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Watching
I have been a little remiss on posting, all my time has been taken up reading the great stuff others have been doing lately. I also have been preparing a post for Urbangrafix on what my whole take on style really is how it relates to what we all do and how we do it.
On that sort of take I sold a lot of things I have had laying around that haven’t been used for a while to purchase a new tool, and Olympus E-P2. I have been fascinated with what Kirk Tuck and others have been writing about the Micro 4/3 system. For a long time my G9 has served well, but I wanted something that worked a little better in low light and did usable HD video. We started doing video work for our clients 4 or 5 yrs ago and have a lot of very good equip for SD vid but with the latest innovations in DSLR and HD video it was time to up the ante. Research on both the Panasonic and Olympus system made me believe one or the other would fit my need well. I settled on the Oly because I have a lot of Nikon and Leica lenses from my film cameras that will work on this system with the right adapter and still retain IS for lower shutter speeds.
What I didn’t figure on was how much fun this camera would be. It is like going back to the rangefinder I started photography with, small, discrete and fast. Never had a camera that has in cam processing so I tried out the “Grainy Film” filter and was just blown away with how much it was like the old newspaper photos that made me want to be “that guy’ with the camera on the street. Of course this led to adjusting the monochrome setting to my liking and shooting in real low light at ISO’s I would never have tried a few yrs ago. The above image was one from wandering around PT late Sat night, there are a few more on my flickr stream as well. I am flat out in love with this little rig, the shooting I did Sat night was after a 3 hr shoot with the D700 and a very pretty young lady working on her portfolio. I had more fun walking the town with the E-P2 than I have had in yrs. Set to Monochrome I see the image just like it will be. I am going to give the G9 a similar setting and see what it will do as well. The adapter will be here Monday and then the Leica f2 50mm is going on and we will see how well the manual focus works out. I am flat out excited. B&W and street work and I get that same feeling I did when I first tried to be the guy that shot for Life magazine when I first got hooked on photography as art.
I know and believe the mantra that “Gear is good, vision is better”, but at times you need to remember more or better gear can get in the way of vision. The D700 with a Nikon 24-70 is a beautiful thing and I love what I can do with the files that come out of that machine, however when you raise it to your eye on the street in my part of the country it is like waving a 12 ga shotgun in everyones direction, duck and cover is the main reaction of most. At the least you are noticed and the natural feeling of the scene disappears. Not so with a small rangefinder or P&S style camera. I can see and be part of an urban or work environment and still get images that feel right. Stuart over at thelightwithout has started a month long run with his GF1 and a single lens and I am finding a set of ideas to follow along with his example, more on that soon and more on what I finding with this new found freedom as it develops.
The M4/3 systems handle color pretty well as well. I am pretty committed to shooting raw almost exclusively until I saw the jpg files from this camera and I will be writing more on this soon as I finish out the tests I am doing both with this and the big Nikons on the next few shoots I am doing. I’m not sure how to rationalize this purchase but I am sure glad I made it. I am shooting everyday and getting a lot of images I like. I guess I have been hording a lot of my images lately and will try to publish more of them as time permits.
Stay tuned for the stuff I am trying to put into coherent words for Urbangrafix and for here over the next week or so and I’ll try to make the posts more often and worth reading….
In the meantime check out Jays work and his interview at JerseyStyle, and the work and words that Sabrina has been doing.
This is exciting stuff Ray! Spending money on something that keeps or gets you shooting more is a good thing and selling stuff that’s lying around to acquire it, well that’s just smart. From the two images you’ve shared here, I’d say that the Olympus E-P2 is money well-spent.
I know you’ve been busy but please don’t hoard your images too long
I like both of these images, but especially that second one. Color and saturation is great, detail is even better. Can’t wait to see what else you produce.
Thanks Sabrina and thank for introducing me to Stuart it was a good kick to get this idea going.
Thanks Mark a lot of the inspiration for the latest street work is coming from your recent journeys and NY/Asbury Park images. I am trying to adapt that kind of work to a ‘home’ environment and a really small town.
I have so many comments on this exciting news that I’m gonna follow up with an email, but . . .
1) You say that the Oly can take lenses from your old cameras. Isn’t that also true of the Panasonic?
2) Your line about the D700 + the 24-70 zoom and people ‘ducking’ is EXACTLY my experience with the 5D and my 17-40 zoom. For street shooting, I’m set at around f/8 so I don’t need a fast lens, but the rig is just so big that I’m back to using my Bessa for the street. That experience made me, too, look at both the Panasonic and the Oly, and I was just reading another review of the Dp2, which continues to pull at me.
3) Moving away from RAW? Ok, so I’m very curious about this as I every time I’ve tried this approach I haven’t been happy with it.
Great stuff, Ray. I love this kind of write-up, snd you’re great at it.
Wow Ray, Fantastic captures!
The colors are so vibrant and sharp!
I’m very jealous, your the first person I know that actually owns the Olympus E-P2. I read alot on this camera and I see that it can work wonders! Money well spent my friend, enjoy the new toy
happy Shooting!
I’m sure you will love that little camera. Sometimes, I which I had a smaller one too, capable of getting goood images, not just snaps. Well well, I have my camera phone…
That top image is really great, with that young man seemingly in thoughts. He’s positioned in opposite direction to all others, too. And all thos pictures on the wall. Great fun looking at that image, Ray. It wouldn’t have come as easy making it with the big canon.
I love the second shot, the colors are great. I really enjoy shooting in the street but sometimes my D90 and 18-135mm seems to intrude on the lives of the street people. But I try to be discreet and stealthy.
Ray, I look forward to reading more on your experiences with the Olympus and especially using the adapter with older Nikon lens. Thank goodness there is no real requirement for us to rationalize all our photographic purchases or I’d be in deep trouble. The color and detail in that second image is outstanding and I like the “feel” of the B&W photo. Keep us informed.
The second image gives me feelings of a mother, the boat clearly needs some affection. The detail you have captured in it is overwhelming, I just want to help the poor boat and cover it with linseed oil….
Thanks all
I am trying out a number of things with the new system and will post as often as I learn something.
These periods when we take off on an discovery mission are very special times in our lives, and it’s wonderful to have you include us in yours. It’s great to read how excited you are and you certainly have me looking forward to the next post in which you share more of your excitement.