF
- AF selection joystick (little things like this matter more than you'd think!)
- Olympus 8m f/1.8
Now, you wouldn't think that the starry sky AF would be any kind of deciding factor for choosing a camera... Well, a few months ago I went shooting for northern lights and stars with the A7 III and I almost botched the whole shooting trip because of focusing problems. The temperature was quite freezing, at around -15C or a bit colder. I just put the lens (24-105) on infity focus (big mistake, I know) and shot away.... And I got nothing but blurry images. I then gradually adjusted the manual focus and finally found the correct focusing distance to stars - at around 1.2 meters!
Now, when your toes are almost freezing off, because you've been walking around and standing in one place for hours, you tend to get a little careless around small things like focusing.... This freezing lesson reminded me that temperature can severely affect the focusing distance and thus how correctly focused your photos turn out...When I read about the starry sky AF, I knew immediately that I would have use for it - no more botched shots because I'm too cold and shivering to check the focus properly :-D
So... I am also quite partial to fish eye lenses. This is how things come together on this one.
- Hand Held High Res mode will allow me to create easy panoramas by cropping the shots in to a wider format and still leave me with enough resolution for high quality shots. I can create wide angle panoramas easily in one shot without the need to stich several shots.
- Olympus built-in de-fish option will allow me to get quick de-fished super wide angle shots and send / post / upload them via phone, when I just want regular wide angle.
- Starry sky AF combined with improved IBIS and f/1.8 will probably also come in quite handy for hand held nightshots, but that I have to really test this one in practice
At times, you have to ask yourself if you want to peep pixels or have fun...
--
pics: http://500px.com/arnrna
http://www.pbase.com/arn
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