Thursday, 25 July 2019


CHANGING FROM CANON TO OLYMPUS

I have not put anything on this blog for some time, mainly because I have moved to showing most of my newer images on Facebook. The number of people who view my images on Facebook far out way the number of people who read my blog, but the advantage of the blog is that I can put a lot more information into this format.

Cuckoo - OM-D E-M1 MkII and 300M F4 Hand held

About 9 months ago I decided to change from the Canon system to the Olympus system. I had used Canon equipment for over 25 years, and to be perfectly honest, I never thought I would change. As I have got older and `creakier` , I have found that lugging around a large bag full of heavy DSLR equipment a bit of a strain. As I do a lot of bird photography, carting around a heavy telephoto lens, tripod,Wimberly type head, was taking all the fun out of photography. It got to the stage that I thought, do I really want to got out today with all that gear. 

Gannets - OM-D E-M1 MkII and 300m F4 Pro lens. Hand held 

Having read that a number of well known and respected nature photographers have changed to Olympus, I decided to investigate. Fortunately, a good friend of mine had changed to Olympus, and she let me try her camera out. The small size and lightness was amazing, and picture sharpness has to be seen to be believed. I decided to sell my Canon 600m F4 and my 7D mark II and bought my way into the Olympus system.

OM-D E-M1 MkII, 14-150mF4-5.6 lens, polarizer on ttipod

Initially, I  bought the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII body, and three lenses, the 300m F4 IS Pro lens, the 40-150 F2.8 Pro lens with the MC-14 1.4 Teleconverter, and the 60m F2.8 Macro. After I had had the camera for a few weeks, my wife decided to try it. Because it is so small and light, she has really taken to it, and calls it `her camera` ! Because size, lightness and portability are her main requirements, I then had to buy the 14-150mm  F4-5.6 lens, as well as the 9-18m F4-5.6 lens. Although these are not `Pro` lenses, they are amazingly sharp.

OM-D E-M1 MkII, 40-150 F2.8 Pro lens and MC-14 teleconverter.  Hand held

I have to admit that when I first bought the Olympus, I wondered if I had done the right thing ! Compared to the Canon equipment, it is a lot more complicated , and seemed to have a mind of its own !  Once I started to get to grips with the menus, settings and dials, it became a lot easier to use, and I soon realised what a great piece of kit it was.

Poppy Field - OM-D E-M1 MkII, 9-18m F4-5.6 lens. 

I find now that I am taking far more pictures with the Olympus than the Canon, mainly because I go out a lot more. No longer the thought `do I really want to lug that stuff around all day` ! I also find I am attempting shots that I would never have even attempted with the Canon. Although one of the main reasons for changing was the 300m F4 Pro lens for bird photography, I have found its also a great lens for stalking butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. My main lens for this type of work though is the 40-150mF2.8 with the MC-14 Teleconverter. Its so light and pin sharp.

Red Grouse in Heather - OM-D E-M1 MkII, 300M F4 +Mc-14 teleconverter.

One of my main worries about changing to the smaller sensor size was what it would be like for A3 prints. Having previously used a full frame Canon camera, with quite large file sizes, would the Olympus still produce great prints. This was very important to me because I am a Permajet Envoy and have to produce prints for lectures/talks to camera clubs. When I made my first prints from the Olympus, I was really surprised how good they were. Even prints where I had to crop into the image, the print quality is still very good. On images where there is little cropping, its possible to go to A2 without any loss in quality, so the latest talk that I have produced has a lot of images showing the quality achievable.

Padley Gorge Millstone - OM-D E-M1 MkII, 9-18m F4-5.6 lens. 

All the pictures in the blog are taken on the Olympus system.