Size matters
Olivier Glod
For quite a few weeks, I've had the pleasure of owning and using an Olympus OM-D E-M1. Initially, I bought this camera for the weather sealing, which is just simply incredible...
My main goal was to take this camera to go hiking in the woods as it's relatively small, weather-, freeze- and dust-proof. I already knew the OM-D line was capable of excellent image quality, but when I experienced it myself, I was blown away.
The 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO zoom lens is a beautiful piece of glass...
Luxembourg City (Grund) - Shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO zoom lens
as is the 75mm f/1.8!
Echternach - Shot with the OM-D E-M1 and the 75mm f/1.8 lens
This is not a technical review of any sort, but I would just like to quickly let you know what I really like about this camera, and what could be improved.
Likes
- Incredible weather-sealing
- Blazingly fast (and accurate!) AF
- Easy AF point selection (other camera brands take note => THIS is how it should be done!)
- Size & weight
- Completely customisable
- Great grip
- The RAW files are really flexible and shadows can be pushed quite easily
- Last but not least: 5 axis IBIS (in body image stabilisation) allows for insane handheld exposures with shutter speeds up to around the 1 second mark. I kid you not, this has to be seen to be believed...
Dislikes
- The Olympus menu system is the worst I have EVER experienced. There's no logic in the structure, neither do I understand the icons used...
- The firmware update is done by connecting the camera to the computer via a cable and launching an additional app, which seems a bit of a hassle in 2014. Fuji and Canon firmware is simply downloaded from their website, copied onto an SD card and applied in-camera. Sony just doesn't update, so maybe this additional step is not so bad after all ;-)
I will not bore you with any more details, suffice to say I'm so happy with this camera that I purchased an OM-D E-M10 as a second Olympus body.
If you're interested in this camera, or in the amazing pictures it can produce, have a look at the following links:
A Sideways Glance (Mickdo101) Flickr stream
Alright, this brings me to the title of this blog post: size matters.
This camera is "only" equipped with a micro four-thirds sensor (it's ridiculously small compared to my Canon cameras), and many people have wondered if I would be satisfied with the image quality (especially after having experienced the Sony RX1R, which would be my desert island camera).
Let's just say: sure, sensor size can sometimes play an important role, but the light is ALWAYS important! A couple of weeks ago, we had some gorgeous light and I immediately grabbed the Oly and snapped happily away. Here are the results of my one hour stroll around Echternach.
Enjoy, and see you next time :-)
Oli
