I've Been Harsh On M4/3 Lately; Let Me Heap Some Praise on Its Capability to Produce Excellent Images

Interesting cloud formations as a front was moving through as I made this image.
ISO 200 (click to enlarge all images)

If you think I've been a bit too harsh on the M4/3 format, I want to set my record straight and be clear that I love M4/3 and have made, in my opinion, some excellent images with my Olympus cameras using both Olympus and Panasonic lenses.  And...that is at almost all ISOs up to and including ISO 6400.  Certainly, as you would expect, the higher the ISO utilized, the more noise is introduced, but much of it can be mitigated in a good noise reducing software.  You just have to be judicious on how you plan to use images made at higher ISOs. For example, I probably wouldn't be making any large prints from images using ISO 3200 or 6400.  But, they can look good for the web.

I went through my image files for the past couple of years and quickly picked out various images that demonstrate various ISO settings.  I used both the Olympus E-M5 and E-M1.  I have noted the ISOs of the image.  Since I posted so many, I've kept the size a bit smaller than my normal 1600 pixels on the long edge.  Click to enlarge any of the images.

The below images were made at ISO 200.

The below images were made at ISO 250.

The below images were made at ISO 500.

The below images were made at ISO 800.

The below image was made at ISO 1000.

The below images were made at ISO 1250.

The below images were made at ISO 1600.

The below image was made at ISO 2000.

The below image was made at ISO 2500

The below image was made at ISO 3200.

The below image was made at ISO 4000.

The below image was made at ISO 6400.

I would have included more images made at higher ISOs, but I very seldom photograph with ISOs over 1600.

Whether or not the aesthetics of the images are good, the point is M4/3 format cameras and lenses are capable of making technically excellent images at most commonly used ISOs.  Additionally, I have a contract with a traditional stock photography agency (not micro-stock) and they have evaluated and have readily accepted M4/3 images for licensing over the past 30 months without hesitation.  So, if you have any hesitation about the quality you can achieve from M4/3, don't. 

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2013-2015 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.