civilized ku # 921 ~ making pictures
Friday, April 15, 2011 at 03:06PM 
Making pictures ~ Exhibit / NYS Museum - Albany, NY • click to embiggenA few entries ago Dennis Allshouse (no link provided) wrote:
I know you don't like gearhead stuff, but I've searched the site and haven't found any writing on why you moved to micro 4/3rd. Although in a nutshell something along the lines of lighter, more compact, same performance comes to mind. It's just so much easier to talk about the gear than all the other stuff, lol.
You can search the site until hell freezes over or Republicans start making sense (take your pick - both have the same level of probability) but you won't find any writing on why I moved to µ4/3rd. That is not because I deliberately failed to mention it. Rather, it is due to the fact that I never "moved" to µ4/3rd - when I made the jump from P&S digital cameras to dslr cameras, I started with a 4/3rd camera and I consider µ4/3rd as just an extension / another flavor of the 4/3rd format. Although ...
... this entry, this entry, and this entry did herald the acquisition of my first µ4/3rd camera.
I started with a 4/3rd camera for a number of reasons. Amongst them: I would rather gouge my eyes out than own a Canon dslr - that's a personal prejudice not based in any way on their quality or performance; when I made the jump, Nikon - my 35mm camera of choice for 35 years - was seriously lagging the field in a number of ways; Olympus 4/3rd cameras had several things I liked - superb industry-leading dust control and in-camera IS; Olympus lens are regarded as amongst the finest and their smaller size, especially their "long" tele/zoom lenses, mattered to me - my 50-200mm f2.8/3.5 zoom (100-400mm 35mm equivalent) is very compact/lightweight relative to the competition and relatively inexpensive to boot. A comparable lens (focal length and speed) for a Nikcan camera is at least $2,000 and up to $4000 more than my Zuiko.
Re: Olympus - I have come to appreciate the fact that they do not rush out "improved" camera after "improved" camera every time you turn around. Since they first entered the "pro" dslr market with E-1 in 2004, there have only been 2 successors to their top-line camera segment - the E-3 (I have one) and the relatively recent E-5. Some might consider this a weakness of the brand. I don't.
All of that said, what I really like about Olympus is their introduction of mirror-less large sensor cameras - the µ4/3rd cameras. Currently, 95% of my picture making is done with a µ4/3rd camera, the Olympus E-P1 and, if all of the other 12 cameras in my house were to suddenly disappear, I wouldn't care at all. E-P1 can use all of my Zuiko lenses but, that said, I love using the compact and relatively fast Zuiko / Lumix prime lenses - the Lumix 20mm f1.7 is almost permanently mated to my E-P1.
The E-P1/Lumix 20mm f1.7 lens combination makes picture making a dream. It's lightweight and unobtrusive. The metal body is as rugged as they get for anything but the most demanding picture making environments. The 20mm f1.7 lens (in conjunction with in-camera IS) allows low-light picturing without having to resort to high ISO settings. And, IMO (coupled with my 45 years of professional picture making experience with 8×10 and 4×5 view cameras, medium-120 format, and 35mm camera equipment), the image quality is superb.
To be certain the 4/3rd sensor format, µ4/3rd or otherwise, does have its limitations. Although, for all but the most obsessive and spec-oriented pixel peepers, when the cameras are used with picture making savvy, the results are simply fantastic.
In fact, I can state that, without a single reservation, I could use the E-P1 for all - pro/commercial and personal/art - of my picturing needs and nary a complaint or excuse would be heard or needed.
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you for the reply.