Gary Ayton photography

More outdoor portraits with the brilliant Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens at f/2.5 this time

Written by Gary on November 4th, 2012

Olympus released the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras in the middle of this year and I am now a proud owner of said lens.

The previous post showed some of the imagery I managed to get with this brilliant lens when I decided to join the thousands of zombies and photographer’s at this year’s Zombie Shuffle in Melbourne – a great fun family event with a fantastic vibe and best of all for photographers, plenty of great portrait opportunities with some fantastic makeup and costumes and their owners very willing to pose for you.

In this post I have added a few more of people attending a “color” meet up who graciously agreed to pose for me as well as another from the Zombie shuffle.

Check out the incredible sharpness and lovely bokeh of the blurred backgrounds of these shots taken at f/2.5 (the first image though was at f/1.8)!

These have had minimal post-processing in Lightroom with some vignetting added to a few.

A young lady enjoying the opportunity to dress up (this has been cropped ~40%):

Flower power couple:

Lady in a bird cage:

Posted in lenses, photography | Comments Off on More outdoor portraits with the brilliant Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens at f/2.5 this time
Tags: 75mm, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

Outdoor portraits with the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens – Melbourne’s Zombie Shuffle, bokeh heaven!

Written by Gary on October 30th, 2012

Olympus released the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras in the middle of this year and I am now a proud owner of said lens.

I decided to join the thousands of zombies and photographer’s at this year’s Zombie Shuffle in Melbourne – a great fun family event with a fantastic vibe and best of all for photographers, plenty of great portrait opportunities with some fantastic makeup and costumes and their owners very willing to pose for you.

The 75mm lens is not the ideal lens for use within a crowd, particularly when they start moving – the long focal length and lack of room to get distance from your subject combined with the very narrow depth of field, makes accurate autofocus very challenging indeed.

Nevertheless, I wanted to test out the 75mm lens to find out how to use it best.

It was a bright sunny day, but fortunately, I could choose to shoot mainly under the shade of the big elm trees and thus could shoot at f/1.8 without having to resort to using polarising filters or ND filters. When I did go into the sun, I just switched the exposure mode dial to Shutter Priority to avoid over-exposure which would otherwise occur in Aperture Priority mode set at f/1.8. The Shutter Priority mode was set to shutter speed of 1/4000th sec (so it would give the the largest aperture possible), and ISO set to auto ISO with high level of ISO 800 (in case I moved back into the shade).

When taking portraits with the E-M5 with eye detect AF mode ON, it is important to give the camera that extra split second to detect the face and the closest eye, otherwise you will end up with AF on the default AF region (for me that is the central square, and thus not always what I am wanting).

This AF technique gives you wonderful opportunities to get sharp eyes no matter where they are in the frame without having to recompose – BUT, the short lag in acquiring the face detection may mean a trigger happy finger gets out of focus shots or you may miss a critical moment – that’s a compromise but a reasonable one.

An issue with face detect AF in a Zombie shuffle is that it does not always detect faces with extreme makeovers.

Finally, the E-M5 is not great at subject tracking of subjects moving towards the camera as Zombies tend to do!

The solution when using a lens with very narrow depth of field such as the 75mm lens – just wait for them to stop then get the shot.

Check out the incredible sharpness and lovely bokeh of the blurred backgrounds of these shots taken at f/1.8!

These have had minimal post-processing in Lightroom with some vignetting added to a few.

A beautiful zombie who met a sad end:

A backlit bride:

and a couple more:

Posted in lenses, photography | Comments Off on Outdoor portraits with the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens – Melbourne’s Zombie Shuffle, bokeh heaven!
Tags: E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus, portraits

The Olympus mZD 75mm f/1.8 lens in action

Written by Gary on October 26th, 2012

Olympus released the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras in the middle of this year and I am now a proud owner of said lens.

This is a lens that suits my style of photography and will now replace my heavy Canon 1D Mark III pro dSLR with Canon 135mm f/2.0L lens as it gives a similar imagery when that lens is used at about f/2.8 which is my usual aperture for 3/4 body shots but is sharper, and more importantly is image stabilsied on the Olympus E-M5 camera so that I don’t have to get too worried about camera shake at flash sync when using fill-in flash which was always an issue with the Canon.

Even better, the E-M5 will allow rapid autofocus on the subject’s closest eye wherever it is within the frame, and rarely do I place the subject’s eye in the central third where the AF sensors are in dSLRs.

The fast AF makes my lovely, but manual focus Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens redundant.

This is a fantastic combination and made even better given the price, weight, size and the lovely bokeh.

Here are a couple of quick shots I took on an annoyingly sunny day in a forest which gives lots of contrasty imagery and very busy backgrounds, yet the 75mm f/1.8 handled this with ease.

forest wild flowers in Victoria, Australia in Spring:

and despite a field of view of a 150mm lens, the following shot taken without care was reasonably sharp even at 1/20th sec hand held!

more shots with the 75mm lens on my Flickr set here

Posted in cameras, lenses, photography | Comments Off on The Olympus mZD 75mm f/1.8 lens in action
Tags: 75mm, bokeh, E-M5, Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 in Dublin and the Whitlow Mountain region of Ireland

Written by Gary on October 22nd, 2012

After the many posts on new cameras and lenses in September, I had forgotten to finish off my UK/Ireland holiday series of posts, so here is my final post from that trip… Dublin and the Whitlow Mountain region.

A mountain stream hand held at 1/5th second to show some water blur thanks to the image stabilisation of the Olympus E-M5 combined with the 12mm lens.

Cemetery at Glendalough, a 10th century abbey:

Guiness cash:

Sorrow and despair of the potato blight famine (Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens):

Temple Bar, Dublin at night (Olympus 12mm lens 1/13th sec ISO 200, hand held no flash):

Faces in the crowd at a march in Dublin’s streets (Panasonic 14-140mm lens):

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

Written by Gary on 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.

Posted in cameras | Comments Off on The new Canon 6D and Nikon D600 entry level full frame dSLRs compared to the new Sony SLT alpha A99
Tags: Canon, dSLRs, full frame, Nikon, Sony

Even more exciting news.. Panasonic announces the GH-3 and 2 exciting lenses for the roadmap – 42.5mm f/1.2 and 150mm f/2.8 – wow, now I am excited!!!

Written by Gary on September 18th, 2012

Panasonic’s upgrade to the GH-2 will be the GH-3 as leaked, and it will have the best HD video capabilities of any hybrid camera available.

Key features of the new GH-3:

16mp sensor, 6fps burst rate
ISO 125-25,600 extended range
much larger than the GH-2 – more dSLR-like in size
weatherproofed
designed for pro-videographers in particular
fast AF
new EVF with 8x faster data transfer to it for smoother display on panning
three-core Venus 7 FHD engine
swivel, rotate, articulated touch screen
wireless TTL flash for the 1st time in a Panasonic camera – will it be compatible with Olympus – I would hope so!
PC sync socket
iOS and Android app control via WiFi (built-in)
.MOV and AVCHD video formats with Timecode support
60p/50p/30p/25p/24p HD video with 50Mbps in IPB and 72-80Mbps in All-I compression .MOV modes, 28Mbps in AVCHD format and 20Mbps in MP4 format
stereo mic plus 3.5mm mic socket
shutter 60sec – 1/4000th sec, flash sync only 1/160th sec though
HDR mode
electronic shutter
optional vertical grip
550g

More details here.

Awesome stuff which really value adds to the Micro Four Thirds system

But what I am really interested in are the new Panasonic lenses they are teasing us with (on the roadmap for 2013-14):

42.5mm f/1.2
150mm f/2.8 HD

Plus their previously announced 35-100mm f/2.8 OIS high end lens now has a pre-order on Amazon for $1499 – not cheap, but that is the price of quality, in compact size.

What a brilliant system the Micro Four Thirds is turning into!

Meanwhile still waiting on shipment of the stunning Olympus 75mm f/1.8 lens to go with my Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and 45mm f/1.8 lenses.

Posted in cameras, lenses | Comments Off on Even more exciting news.. Panasonic announces the GH-3 and 2 exciting lenses for the roadmap – 42.5mm f/1.2 and 150mm f/2.8 – wow, now I am excited!!!
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, GH-3, Micro Four Thirds, Panasonic

Olympus announce 2 new compact PEN Micro Four Thirds cameras bringing E-M5 image quality to the masses

Written by Gary on September 18th, 2012

Olympus appear to have consolidated their 3 model PEN Micro Four Thirds camera range into 2 models as expected.

There is no upgrade to the E-P3, but instead the E-PL3 upgrade, the new Olympus E-PL5 (PEN Lite) gains some of the features of both the E-P3, the E-M5 and a few new tricks as well.

The “point and shoot” model, the E-PM2 is a very handy upgrade of the E-PM1 or PEN Mini.

So what is so exciting about these cameras?

They bring the fantastic image quality of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 to a smaller, lighter, cheaper camera which will suit the needs of a much wider audience. They both use the same 16mp sensor and image engine as the E-M5 and allow ISO 200-25,600, although best results will be ISO 1600 and lower.
They both sport touch screen interfaces which makes their use much easier for novices and enthusiasts alike, and allow you to select a focus point on screen – even changing it during movie mode
They have the the FAST AF of the E-M5 which is one of the fastest autofoicus systems in any camera (as long as the subject is not moving fast)
The E-PL5 touch screen rotates upwards to allow self-portraits – as long as the screen is not blocked by a hotshoe accessory such as a flash – so not as good a solution as the articulating, swivel screen as on the Panasonic GH series, but better than none at all.
They both have sensor based image stabilisation as with their predecessors, but not the 5-axis version as on the E-M5, and it is not clear if this will work during movie mode as it does on the E-M5.
For the smallest kit, you can buy the new cheap, super slim 15mm f/8 manual focus “Body Cap” lens – fantastic for carrying these cameras in a pocket.
They have remote TTL flash capability to allow remote flashes to be controlled by the master flash on the camera’s hotshoe such as the FL-LM1 which is supplied with the E-PL5
Flash sync is an industry leading 1/250th sec with the latest flash units, and they support Super FP High Speed Sync flash to 1/4000th sec.
They are able to use the best range of dedicated compact autofocus lenses available for any mirrorless system and are smaller and lighter than comparable lenses for dSLRs.
The E-PL5 can shoot at 8fps (without AF) or 3.5fps with AF
Unlike most dSLRs, the AF regions cover almost the entire image not just the central half or third, and as mentioned can be easily selected using the touch screen
They can accept hotshoe accessories such as electronic viewfinders – this means when the next quantum leap in EVF quality occurs it may be possible to use these as well
Auto HDR mode which automatically combines multiple shots at different expsoures – the 1st time in an Olympus camera
New Watercolor ART filter in addition to the ones on earlier models, plus the ART filter can be changed DURING movies and the change will be introduced gradually
Reasonably good 1080i HD video with stereo mics and a new Movie Teleconverter capability
The E-PL5 has support for Toshiba’s FlashAir WiFi-capable flash cards and an Android or iOS app will allow sharing of photos via smartphone
Timed long exposures of up to 60secs – very few cameras have this feature which is nice for photographing stars
The very effective Olympus sensor dust removal system and lovely Olympus jpeg image colours
They look great and the optional front grip for the E-PL5 is a nice touch too.
New Lens IS priority option which allows you to automatically disable the sensor-based IS if a Panasonic lens with OIS is being used

What is not so good about them?

no built-in viewfinder means you must use the touch screen or buy the optional EVF, but then you cannot use flash as it occupies the hotshoe
no built-in flash – but the E-PL5 is at least bundled with a small plug in flash
user interface is not great for enthusiasts wanting to take control of the camera fully themselves – this is particularly the case with the E-PM2 while the E-PL5 has the additional function button and drive mode dial, but at least both have the nice Super Control Panel which allows functions to be accessible via the touch screen
as with all current mirrorless cameras, autofocus will be slow or not possible on fast moving subjects – I expect this to be addressed on new cameras in the next 2-3 years as it is one of Olympus’ R&D priorities
20Mbps HD video quality is not up there with the latest high end cameras such as the Panasonic GH-3, and only supports 30fps (no 60fps nor 24fps)
they are not weatherproof

These are important upgrades to the PEN system as image quality is one of the main reasons the E-M5 is so popular and now this same quality is available in the lower end cameras and that is brilliant indeed!

One could get this image quality and camera size with a Sony NEX – but you won’t get the in-camera image stabilisation system which works on any lens, and you won’t have access to the fantastic compact, lightweight range of dedicated autofocus lenses that is available for Micro Four Thirds, nor the ability to create a system with the best hybrid video cameras such as the Panasonic GH-3, not upgrade to one of the most versatile, fun compact cameras, the brilliant, Olympus OM-D E-M5.

These cameras would be fantastic with the compact Micro Four Thirds lenses such as the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake or the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 portrait lens.

Posted in cameras, photography | 4 Responses »
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, Micro Four Thirds, Olympus

Awesome video shot on a pre-production Panasonic GH-3 Micro Four Thirds camera due to be announced next week

Written by Gary on September 16th, 2012

The forth-coming Panasonic GH-3 looks to be the best hybrid video camera one can buy and this video shot with it and promoted on Philip Bloom’s blog is awesome:

Posted in cameras | Comments Off on Awesome video shot on a pre-production Panasonic GH-3 Micro Four Thirds camera due to be announced next week
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, GH-3, Micro Four Thirds, Panasonic, video

Apple launches the iPhone 5 and iOS 6

Written by Gary on September 13th, 2012

The new iPhone 5 brings a new size format and new socket as well as SIM card format but in return users get double the speed and compatibility with 4G in Australia.

New iPhone 5 features include:

longer and 18% thinner giving a 4″ 16:9 display instead of 3.4″ display but otherwise the same “Retina” display resolution as the 4S
legacy apps will appear letterboxed in the larger 1136 x 640 pixel display
metallic back
4G LTE capability would work with Telstra, Optus and Virgin Mobile in Australia
faster A6 processor which approximately doubles speed of most functions
new dynamic low light mode that offers up to two f-stops better performance in low light for the camera
panorama sweep mode where users can sweep a scene while holding the camera vertically
better stabilisation of 1080p video
face detection of up to 10 people
front camera supports 720p for video calling on cellular networks
new “lightning” connector instead of 30-pin socket – makes all existing iPhone plug-ins incompatible unless you buy an adapter
new SIM card – a “macro-SIM” instead of “micro-SIM”
BUT NO Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, so no contactless payments
for most people the hastle of the changes will not be worth the upgrade from iPhone 4S unless they really want 4G in Australia

New iOS6 features:

Safari can now sync bookmarks and the actual webpages across iCloud and with Mac and iOS devices – “iCloud Tabs” but we still can’t have multiple browser apps open to better organise your workflow, just multiple tabs.
Siri has been improved and becomes available on the newer iPads – I have Siri turned off on my iPhone so am guessing I won’t be missing her calling international numbers accidentally!
more options for preventing messages and text notifications from disturbing you at night
turn on Do Not Disturb and you won’t be bothered by anyone — except can’t-miss contacts like your boss or your family
maps are no longer Google
new 3D map application – but 3D buildings is only available in US
turn-by-turn navigation and voice by Siri in the US but not here in Australia, and if it is, requires cellular data – you will be better off sticking with TomTom!
Passport app to store and display barcoded loyalty cards, movie tickets, virtual airline boarding passes (apparently Virgin Australia will support this)
photo streams can be shared with others as long as their iOS 6 device or Mountain Lion Mac are connected to iCloud (photos are downloaded to their device) or they use a computer to view the iCloud photostream
better integration with Facebook – single log in which becomes available to all apps needing it, plus sync FB calendar and friend’s birthdays onto the phone calendar
improved email – can designate certain people as “VIPs” and locate their emails more easily in the VIP inbox; swipe down to refresh a mailbox; easier photo attachments
FaceTime now works over cellular networks as video calls not just over WiFi and the internet
Guided Access for improved accessibility
Find My Phone improved with ability to immediately send it a 4 pin lock out and a message to contact a phone number if found which can be called from the iPhone while it is locked, plus while Lost it will keep track of where it has been not just the current location
NB. the original iPad is NOT compatible with iOS 6 – so guess that is the end of the updates for it!
see Apple’s What’s new and which features are available in which country

Posted in mobile phones | Comments Off on Apple launches the iPhone 5 and iOS 6
Tags: Apple, iOS, iPhone

Sony announce some nice new cameras and lenses and finally rid themselves of the legacy Minolta hotshoe as last!

Written by Gary on September 12th, 2012

There is lots of news from Sony today.

1. Sony have introduced a new ISO-standard flash hotshoe finally doing away with the crazy Minolta design which was incompatible with non-Minolta flashes even in manual mode. Users of Minolta flashes can buy a Sony adapter for use on the new cameras. This is big news for me as I have been critical of the Minolta hotshoe ever since they invented it!

2. Sony RX-1 – a very interesting full frame compact fixed lens camera without built-in viewfinder but with a 35mm f/2 optically stabilised lens with leaf shutter. At $2800 it will have a restricted audience but still may be a very attractive option for wedding photographers as a 2nd camera for those group photos outdoors, assuming the flash sync goes to 1/2000th sec which is unique outside the medium format world.

3. Sony SLT Alpha A99 dSLR – the lightest, most compact full frame dSLR and weathersealed, sensor-shift IS, with perhaps the best subject tracking AF system available – as long as your subject is in the centre and it works!!!

4. Sony NEX 6 – essentially their NEX-5R with the EVF from the NEX7 and a few extra goodies such as a PASM dial.

5. a couple of high end video cameras, one with APS-C sized sensor, the VG-30, but suprisingly, a full frame VG900 using the small NEX E-mount!

6. Three new NEX lenses to give a collapsible compact zoom, a 50mm prime and a 15-27mm ultra wide angle (in 35mm terms).

The NEX5R, NEX6 and A99 all use on-sensor phase detect sensors, but in addition, the A99 uses full time normal phase detect sensors courtesy of its fixed translucent mirror (SLT design) which does have the downside of losing 1/3rd of your light and adding an extra bit of glass in your image train.

The unfortunate problem with these phase detect sensors are that they are all closely packed to the centre of the image – so bad luck if you compose by the Rule of Thirds intersections as these lie outside the sensor area. Other than this issue, and the fact none of the Sony flashes or lenses are compatible with my gear, the RX-1 and A99 at the right price would be interesting options to me to give me additional full frame capabilities such as shallower DOF.

Nevertheless, these cameras represent another step forward into the eveolution of the digital camera and the full frame options are very interesting indeed if the image quality is realised and the price is low enough to provide a reason to change from Canon or Nikon full frame dSLRs.

I wonder how Sony are dealing with the periphery image issues created by using a full frame sensor with such a short lens flange distance as it appears they are using with the RX-1 – time will tell I guess.

Will they compliment your Micro Four Thirds system?

Assuming these are cracked up to be what the specs suggest and image quality is fantastic, how would the RX-1 or Alpha A99 compliment a compact Micro Four Thirds system?

1st the RX-1:

For a 35mm lens field of view on a Micro Four Thirds camera one could use:

Olympus 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens for compact, pocketable kit but lose low light and shallow DOF capability
Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 which would give similar DOF but no autofocus and no camera-controlled aperture
the rumoured Olympus 17mm f/1.8 (presumably available in 2013) or the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake would mean 1.5 stops less control over shallow DOF

Thus adding the RX-1 to your kit could be very handy if shallow DOF at 35mm is important to you, or the leaf shutter which will presumably allow full flash output at any shutter speed be a boon to those wishing to over-power the sun with their flash.

But it will not be so handy if you are wanting more DOF at wide aperture such as when shooting urban shots hand held at night – in this scenario, your Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a 12mm or 17mm lens will be a much better choice.

For most, they may prefer adding the versatility of a full frame dSLR rather than being constrained by such an expensive fixed lens camera.

2nd, the SLT Alpha A99:

Now this camera could compliment Micro Four Thirds reasonably well (better if it had a compatible TTL flash – but it seems unlikely that Panasonic or Olympus will be heading into full frame dSLR territory any time soon).

It would offer 2 main features which are currently lacking in Micro Four Thirds, and thus are the main reason why one would consider a dSLR:

AF tracking of fast moving subjects thanks to its dual and full time phase detect AF system – although as mentioned, this only applies to subjects in the centre of the frame
even shallower DOF

The problem for me though is that I own lots of Canon Pro full frame lenses so jumping onto a Sony dSLR is not going to happen for me, and if I need AF of faster moving subjects then the new Olympus E-7 when it comes out would be a better fit with the Micro Four Thirds flash system but of course, it will not give full frame level of shallow DOF.

It does have several advantages over the Canon or Nikon full frame dSLRs:

sensor based image stabilisation so even your wide aperture prime lenses are stabilised – try shooting your 135mm f/2.0 lens with fill-in flash at 1/250th second and you will see sharpness often suffers without IS on a Canon or Nikon.
fixed mirror so no mirror vibrations, no mirror noise and full-time phase detect AF calculations for better subject tracking and ability to programmatically choose a focus range for AF
better video capabilities – such as XLR mic adapter, improved autofocus during video, live video output via HDMI
EVF and full time live view for seemless video / magnified live view and other capabilities
smaller size, lighter weight, quieter, yet still weathersealed and shutter rating of 200,000 shots

BUT, specs may not prove to be the real world advantages as they seem on paper – see what happened with the Sony SLT Alpha A55 launched in 2010. It too had this SLT fixed mirror system and offered subject tracking at 10fps but it was inaccurate and had many compromises – we will have to await testing to see how this SLT camera fairs given it has the benefit of a further 2 years of technology development to hopefully address the previous issues.

Where to now?

Now that we are seeing more full frame cameras hitting the market and their prices fall, photographers will increasingly be thinking:

if I am going to carry around a larger lens, then why bother with cropped sensor cameras such as APS-based mirrorless or dSLR cameras, I may as well get a full frame camera
for most of the time when one just wants a small, compact camera with small lenses, then Micro Four Thirds is the perfect compromise on size, image quality, fun, price, versatility and ability to gain sufficiently shallow DOF.
niche cameras for special applications such as the Sony RX1’s leaf shutter and x-sync to 1/2000th sec
sports / wildlife camera with AF for fast moving subjects at f/8 lenses and great telephoto reach such as Olympus Four Thirds, Canon 1D Mark IV, Nikon D300s or Nikon D4 (although the last being full frame has limited telephoto reach)
tough, almost indestructible, waterproof, droppable cameras for the beach, surf and kids such as the Olympus TOUGH TG-1 camera
for most other casual photography where image quality is less important than the photo, a smartphone may be adequate

I can see why both Canon and Nikon have been reluctant to make APS-sized mirrorless cameras – soon we will have full frame mirrorless to address those needs.

Posted in cameras, lenses, photography | Comments Off on Sony announce some nice new cameras and lenses and finally rid themselves of the legacy Minolta hotshoe as last!
Tags: NEX, Sony