Time For Some Changes

Osprey 'fishing.' (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark III; 300mm f/4 lens; 1/2000th sec. @ f/4.5; ISO 320

Well....  I've gone and done it now.  What have I done you ask?  Read on.

As many of you know, I've had three camera systems for some time.  I've written about wanting to pare down to two systems but I've struggled to decide which one.  I subscribe to the philosophy that too much choice degrades the experience.  The three systems are full frame, APS-C and micro 4/3.  In the past, in my attempt to reduce the amount of gear I own, I sold off most of the APS-C gear using the logic that that, as an 'in-between' format, the sensor size is just too close to full format and also too close to micro4/3.  It made more sense to have two formats separated by a factor of four rather than a factor of two.  Eventually, missing using the Fujifilm gear, I rebought a camera body and a couple of lenses.  Evidently, I have more money than sense.  Well, I used to until we started building a new house.  But I just missed the pleasure of using Fujifilm gear.  Fast forward to today, again finding myself STILL in the mindset that I need to divest myself of what I think is way too much gear, I'm determined to do so but which kit do I sell since the APS-C divestiture didn't work out for me so well?

Being a big proponent and cheerleader of the micro4/3 system, with its smaller but excellent lenses, versatility, more features than you could possibly need and high image quality, this format has been one of my favorites since I first bought an Olympus E-M5 in 2012.  I've taken road trips all over the U.S. and eastern Canada with only a micro4/3 kit and produced many, many excellent images with that system that naysayers deem too small to take seriously.  I've never regretted only taking a micro4/3 camera on those trips.

As I already mentioned, after selling off much of my Fujifilm gear, I missed it enough that I bought an X-T4 and a few lenses.  I bought the 10-24mm f/4, the 16-55mm f/2.8 and the 55-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lenses.  This selection makes a nice, compact, relatively lightweight kit that performs excellently!  Should it go once again?

As far as the full format gear, I originally bought my Nikon Z7 to conduct the massive task of copying much of my 35mm slide and negative archive.  I've written about that project extensively in this blog.  I thought buying the Z7 with a macro lens along with the Nikon ES-2 digitizing attachment made more sense than to just pay for a company to digitize literally thousands of slides and negatives.  After all, I could have full control over which and how the slides and negatives were digitized, exposure, color balance, etc. and by then selling the Nikon, I could recoup much of the cost of the gear after the project was over.  I spent weeks doing it but accomplished my goal.  

My intention of selling the Z7 didn't happen.  After using it for some general photography I really came to enjoy looking deep into those 45mp files and seeing the fine detail that was rendered along with the tremendous dynamic range the camera produced.  Instead of selling it, I ended up buying a number of used or refurbished Nikon lenses to round out a nice kit.  I have used it on many outings and produced some wonderful images with it.  But, going back to my original intent, does the Nikon gear need to go?  (As an aside, one thing I learned from the slide/negative digitizing project is that it was a mistake to do it with a 45mp camera.  A 24-26mp camera would suffice and be much more efficient.  I believe the film resolves less than the 45mp sensor records so I think some of the extra resolution was wasted.)

So, what to do?

Well, I've now moved on from micro4/3.  I've sold all of my micro4/3 gear.  Yep, every bit of it.  I was tempted to keep just my E-M1 Mark III and the 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens, but if I thought if I kept any of it, I would be tempted to add to it in the future.  Evidently, I'm weak when it comes to acquiring new gear.  So both cameras, all of my lenses and both tele-converters have been sold.  The decision to sell the micro4/3 gear was easier than I thought.  Read further and I'll tell you why.

I think it is important to say that my selling my Olympus gear has nothing to do with how much I valued that system, its capabilities or its versatility.  I don't take back anything I've written about it in the past.  It's an underdog system and I love rooting for the underdog and proving the critics wrong.  

In my opinion, micro4/3 has been and continues to be a wonderful photographic system that provides more versatility by way of innovative features in the cameras than either full frame or APS-C.  The image quality is superb in most lighting situations and, when the lighting is poor, one has Topaz DeNoise AI to equal the playing field with larger sensors cameras.  The dynamic range has been sufficient in 99% of the situations that I've encountered and when I need more, with a push of a button and three clicks of a dial, I've instantly employed exposure bracketing with the camera automatically set on continuous high advance.  As far as the 20mp sensor is concerned, resolution has never been an issue for me.  I don't really need more than that for what I do.  In the past, I've had custom prints made up to 24" X 30" and the quality was excellent.  When showing identical prints from micro4/3 and a 36mp Nikon camera to other photographers, no one I showed them to could tell the difference.  I still maintain that those who are micro4/3 biggest naysayers have never extensively used the system and exploited its attributes.

Probably the biggest reason I chose to sell my Olympus gear is that I no longer have a lot of confidence that the principle manufacturers of the gear have full intention of providing  cameras that will keep up with the cutting edge advances of the industry.  In other words, newer, more capable sensors, better EVFs and LCD screens and improved focus and focus tracking abilities.  I do believe that OMD will target the wildlife and bird photography market, but wildlife and bird photography doesn't represent much of the kinds of photography I practice.  I don't want nor need a successor to the E-M1X, which I believe will be OMD's next 'big' camera.  In the mean time, it seems as though they will introduce a new "Tough" camera, but that holds no interest for me either.  

Also, I believe that Panasonic will primarily focus on video performance, again, something that doesn't hold any interest for me.  Additionally, Panasonic chooses to stay with contrast-based focus, which just doesn't perform well against phase-detect focus systems and I don't have much hope they plan on changing.  

Yes, I know the E-M1 Mark III and the wonderful set of lenses will still work fine tomorrow, next year and beyond.  They won't become immediately obsolete.  Wonderful images still can be made with that gear.  But that is not the point for me.

Finally, knowing that I may choose to sell off the Olympus gear, starting the first of 2021, I conducted a little experiment.  With the exception of conducting some comparison tests, I only used the Olympus two times for some bird photography.  Otherwise, it stayed at home.  I wanted to know if I would miss it.  The answer, obviously, is that I did not.  

The Olympus cameras and lenses have been sold.  End of that story.  Elvis has left the building.  There has been no second guessing myself, no remorse, no regrets.

But wait, there's more! (Where have you heard that before?)  Come back for the next post and I'll continue my story.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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