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Comet Lemmon (C2012/F6), 47 Tucanae globular cluster and Small Magellanic Cloud imaged with the Olympus E-M5 camera

Sunday, February 17th, 2013

It has been an exciting week in the astronomy world with the near miss asteroid this morning following on from the amazing fireball meteorite over Russia which created shockwaves sufficient to break window glass an injure hundres of people.

In my last blog post I explained in detail the forthcoming occultation of Jupiter in southern Australia (mainly Perth and NE Victoria due to the expected cloud conditions elsewhere).

And tonight, I had the pleasure of photographing one of the 2 reasonably bright comets that are in the sky at present – the one I imaged was comet Lemmon which is passing the beautiful globular cluster 47 Tucanae and our neighbouring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud.

This image was taken on 16th Feb 2013 with the Olympus E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera mounted on a equatorial mount unguided for 60secs using a Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L lens at f/2.0 and ISO 3200. The long dimension of the image represents ~7 degrees field of view.

No cropping, just minimal tonal adjustments and some purple defringing:

I initially imaged it with the awesome Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens at f/1.8 which gave excellent images apart from a touch of aberrations on the far edge. However, the field of view was twice as large as I needed for this shot, so I had to resort to the Canon 135mm lens to get the field of view exactly right.

Posted in astrophotography, photography | Comments Off
Tags: astrophotography, Canon, comet, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

Metabones Speed Booster focal reducer lens adapters for Sony NEX, Micro Four Thirds and Fuji mirrorless cameras

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

Metabones has just announced 0.71x focal reducer lens adapters which they have named “Speed Booster” for a variety of mirrorless cameras including Sony NEX, Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds, and Fuji-X.
adapter

Although expensive at $US599, these adapters will significantly add to the versatility of these camera systems as they will allow:

high image quality reduction in effective focal length and thus field of view will be closer to that of the native lens field of view – on a 1.5x crop camera such as Sony NEX, the crop factor becomes 1.09x, while on a 2x crop factor Micro Four Thirds camera, the crop factor becomes 1.42x (almost the same as a 1.3x crop APS-H Canon 1D dSLR camera)
effective aperture for exposure becomes 1 stop brighter, as in effect, more light is squeezed onto the sensor, in other words, it gives you 1 stop higher ISO in effect which can also mean 1 stop less noise
the Canon EOS adapter will allow aperture change, optical IS, EXIF data, presumably MF-ring activation of magnified view, and, on the post-2006 EF lenses, slow autofocus – an adapter which can do all this at last given that the long awaited Birger Engineering adapter that was meant to achieve these functions has not eventuated.
and of course, if you use a Olympus camera such as the E-M5, you will get sensor based image stabilisation to any lens – and perhaps you may not even have to dial in the focal length – we shall have to wait and see on this aspect
the white paper promises excellent correction of spherical aberration as well as field curvature, coma, astigmatism, distortion, and chromatic aberration. Intentionally, it has a very small amount of undercorrected spherical aberration at f/0.90 to improve the bokeh when the Speed Booster is used with ultra high speed f/1.2 objectives. Aberrations should be considerably less than with front-mounted wide adapters.
being a focal reducer, it increases resolution and contrast (MTF) compared with using the lens without this adapter as it should compress aberrations
improves telecentricity by moving the exit pupil further away and potentialy could reduce vignetting
improves image quality of wide aperture legacy film lenses due to improved interaction with low pass and IR filters on the camera sensor, although it appears that image quality may be worse in the corners with some lens combinations such as when using cheap 50mm prime lenses
physical length is reduced by 6mm on Micro Four Thirds and by 4mm on Sony NEX compared with using a normal adapter

Thus on a Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera, here are some awesome possibilities:

Sigma 8-16mm DX lens = image stabilised 5.6-11.2mm ultra wide angle zoom lens which is even wider than the Micro Four Thirds 7-14mm lenses but the fixed lens hood may become visible
Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 tilt-shift lens = image stabilised 12mm f/2.8 lens which will give the same field of view and depth of field as a 24mm f/5.6 tilt shift lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/2.8 lens image stabilised
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II lens = image stabilised 17mm f/1.0 lens which will give the same field of view and depth of field as a 34mm f/2.0 lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/1.0 lens image stabilised
Canon 50mm f/1.2L lens = image stabilised 36mm f/0.85 lens which will give the same field of view and depth fo field as a 72mm f/1.7 lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/0.85 lens image stabilised
Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens = image stabilised 60mm f/0.85 lens which will give the same field of view and depth of field as a 120mm f/1.7 lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/0.85 lens image stabilised
Nikon 85mm f/1.4G II lens or Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens = image stabilised 60mm f/1.0 lens which will give the same field of view and depth of field as a 120mm f/2.0 lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/1.0 lens image stabilised
Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L lens = image stabilised 96mm f/1.4 lens which will give the same field of view and depth of field as a 190mm f/2.8 lens on a 35mm full frame camera, but exposure value of an f/1.4 lens image stabilised

The adapter will open up many exciting possibilities, particularly for those who already have full frame lenses.

Adapters will be available for Canon EF/EF-S, Nikon F/G/DX, Leica R, ALPA, Contarex, Contax C/Y , and Olympus OM lenses.

Note that cropped sensor lenses such as EF-S and DX can be used on Micro Four Thirds with this adapter as long as they do not have fixed lens hoods such as the Nikon DX fisheye, or the Sigma 8-16mm zoom, but the image circle is too small for use on Sony NEX size sensors.

Interestingly, I posted in Feb 2010 about a patent by Olympus for a similar type of adapter which would be a 0.5x reducer (2 f stops) for use with Olympus OM lenses, and it was hoped they would be incorporating SWD or contrast detect AF elements as well which would add fast AF to Olympus OM lenses when used on Micro Four Thirds cameras. Unfortunately, this has not seen the light of day, but perhaps this adapter from Metabones may inspire them to produce such an adapter.

See a review of the Metabones adapter by EOSHD from a video perspective here.

Posted in cameras, lenses, photography | Comments Off
Tags: adapters, Canon, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon, Olympus, Olympus OM, Panasonic

Best cameras of 2012

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

Best cameras for 2012 depends upon what purpose the camera is needed for.

Nevertheless, a poll of 14,807 readers on dpreview.com gave the following:

Olympus OM-D EM-5	23.3%	(3457 votes)
Nikon D800/E	22.1%	(3273 votes)
Canon EOS 5D Mark III	14.4%	(2133 votes)
Nikon D600	7.8%	(1156 votes)
Sony Cyber-shot RX100	7.1%	(1056 votes)
Fujifilm X-Pro 1	6.2%	(914 votes)
Sony Cyber-shot RX1	5.6%	(831 votes)
Sony Alpha SLT-A99	4.2%	(617 votes)
Pentax K-30	3.3%	(485 votes)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3	2.2%	(328 votes)
Canon EOS 650D / Rebel T4i	1.8%	(266 votes)
Sony Alpha SLT-A57	1.2%	(172 votes)
Olympus PEN-Lite E-PL5	.5%	(79 votes)
Olympus Stylus XZ-2 iHS	.3%	(40 votes)

This list would certainly be a good starting point for those looking to buy a new camera as it does list the most important cameras of 2012.

If one wants a high image quality, compact, versatile, interchangeable lens camera, then Micro Four Thirds system is probably the best for most people and these are represented here by the Olympus E-M5, Olympus E-PL5 and the Panasonic GH-3 – the latter having the best video quality and features of all the listed cameras.

If one does not care about interchangeable lenses and just wants good image quality and compact camera size, then the Sony RX100 and RX1 along with the Olympus Stylus X-Z2 should be high on your list – see dpreview’s roundup of best compact digital cameras for enthusiasts.

If you want a digital SLR, then the full frame cameras are the way to go if you can afford them – the Nikon D800 and its cheaper version, the Nikon D600, the Canon 5D Mark III, or perhaps the Sony Alpha SLT-A99.

Wish you all a Happy New Year for 2013.

Posted in cameras, photography | Comments Off
Tags: cameras, Canon, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon, Olympus, Sony

The new Canon 6D and Nikon D600 entry level full frame dSLRs compared to the new Sony SLT alpha A99

Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

It has been an exciting week with the announcement of of new cameras from all the major manufacturers.

I am sure all of the cameras for which I have posted blogs this week will be fantastic cameras capable of brilliant image quality.

As excited as I am about the new Micro Four Thirds gear, such as the new lenses on their road map, the new PEN cameras with their important image quality upgrade, and the awesome videographer’s camera, the Panasonic GH-3, it is the raft if entry-level full frame dSLRs that have been announced which finally bring full frame dSLR photography to the enthusiasts for around the $2000 mark which may be the most significant of all the announcements.

Why is this such a significant event?

If you can buy a full frame dSLR for about $2000, why bother with a cropped sensor dSLR unless you are primarily doing sports or wildlife photography where you need all the telephoto reach you can get?
After all, unlike Olympus, neither Canon nor Nikon really have committed to making great lenses for their cropped sensor cameras – all the really good lenses are designed for full frame sensors, so you may as well buy a full frame dSLR rather than a $1,000+ Canon or Nikon cropped sensor dSLR.

Let’s compare the new full frame cameras.

The most exciting of them in my mind is the Sony SLT alpha A99 as it is the only one truly optimised for Live View and thus videography and accurate manual focus using magnified view assist, as it is the only one with full time electronic viewfinder and fulltime phase contrast AF system (although we do need to wait and see how well it really does perform given past SLT cameras have not quite matched their hype in this regard).

Not only these features, but of critical importance to those using prime lenses for still photography is that the Sony SLT has sensor-based IS built-in – something that neither Canon nor Nikon have in any of their cameras.

The Canon 6D and Nikon D600 are both good cameras missing some features of their more expensive counterparts.

Their AF system has been scaled down – in the Canon 6D it only has 11 AF points instead of 61 points on the 5D Mark III, while the Nikon D600 has 39 points instead of 51 on the Nikon D800. This means gaining AF outside the central area requires AF then recompose techniques – this also applies to the Sony SLT A99.

Presumably, the 6D will have the same deficiency as its expensive cousins, the 5D Mark III and 1D X – inability to AF when using a lens with aperture smaller than f/5.6 such as an f/4 lens with 2x tele-extender – this will limit the utility of these cameras for wildlife photographers!

The burst rates are modest ranging from 4.5fps for the 6D, 5.5fps for the D600 and 6fps for the Sony SLT.

In particular, their shutter system is lower end with a fastest shutter reduced to a consumer level of 1/4000th sec and a flash sync reduced to 1/200th on the D600 and only 1/180th sec on the 6D – heck even the new Olympus PEN cameras have a flash sync of 1/250th sec!

This is VERY important for fashion and outdoor portrait photographers using lenses such as the 135mm f/2.0 and fill-in flash. Without image stabilisation, a shutter speed of only 1/180th second is really pushing your luck in allowing sharp hand held photos consistently.

In this regard, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera with its built-in 5 stop image stabilisation system, matched with the superb Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens and Olympus FL-600R flash which can sync at 1/250th sec, accurate closest eye, face detection AF anywhere in the frame (no need to AF and recompose and worry about AF microadjustments) will most likely give you far more accurately focused and sharper photos whilst still having a similar perspective and a shallow enough depth of field to make your subject really pop.

On this same matter, if you need even shallower DOF at 35mm focal length and you are doing flash photography outdoors, then the new Sony RX-1 full frame fixed lens compact with its silent leaf shutter and flash sync to 1/2000th second would be ideal although at $2,800 it is not cheap!

Of note, the Sony SLT A99 gives you the best of all worlds in this regard – sensor-based IS plus flash sync of 1/250th sec, and a fastest shutter of 1/8000th sec.

For video work, the 6D and D600 only have mono mics, and 30p/25p/24p frame rates and thus no option for slo-mo work whereas the Sony has a more usable 60p/24p plus stereo mics, but none will really compete in functionality and image quality with the new Panasonic GH-3, although the D600 and the A99 both allow the option of uncompressed video output.

For a detailed table of the main differences between all the current full frame dSLRs, see here.

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Tags: Canon, dSLRs, full frame, Nikon, Sony

A brief retrospective on camera and lens pricing – today’s cameras and lenses are ridiculously cheap compared with 1982 prices

Monday, August 6th, 2012

I was prompted to search out an old photography magazine I bought in 1982 in an attempt to solve a reader’s information request.

The photography magazine contained RRP pricings of nearly every lens available at the time, plus my own notes of pricings for some Olympus OM gear I was considering purchasing to expand upon my little system.

So I thought I would share my findings to create some perspective on relative camera and lens pricings from then and until now in $AUS (although in 1982 as is the case now, $A = $US approximately)

Here are a few prices regarding Olympus OM gear in $A (1982):

Olympus OM-10 chrome body = $236
Olympus OM-1N black body = $398
Olympus OM-2N black body = $575
Olympus OM-4 black body = $848
Zuiko 8mm f/2.8 fisheye lens = $1,120
Zuiko 16mm f/3.5 fisheye = $618
Zuiko 18mm f/3.5 lens = $618
Zuiko 21mm f/3.5 lens = $369
Zuiko 21mm f/2.0 lens = $575
Zuiko 24mm f/2.8 lens = $250
Zuiko 24mm f/2.0 lens = $560
Zuiko 28mm f/3.5 lens = $158
Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 lens = $170
Zuiko 35mm f/2.0 lens = $315
Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 lens = $181
Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens = $90
Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 lens = $145
Zuiko 50mm f/1.2 lens = $467
Zuiko 50mm f/3.5 macro = $250
Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 lens = $286
Zuiko 35mm shift lens = $697
Zuiko 85mm f/2.0 lens = $386
Zuiko 100mm f/2.8 lens = $217
Zuiko 135mm f/2.8 lens = $250
Zuiko 180mm f/2.8 lens = $770
Zuiko 200mm f/4 lens = $250
Zuiko 300mm f/4.5 lens = $493
Zuiko 350mm f/2.8 lens = $5,500
Zuiko 400mm f/6.3 lens = $1,120
Zuiko 500mm f/8 mirror lens = $620
Zuiko 600mm f/6.5 lens = $1,334
Zuiko 1000mm f/11 lens = $1,652
Zuiko 35-70mm f/4 AF lens = $841

If you wanted Bronica SQ medium format lenses in 1982:

NB. only the professionals or the rich could afford Hasselblad cameras and lenses and the magazine did not publish their prices (“price on request”)
Zenzanon-S 40mm f/4 lens = $$1,175
Zenzanon-S 50mm f/3.5 lens = $875
Zenzanon-S 80mm f/2.8 standard lens = $500
Zenzanon-S 150mm f/3.5 lens = $895
Zenzanon-S 200mm f/4 lens = $875
Zenzanon-S 250mm f/5.6 lens = $999
Zenzanon-S 500mm f/8 lens = $1,850
note that Bronica gradually replaced the S versions from 1983 onwards with their PS versions and in the late 1990′s before they were discontinued by their new owners, Tamron, their retail pricings were generally in the $2000-$4500 range excepting the 80mm standard lens which was $1660 – see my Bronica wiki page.

But how does this compare with today’s pricings?

While 35mm film cameras are generally worth almost nothing now (most can be bought 2nd hand under $100 for a body) with notable exceptions of sought after models such as the Olympus OM-3Ti, Leica’s, etc, most of the OM lenses can be bought on Ebay in good condition at 50-75% of their original retail value in 1982, but in current dollars. In other words you can buy a OM 24mm f/2.8 lens for about $100 now.

The Bronica picture is quite different, the S lenses on Ebay usually sell for under $200 now – very cheap indeed, as it has been difficult to mate the Bronica SQ cameras with digital backs and thus demand for them is minimal.

The Bronica system does make a very cheap entry point into high quality medium format film though – hence I bought up a system in case I had the urge to do some 120 film work.

But how does the dollar in 1982 compare with the dollar in 2012, some 30 years later?

My best way of illustrating this is that a block of land in Melbourne, Australia in 1982 selling for $15,000 would now fetch $250,000 (~17x growth) after the real estate market went through 2 major boom periods (1983-1989, and 1996-2007) with 2 recessionary periods of flat /zero growth in the interim periods. In another suburb, a block of land sold for $31,000 in 1982 and now would be valued at over $700,000 that is a 23-fold increase!

I am not sure how much average salaries have gone up in that period, but I would think it would be at least 10 to 15 fold.

Now photography generally is not a great way to invest your cash, and purchasing $15,000 of camera gear in 1982 is never going to give you $250,000 30 years later, in fact, you would be lucky to get $7,000 for it if it was in excellent condition.

Let’s look at today’s camera and lens pricings:

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 black body sells for ~$1250 in 2012 – only 50% more than an OM-4 body in 1982 and it packs a LOT more functionality (although it may not last as long).

The expensive new micro Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 lens sells for $999 – only double the price of the Zuiko 85mm f/2.0 but the 75mm lens is a far better lens optically and it has the world’s fastest auto-focus where the old Zuiko was only manual focus.

The biggest downside of current technology is that it devalues current cameras so fast that cameras become almost worthless in a financial perspective (but not photographic unless it dies) within 5 years of purchase, while a similar fate also may hit the financial value of our lenses as new technologies are introduced such as new AF mechanisms.

Hopefully with Micro Four Thirds, their will be little need to update AF mechanisms for a while as the new ones are so fast already (EXCEPT for fast moving subjects – that may introduce new technologic fixes requiring new cameras and new lenses).

Canon and Nikon dSLR users may end up with a double hit in devaluation of their lenses – first new versions needed to be made over the last few years to improve optical quality to match the new sensors, and now, the issue of fast CD-AF will hang over them, and most likely require new lenses again – although Canon’s 1st attempt, their STM AF lenses do not seem to have resolved the AF speed issue as everyone had hoped.

We are so very lucky that we have all this wonderful technology available to the masses, not just the professionals, at much, much cheaper prices than what was available in 1982 when you take into account the value of the dollar changing.

Now when is the 75mm f/1.8 lens hitting the shelves in Australia???

Final moral of the story:

DO NOT BUY AN EXPENSIVE CAMERA IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET ENOUGH USE OUT OF IT WITHIN THE NEXT 2-3YEARS – BAD INVESTMENT!!

BUY the cheapest camera that will do what YOU need it to do, and then save the spare cash for an upgrade in 5 years time or get a better lens which will make a difference to your photography.

Posted in cameras, lenses, photography | Comments Off
Tags: Bronica, Canon, lenses, Olympus

In search of the most versatile, compact, shallow depth of field short telephoto lens – will this be the new Olympus 75mm f/1.8?

Thursday, July 26th, 2012

For much of my photography, I have been in love with my 1.3x crop pro Canon 1D Mark III dSLR with the Canon EF 135mm f/2L lens which makes a fantastic combination for 3/4 body length fashion shots or general people shots outdoors when shot at f/2.5-3.2 to gain adequate depth of field for this subject while delivering a lovely blurred background.

In 35mm full frame terms, this then equates to 176mm shot at f/3.3-4.1.

On a 35mm full frame camera, this is easily satisfied by the traditional pro 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lens ($2,699), or adding a 1.4x teleconverter ($615) to the 135mm f/2.0L lens ($1415).

However, these lenses are expensive, big and heavy, and to upgrade my 10 megapixel Canon 1D Mark III to a Canon 5D Mark III ($3,900) or Canon 1Dx ($7,999) is a very expensive and heavy option.

It is a pity Canon has not introduced an “affordable” full frame compact system camera in the sub $2,000 price point with built-in IS – instead we have more of the same with their EOS-M APS-C format.

A compromise may be a APS-C dSLR such as the Canon 7D combined with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 ($585 = 136mm f/2.9) but this lens has too much purple fringing wide open for my liking, while the 85mm f/1.2 ($2,399) is far too expensive and AF is too slow, while the 100mm f/2.8 IS macro ($1,299 =160mm f/4.5) does not allow as shallow a depth of field as I would like. So on a 7D, the Canon 100mm f/2.0 ($499 = 160mm f/3.2) would be the closest in filling the needs and is a great value for money lens although a touch soft towards the edges wide open on a APS-C dSLR. I suspect Canon will be producing an update of this lens soon which may account for the price drop from $750.

For similar imagery on a 6×6 120 film format (crop factor of 1/1.83) compared to 35mm full frame, the lens needed would be about 300mm lens at f/6-7.5 which would be rather an unusual focal length for traditional pro film shooters (would probably require mirror lock up to reduce vibrations and a fast grainier film if shooting in the shade), although some would have used a 250mm f/5.6 lens (= 135mm f/3.0 on a 35mm full frame). Many would do most 6×6 film portraits using 150mm f/4 (= 82mm f/2.2 in 35mm full frame terms).

On a Leica S2 0.8x crop medium format dSLR, their longest lens is a 180mm f/3.5 which equates to 144mm f/2.8 in 35mm full frame terms when looking at DOF and FOV, but this would set one back over $35,000.

The Micro Four Thirds solution:

The image quality of my Olympus OM-D E-M5 is comparable, for my needs, to full frame dSLRs, and it having the fantastic image stabiliser which becomes very handy at this focal length when having to use fill-in flash at flash-sync speeds, plus the potentially incredibly fast autofocus with ability to focus on your subject’s nearest eye, a nice alternative is to find a lens to fit these requirements, so here is a very short list for Micro Four Thirds users that will give comparable imagery:

Samyang/Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens:

value for money, this is a brilliant lens, and on a Micro Four Thirds camera gives almost identical imagery to what I am after, including buttery smooth bokeh and minimal CA
in my tests, it has better optical quality than either the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 or the Nikon 85mm f/1.4D
at under $300 brand new, this is a bargain – BUT it is relatively heavy and it is manual focus
despite this, I have 2 of these lenses in different mounts, and these have been special lenses for me so far, but the manual focus is very limiting, particularly with people photography shot with shallow depth of field

Voigtlander HELIAR CLASSIC 75mm f1.8 – Leica M Mount:

manual focus lens which costs about $740 brand new
introduced in 2010
52mm filter, 423g
nice bokeh, but straight diaphragm blades; sharp and contrasty in the centre wide open?

Canon FD 85mm f/1.2:

high quality manual focus lens from the 1980′s
very narrow DOF, nice bokeh
large, heavy and has straight diaphragm blades but at least it has mechanical manual focus so it can be focussed on Micro Four Thirds unlike its EF 85mm f/1.2L successor
$700-850 on Ebay 2nd hand

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 lens:

available in Canon EF, Pentax K and Nikon F mounts
manual focus lens with aperture ring, DOF scale and IR marker
9 rounded blades, almost distortion free, 72mm filter, only a touch of vignetting at f/1.4 at 0.6EV
max. sharpness at f/4, a little soft wide open on full frame but you need to stop down a Nikon 85mm 1/1.4D AF Nikkor lens to f/8 to get this sharpness
close focus 1m
heavy at 570-670g depending on mount; 77x62mm;
Photozone test report
~$1300-1600 new

Olympus OM 90mm f/2.0 macro lens:

this is one of the best OM lenses one can get, and many Olympus fans swear by it for the special kind of imagery it produces
relatively compact size, fantastic macro performance (1:2 on full frame)
BUT it will cost about $900 second hand for a excellent version and it is still manual focus
there are also many other manual focus full frame lenses in the 75-90mm f/2.0 range including the cheaper OM 85mm f/2.0 and the ultra-expensive (~$4,900) Leica 90mm f/2 APO Summicron-M – perhaps optically the best full frame lens ever made, although even this has some coma on pinpoint light sources wide open

Olympus ZD 35-100mm f/2.0 lens:

this superb lens designed for Four Thirds is weatherproof and image quality is top notch and only one of a couple of zoom lenses available with a f/2.0 constant aperture throughout the range
BUT it is very expensive, very big and heavy, and although it has AF, AF is slow on Micro Four Thirds cameras

Olympus mZD 75mm f/1.8 lens:

that brings us to this new lens by Olympus which was especially designed for Micro Four Thirds with independent lens testing confirming the superb optical design and build quality
at a 35mm full frame equivalent field of view of a 150mm lens, the depth of field wide open is then similar to a 150mm f/3.6 lens which will be just adequate for the above requirements
this lens has almost no aberrations edge-to-edge even wide open and is incredibly sharp even wide open but sharper still at f/2.8
when combined with the E-M5 camera, it has the fastest auto focus in a telephoto lens currently available – faster than any full frame dSLR for stationary to relatively slow moving subjects
many have baulked at its $900 price tag, but this is one superb lens and by all accounts, well worth the price tag – just pity it isn’t weatherproofed!
hopefully it will be available in the next few weeks as to me, this is the lens-camera combination which will best suit the needs stated above, and will be far cheaper and easier to carry than a full frame kit.

Now all I need is for Olympus to get their act in gear and make an adapter for the Ring flash so I can use it for fill-in flash outdoors (and perhaps create a new Ring Flash with remote TTL flash capability to fire a main flash) – in the interim, I will have to use my Canon Ring Flash in full manual mode, but then, that lets me push the shutter speed up to 1/500th sec if I need to.

Posted in lenses, photography | Comments Off
Tags: 135mm, 75mm, Canon, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

Finally…Canon announce their mirrorless system … but it does seem quite under-whelming .. after all this is late 2012 not 2008 and the game has changed

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

I own a number of excellent Canon pro lenses including the 17mm tilt shift, 45mm tilt-shift, 90mm tilt shift, 24-105mm f/4ISL, 85mm f/1.8, 135mm f/2.0L which are great companions for my now aging Canon 1D Mark III pro dSLR.

I have been waiting several years now for Canon to show their hand and enter the extremely popular compact mirrorless camera system market.

Luckily for me, Panasonic and Olympus have really progressed their Micro Four Thirds system into a lovely high quality and versatile compact camera system led by the brilliant Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera, 12mm f/2.0, 45mm f/1.8 and 75mm f/1.8 lenses all of which I have bought or plan to buy as soon as available (the superb 75mm lens is not on our shores yet).

Yesterday Canon finally showed their hand, and I must say even though it is clearly targeting the entry level consumer market, I felt somewhat under-whelmed by it for the price point being offered and the reportedly slow AF performance.

Their take on mirrorless compact camera system is to go the conservative route with a 1.6x crop APS-C sensor to reduce confusion amongst their users and to potentially give a 1 stop improved capacity for lower image noise at high ISO and shallower depth of field at same field of view and aperture when compared to a 2x crop system such as the Micro Four Thirds.

The massive downside though is that they are now burdened with always having to have larger, heavier lenses which defeats the whole purpose of a compact system – no matter how small you make the camera as Sony discovered, the lenses just look bigger and more awkward to use.

They will also have difficulty matching edge-to-edge optical image quality of the 2x crop sensor with lenses at wide aperture as they will always be fighting the laws of physics on this arena – aberrations increase the further you go from the centre, some at an exponential rate!

Canon perhaps have been wise at least in offering their small well built but mid-level EOS-M camera with a nice small 22mm f/2.0 STM pancake lens with the option of a reasonably compact 3x kit zoom lens as starters to their new system.

Unfortunately, the EOS-M camera seems to have little better functionality than the initial Olympus PEN cameras in 2009 which were plagued by the lack of viewfinder, the lack of built-in flash and slow AF. Most importantly now, the reportedly very slow “Hybrid AF” system Canon has borrowed from the live view function of their 650D dSLR – would seem is so far behind the Micro Four Thirds pack it is just not funny, but in Canon’s favor is that they have until the October release date to try to remedy the slow AF speed and get at least part of the way to the fast AF of Olympus, Panasonic and Nikon.

Canon users with existing EF-S or EF lenses who want to use these on the EOS-M will likely find they will focus slowly as they are not optimised for CD-AF or the “Hybrid-AF” technologies as they do not have STM AF technology built in, and apart from smaller size camera and quieter shutter there are no gains compared to using a Canon 650D dSLR but they would lose:

ergonomics to handle the larger lenses
built-in viewfinder
fast phase detect AF
built-in flash
marginally faster 5fps burst rate (4.3fps on EOS-M although burst rate with pancake lens in AF tracking mode is only 1.2fps!)
articulated, swivel LCD screen
remote control
+/- 5EV exposure compensation (only +/- 3EV on the EOS-M)

Those wishing to use their EF or EF-S lenses on a mirrorless camera would find much justification in choosing an Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera instead, because, even though you lose AF altogether, at the slow AF speeds available on the EOS-M, you may as well use manual focus anyway, and loss of aperture control is usually not a big deal as you tend to want to use these lenses for a specific purpose at a given aperture anyway, and the Olympus gives you some enormous benefits over the 650D or the EOS-M including:

optional battery holder makes ergonomics of using these heavy lenses more practical
“5 stop 5-axis” built-in image stabilisation

allows much easier, faster and more accurate manual focus using magnified view with IS enabled
converts ALL lenses into image stabilised lenses even tilt-shift and prime lenses for still images (this is not yet available for movie mode but I expect this will come sooon)
allows slow shutter speeds hand held using wide angle lenses for flowing water shots without having to lug a tripod around, or from positions where tripods would be impossible
allows hand held infrared photography at low ISO without resorting to costly modification of the camera
allows use of long prime telephoto lenses or the 90mm tilt shift lens hand held with fill-in flash at x-sync – great for fashion shoots

quiet shutter capable of 9fps burst rates (4fps with IS on)
high build quality with weatherproofing of the body
built-in high quality viewfinder means

you hold the camera to your eye to improve stability
you don’t need your reading glasses to operate the camera or review images – try chimping your shots to see if you had accurate focus on an LCD screen without your reading glasses!
you have access to magnified view for manual focus, live histogram, full camera settings control and electronic horizon levels all within the EVF
you can see the image in bright sunlight
you can be more discrete in low light environments such as concerts and weddings without having a distracting bright image show up on your LCD screen

tiltable touch screen for easier high and low angle shots as well as tripod mounted and astrophotography work
Live BULB mode which can change the way you work in low light and open up new options such as iPhone lighting, fire twirling, moving subjects – seeing the image build up in long exposures can make a difference, plus it makes you more efficient for astrophotography – if you made an error just terminate exposure when you notice it on screen.
ability to use the fastest AF currently available on any camera with the lovely 45mm f/1.8 and 75mm f/1.8 lenses
ability to have fast AF on the closest eye of your subject – fantastic for portraits and fashion shoots – no more focus then recompose, and far more accurate and faster focusing (when using the dedicated lenses)
ability to use any of the 30-40 Micro Four Thirds lenses – the biggest range of dedicated AF lenses in the mirrorless market
ability to use the superb quality but slow focusing Four Thirds lenses
high quality jpegs straight from the camera – the best colors and among the best dynamic range jpegs you can get in cameras under $10,000
high quality 30″x 40″ prints almost indistinguishable in image quality to current full frame dSLR cameras (if depth of field is not part of the comparison)
greater hand holdable telephoto reach thanks to the 2x crop factor, complimenting a full frame dSLR very nicely indeed
greater depth of field at low ISO when shooting hand held shots at night for urban landscapes or at dusk for normal landscapes or waterfalls when you really want everything sharp!

Of course, if high quality video is your main thing, and you want a mirrorless camera, then one can’t really go past the Panasonic GH-2 or its forthcoming replacement, the GH-3.

I will await pricing on the newly announced Kipon EOS-Micro Four Thirds lens adapter with full electronic control of aperture as I just can’t see the Canon mirrorless camera system without built-in image stabilisation being the future, but for many it may be a useful tool.

Canon it would seem has been worrying that introducing a mirrorless camera system would consume their profitable dSLR sales – well on this initial offering, I don’t think they have much to fear!

As an entry-level camera for users who ONLY want to use a pancake lens or 3x zoom, and have no interest in adding fast AF wide aperture lenses in the near future, then the EOS-M with pancake lens does offer some reasonable competition to the likes of Olympus E-P3, E-PL3, E-PM1, Panasonic GF3, GF5, GX-1 as it does offer good video, a touch screen, great build quality, hot shoe and perhaps better image quality, and if the pancake lens proves to be sharp with nice bokeh, then the $899 may be very reasonable price point.

It is essentially the same price as an Olympus E-P3 with its 3x zoom kit lens but the E-P3 has fast AF, optional EVF, pop-up flash and built-in IS while the EOS-M has a higher resolution larger sensor and LCD screen, and 24fps HD video.

I would be hoping that Canon follow this up with some real killer cameras with features similar to the Olympus E-M5 and lenses but if history repeats, I would not be too optimistic on the high quality lens front, after all, there is only one reasonably high end EF-S lens to support their cropped sensor dSLRs and they have been around for over 10 years now.

NOTE to Canon – you MUST have fast AF to appeal to almost anyone in 2012 – even if you only have 2 dedicated lenses, no EVF option and no IS built-in.

Seems I am far from alone on my opinion on the EOS-M strategy – just Google the web for a multitude of similar opinions such as Kirk Tuck‘s.

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Tags: Canon, EOS-M, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, mirrorless, Olympus

Olympus OM-D E-M5 vs full frame dSLR 30″x40″ print quality – not easy to pick the difference!!!

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

Last weekend I attended the Digital Show in Melbourne where Olympus had a very prominent stand showing off their fantastic new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera.

To prove a point they invited pro photographers along to shoot a model in studio conditions with their full frame dSLR and processed these RAW shots and printed to 30″ x 40″ prints.

These prints were compared with 30″ x 40″ prints shot at the same time from the E-M5 out of camera jpegs using the 12-50mm lens.

I must say, I really hard a very hard time telling which was the full frame dSLR shots, the prints were that close in quality!

And this is comparing prints from RAW files shot with Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D700 with pro lenses to the E-M5 with a consumer kit lens!

Of course, these conditions were not showing off the main advantage of full frame dSLRs over the E-M5 such as ultra shallow depth of field but it was a very surprising comparison nevertheless!

I just wish I took a few shots of the side-by-side print comparisons!

See a quick video on the contest hosted at cnet.com.

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Tags: Canon, dSLR, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, full frame, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon, Olympus

Shallow depth of field in photography – a double edged sword

Friday, June 1st, 2012

Back in the old film days, many photographers were plagued by the problem of not getting enough depth of field for the light on their subject and the slow film speeds of the day and no image stabilisation to allow longer shutter speeds.

Depth of field issues is one of the reasons expensive tilt-shift lenses were designed so that landscape photographers even with their cameras mounted on tripods so they could use f/16 apertures could get their whole image acceptably sharp and detailed from foreground to background.

An out of focus foreground or background in a documentary landscape can be extremely annoying for the viewer.

On the other hand if your subject is not the scenery but a discrete subject, then shallow depth of field can be used brilliantly to separate your subject from the otherwise distracting background and make them “pop” – a favorite technique of the romanticists out there.

The excitement over the great image quality and versatility of the awesome new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera has yet again ignited debate that as great as it is, it can’t ever achieve the shallow DOF of a full frame dSLR even though for many other purposes most people would not be able to tell the difference between a 30″ x 40″ print from either camera.

I decided to post this blog based on some recent experiences which demonstrate the double edged sword of shallow DOF – as much as I love it as a tool, it can easily work against you.

First, let’s address the technical issue of DOF.

A full frame dSLR sensor size will always give you more control over depth of field than a smaller sensor camera in that one can choose to go deep DOF by closing aperture down further than a small sensor camera before diffraction limitations start destroying your image resolution, and one can usually go shallower DOF by choosing a wider aperture lens for a given field of view.

The advantages of full frame dSLR for shallow DOF are particularly the case for subjects taken at a distance of more than 1-2m with a wide to standard field of view lens.

For macrophotography, close up photography and telephoto photography, Micro Four Thirds will generally be able to deliver you as shallow a DOF as you need as long as you have a reasonable aperture lens.

To get the same DOF and field of view on a Micro Four Thirds camera as a full frame dSLR you need to use a lens of focal length AND aperture half that used on a full frame dSLR.

So a 24mm f/1.4 lens of a full frame camera would require a 12mm f/0.7 lens on Micro Four Thirds and that is not going to happen any time soon although there is a 17mm f/0.95 lens.

Likewise a 50mm f/1.2 lens on a full frame would require a 25mm f/0.6 and the closest we will get is a f/0.95, while most of us will settle for the lovely Panasonic 25mm f/1.4.

The Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens on a full frame would require a 43mm f/0.6 lens and again, the closest we can expect is a f/0.95 lens around that field of view range.

The 135mm f/2.0 lens on a full frame lens would require a 67mm f/1.0 lens to match it.

The 200mm f/2.8 lens on a full frame would require a 100mm f/1.4 lens and the closest we will have is the 85mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.4, or if you need AF, the 75mm f/1.8.

So you get the picture if you place a super expensive wide aperture lens on a full frame dSLR you will nearly always be able to get more DOF control than when using a cropped sensor camera – that’s just the way it is.

BUT, this capability has it’s downsides.

1. you now have to think about your subject very carefully and decide how much DOF you need to capture it well, and thus exactly which aperture for the given lens and subject distance.

2. if you are forced to use wide aperture such as hand held shots at night, or wide aperture sports shots at fast shutter speeds, you may be plagued with the age old problem of not enough DOF and most viewers hate a blurry subject!

Let me demonstrate each of these from my own recent experience.

1st a couple of potentially stuffed up shots.

A wedding shot with a pro dSLR (almost full frame Canon 1D Mark III 1.3x crop sensor) combined with my favorite lens for this camera, the 135mm f/2.0 L lens.

Now as I have mentioned before, using the amazingly cheap Rokinon/Samyang 85mm f/1.4 on a Micro Four Thirds camera yields almost identical imagery (field of view, DOF and bokeh) as this combination at a quarter the weight, size and price, but that is another story – see here for related posts of this lens:

I generally shoot half body shots with this lens at f/2.5-f/2.8 to get sufficient DOF for my subject, so for this couple shot, I lazily just closed the aperture down a bit more to f/3.2 to give me a touch more DOF without making the background too distracting.

Unfortunately, I failed to chimp the image after the shot was taken to carefully check my DOF (it didn’t help that the Canon did not have an EVF to do this and my reading glasses were left in the car!).

Needless to say, the bride looks beautiful and sharp, but the groom is well out of focus, and I had to salvage it a bit by turning it into a romantic looking shot – luckily I was not the official photographer!

Ah, yes, what a crappy photographer I can be sometimes! But surely I can’t get too shallow a DOF using the new Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera with its cropped sensor…

oh yes I can…..this is the 1st shot I took using the Olympus mZD 45mm f/1.8 lens playing around with the fun touch the screen on the subject and almost instant AF and shutter release:

OK, it is a lovely candid shot of my mischievous kitten but closer inspection will reveal that her eyes are incredibly sharp even with this lens at f/1.8, but her nose is well out of focus – a big mistake in portrait photography – always aim to get tip of nose to ear in focus unless you are aiming for special effects like with my tilt-shift lens where one can change the plane of focus such as in the glamour portrait below:

In summary, a cropped sensor camera will not replace the capability of ultra shallow DOF of a full frame dSLR, but a camera such as the Olympus E-M5 when teamed up with wide aperture lenses opens up new avenues for hand held low light photography whilst still maintaining an adequate DOF for your subject.

For most of us the Micro Four Thirds system when teamed with its lovely wide aperture lenses such as the 12mm f/2.0, 25mm f/1.4, 45mm f/1.8 and 75mm f/1.8 will address our shallow DOF as much as we need and for those who want to explore more shallow DOF, then they can enjoy the manual focus f/0.95 lenses, or even use the Canon 85mm f/1.2 and have them all image stabilised.

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Tags: Canon, DOF, dSLR, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

New cameras compared – Olympus OM-D E-M5 vs Canon 5D Mark III vs Nikon D800

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

In the past few weeks 3 exciting new cameras have been announced, all 3 of them have feature sets which many would have only dreamed of a couple of years ago, so how do they compare on paper:

The specs compared:

Firstly, what they have in common:

weatherproofed, magnesium alloy body construction
100% viewfinder coverage
1080i HD H.264 video (up to 29min 59secs per clip) with audio level control and optional stereo mic inputs
SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card support
timelapse recording (Olympus and Canon via cable, Nikon in-built)
wired remote control (and wireless via optional propietary or 3rd party wired devices)
remote TTL flash support (Canon adds radio wireless TTL flash support previously only available on Canon/Nikon via Pocketwizards)
HSS/SuperFP high speed sync flash
multi/spot/centre-weighted metering
AE bracketing 2,3,5,7 frames
WB bracketing
self timer
aperture priority, shutter priority, programmed auto, manual exposure modes
live view (always Live view on the Olympus and automatically switches from screen to EVF; Live View clunky on Canon and Nikon due to presence of mirror)
similar shutter ratings of ~150,000 frames (although I believe the Olympus is rated at 100,000 frames)
AF assist lamp
optional external battery portrait mode grips

	Olympus OM-D E-M5	Canon 5D Mark III	Nikon D800
Price body only	$US999	$US3499	$US2999
Weight	425g/15oz	950g/33.5oz	900g/31.8oz
Size	122 x 89 x 43 mm (4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69″)	152 x 116 x 76 mm (5.98 x 4.57 x 2.99″)	146 x 123 x 82 mm (5.75 x 4.84 x 3.23″)
Sensor	16mp Live MOS Micro Four Thirds size (17.3 x 13mm) 4:3 aspect 2x crop factor	22.3mp full frame (36x24mm)	36.3mp full frame 76.5Mb RAW files!! (36x24mm), 25mp 1.2x crop mode or 15mp DX mode
LCD	3″ OLED, 614K dot 3:2 tiltable, touch. Usable even in bright sun. Just touch subject for near-instantaneous AF and shutter release.	3.2″ 1040K dot fixed LCD, not touch	3.2″ 921K dot LCD fixed, not touch
HD video	1080i 60i (30p); 20 or 17mbps quality; Art filters; Echo mode; 5EV IS for all lenses; C-AF possible; stereo mic; 2x digital zoom; no live video out? no timecode;	1080 30p/25p/24p with i-frame, SMPTE time code, OIS, no C-AF; mono mic; moiré-reduction; uncompressed live video out is only 720p; 60fps only in 720p; no swivel or tilt screen;	1080 30p/25p/24p 8bit 4:2:2 live HDMI out, OIS, no C-AF; mono mic; 60fps only in 720p; no swivel or tilt screen; 36mp sensor may degrade HD video quality due to need for more binning/line skipping; videographers should avoid the D800E as there is no anti-alias filter.
shutter speeds	60sec – 1/4000th sec	30sec – 1/8000th sec	30sec – 1/8000th sec
Burst rate	9fps (AF 1st frame only); 4.2fps C-AF; 3.5fps AF +IS;	6fps with full C-AF x 18 RAW	4fps in FX mode or 6fps in DX mode with full C-AF but requires external battery otherwise it is 5fps.
Lens artefact correction to jpegs	automatically for many dedicated lenses including distortion and lateral CA. Installed via firmware automatically.	automatically for up to 29 Canon lenses for both axial and lateral CA. User must download and install the profiles.	no?
Camera shake aids	industry leading 5 axis 5EV works with all lenses and in movie mode and in EVF; no need for mirror lock up as no mirror	optical IS in some lenses; requires cumbersome mirror lockup for critical work at slower shutter speeds or high lens magnifications (macro or super telephoto) but cannot do mirror lockup and self timer together.	optical IS in some lenses; requires cumbersome mirror lockup for critical work at slower shutter speeds or high lens magnifications (macro or super telephoto) but cannot do mirror lockup and self timer together.
Manual focus aids	Fast, easy 5EV IS stabilised magnified view	poor MF aids, magnified view Live Mode cumbersome, no IS support	poor MF aids, magnified view Live Mode cumbersome, no IS support
S-AF	fastest and most accurate AF for slow moving subjects; face detect AF; Eye detect AF – can AF on left, right or nearest eye – superb for portraiture/fashion photography!	Average AF speed requires microcalibration for each lens for accuracy; Face detect AF even in phase contrast AF?	Average AF speed requires microcalibration for each lens for accuracy; Face detect AF even in phase contrast AF. Sensors work to -2EV light levels.
C-AF	35pt 3D tracking even at f/8 lenses BUT tracking is currently only for slow moving subjects and is unreliable	61pt (41 cross pts incl. 5 double cross pts) very good tracking (phase contrast) but not as highly featured as the Canon 1D X which has a dedicated DIGIC 4 processor for AF and a 100K pixel metering system to support it. Subject-based configuration presets to at last make C-AF configuration easier. BUT NO AF with lenses f/8 or smaller (as with the Canon 1D X)!!	51pt very good tracking(phase contrast); 1 cross and 10 horizontal sensors active at f/8.
ISO range	200-25,600, auto ISO can set upper and lower limit. (no iISO as on Panasonic);	50-102,400, autoISO allows minimum shutter speed as well as ISO limits. autoISO works in M mode.	50-25,600, 5-level focal-length sensitive autoISO
Max. bulb duration	8min including Timed Bulb and Live Timed modes with intermittent visual assessment of image during exposure!	8min?	8min?
flash	No built-in flash but bundled compact unit, 1/250th sync, can set slowest shutter speed to use when flash fires in an auto mode.	No built-in flash, 1/200th sync	Built-in pop-up flash, 1/250th sync
White balance presets	12 + 1 CWB	6 + 1 CWB	12 + 5 CWB
Scene modes, Art	23 scene modes including 3D Stereo, plus Art Filters	Picture Styles	None
Exposure compensation	+/- 3EV	+/- 5EV	+/- 5EV
Multiple exposures	yes 2 frames RAW	yes	no?
Viewfinder supports	dual axis levels, grid lines, live histogram with histogram of AF region included, image stabilisation for any lens, magnified view mode, aspect ratio view, shutter speed/aperture simulation, art filter effects view, contrast control graph, AF selection	electronic overlay: grid lines, AF selection, customizable warning exclamation mark.	AF selection, dual axis levels.
other	compact high quality lens system optimised for video;nice, simple ergonomic controls	lower noise at high ISO; narrower DOF possible; fast AF for super telephoto lenses; in-camera HDR; top panel LCD; pro level sports AF features;	high resolution images but large file sizes; narrower DOF possible; fast AF for super telephoto lenses; top panel LCD; pro level sports AF features;
tilt/shift	easier MF but 2x crop factor; can convert any Nikon lens to a shift lens; can convert most full frame lenses to tilt lenses; can use Canon, Nikon and Olympus OM shift lenses. Widest tilt-shift is only 28mm in 35mm terms (eg. using a Nikon 14mm lens with an adapter).	live mode MF cumbersome but 17mm and 24mm tilt-shift available	live mode MF cumbersome but 24mm tilt-shift available
connectivity/ extra cards	USB 2.0; opt Bluetooth;	USB 2.0; wifi/Bluetooth; CF card; opt. GPS;	USB 3.0; wifi; CF card; opt. GPS;

Summary of pros and cons:

Olympus OM-D E-M5

great value for money
compact quiet non-intrusive system with lovely compact and movie optimised lenses delivering adequate image quality and narrow depth of field capabilities for most people
industry leading image stabilisation and manual focus solutions
fastest, most accurate AF for stationary or slow-moderately moving subjects with option for near-instantaneous AF and exposure just by touching the subject on the touch screen
tiltable OLED touch screen
lots of visual aids in the viewfinder including being able to activate image stabilised magnified live view easily for ANY lens
fast 9fps burst rate albeit with AF only on 1st frame and no IS (a very reasonable 3.5fps for full AF and IS or 4.2fps with AF and no IS)
1/250th sec flash sync with new flashes
adequate HD video for most people with some very nice special effect options , unique built-in IS which works on every lens which means perhaps the end of having to work out how to use and carry big expensive camera stabilisation rigs whilst walking and video – the main downside is no 25p/24p mode and no live HDMI out capability
ability to use almost any lens ever made including Leica, Canon and Nikon as well as Olympus Four Thirds and OM lenses
much easier to use camera and flash system than the Canon or Nikon cameras (flashes are simpler but just as versatile, while the absence of a mirror greatly simplifies the user interface and the many Scene modes and Art filters makes use easier and much more fun and easier creativity is possible)
Timed BULB and Live BULB mode makes night time shots on tripods much easier and more fun.
smaller and less expensive tripods and backpacks possible
less expensive high quality wide aperture prime lenses
ability to hand hold longer telephoto field of view lenses with ease
underwater housing
C-AF may not be adequate for fast moving subjects
no WiFi file transfer (only optional Bluetooth transfer to phones of web-sized images)
no GPS option at present
no radio wireless TTL flash at present (I would think Pocket Wizards would be seriously looking into Olympus support to expand their market now that Canon have entered into their niche)
more noise at high ISO but most should be using low ISO anyway
DxOMark tests show the new Micro Four Thirds lenses such as 12mm f/2.0, 25mm f/1.4, and 45mm f/1.8 offer comparable optical quality to the full frame pro equivalents (see recent posts), at much less weight, size and cost.
jpegs will display on iPhoto on the new iPad3 unlike those from the Canon or Nikon which are too big (iPhoto can only handle up to 19mp)
unbeatable as a compact minimally intrusive, light weight travel or social photography kit

Canon 5D Mark III:

perhaps the best implementation of a relatively affordable full frame dSLR yet
lovely optical viewfinder with fast phase contrast detect AF for moving subjects
sensible 22mp sensor promises a much better compromise of resolution, dynamic range, and image noise as well as file storage size compared to the Nikon D800
full frame sensor allows even shallower DOF possibilities than the Olympus but for many inexperienced users this just creates more difficulties
radio remote TTL flash but flash sync only 1/200th sec could be a deal breaker for strobists and fashion/wedding photographers
full use of the wonderful range of Canon L lenses at the designed uncropped field of view – but they are expensive, big and heavy, and the older ones may not be adequate optically.
optional GPS
25p/24p HD video but no 60i for slow-mo movies and only mono mic
1/8000th sec allows wide aperture shots in bright sunlight without having to resort to ND filters or polarising filters
Digic 5+ processor (same as in the 1D X) is 17x faster than the Digic 4 processor in the Canon 5D Mark II
like the Canon 1D X though it cannot AF with lenses at f/8 or smaller so you cannot use an f/4 super telephoto lens with a 2x teleconverter!!!
jpegs will NOT display on iPhoto on the new iPad3 as exceed the iPhoto limit of 19mp
fantastic, versatile, general purpose full frame dSLR just a pity flash sync is a bit slow and you can’t AF with f/8 lens combos.

Nikon D800:

36mp full frame dSLR but perhaps Canon has the better sensor compromise
25mp 1.2x crop mode
lovely optical viewfinder with fast phase contrast detect AF for moving subjects
can be used with DX lenses in cropped mode – but what DX lenses are worth using?
full frame sensor allows even shallower DOF possibilities than the Olympus but for many inexperienced users this just creates more difficulties
1/250th sec flash sync and radio remote TTL flash but only via 3rd party PocketWizard devices
full use of the wonderful range of Nikon F lenses at the designed uncropped field of view – but they are expensive, big and heavy, and the older ones may not be adequate optically.
optional GPS
intervalometer built in
25p/24p HD video but no 60i for slow-mo movies and only mono mic but importantly for some, it does have live HDMI out
1/8000th sec allows wide aperture shots in bright sunlight without having to resort to ND filters or polarising filters
fantastic option for wedding/fashion/landscape photographers who may benefit most from 36mp and will generally use them at low ISO and the high flash sync is a nice bonus compared to the Canon 5D MIII
full frame or 1.2x crop jpegs will NOT display on iPhoto on the new iPad3 as exceed the iPhoto limit of 19mp
6fps 15mp DX mode may be very handy for sports photographers as they effectively gain 1.5x crop telephoto field of view whilst keeping file sizes down, plus they can use f/4 lenses with a 2x teleconverter and still get AF.

Final thoughts:

My old Olympus E510 Four Thirds dSLR was capable of making nice 20″x30″ prints, and this new Olympus E-M5 is purported to have substantially higher image quality than the old E510, and now that the E-M5 has most of the features and more that the semi-pro full frame dSLRs have, one has to seriously consider, do they need to pay 3x as much and carry twice the weight and size of a full frame dSLR?

Very few photographers print larger than 20″x30″ if they print anything at all.

The professionals will tend to migrate more to medium format for their landscape and studio work, while the Canon 1D X and Nikon D4 may suit them best if they are sports photographers.

The main issues that really kill image resolution are AF accuracy, camera shake and optical quality, and it is on the 1st 2 of these issues that the Olympus E-M5 has significant advantages over the full frame dSLRs whilst at least being comparable and at times better wide open on optical quality given their lenses don’t need to cover such a large sensor.

The biggest problem in not getting the photo at all is not having the camera with you – and with this issue, small size counts for a lot – and it is here again that the Olympus wins hands down.

For most of us, the Olympus E-M5 will address our needs very nicely indeed and save us a LOT of money and bulk.

Those who already have lots of pro level Canon or Nikon glass, wedding photographers, or those who need to shoot fast moving subjects or very low light moving subjects regularly, or want radio remote TTL flash, will look forward to the new Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800.

Each of these cameras offer a high level of video features but differ on the details, so the very serious videographers will want to wait until more examples of their video capabilities are exposed, and then also compare them with the likes of the hackable Panasonic GH-2 (a GH-3 is expected to be announced in September), or perhaps a Sony NEX 7.

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Tags: Canon, Four Thirds Micro, Nikon, Olympus

Gary Ayton photography

Photography news and tips aimed at the advanced amateur as an adjunct to my extensive photography wikipedia