Equipment Reviews

Wow, some interesting stuff is happening in the camera market place!  A few years ago Olympus revived the old OM series in digital form, and the first model the OM-D E-M5 was a big hit, and charged to t he top of the ladder of Micro four third cameras.  For good reason, it was well built, very resistant to the elements and Olympus has always had a reputation for making great lenses.  They supported the camera with and extensive line of quality glass and Olympus was on their way.  The OM-D E-M1, which I had the pleasure of shooting in Death Valley, is another giant step up for Olympus. This camera is a force to be reckoned with.

To add to the confusion, Nikon introduced the the Df about ten days ago, a throw back style body with manual knobs and locking controls and a modern D4 sensor, wow are things getting interesting!  I’ve got a theory, and I will share it, but first let me brag a little on Olympus.  This is a real winner, good looking, solid feeling, great image producing camera.  It has more features and possible adjustments than almost anything I’ve seen in a long time, and that may also be it’s achilles heel.  Let me back up on that, if a person is willing to dive into the manual and learn how to use the amazing features it can be an amazing tool.  It can do more than I’ve seen in a camera in long time, but it is not to be taken lightly, with this camera , at least for a while, the manual will be your best friend!

The top deck has a knob that sets the main operating system, Program, Manual, Shutter Priority and Aperture Priority, plus some special functions, that’s easy enough.  When you get into setting the custom function buttons and control wheels, I counted 6,  but I may not have found them al!  It’s obvious this camera can be either really powerful, or really confusing.  I expect that someone a little younger, and more patient will not only figure it out, they will get wonderful results from it.

Now to my theory, there is a secret that is starting to emerge, one that Leica never forgot, Fuji has rediscovered, and now Nikon is “finally” on board with, and I’m not sure where Canon is???!!!  Many photographers are getting older and want something that is simple to use, like what they learned on! A Shutter speed knob, aperture ring on the back of the lens, easy to set compensation dial, you get it, a camera like we learned on in the late 60’s and early 70’s!  Does this make an effort like the Olympus bad?  Absolutely not, I applaud them for pushing the boundary of micro four thirds technology and creating such a very capable camera.  Heck, I’m really tempted to pick one up, I think it has some really wonderful applications.  The upside is it is really well made, it has the best viewfinder I’ve seen on a mirror less camera.  The 12-40 f 2.8 Pro lens (24-80 equiv.) I used and the 12mm f 1.8 (24mm equiv.) were both top notch in build and optical quality, I suspect the soon to come additional Pro lenses will be up to this standard.  If I was looking for a small camera that was also very capable, I don’t think you could go wrong with the OM-D1.

Is there a downside?  Maybe, and it depends on what you like, need, and prefer.  If you like manual control knobs instead of buttons, and want the best very High ISO low noise performance you may consider the Fuji X system which has the bigger APS-C size sensor.  They are very different cameras and after you hold both, and operate them, you’ll know which one seem right for you.  One thing is for sure, the big camera companies like Canon and Nikon are loosing people to these new smaller and very capable cameras, and that is not something that has to happen!  Both of the flagship, big boys, in the industry are more than capable of building these kinds of killer, smaller, but very serious performing systems!!   I wish they both would, it sure would make the market place even more interesting.  The Nikon 1, the V and J were good starts, but to compete in this arena, they need to go to the next level. Come on Nikon, I know you can do it!

I want to thank  my dear friend and long time photo buddy from Olympus, Ray Acevedo for making it possible for me to try out this truly wonderful camera.  It is such an attractive camera, I just may find myself owning one!

This will give you a size comparison idea next to the Nikon D7100.

Exciting times indeed!

Blessings,

the pilgrim

Addendum:  A friend emailed  me shortly after this posted and he owns the M5, the earlier model, he owns Olympus, Fuji, and a Panasonic.  He agreed with everything in the report, but added that he got the multi button scheme down pretty quickly and said he loves the camera….  Doesn’t surprise me a bit!  I think those that take the time to shoot it, will really enjoy it!