The µ43 thread - welcome to the really dark side

Terminal_Boy · 9 Jul 2014 at 09:56

Recently upgraded from an old Panasonic TZ8 compact to a GM1. Haven't used it much yet, so I expect this to improve after a few charge/discharge cycles, but battery life appears to be a little on the short side.

Am considering a second lens with more zoom than the stock 12-32mm one, but most of the compatible lenses look huge attached to the tiny GM1.

Does anyone have a recommendations for a "So you've purchased a DSLR and don't know an F stop from a bus stop?" guide so that a can do this thing justice?

Phate · 12 Jul 2014 at 05:01

Took it all under yesterday! Initially just for a test without a camera. Housing was fine, 30m and no leaks.

Photo course starts today

daelo · 12 Jul 2014 at 10:01

Sounds good Phate.

Do you plan on using the stock lens or are you going to change it for your trip?

Phate · 12 Jul 2014 at 12:25

Using the stock lens for the time being. I used it today and I'm impressed with the results, the course is helping a lot as well. One on one with a friend who is a professional.

There is so much to learn, new composition, fine tuning buoyancy, mental checks to correct white balance when changing depth etc. Its a fantastic new challenge

Got 3 more dives left on this course then I get to play and use it for the next 2 weeks.

First impressions, the AF is incredible, even UW. The super menu is a god send as you're constantly adjusting WB and other settings, the Olympus housing is brilliant as well, very impressed and easy to use.

Chuffed, basically

Might be able to get some photos up in the next couple of days

daelo · 12 Jul 2014 at 20:32

Finally got my 2nd part of the kit bundle, the Olympus 40-150mm micro four thirds zoom lens in silver, so had a good chance to have a play this afternoon in the woods and fields.

Here're some of the better shots I took which have been fiddled with slightly in lightroom!!

(i'm still on the hunt for a lightroom guide which i'll probably find in the lightroom thread!!)

But for a complete amateur, I think I'm getting good results so far but these were all shot on the auto mode, my M mode which is shutter and aperture has developed a fault , in that the shutter speed cant be slowed down, unless you switch the camera off, change mode several times..... basically going to see if factory reset on the camera works.

Swallows saying , feed me now!!

Nest building squirrel (this was shot on max zoom , no where near as clear as i'd like)

You looking at me, you want trouble!!

Right.... that's it, i'm getting up!!!!

Meh.. you aren't worth the trouble anyway.

And right before my battery died, this one was shot with the manual settings. The sun was directly above and in front of the photo, annoyling the battery died before I could experiment with which (lowest) shutter speed captured the bird whilst in flight, also whilst trying to find out also which iso setting would work (as low as possible?) to still get an image I could see! It's so far from perfect but still a nice shot, the bird was darting backwards and forwards from a 7ft tall thistle picking bugs off that came in to pollinate, doing this over and over again, was quite fun to watch!

Most of the shots aren't as clear as i'd like, what could be the primary reason for this? The swallows are the clearest due to being shot on a gorilla pod and wireless control with the camera, they came out the best.

Phate · 14 Jul 2014 at 12:39

I like it! As far as clarity goes I'm only looking on a phone but they look fine to me?

But I'd put it down to camera shake, given their size...try it on a flat surface and timed shutter?

paul10 · 14 Jul 2014 at 20:34

My latest video at eyensford learnt a lot about trying shoot animals even at a staged event it became difficult .
light was difficult for fast action the peregrine cross was impossible to photo and I must learn to boost my ISO for faster shutter speeds ,
I also got wing slapped a few times in the process
.http://vimeo.com/100644639

D.P. · 14 Jul 2014 at 21:44

daelo said:
Finally got my 2nd part of the kit bundle, the Olympus 40-150mm micro four thirds zoom lens in silver, so had a good chance to have a play this afternoon in the woods and fields.

Here're some of the better shots I took which have been fiddled with slightly in lightroom!! (i'm still on the hunt for a lightroom guide which i'll probably find in the lightroom thread!!)

But for a complete amateur, I think I'm getting good results so far but these were all shot on the auto mode, my M mode which is shutter and aperture has developed a fault , in that the shutter speed cant be slowed down, unless you switch the camera off, change mode several times..... basically going to see if factory reset on the camera works.

And right before my battery died, this one was shot with the manual settings. The sun was directly above and in front of the photo, annoyling the battery died before I could experiment with which (lowest) shutter speed captured the bird whilst in flight, also whilst trying to find out also which iso setting would work (as low as possible?) to still get an image I could see! It's so far from perfect but still a nice shot, the bird was darting backwards and forwards from a 7ft tall thistle picking bugs off that came in to pollinate, doing this over and over again, was quite fun to watch!

Most of the shots aren't as clear as i'd like, what could be the primary reason for this? The swallows are the clearest due to being shot on a gorilla pod and wireless control with the camera, they came out the best.

Focus and subject movement (make sure shutter speed is sufficient , e.g. a moving bird you will want to shoot at 1/500th at the slowest ideally).

I would set up auto ISO so you have one thing less to worry about and the camera can try to keep a fast shutter speed in accordance with the focal length.

when you say M mode I hope you aren't trying to do exposure completely manually. There is no point unless the camera is struggling to meter (which it shouldn't).

Use the Aperture (A) or shutter priority (S) modes.

Aperture mode is the most useful for general photography. Aperture has a big impact n the way the image looks due to controlling the depth of focus. hence 99% of my photos are done in aperture mode. When shooting like this you don't care about the ISo or the shutter speed, as long as the shutter speed is sufficiently fast for the focal length and ISO is as low as possible to facilitate this. The auto ISo feature takes care of this. You can concentrate on framing, composition and focus.

Sometimes you want to have a fixed shutter speed, either fast enough to freeze motion (the birds), or slow enough to enhance motion. If this is the case use shutter mode. E.g. if you want to guarantee the motion of the bird if stopped then set 1/500th. in this mode you don't care about ISO or aperture, so auto ISO will help you choose the lowest sufficient value and the camera will open up the lens as much as possible to archive the desired shutter speed. You can concentrate on framing, composition and focus.

In either scenario you just control one thing and concentrate on getting a good photo.

Sometimes you want a bit more manual control, e.g. you want aperture to be in a certain range (e.g. perhaps not too wide to maintain a certain DoF) and you don't want shutter speed to fall too low. Shutter priority would tend to open the lens too wide. In this scenario use aperture priority with manual ISO control, adjust the aperture and the ISo together to ensure you get the shutter speeds.

crackerman · 18 Jul 2014 at 11:28

lightning on dartmoor, Devon by wardo1984, on Flickr

lightning on dartmoor, Devon by wardo1984, on Flickr

My 1st attempt at lightning. Next time I will use the android app to trigger and close the shutter from within the safety of my car, as some of the lightning was pretty close :eek:

Loving my Olympus 12mm and GX7 combo.

daelo · 18 Jul 2014 at 18:07

Thanks DP.

Some really useful info in there, i will be a wise paddewon and stick to only fiddling with one setting at at a time, my current favourite at the moment being "M" mode which controls Aperture and Shutter speed and auto matically controls the exposure.

Can still change the white balance and ISO settings manually though if desired, but as you said, for the time being best to leave ISO on auto when fiddling with shutter and aperture for an amateur like me!

daelo · 18 Jul 2014 at 18:12

crackerman said:
My 1st attempt at lightning. Next time I will use the android app to trigger and close the shutter from within the safety of my car, as some of the lightning was pretty close Loving my Olympus 12mm and GX7 combo.

Very nice, for a first effort you can't complain eh! Shame about the head lights in a couple of pictures! Although perhaps on the last one it mixes it up a bit and adds something a bit different.

Going to give this a go these evening, but only if i wake up haha!

On a more serious note, I Shall be trying some various things evening, I will start up a seperate thread with "how to photo lightning" or something similar.

avatar12m · 22 Jul 2014 at 20:23

my hybrid m43 canon fd rig by hammyuk1, on Flickr

here's my setup not exactly micro four thirds

King4aDay · 23 Jul 2014 at 11:27

avatar12m said:
here's my setup not exactly micro four thirds

Hehe. YAGH next?

crackerman · 23 Jul 2014 at 17:17

Has anyone use either the Olympus 75-300mm or the Panasonic 100-300mm? I live on a farm in the countryside with an abundance of wildlife so it would make sense to give it a go at photographing it, even though its never really been my thing. I have read mixed reviews, but there doesn't seem to be any alternatives at the moment.

Have been treated to some more clear nights so made a small trip to the coast.

Welcombe after sunset by wardo1984, on Flickr

Bradworthy Milkyway by wardo1984, on Flickr

Phate · 24 Jul 2014 at 08:22

They are superb

Columbo · 24 Jul 2014 at 09:20

crackerman said:
Has anyone use either the Olympus 75-300mm or the Panasonic 100-300mm?

The Panasonic would be the one to get for you as it has in lens stabilisation, the Olympus relies on the sensor shift tech in Olympus bodies.

JonB · 6 Aug 2014 at 15:36

So I got my E-M10 last week (with 20mm 1.7 panasonic prime), so far I'm very impressed. I really wish I had looked into the µ43s before buying my full SLR. This is a much better size for what I end up using a camera for, with vastly vastly improved photos over my iPhone 5s (which is no slouch!) that I am happy to carry when out and about.

Will post some shots when I take it out for a run out at my friends wedding on sunday. Already plotting some creative uses for the live viewfinder app on iOS!

david25 · 7 Aug 2014 at 18:26

Size is everything

crackerman · 8 Aug 2014 at 13:08

I really wouldn't mind getting myself a GM1 to take pretty much everywhere. I had a look at one in a store and I couldn't believe how tiny it was. With a Panasonic 20mm or a 14mm, or the kit zoom you have there which is highly thought of, one would have a very capable camera in a tiny package.

I think its just me wanting to purchase some gear though so I will stick with my GX7 and wait for the GM2 (if there will be one)

Anyway here is a couple from last night again, with the Olympus 12mm which is pretty much stuck on my GX7.

Westward Ho! by wardo1984, on Flickr

Ev0 · 8 Aug 2014 at 23:11

Had a GX1 with the 14-42 power zoom and the Panasonic 20mm since release, whilst it's not the biggest of bodies in the first place am tempted by the GM to replace it.

Would love to have a proper go with both the 2.8 zooms as could do with something a bit longer anyway, and the 2.8 could be quite nice

Only had a brief go with both of them almost 2 years ago now in a shop in Tokyo so not really a good test.

Still kicking myself I never bought the old 45-200 zoom when it was on offer for about £150

Did also buy an Olympus mount adapter and tried to get an old 50mm but all the ones I bought ended up returning them due to mucky glass