Yesterday my new camera arrived! I got an Olympus E-M1 Mark III camera with an Olympus 12-45 mm (24-90 mm equivalent) f/4 PRO lens. So today, for you camera buffs out there I thought I would share my first impressions.
New Camera — First Look
After I unpacked the camera gear, read the instructions, and charged the camera battery I was ready to go. The instructions that came with the camera were minimal, unlike the helpful book that came with my Canon 5D Mark III. But I soon discovered that I didn’t really need instructions. The menu was easy to navigate and clear.
After setting up the camera the way I typically like to shoot I was ready to try making some photos. I looked around my office and made a photo of birds at the bird feeder outside my window. Then I went in close to photograph a bowl full of nature finds (camera hand-held, not on a tripod).
I was pleasantly surprised by how close I could get to the bowl of nature treasures and how sharp the handheld image taken at f/4.0 was. The in-camera image stabilization that was so highly touted on this camera really makes a difference. Also the quality of the lens I chose probably contributed.
Just before sunset yesterday I headed down to nearby East Medicine Lake Park with my camera. I was hoping for a spectacular sunset. Though the sunset turned out to be pretty but unspectacular, I enjoyed putting the camera through its paces in the challenging light.
I was hoping to get a good silhouette shot of the people on the play equipment but I actually got more detail (and less noise) than I expected when I lifted the shadows a bit in Adobe Lightroom.
You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
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The other major concern that I had about this smaller camera was going from a full-frame sensor to a micro 4/3 sensor. Would I find the 4×3 format confining after years of shooting 3/2? And what about the smaller size of the sensor? Would that result in less detail if I decide to crop my photos?
The answers so far are no, I didn’t find the 4/3 format confining and no, the small sensor has not resulted in less detail in my photos. Remembering that each small photo is packing 20 megapixels of data into a much smaller frame size explains this.
I still have some learning to do on composing with the 4/3 sensor. If I want a traditional 3/2 format without losing important parts of the image I need to leave a bit of room at the top and bottom of the frame that I don’t care about losing when I crop.
A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.
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Though my new Olympus is much smaller than my Canon 5D camera, it still has a solid feel in my hands and I love the camera grip. It feels so natural holding it to make photos, and carrying it as I walk around. Additionally my wrists and hands are much happier with the reduction in weight.
I am looking forward to more explorations and learning with this new camera. And I expect I will still use my Canon 5D occasionally as well, though it has started showing intermittent problems with live view, accessing the memory card, and recognizing lens connection.
All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.
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There are many more features to explore with my new camera. I expect that I will be experimenting and learning for quite awhile. It’s such a joy to learn new things.
Soon I hope to decide on a prime lens to use with my Olympus and which telephoto long lens I want to buy with goal being portability and ease of use along with image quality.
Wishing you a great Friday and beautiful weekend my friends.
May you walk in beauty.
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