civilized ku # 205 ~ bona fides
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 12:14PM 
Parade staging • click to embiggenA fair number of picture makers (myself included) have been excited by the emerging prospects and possibilities of the so-called micro 4/3rds cameras. The most often mentioned characteristic of these new cameras is their compactness especially so when coupled with so-called "pancake" lenses that are being introduced for the micro 4/3rds format.
The primary benefit of this compactness is, well, quite obviously, the compactness - that and the large image sensor (as compared to those found in most "compact" cameras). One of the benefits of this compactness that has been mentioned repeatedly is the idea that a compact camera calls far less attention to a picture maker than that created by a large dslr - add a battery grip to a dslr and the camera creates an imposing visual presence.
That said, you can imagine the "presence" created when, as I did when picturing the Labor Day parade, I venture forth with 2 dslrs (with battery grips) hanging from various parts of my body.
However, the interesting thing about that "presence" is that I have rarely found it to be a negative one. In fact, there is a certain sense of "pro" bone fides that is most commonly associated with it. Much more often than not, those bona fides have given me access to things rather than denying me access. In fact, in some cases it is primarily the perceived pro bona fides that have allowed me to gain access to people, places, and things that I wish to picture.
All of that said, would I ever consider getting rid of all the dslrs and their attendant bulk and weight and go with a micro 4/3rds' system?
Absolutely. I have always been a devotee of good things that come in small packages - houses, cars, and cameras are high on that list. However, in order for me to make the switch, those cameras will have to mature in the sense that I want pro features like weather sealed bodies and lenses, rugged metalframe construction, battery grips (or some method to accommodate extra batteries), and the one thing that is hard to find, even on dslrs, unless you go to the top tier of gear - a sync socket for connecting to studio strobe equipment.
That said, other than the pro bona fides notion of dslrs, the one thing that I actually like about my dslrs (with battery grips attached) is their size and weight. Even though I'm good, I don't come in a small package (6'3"/220 lbs) and compact cameras can feel rather too compact in my hands. And, the weight of full-sized gear actually adds an element of slow shutter speed stability (in addition to that from IS) that I appreciate.
All of that said, go ahead and ask me if I wish I could have a micro 4/3rd system - 2 bodies, 3-4 lenses (even in their current state of development) - for my upcoming trip to Italy.
Reader Comments (2)
Dear Mark,
Yes you have to go to Italy with a Pen E-P1. Olympus Europe loaned to me an E-P1 (they proposed to loan several Pen, and I were enough fortunate for having been choosed)
Firstly, I were surprised by the camera but after a couple of days I began to like more and more this camera. I ownE3, E1 and two E330 plus 11-22; 14-54 and 12-60... just a kind of continuity on the curve of needs, no more.
I've always wait a camera to shoot "à la Hasselblad" but there is really no digital camera (the E330 is going close but not square) and with this new camera I've almost the better of the two worlds. The quality of the files are very very high and I could have composed directly in the square format as with my Hasselblad SWC. This little camera is a dream. Of course, I agree with you about the weather sealed and ruged body but.... that's not the more important compared to the pleasure I've had.
So, I know quite well Italy (much closer from France than from U.S) and my next trip (I've been in Italy may be twenty times) could be with the Pen, the micro-lenses which are very good and my 11-22.
Here is a little gallery of photos shooted directly in square with the amazing pinhole art filter and the micro 14-42 lens: http://www.cameraromana.com/pinhole_pen_gallery/index.html
Thank you for your blog which is always very interesting (some of my friends who are professionnal photographers with Olympus SLR have laught when reading your note about the electric dog necklace
Kind regards from Paris
Nicolas
ps: Please excuse my very bad "french-american english'
I'm waiting for the pixel peepers review of the Panasonic before I fork out the cash, but small cameras with "large" sensors are most welcome indeed. Why I await the pixel peepers? To me a small candid camera will be used most of the time in low light, as such ISO 800-1600 performance is my working interval. Hopefully Panasonic has made something wonderful so I can smash my Caon G9 with a hammer!