I just joined the Micro Four Thirds club!

[narsuitus]

Welcome to the Micro 4/3 Club!

I have been a micro 4/3 user for a few years. I originally used Olympus E-p1 and E-p3 bodies mounted with 20mm f/1.7 Panasonic, 45mm f/1.8 Olympus, and 14mm f/2.5 Panasonic lenses for shooting available light candids at weddings.

I was very satisfied with the image quality produced by my micro 4/3 equipment; however, I was very displeased with the lack of reliability and dependability of the bodies. I got tired of them breaking during wedding ceremonies. At my last wedding with the 4/3, the final straw was when the dial on the top of the E-p3 fell off.

The Fuji X-Pro1 replaced my Olympus as my available light wedding candid camera. Thus far, the X-Pro1 has proven to be more reliable.

I now use my micro 4/3 camera as a digital black & white camera. Often, I use it with my meterless medium format film cameras as a light meter and for test shots.


Candid Wedding Cameras by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[al1966]

I have used m43 on and off since 2010, with health issues its size is a godsend. For most of the work I do the dynamic range is plenty good enough and if I need to do lower light I just use either the Sonys or Samsungs. There are a lot of nice lenses now for m43 possibly the best line up with two makers of cameras constantly adding to the options, though there are now some nice lenses for both Fuji and Sony. As much as the A7 is a wonderful camera it can now get hard to carry it for extended periods of time, the Panasonics can be carried for hours on end.

 

[Dogman]

I think you'll enjoy the m4/3. It should fit you well considering the types of photography you post here on RFF.

Canon has been my main system for almost 20 years but I adopted m4/3 early on in its history by buying both an Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic Lumix G1 and later on the Olympus E-P2. I also used the Olympus standard 4/3 DSLR system with its excellent range of lenses. The small 4/3 format is impressive.

Today I've switched to Fuji, mainly. Fuji's retro designs and familiar handling won me over and they simply fit my uses better. The stories I see about the X-trans sensor problems seem overblown to me. I use Lightroom exclusively and, yes, I can get the "worms" and "watercolor" effect by overdoing the sharpening but it's easy to avoid and I have to say I'm more than happy with Fuji Raw files and the results I'm able to get with a minimum of post processing. I especially love the way B&W looks from Fuji files. I get beautiful 12x18 prints.

I still use m4/3 a bit. I have several m4/3 and standard 4/3 lenses that I'm particularly fond of using. There's an OMD E-M1 with an adapted Zuiko 50-200/2.8-3.5 on hand around the house at all times for an occasional bird shot. M4/3 is especially useful for telephotos.

You'll get a lot of use out of your new equipment I'm sure.

 

[Dan]

Chris,

When you say I am going to profile the Olympus camera with my Sekonic L-758DR meter can you elaborate on this? I'm curious how this would be accomplished.

 

[Dan Daniel]

I've found that the files from my E-P5 go through Nik Silver Efex nicely. So I now have a "2 format" digital B&W setup that is analogous to 35mm and medium format, with the Olympus m43 being the 35mm camera and the Sigma Merrils being the medium format.

 

[willie_901]

Sensor Technologies Really Have Improved

Sensor Technologies Really Have Improved

...Once I got all the settings figured out, I have been VERY impressed. The images are slightly noisier than those from the Canon at the same ISO settings, but Lightroom's noise reduction eliminates it without losing detail.

...

Here is a link comparing the Canon and Pen F low-light performance. Unfortunately you have to zoom the chart. These data are normalized with respect to sensor area. The 5D Mark II 24 X 36 mm sensor only affords a ~1/3 stop (EV) advantage. However the 6D Mark II offers about a 2/3 stop advantage.

Similarly the dynamic range data show little, if any advantage for the 5D Mark II.

A larger senor area always means more total light which in turn means more total signal. But newer cameras often have lower read-noise levels. Here's some more data. In terms of perceived image quality in low light (or in shadow regions in brighter light) neither the signal level nor the noise level alone tell the whole story. it's the S/N that counts.

It is common for an older 24 X 36 mm camera to have similar or lower signal-to-noise ratio than a newer design with a smaller sensor. Then the convenience of reduced size and weight brings little, if any penalty.

 

[bayernfan]

glad you've found something that works and creates images you enjoy.

personally, i find full-frame worth the extra bulk and weight. the difference in image quality between FF and m43 is quite apparent to my eyes. i've tested the Pen-F, EM-5 II, A7 and 6D. The A7 and 6D images are just so much more rich and pleasing.

there are also some surprisingly compact FF setups as well (6D + EF 40/2.8, A7 + Sonnar 35/2.8, M240 + Voigt 35/2.5).

but it's all about what satisfies your criteria. hope you continue enjoying the new setup.

 

[Kent]

It is kind of amazing what they meanwhile can get out of the µ4/3 sensor - Olympus and Panasonic.
I prefer Olympus a little more. But that is very personal.

 

[rfaspen]

Chris, I think you will come to love using a mirrorless, not just because of the size and weight, but the selection of quite good lenses available today makes it a good choice.

I have an EP-2, and I gave my wife and son various EP models as well. My son has permanently borrowed some of my lenses, so I end up using adapted lenses on my body -- when I use it. I have other small cameras in my closet that get much more attention. Partly because I just like those cameras more, but also because I sometimes don't like the quality of the images from the EP2. Not that they aren't perfectly good images, but the "kit lens" that came with the body is not up to my standards, and the colors of the images are somehow different. Still, I've exhibited at least 2 images from that camera, so I'm obviously being picky.

I'm pretty sure you'll end up using good lenses and being very happy.

 

[robert blu]

great move Chris, I'm sure you'll enjoy your Pen F! Sorry to hear about your health issue. Life is sometimes not easy but I think your passion for what you are doing (photography) in excellent way will help you to go on.
Nice photos, specially strong the portrait of your son (grown up so quick!).
Do you have any feeling about the 4/3 ratio compared to 2/3 ?
robert

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

glad you've found something that works and creates images you enjoy.

personally, i find full-frame worth the extra bulk and weight. the difference in image quality between FF and m43 is quite apparent to my eyes. i've tested the Pen-F, EM-5 II, A7 and 6D. The A7 and 6D images are just so much more rich and pleasing.

there are also some surprisingly compact FF setups as well (6D + EF 40/2.8, A7 + Sonnar 35/2.8, M240 + Voigt 35/2.5).

but it's all about what satisfies your criteria. hope you continue enjoying the new setup.

The Canon 6D is nearly as big and heavy as my old 5DmkII. The 5DmkII and the Pen-F are both 20mp cameras, and there's little difference in image quality so far as I can see so far. I'm simply not able to carry around such heavy gear anymore.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris,

When you say I am going to profile the Olympus camera with my Sekonic L-758DR meter can you elaborate on this? I'm curious how this would be accomplished.

The Sekonic L-758DR is one of several Sekonic meters that allow you to profile a digital camera. This is done by photographing a profiling target sold by Sekonic (it costs $130, and yes it SHOULD have been included with the meter, considering the high price of the meter itself!). The target has a bunch of shades of gray on it. You photograph it using the incident meter to determine exposure, and then make bracketed exposures of it. All of these are opened in Sekonic's profiling software, which analyzes the photos of the profile target and automatically creates the profile, which is loaded to the meter via a USB cable.

The profiling does two things:

1) It takes into account the fact that some digital cameras' ISO settings are not truly accurate.

2) It determines the highlight and shadow clipping points so you know the camera's dynamic range. These points are shown on the meter, and you can use the meter's built-in spotmeter to check different things in the scene to see if anything will be too bright or two dark to render correctly.

I've done this with my Canon 5DmkII, and it is useful. The profile can be done at different ISO settings on a camera, so when you set the meter to different ISO settings, it will give correct exposure on the camera at any ISO.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Congrats on getting the PEN-F. It's a beautiful and capable camera that I wanted.

Really there is no bad prime lens from Oly in the M4/3 pool. Even the body cap lenses are usable!

This one was taken with my humble pen ep3 with the humble 17/2.8. Jpeg.
Enjoy your Pen-F!

That is beautiful!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The Sekonic L-758DR is one of several Sekonic meters that allow you to profile a digital camera. This is done by photographing a profiling target sold by Sekonic (it costs $130, and yes it SHOULD have been included with the meter, considering the high price of the meter itself!). The target has a bunch of shades of gray on it. You photograph it using the incident meter to determine exposure, and then make bracketed exposures of it. All of these are opened in Sekonic's profiling software, which analyzes the photos of the profile target and automatically creates the profile, which is loaded to the meter via a USB cable.

The profiling does two things:

1) It takes into account the fact that some digital cameras' ISO settings are not truly accurate.

2) It determines the highlight and shadow clipping points so you know the camera's dynamic range. These points are shown on the meter, and you can use the meter's built-in spotmeter to check different things in the scene to see if anything will be too bright or two dark to render correctly.

I've done this with my Canon 5DmkII, and it is useful. The profile can be done at different ISO settings on a camera, so when you set the meter to different ISO settings, it will give correct exposure on the camera at any ISO.

OK, I have finally profiled my Pen-F with my Sekonic meter.


Exposure Level:

This is the most interesting thing. I've had the camera a few weeks now, and felt like the photos were coming out a bit underexposed using an incident meter (the Sekonic L-758DR with its default settings).

Profiling confirmed what I was seeing. The camera's ISO settings are about 1/3 stop off. The profile on the Sekonic meter makes it give 1/3 stop more exposure than using the meter without a profile. Now my photos are coming out perfectly exposed. So, if the camera is set to ISO-200, its real sensitivity is only ISO-160. Profiling built this adjustment into the Sekonic meter, so I can set both the meter and the camera to ISO-200 (or whatever ISO I choose) and the exposures will be correct.

My Canon camera's ISO settings were honest; the Sekonic profile did not need to adjust the exposure level for it.


Dynamic Range:

The Olympus Pen-F has slightly less shadow range and slightly more highlight range than the Canon 5DmkII. The overall range is about the same though if you count number of stops from the shadow clipping point to the highlight clipping point.

 

[fireblade]

Congrats Chris. The M43rds system is a great system. Olympus is the road i took. The ergonomics suited me and their range of lenses are great as well. I have purchased other branded lenses being the Panasonic 25mm, Sigma 19mm and the Samyang 12mm.

 

[KEH]

Welcome to M43 Chris! When not shooting wildlife I mostly shoot BW film, but my Pen F with Panasonic 20/1.7 makes a wonderful pocketable companion.

The Oly menu system is a pain, but the latest software for installing firmware updates allows you to back up your menu settings, which can save a lot of grief.

Cheers,

Kirk

 

[jsrockit]

I am in extremely bad health now. I just cannot carry a big SLR everywhere like I used to.

I hope you feel better (or as good as you can) and continue with this series. The most important thing, photography wise, is to be able to keep doing it. I don't care if you had to use a phone... I enjoy your work. Take care.

 

[jsrockit]

personally, i find full-frame worth the extra bulk and weight. the difference in image quality between FF and m43 is quite apparent to my eyes.

I agree...but APSC is the sweet spot.

 

[mcfingon]

I am sorry about your added health problems too Chris. I hope you can still do as many photos as you wish, and the little Oly can help. I recommend you have a look at the 25/1.4 DG Summilux lens. I have one of those as well as the 14/2.5, 17/1.8 and 45/1.8. The Minilux, as I call it, gives the best quality photos of the lenses I have, in my subjective judgement.
John Mc

 

[faris]

Sorry to hear about your health, Chris.
Just keep yourself busy with your photographic passion. As good a remedy as any, in my post CABG opinion.

Congratulations on the camera acquisition.

Best wishes.