Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I got tired of lugging around a DSLR for fun & personal use, so I just invested into an m4/3 system & loving it. My DSLRs and heavy lenses will be used for production work and some serious stuff only (weddings, portraits and all that boring stuff).

I'm pleasantly surprised by the IQ from these tiny m4/3 cameras. I picked up an Olympus E-P2 and it cleans up very well @ ISO 1600:



The ability to use almost any lens via an adapter is priceless. I just picked up a Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.2 M mount lens to go with it and the combo is great. Manual focusing is easy via instant VF zoom.

I love the m4/3's s/w lens correction: Distortion is well controlled and lateral CA is also addressed in the Panasonic models. And all this is incorporated into ACR! Very cool.

I also love the fact that you can use a Panasonic m4/3 lens on an Olympus m4/3 body with no adapter with almost full functionality. Man, that's like using a Canon lens natively on a Nikon body! This system is sooooo much FUN.

Anyways, I thought I'd share a turning point in my photo adventure. Anyone else shooting this marvelous system? (I know Nikko is). Here's part of my setup:

I too have been searching for a smaller camera instead of lugging around neck breaking equipment. I originally bought a Canon S90, loved the controls, the images were great but somehow the price/performance didn't feel quite right. Ended up returning it. I have not tried a m4/3 system but with your shared experience here I may go and check it out!

What made you choose the Olympus over the Panasonic version?

In-body image stabilization for use with adapted MF lenses & better EVF. Cheers.

It would be a funny contrast to hook this camera up to the Bigma ... LOL. Rob, do it, and post a pick of it

Sabesh, so far I've shot two trade shows with the E-P2 and it was one hell of a lot easier to get around with than what I did last year (E-30+35-100 F2.0). There are pluses and minuses. I'd like to have both a viewfinder AND a flash, but it's an either/or proposition. It makes for a great ambient light setup though.

Lately I've been playing with the 17mm F2.8 that I borrowed from someone, since I bought mine with the 14-42 kit lens. I like the 17mm better. I'll likely be using the 4/3 40-150 + adaptor, for candid shots around the track. The 300mm equivalent coupled with a tiny body will make it a great stealth shooter.



I'm not sure which looks more ridiculous; the Bigma, at full extension or the 35-100 F2.0, with that huge bucket of a hood

These pics are of the E-P1 (same shape and size as the E-P2). Check it out

Hey Rob, the new E-PL1 has flash and you can add the EVF to it. However, it's IS isn't as good as the E-P2's. As per dpreview:

E-PL1 advantages over E-P2:

* Dedicated REC button
* Magnified live view button
* Up to 14x live view magnification
* Lighter low-pass filter
* Built-in flash

E-P2 advantages over E-PL1:

* Two control dials
* More direct-access buttons (including ISO and white balance)
* Superior image stabilization system
* AE/AF lock button
* Orientation sensor
* Larger, 3.0" LCD
* More substantial construction
* 1/180 sec flash sync speed (rather than 1/160)
* Maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 sec (rather than 1/2000)
* Maximum ISO of 6400
* Virtual level display
* Built-in stereo mics/speakers
* Optional wireless remote

BTW, it you like the 17/2.8, you might prefer the Panasonic 20/1.7. The 20/1.7 is just an incredible lens: colour, contrast, bokeh, distortion, CA are all good. Thx for the 40-150 tip: I'll look into it. Right now, I'm looking into the Panasonic 45-200 and the new Oly 14-150 that's about to be released. The 45-200 is a bit soft from 150-200 going by the samples, but not sure if this is due to camera shake. Cheers.

I looked at the E-PL1 and figured that I had made the right decision with the E-P2. I might suffer some buyer's remorse if they come out with a E-PL2 that has a hotshoe and built-in viewfinder, but most of what I do is ambient light anyway. When I'm shooting on the grid or other times that I need fill I'll be using the E-30 and FL-50R anyway.

Olympus has announced a 14-150 F4.0-5.6 lens, so you might want to hold off on the 40-150 F4.0-5.6. The latter has to be used with a 4/3 adaptor on the u4/3 cameras. Upside is that it can be picked up from someone upgrading their kit lenses for about $70.00. I got mine, new, for US$130.00.

I like the 17mm and the Panasonic 20mm looks good, but I would only have need of one pancake lens in my set-up. I've got a 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 MkII that, while not exactly small, works very well on the E-P2 and has excellent image quality. A pancake just makes the E-P2 pocketable.

Where do you buy the adapters from? Ebay? Or are they from Olympus? Can Canon EF lenses and m42 screw mount lenses be mounted on there?

oly/pana adapters are only for their own type of lens + leica M (last time i checked at least)

you need to get third party for other mounts.

there is a m42 adapter

there is a ef adapter but you lose aperture control and AF

if you go to ebay you will see a LOT of them

There are also Olympus adaptors for both OM to 4/3 and OM to u4/3. I bought the 4/3 to u4/3 and OM to 4/3 so that if I acquire some OM lenses I would be able to use them on all of my bodies.

To add to Madelica's post, here's an EF adapter review:

http://www.pamudjiphotography.com/blog/ ... 3-adaptor/

Keep in mind that third party lenses won't AF when adapted to m4/3. The exceptions are regular Olympus & Sigma 4/3 lenses on m4/3 bodies, which will AF (on Panasonic bodies, AF is possible with only a few regular 4/3 Olympus lenses).

Once you set the aperture value (AV) & set the body in AV mode, exposure will be determined by the body.

Cheers,

Sabesh.

I am going to get into this system - I'm tired of bringing my DSLR rig with me when I'm traveling. The 5D kit is still best for the live music and studio stuff, but for travel or just whatever shooting, I'm done with the bulk. Only reason I'm holding off right now is that I've got no trips planned in the short term, so if something cooler comes out between now and then I can go with that. But I'd be getting an E-P2, otherwise.

Oh right.. I totally forget you lose aperture control with the EF lenses. That is way more important than AF.

I use the GF-1 w/ 20/1.7 for virtually all my colour candid and documentary type photography. It replaced my D200 which I rarely used because of it's size. I still much prefer B&W film but the GF-1 has adequate image quality for grab shots etc...

My primary cameras are film rangefinders loaded with B&W film.

For projects and more important work, I use MF film cameras with B&W film.

For a digital camera, the M4/3 system offers the best balance between size, weight and image quality at the moment.

I stopped shooting 35mm film recently as I find digital IQ up to par. However, I do love the B&W film look (Neopan 1600 is my Fav for low light). I now use Nik Silver Efex Pro with good results. Worth a try if you are looking for B&W film look:

http://www.niksoftware.com/silverefexpro/usa/entry.php

E-P2 JPGs converted from RAW work well in this regard. I agree, m4/3 is the best compromise for a portable digital imaging system right now. Cheers.

I will always prefer wet silver prints over digital b&w. archival quality is paramount for me, which is why I'm experimenting with platinum/palladium contact printing from 8x10 negs

Sabesh, just in case you were interested I took a shot of the E-P2 with the 4/3 adaptor and 40-150mm F4.0-5.6 mounted. Sorry about the quality; I just pretty much tossed it on my desk for the shot.

Rob, excellent shot showing how the lens looks on the E-P2: Not as big as I imagined it would be. If I can pick one up for < $80, I might go for it. I'm tempted to wait for the new 14-150 though: Looks good on charts.

I need to purchase an adapter too. Should I go with the Olympus MMF-2 or an el-cheapo eBay model?

BTW, do you know if the Sigma 30/1.4 (Oly model) will work with full functionality on the E-P2 with the adapter? Thx very much.

How much zoom do you get for manual focusing?

Choice of 7x and 10x.

If you want to see an oversized combination, head to http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/ ... index.html and (after selecting a Micro FourThirds camera from column 1B) select the Sigma 300-800 from column 2A.

Although this image of an E-300 still blows away the M43/43 lens combinations:

I went with the Olympus adaptor, but that was for convenience as I was already ordering from B&H at the time.

Unfortunately the 30mm F1.4 isn't set up for contrast autofocus and, as a result, is very slow in focusing on the E-P2.

Thx Rob, I've decided to go with the Olympus adapter too, as some have reported issues with the eBay version.

Not sure if someone already mentioined it, but Olympus has just put out a 9-18 mm ($700) and a 14-150 mm ($600).

Question: If (very hypothetically) I had the GF-1, could I use those Oly lenses on it?

(Too bad they're so expensive!)

They're both u4/3 lenses, so they'll work on both Olympus and Panasonic u4/3 cameras.

Just keep in mind that Olympus lenses don't have optical image stabilization (OIS), and Panasonic bodies don't have in-body image stabilization (IBIS). On the other hand, Olympus bodies have IBIS and most Panasonic lenses have OIS. Cheers.

Some samples from a TPMG ad-hoc event last night (click on pics for access to larger sizes & EXIF info).

Leica Macro Elmarit 45/2.8:








M.Zuiko 14-42 kit zoom:

I tested an old Century Grand Studio 8X10 camera today at Elevator Digital by taking a few portraits of my two grandmothers using HP5+ (which I plan to process in pyro). I also took the time to shoot a roll of portraits of them using TXP in my Minolta Autocord TLR. Finally, I took a few quick grab shots of them using my GF-1 and 20/1.7 (JPG mode, iso 100/200 @f4, 1/30second) before I tore down the backdrop.

The Century Grand used 8x10 B&W negative film and was built in 1902-1907. My autocord uses 2 1/4 roll film and was built in the mid-50s and lastly my GF-1 is a digital sensor about half the size of a 35mm negative and built in 2009. I'll be making prints with each format (pt/pl and silver contact prints from the 8x10 and maybe silver enlargements from 8x10, silver enlargementsfrom the TLR and digital lambda from the GF-1) to compare results.