In Oct 2013 I placed an order for the new Olympus OMD EM-1, a month later it was delivered together with the Olympus 17mm F1.8 and 45mm F1.8 prime lenses. I was one of the lucky ones to get a model early.
Six weeks later and today I am a better photographer than I was with my DSLR.
Let me explain.
I am not one of those people who believes that gear makes the photographer and I have certainly never been a pixel peeper or a brand junky. Since 2007 when I made the switch to digital photography I have used a Pentax camera with an APS-C sensor. Generally I was very satisfied with the results and could comfortably create 4' by 3' prints with resolution to spare from a 10mp sensor without ever feeling the need to upgrade.
However, although I am not a gear junkie, gear is not irrelevant. Having the ability to control your creative vision is somewhat dependant on what you shoot with. Granted, a great photographer can adapt their vision to the limitations of the gear, which is why Chase can make great photos with a Lego camera. But Chase will also be the first one to tell you that doing that once is not the same as doing it every day and having to permanently limit your vision to those external limitations.
I want to be clear that even though this post is about changing from Pentax to Olympus, I am not knocking Pentax. They make amazing cameras that are often better than the big guys and cheaper to boot. However, the DSLR format has limitations, and that is what I want to address.
For a start, you cannot drop it into your jacket pocket and carry it around with you without feeling the weight. You cannot get fast good quality glass without bulk and high cost, especially if you want full frame. And the big bulky bodies limits the ability to shoot hand held at lower shutter speeds. The end result of shooting with a DSLR has been that I would need a biggish bag and a tripod to go and shoot my preferred subjects. And price point meant that I could not expand my glass as I wanted too.
This is where I have to make my first confession. As the years went by I found myself photographing less and less because of the physical bulk I was dragging with me. Eventually it turned into having to make a specific outing to make photos which also happened less and less, until it almost stopped happening altogether. I would have the desire to make photos, but could jot bring myself to lug all that stuff around, which meant I was in photo making mode less and less, which made it even harder to get out there and make photos.
The other limiting factor was shooting in RAW. Yes, I know, there is a handy little button on all DSLR's that allows you to shoot in jpg as well. But you still have to go back to your PC, plug the card in, download the photos, organize them and then spend time in Photoshop or Lightroom to make it what you want. So I ended up sticking to RAW and get the best data.
Now for my second confession, I hate spending my time in the digital darkroom. It is not as much fun as a real darkroom and I would much rather make the photo than stare at its histogram in Lightroom. So I was taking less photos and when I did made photos I would process only a few, because I hated the pickiness of having to color correct monitors, and having to upload files, having to arrange photos into a database, do the tagging, manage exif data, having to keep track of final outputs, and having to then go to multiple websites individually to share it. In short I find the digital workflow frustrating. I want to make photos, I don't want to spend my time behind a computer screen.
This is where the Olympus OMD EM-1 comes in. Firstly it is small and compact, yet it is rugged and versatile, giving you full control over what you want to create. Secondly, it is wickedly good at image stabilization, and when combined with its relatively inexpensive prime glass wickedly fast too. My tripod is now pulled out only when I my creative vision requires it. The nett effect is that I almost always have the camera on me, and that changes a lot of things.
Photography is about seeing. Most people with the gift of sight, can see but never look. When I make photos, the way I see changes, I look and notice what I see and my mind is constantly looking for and making images and judging whether I should pull the camera out to make it. And because I have my camera with me more, I am in that mindset a lot more and because it is small and intuitive, I pull it out more often. That is making me a better photographer.
Secondly, the OMD EM-1 creates stunning jpg's straight out of the box, and allows me to upload them wirelessly to my iPad, where I can publish them immediately to multiple locations with minimal tweaking or fuss. My new workflow is: make the photo in raw and jpg. Upload it to my iPad through the Olympus App, which geotags it at the same time. Make a few final tweaks in snapseed and upload it to Flickr, Blogger, Facebook and Instagram with Pushr all in one go at the same time. Then once a week back up the raw flies into Lightroom on the PC Just in case I want to create a high res print later. I am processing more of my photos and sharing more of them. That is making me a better photographer.
The truth is that I am not a professional photographer, I am an amateur, I have a day job, and photography is a passion and a hobby. I just need to make me enough money to pay for itself. While I retain the ability to create a high res print when I sell an image, the Olympus allows me to make photos more often, and to share them more easily in the format where most amateurs share their work, the internet.
I am a complete convert to micro four thirds, with small, high quality and affordable glass, with incredible versatility, I have yet to find something that I gave up in my crop sensor DSLR by making the switch. So far there are only upsides.
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