0515 is a ridiculous time to get out of bed; but such was necessary this morning in order that we could head out on a reconnaissance trip to a new macro location. There were three Olympus E-M1s in the party (visitor Kevin, neighbour Nik and myself), plus a Fuji XE-1 carried by another Nick who was our guide and subsequent breakfast host. Nick used to lug around a massive Nikon but has now seen the light; so there was not a flappy mirror to be seen anywhere.
After breakfast, Nick gave us a show of some of the shots he has captured recently; all of which made us feel that we might as well just throw away our cameras; but it does show what going out every morning for months on end can achieve.
Not a great outing this morning; the brain refused to get into gear; but the E-M1 was a joy to shoot with. Used auto-focus to acquire first lock, and then clicked the lever to engage manual focus with automatic zoom for fine tuning; such a smooth process.
Not many shots to show for such an early start; but here are a few:
Comments 🔗
2013-11-12| Kevin Moore saysThink the catarpiller’s hair looked similar to mine but getting up at 5am does that. Superb images from Nik at his house some stunning macro shots putting the rest of our efforts to shame. Made us feel a bit better with a great breakfast and hospitality which was much appreciated.
2013-11-12| Andrew saysSo…if I am reading this correctly ( a distinct possibility I’m not..) the Nick with the XE-1 with the dubious autofocus issues got amazing photos…(not necessarily from getting up at 5 AM every day ) but perchance to either technique ( skill ) or camera…did you think some of the difference came from sensor size or was it all from behind the camera?….just wondering as I have been meaning to buy a new camera for a few years now and every time I turn around there is a NEW, NEW THING which is supposedly better….good to hear the EM1 is so user friendly ( I still plug along with my E-420 which I think might almost be the same size ( except for lenses) …I must admit I have a soft spot for Oly’s and their rendering but every time I hear " Oh the QUALITY, THE QUALITY"of the latest new,new thing … I hesitate to slap down the credit card…so far I have been able to avoid paying anything for 2 -3 years but the itch is begging to be scratched….
2013-11-13| Spike saysYou are reading it correctly. Nick’s slideshow covered his shots over the past year and was a mixture of XE-1 and Nikon full-frame shots; you couldn’t tell the difference. Where you could tell the difference was that he wasn’t struggling through the undergrowth with monster gear like he used to. His shots are due to perseverance and skill, and of course he needed a camera that enabled him to get the shots. Macro mainly uses manual focus, and many of his shots are the subject of focus stitching with up to 70 shots being combined to produce a single image. He works at it, and the results show. The E-M1 would allow you to use your existing E-420 lenses (with an adapter which comes free with the camera in some countries). Otherwise, almost all modern cameras will do a decent job; depends which one seems the best to you.
2013-11-13| Ivo saysI do not care who & how the photos are made …. photo #3 is my favorite!
2013-11-19| http://imtra.com.my/ saysHi! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new apple iphone! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the outstanding work!