The short answer is “Nope, not really”. For the longer answer, read on…
Sometimes I’ll take a camera by Bear Creek Nature Trail in our neighborhood (the middle of Tuscawilla, along the north side of Winter Springs Boulevard). On this particular day back in January of 2017, sunlight was filtering down through the trees and hitting the water at a bend in the creek. The light refracting through ripples in the surface created interesting patterns and colors I thought were worth a shutter click.
Bear Creek Ripples 1a (28mm eq. focal length, f/8, 0.5 seconds, ISO 64)
This was a month or so after I started using the Olympus E-M1 Mark II camera. I’d sold my Nikon D-800 and lenses so I could afford to upgrade my Olympus kit and I was still getting used to the new gear. I’d had the D-800 for over four years and it’d worked extremely well for me. It was the very best camera I’d ever used so getting rid of it was a big step and I was still second guessing my decision.
Why did I sell the Nikon gear and move exclusively to Olympus? And how is it working out? Glad you asked!
It seems that discovering micro four thirds cameras is a big thing on the web, lately. Here are a few links with a lot of information you can investigate:
- https://photofocus.com/2017/05/11/mirrorless-camera-maniac-switching-from-full-frame-to-micro-four-thirds/
- http://www.jacquescornell.photography/blog/2014/10/switching-from-full-frame-to-micro-four-thirds-mirrorless-cameras
https://www.christography.com/blog/from-full-frame-to-micro-four-thirds(link no longer available)- https://improvephotography.com/12465/dslr-vs-micro-four-thirds-cameras/
- http://www.sulasula.com/en/olympus-for-wildlife-photography-one-month-in-the-rainforest/
I won’t repeat these discussions. Everyone will have their own opinion and reasoning for the camera equipment they use. I’ll just summarize by saying that for me, no regrets. The smaller and more modern design has many advantages with few real issues. For what I shoot, I haven’t seen much downside.
I can carry much more camera capability with far less weight. And the new gear does things the older Nikon equipment doesn’t. Really, the only thing that concerns me even a bit is star / astro photography with the smaller sensor. I haven’t had much of a chance to test this yet and hopefully ease my concerns, but even if the Olympus isn’t as good at this type of photography, I’m not very worried. I don’t do it all that often and if I need to, I can always rent / borrow a different camera with a larger sensor or use something like the iOptron SkyTrackerTM to make really long exposures. Your mileage may vary of course, and you should investigate thoroughly before you make such a significant change.
If you have questions, feel free to ask in the comments. I’ll be more than glad to try to answer. And you can click on the image below to go to Flickr and browse through an album of the images I’ve made with the new camera:
Great Egret head shot
Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – no matter the camera you have, go make some photos!
©2017, Ed Rosack. All rights reserved