Mirrorless Olympus OMD M 5 first impressions

I started looking at other cameras after lugging my most beloved and excellent Nikon D5200 around earlier this year in a sweet little sling pack.  
I love hiking and I took the time to hike Wildcat Mountain's Old Settler's Trail and Hemlock Trail.

There are some reviews of these trails that call the somewhat difficult.  Other reviews come them quite difficult.

Since I am now a 'native' of the area after living here 20 years, I am used to our hills and steep valleys.  It makes going to a place that is flat and well groomed rather boring.

However I missed the days when I had only a pocket camera and hiked.  Lugging the extra gear for those awesome shots took some of the joy away from the hike itself.

I have a fairly lightweight Olympus E 420.  They don't make them any more, but after over 10K clicks, I am wondering when it will give up the ghost.
I started by just browsing around and looking at mirrorless cameras.

Fuji makes an excellent one and I was lusting after the Sony a6000.  I even looked at Nikon.  Then I looked at the Olympus OMD M 5.  It is fashioned a bit like a retro film camera and looks very similar to the Olympus OM1 made in 1972. 

I had a Minolta XD similar to this one as one of my very first cameras.

I was able to take some excellent photos with this camera and enjoyed the fact that I had to figure out exposures.

This one is of my youngest son on the first day of school in 1990.

I did enjoy photography 'back then' and was pretty careful about figuring out exposures, settings, film speed, aperatures and the best lighting.

My sons playing with our pygmy cross goats.

Well imagine the nostalgia of finding this camera as a digital mirrorless camera.

Oh how I lusted after the OMD M1 when it first was introduced in 2013.  A weather proof camera?  Light?

I recall turning to my husband and saying. "I want that!"

The first OMD M 5 ran about $1,499.  Ouch, too rich for me.  But one can still hope right?

I found that this model was being 'discontinued' and replaced by a new model.

The price had dropped!  And I ordered it from B&H Photo. I will plug them ... I've never had an issue with B&H and they make sure their packages are signed for.

I've always had great quality items from lens caps to filters to lenses and cameras.

Okay.

Off I went with snowshoes along the Old Settler's Trail.

You are here

This is was fairly demanding even on a groomed trail.  In places it was slippery.  But the lightweighted backpack made it much more of a pleasure.

Foot bridge

This is the foot bridge over a steep gully.  The OMD has a touch screen for focus and shooting.  The screen in back can tilt so you can get as low as you want without trying to break your neck.

It also has an electric view finder, which I didn't like at first and by the end of the day and the hike I turned it off and used the back screen only.

I found I was able to set up photos quickly with the menus once I figured them out.

Lines and angles

The bright snow and the deep shadows produced some difficulty in getting a correctly exposed shot.  I was able to change the metering and adjust for this after some experimenting.

The white balance was more accurate in RAW or .ORF format and slightly blue tinted in .jpeg.  Overall though it was comparable to my other cameras.

I decided on the way home to stop at Winchell Valley Bridge over the Kickapoo River and see if I could get some slightly longer exposures and how easy would the manual selection work?

 ISO 200, f22, 1/6 second

4X ND filter

Both of these shots were taken at the same exposure.  I set the camera on the rail of the bridge and flipped up the back screen and simply touched where I wanted the main focus to be.

Easy peasy.  I felt like I was cheating.

It only took 3 hours for me to decide that I absolutely love this camera and will be taking it on most of my hikes.

I do have yet to try a few more things.

How will it preform with a macro image?  The lens is a 12mm-50mm lens.  I went with this lens because it also is rubber sealed and weatherproof.

I may end up adding a prime at some point.

My other test will be a few shots with an Infrared filter.

And a long exposure...long long exposure.  This camera allows you to watch your shot expose on bulb shots.

You can set it to update the image to your specifications.

Yeah.

That sounds totally cool.

Happy shooting!

Not Farm Clothes!

When I went to the Banquet the other night I guess I shocked my old neighbors as they'd never seen me in anything other than farm clothes or my work uniform.

I used to dress up each day for work when I worked as a Chiropractor's Office 'Manager'.  Really I did!
When I began to wear a uniform every day, I stopped thinking about what it was like to dress up.

I called upon my new neighbor though after this shot was taken and she gave me one of those neat fancy scarves I see women wearing now.  It helped cover up the wrinkly old looking neck of mine.

Now you probably can figure out why I don't like self portraits.  I'm just too critical of what I see in the photo.
I ignore my reflection in the mirror except to see if I need to perhaps comb my hair if I am going somewhere.

Normally with my short hair, it is easy to just toss on a cap instead of trying to do something with my unruly hair.

So.
Ta...da!

I certainly hope I did not break any monitors in this viewing!

Well, off to take care of some critters outside...IN my farm clothes!

Thank you to Dad

One of my regrets is that my father is not alive and able to see some of my work as he has always been my inspiration for picking up the camera and seeing things through the lens.

These shots are for you dad.  From all those times I listened to you mutter out f stops and shutter values.
I've gone further than I ever thought I could.

Tonight I am going to an awards banquet to get an Award for my nature photography.  I actually submitted to our local Land and Conservation photo contest and two of my shots have won for the county.

From here the shots go to 'the Nationals' for Land and Conservation.

Here are the winning photos.

 Agricultural ~ Sheep

Agricultural ~ Oats and Dew

If I have to say anything tonight....which I hope I don't... I will only say.

"I have my father to thank for his inspiration in photography."

Now I suppose I will have to dress like a normal person and I leave my skunk hat at home.

Am I camera Crazy?

Mid February isn't supposed to be quite this cold.  Wow! This morning it was -12 F.
Yesterday it did warm up to about 10 degrees and if you could get out of the wind, it actually was pleasant.

I had put off my errands in town most of the week so yesterday I grabbed my list and went.

I really don't like going to town.  I especially dislike going on Saturdays.
But there you go, I really just ended up putting it off until I had no other choice.

However, I put my Olympus E 420 in a camera bag and brought it along.  Sometimes an opportunity will present itself and ... well, you never know.

Olympus E 420 kit lens

And it did!  I love this curve in the gravel road.  I wanted to explore some more, but there were chores to do when I got home.

Point and Shoot Fujifilm

And the road conditions on the ridge were getting a bit nasty.

Regarding my Olympus camera.  I do love it and it is generally my go to camera for hiking because it is a lightweight DSLR.  It isn't the tanks that the Nikons are.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon and the Nikkor lenses.  But the Nikon D5200 is sort of a primadonna.

Apparently it doesn't like cold or damp ... or humid weather.

However it really loves doing Still Life photography!

Nikon D5200 with Nikkor 40mm micro lens

And I love doing this work with it.

So.
Naughty me.  I began to look into mirrorless cameras.

A few years ago I saw an ad for an Olympus OMD-D E-M5 Mirrorless camera.  A man sets the camera on a tripod and watches as a storm approaches.  Rain slashes the window he is standing by.  The camera is shown, water droplets are covering it.
Zoom into the back of the camera and live view. Lightening flashes and the man in the house uses his smart phone to remotely take a photo.

In 2012 this camera was $1,499.  Ouch, way beyond my reach.
Now the camera is being discontinued.  A new and improved model will take its place. The price was affordable even to me.

Kudos for Olympus.  Their mirrorless line will take all lenses from the previous DSLR's.  Nikon and other companies have all gone with special lenses.

The nice thing about the Oly lenses is that they are lightweight enough to work with a mirrorless camera.

Olympus E 420 kit lens

My Nikon weighs approximately 44 oz with a 'kit' lens. Generally I carry an extra lens with me while hiking.

The Olympus OMD-D E-M5 weighs 22 oz. with the M. Zuiko ED 12-50mm lens I ordered. 

Well there, the cat is out of the bag.

I am looking forward to hiking with the Oly.  I won't have to drag around a heavy weight tripod with it either, I can go for a lightweight one! 

I won't have to worry about snowfall getting the camera damp as it is weather sealed as is the lens.

Just color me happy.

My Nikon D40 is being retired.  I sent out an email to a friend who has kids who are interested in photography.

Nikon D40 free to good home.  It will get a good home and lots of use also.

Olympus E 420 kit zoom lens

I am looking forward to all sorts of great adventures and hiking with a lighter camera.

Now to figure out how to make these cameras earn their keep.

That is the hard one!

Oh and for those of you reading?  Happy Valentines Day...one day early!

Nikon D5200 50mm lens

Enjoy your Saturday.  It looks like mostly indoor work for me today.  

Wednesday Fun.

With morning temperatures in the below zero area, I decided not to take Mr. Morris for his morning walk.  

I thought I'd wait for a bit and perhaps take him out later.

I'd gone last Saturday to an indoor flea market in our local little town and had picked up some items for about $15 for my 52BeStill photography class.  I felt a few new items [or old!] might help with inspiration.

It did!  I set up some wooden boards on the floor after I'd hung out the laundry to freeze dry.  I got out the old white sheet and some chairs and began to play with some items.

Of course Morris had to get involved in setting things up.

After the wild soup was set up in the crockpot, I gathered my books and walked to my neighbor's house.  We had some fresh brewed chocolate coffee and I read to Allie and Logan.

Logan loved the way I growled and roared while reading the story about how Morris's toys found Terrible Tiger.

It was fun to see him point out Morris in the book photos and he even growled in imitation.

Story time ended and I went home to make sure all of our animals had nice fresh water.  I wore my heavy coveralls and rabbit fur lined bomber hat.  After a few trips with buckets, I was actually too warm.

After 3:30, Carson called and asked if we could meet up and go for a walk.  So I met them in the driveway and we went on a little adventure.

It is amazing what children can find to do in the woods. I think I can call this sport, rock jumping.

Kid Memories

I swung back and forth, back and forth.  The old swing set creaked and it was a warm summer afternoon.

I was waiting for our Dad.  I know that each swing forward allowed me to see around the corner of the little house and look north along the blue gravel driveway.

I think my sister was with me in the other swing.  We were quiet, not talking much.  Just swinging and waiting. Glancing up the driveway with each forward swing.  
We were barefoot and had old jean cut offs on.  It was hot and sometime in the mid summer.

I'm pretty sure that my mom and Grandma were in the little house. Our two room cottage that we lived in each summer.  We had no TV and no hot water.  But we had what I thought was the neatest place on earth.

Creak.
Creak.

No one yet.

We heard a car coming down the gravel road and increased our swings.  We could hear vehicles a long way off as we were so remote and it was so quiet.

The car slowed, but went on past the driveway. It made the sharp bend and headed off towards Halfmoon Lake.

It was not the one we were looking for.  I think my sister asked something about how long did it take Dad to drive to our cottage.
I didn't know, but we knew he was coming and we hadn't seen him since school let out.
We were watching for a yellow Dodge convertible.  Dad's car.

And we kept swinging.  The drive from the Chicago area to where took at least 8 or more hours to drive.  I don't recall if the interstate had been built yet.

My sister and I conversed quietly.  Grandpa was taking a nap and Grandma and my mom were doing something in the cottage.  Maybe they were doing the crossword puzzle on the linoleum table.

Birds sang over head and time kept passing.  Time. 

We kept swinging.

Off in the distance we heard a car horn.  We jumped from our swings and stood in the grass.  That was Dad's horn. He usually honked when he was still a half mile or so from the cottage.

I recall that he had hooked up extra horns in his car to make it sound like a train.  

Dust rose in the distance.  I don't know what my sister felt exactly.  But I was excited.  I hadn't seen dad in what seemed like ages.  But he was coming to see us and he was having a vacation with us.

And I was excited.

Soon the banana colored rag-top slowed at the end of the blue driveway and slowly turned in.  

I stood still.  Dad.
My Dad.   

Funny how I thought of this tonight on such a cold and chilly winter evening.
But it was a nice warm thought.

I miss my dad.
Still miss you.

Still Life Week 3

Be Still 52, Still Life Photography Class, week #3. 

Kim Klassen's class on Still Life this year is a self paced class.  

I am taking it as a challenge because Still Life has never ever been something I was terribly interested in, so I find this challenging and pretty exciting too.

The shot above is more often what I like in Still Life.  Or if you want to call it, "Skull Life" that is okay too.

I used a black t-shirt as a back drop and a black poster board to arrange the skulls on.
I used a dresser as my 'table top'.  I wanted an all black back-round to go with the skulls.

The skull in the back is a doe skull.  The ones on each side of the painted skull are ground hog skulls.  The painted one is a raccoon skull.
What can I say?  Animals fascinate me.

So to go from that to this:

Is pretty challenging!

Here was my 'studio' set up.

Note the camera assistant inspecting the items on the floor in front of his crate.
Also note, the house is currently getting prepared for a major remodel so we have throw rugs on the area where we took out bricks [sigh, they would have made an interesting back drop!].

During the series of shots with ambient light coming through the window, I had a hedgehog toy come flying into the foam board and knock it over. 
I'm sure Morris was just trying to see what would happen if we didn't bounce a bit of light.

He assisted by hitting the cup and bouncing beads all over. I call it 'dog art'. It ended up being a nice random pattern so I left it that way.

Materials used.  Old white rug.  White foam board. Nikon D5200. Tripod.
50mm Nikkor lens [great lens, fast!]  Plastic beads in multi colors, fake pearl necklaces, a pair of earrings, and old coffee cup, and a Thank You card from my oldest son's wife.  I had no idea why I kept it, but it really served a purpose here.

I took many shots, including one with a silk scarf that I really liked.

But then I had to see how it would look in Black and White.

Eh...so so... but I liked it.
Then I tried using black and white but adding a yellow tinted filter with CorelAfterShotPro.

Better, but it needs a crop at the top like I did with the color version.

Yet I wanted to try some other ideas.  I wanted to do High Key!

Well that did not work!

Onward, how about another angle?

For some reason I really like the color in this.  The cup has a rather neat pattern that lends itself to this shot.  The rug adds just enough texture to be interesting, I think.

But, it still wasn't quite what I was looking for.

I settled on the first shot as my final.

Today I may head down to a junk shop and browse for some more interesting things for more still life photos.

As I fell asleep last night I had a few ideas that included a couple of toys.
Hmmm.