Daniel Kontorovich
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famous portrait photographer from St. Petersburg. In his review of the OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 he says about its merits from the point of view of photographers working in the genre: “I am constantly searching for new expressive means in photography, including experimenting with post-processing. I often have to find unconventional ways of doing things. One of my problems is the difficulty of combining traditional filmmaking with digital, which provides advanced possibilities. The camera OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 allowed to solve this problem easily
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I immediately like the image output from the built-in converter, I was even initially looking for the catch!…”
Photographer Daniil Kontorovich
Only recently I realized that there are no pitfalls here – thanks to excellent color reproduction, a wide dynamic range and a low-noise matrix, getting a decent image can really be achieved by means of the built-in converter. Especially when using VSCO presets which include profiles of OM-D E-M1 and other OLYMPUS cameras. Of course, you have to do some more adjustments manually, but the overall image looks just right!”
To help the reader understand my perception and evaluation of any crops, as well as my initial skepticism towards them, I have a digital Pentax 645D before. And at the moment my main camera is a film Hasselblad 203fe. So in terms of pattern, plasticity, dynamic and tonal range, image depth, I have something to compare it with.
I prefer to take staged genre portraits – OLYMPUS not only lets me take them but also extends stylistics towards more reportage, it makes me want to catch moments, sometimes to switch on continuous shooting and thus stop time.
After testing it for a few months now, I must admit that my prejudice against small-format zooms turned out to be erroneous, as well as my tepid attitude towards zooms. Light M.The ZUIKO DIGITAL 12-40mm f/2.8 has become my favorite lens for day-to-day shooting, even though I’ve been given some very nice fixed focal length lenses to use with it, including the portrait M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 75mm/ f1.8 and the excellent M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 60 mm/f2.8 Macro.
The first impressions of the OM-D E-M1 were, of course, tactile, and unexpectedly positive – the miniature body is surprisingly well made, no backlash, all parts fit securely, nothing creaks or sags. The camera lies comfortably in your hand and its main control functions are on numerous buttons and dials so if you want to change something as soon as possible you usually do it with one touch without diving into menu and browsing through its pages. In my experience I can say that when it comes to operation the OM-D E-M1 is the most comfortable camera I’ve ever seen and all other cameras including professional full-frame DSLRs are markedly worse in this respect.
The display is very practical – it tilts up and down, so you can shoot comfortably from the floor as well as from above – no extra effort needed. What’s more, the body is weatherproof and lets you take pictures even in the rain or shower.
I also found the image stabilizer to be an invaluable aid: It’s the latest Olympus development, with a matrix that is stabilized on five axes. It compensates even for quite noticeable shake – for example, the shot taken with the M lens was sharp.ZUIKO DIGITAL 75mm/f1.8 equivalent to 150mm full frame at a shutter speed of 1/6 sec. – Without the stabilizer, you wouldn’t even think about it.
Constant studio light
Andrey Plyaskin, Ekaterinburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
2 Andrey Plyaskin, Ekaterinburg.
3 Andrey Plyaskin, Ekaterinburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
But the most important thing, of course, is the pictures you get. For a long time I have been actively searching for different ways to improve my pictures, this also explains my switch to film when reviewing a shot, the first thing I try to do is to point out the flaws in each shot and think about how to improve it. In that sense the files with OM-D E-M1 were perceived as some kind of trick at first – I like them immediately and it’s not so easy to think what else could be done with them. Of course, this refers only to RAW files, I was not very much pleased with JPEG files, because they have noticeably “bumped up” the sharpness even when the settings were at zero.
RAW files processed in a converter using standard conversion process without any tricks flattering enjoy excellent micro-contrast and their natural sharpness perfectly conveys the image of the optics, so there is no desire to strengthen this sharpness somehow. Particular praise should be given to the camera’s built-in profiles, which can be viewed in the Camera Calibration tab – they are usually quite sufficient for an excellent conversion. And for even more perfect results I suggest you try VSCO presets with OM-D E-M1 profiles turned on – they produce an image you want to admire right away!
Another thing worth mentioning is the excellent color reproduction and high dynamic range – the camera handles contrast scenes perfectly.
I am not a big fan of reading detailed instructions and I prefer to learn how to use my cameras by “learning by doing”. This method turned out to be quite successful – in general, a photographer even with little experience will intuitively understand the purpose of most buttons and disks on the camera. The Fn button caused some hesitation at first, but soon it proved its usefulness – the curve shown on it turned out to mean the possibility of adjusting contrast, a little later the same button opened color and aspect ratio adjustments, including the possibility to select my favorite square format. Surprisingly, this setting is also saved in RAW files.
For taking selfies and not only Olympus equipped the camera with remote control via Wi-Fi from a smartphone, with the function of viewing and copying images to a smartphone JPEG only . It sounds exotic but it’s a very practical option in reality.
I was pleased with the autofocus – swift as with all good “cropped” cameras, with as many as 81 focus points throughout the frame and the ability to select them quickly with a touch of the touch screen. What’s more, very capable was the tracking focus – complete with a speed of 10 fps. It guarantees sharp shots when shooting reportage and in general all scenes with fast motion in the frame. The only thing I would like to improve in this respect is battery life. For serious photography I advise to have a spare battery and better still a battery grip, by the way it’s more convenient to hold the camera.
Separate topic – proprietary optics. For the test I was given the lenses with fixed focal length M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm/f1.8, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 75mm/f1.8 and M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 60mm/f2.8 Macro, and the professional M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 12-40mm/f2.8 to convert to full frame equivalent the focal length of these 4/3 system lenses must be doubled . Olympus optics have been around since the days of film, and today camera connoisseurs are chasing non-autofocus Zuiko wide angles that are attached through an adapter to modern cameras.
Home experiments with hard light
Mira Smirnova, St. Petersburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Mira Smirnova, St. Petersburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Mira Smirnova, St. Petersburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Mira Smirnova, St. Petersburg.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
It was a revelation to me the quality of the image they produce. The M high-aperture zoom is a special surprise.ZUIKO DIGITAL 12-40 mm/f2.8. It turned out to be a perfect lens for travel and everyday carry, delighting with its picture, convenience and versatility. Now I almost always carry around the OM-D E-M1 with this zoom, and it’s enough to capture almost any scene I encounter without planning ahead – especially if you remember the excellent stabilization system on the sensor that works with all the proprietary lenses.
In conclusion, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 was a great companion that I wouldn’t want to part with, and the images it captures are just as good as those you can get with much more expensive and bulky equipment. Try it for yourself – for sure you will like this small, but reliable and capable camera.
It’s New Year’s Eve now, and I want to wish everyone good luck and great shots! And one more thing – get rid of your preconceptions when choosing a camera, and it will give you the same wonderful experience, as it gave me during the few months of our acquaintance.
I’m curious to know what specific advantages you have found while shooting with the OM-D E-M1 compared to other cameras? How does this zoom lens enhance your photography experiences?