Mirrorless ILC Photography and Gear Thread

We have some amazing photographers here and already have a general Photography thread as well as a challenge and specific birding thread going. Most of us are shooting with DSLRs.

I've had the opportunity over the holiday to shoot 100% micro four thirds (Olympus OM-D E-M1) as well as some Sony NEX cameras. I absolutely love them and know a few people on here are shooting NEX and Fuji X100s, etc.

This thread is for all things mirrorless. Share photos, discuss camera system features, pros and cons, ask questions, and, like the other threads, to challenge us to get out and shoot more!

Here are a few shots I've gathered with the OM-D over the past few weeks.


P1040014.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr


PC240083.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr


P1010153.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr

The camera I've been shooting with:

P1020191.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr




Post up. Show what gear you've got, why you like it, what lenses you prefer, discuss shooting styles and techniques, whatever.

 

Over the holidays I've been borrowing an Olympus OM-D E-M1, Oly 17mm 1.8, Panasonic 25mm 1.4, and Oly 45mm 1.8

I am very strongly considering switching over to m43 from my Nikon DSLR.


The two downsides have been low light performance and AF tracking of quickly moving subjects. Both are measurably better on my DSLR. Those are the only two cons. Those who say DOF is an issue, I disagree entirely.

The Pros, to name a few:
-Size and weight. So much smaller and I always take it with me now.
-5 axis In Body Image Stabilization is second to none.
-So many amazing prime lenses to choose from, Sharp.
-Focus Peaking makes Manual Focusing a breeze and very enjoyable.
-Tap to shoot touchscreen. Very discreet for street stuff.
-Lightning fast AF, even with the tap to shoot.
-Live Bulb mode allows me to see the image building live and shut it off whenever I want to.
-breathed new life into my photography. I don't want to stop shooting.


So basically a mirrorless will give you worse AF tracking if you're into sports or wildlife stuff. The low light thing is true of m43 but Sony has the A7 out which is Full Frame and has more Full Frame offerings rumored to be announced in February so the low light point is becoming moot. Now if they were to just fix that AF. Peaking however, IMO, makes up for it in many ways.

Anyone else have similar experience with their mirrorless set up?
What are y'all shooting with?

 

Thank you dude for doing this! Mirror less cameras rock! I guess I would be a odd man considering I use the Sony a3000 which is pretty much a mirrorless DSLR looking camera.

 

I've never been one to think the gear is more important than the mass between your ears personally ha I like having the gear that will meet my needs, but the masters of old had completely crap cameras by todays "standards" and they're a lot better than me to say the least ha

 

Well here is one picture I took with my camera.

 

All these shots look bloody amazing guys!

I've recently had a shitty experience with Canon and I'm just itching for reasons to dump them as my go-to brand.

My primary has been a 5DII so I'm very well versed in horrible low light AF/tracking...lol.
I'm just wondering how responsive you all find m43 units? Compared to an SLR, how is the delay between pulling the trigger and getting your shot?

 

All measurable data. I'm sure one could look it up.

The OM-D E-M1 seems to be the quickest AF I've shot with.

Other mirrorless cameras of interest, at least for me, are the PEN E-P5, Panasonic GX7 for photo and GH3 for photo and video (best video camera I could recommend for hybrid stuff) Sony A7 or NEX 6 and of course the Fujifilm X-E2 is pretty amazing and the AF seems to be improved over the E1.


I'm pretty sure your full frame 5D II will do better in low light than any m43 camera will ha it's got about 4x larger sensor.

m43 you're seeing noise at ISO 800 easy. Seems to my eye to retain more detail than noise on my D7100, but the D7100 is way cleaner at higher ISOs.

These are from lunch just today.

First shot is at ISO 200:

P1050012.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr
No noise.

This one is at ISO 5000:

P1050013.jpg by Adelphos4, on Flickr

If you look at the out of focus area above the basket of peanuts you can see that the noise (which my D7100 would have too) is less desirable to the eye. I don't know the technical terms but the E-M1 images seem sharper/retain more detail but also more noticeable digital noise. This is just to my eye though. I can't measure these observations or anything.

 

Cool thread... I have a Samsung NX1000 mirrorless that I use for PAP work (pole aerial photography)...

 

These are the two kits I am considering:

Olympus OM-D E-M1:
[14-28] Panasonic 7-14mm f/4
[40] Panasonic 20mm f/1.7
[50] Panasonic 25mm f/1.4
[90] Olympus 45mm f/1.8

Faster AF
IBIS
Weather sealing
Bigger, better EVF
Touch screen
Tap to shoot
Tilt screen
Grip
More and smaller lenses

Fujifilm X-E2:
[21] Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8 R
[40.5] Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8
[52.5] Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4 R
[84] Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R

Much better low light, high ISO
Better IQ (larger sensor)
Retro, simple controls that I love, no stupid stuff
Smaller, lighter body
Faster primes
Panoramas
Flash

BOTH have Focus Peaking which has made Manual Focusing really fun


The Olympus is more well rounded with more features I like, fast AF, tap to shoot, etc
The Fuji is more about that IQ and high ISO performance.

Any thoughts? ha

 

I wanted the NEX-6 pretty bad ha the more I research the more I realize others fit me a little better but still an amazing camera. Sony is doing great things and have another Full Frame rumored for announcement in Feb.

 

You've got some post processing skills, man. I need to spend more time learning that aspect of things. I've gotten pretty good with LR5 and am happy with that. I'm mostly afraid to get PS6 because I know I will go from a few minutes of post processing to a few hours in no time with all you can do on there haha trying to keep it quick so I can get out and shoot more.

 

Luckily you can stay out of it for basic functions with that PASM wheel and dial under it.

I was eyeballing that 10-18 and 35 1.8

Hopefully it doesn't take Sony too long to keep up that lens line. They seem to be popping out bodies like skittles and forget about glass ha

 

I can't recommend the ThinkTank Retrospective 5 enough for smaller camera systems.

It is nice that you can mount old M mount lenses and whatnot on there with an adapter. Focus peaking sure makes life easier.

 

Hey, Pete. Did you know you can now preorder the X100s in black? ha I think it looks sharp but I have to have interchangeable lenses so the X-E2 is more my style anyway.

 

I agree. I almost exclusively use primes and primes only. 50mm and 85 or 90mm are my favorites. I wish they made more ultra wide primes so I didn't have to carry a zoom.

I'm thinking about getting a Nikon 20mm 2.8D just to have a wide prime instead of a zoom, even if it isn't 14mm, that's what feet are for.

That was half of my main appeal to mirrorless. All the juicy primes along with the size/weight. m43 and Fuji have some great ones. More so on the m43 side but I would honestly consider Fuji for their new 56mm f/1.2 alone (84mm equiv). That lens on a X-E2 would bring some phenomenal result, I'm sure.

 

ya know, these are pretty well done shots, I would probably compose them a little differently than you did but I like them. I keep thinking I would want to work the two landscapes up, try them in B&W, maybe boost the midtones and the contrast some on the schoolhouse shot, burn in the sky some more, get some more texture out of it. Those far off clouds are spectacular, might be worth trying some tighter crops and losing the foreground and changing the focus more on the building and the far off clouds, IDK, might work.

I think if you tried the top shot in B&W, boosted the contrast a little more, IDK, I think it might give it a more Ansel Adams feel to it.

The truck photo is well composed though I would tighten the crop proportionately until the right bumper is nearly to the edge of the frame, the other issue is the snow is way too blasted out, it needs to go darker to get some more detail (if there is anymore), maybe darken it down then come back and dodge the truck?

 

Yeah by blasted I mean over exposed, it would be nice to darken that down just a little and get some more detail out of the area past the truck, it would help get a little more definition out of the horizon. I would also try to get a little more out of the sky too, get that just a little bluer. I'm not talking much over all, the focus of the pic is the truck but it would make a more interesting image overall. Good stuff man. I could imagine how could it is, kinda hard to compose and snap pics when your fingers are goin numb

 

Looks interesting. I've heard of the speed booster which is pretty phenomenal and there's a lot of talk of it on photography forums and blogs but the fact that I've never even heard of this mentioned by any famous camera reviewers or anything makes me wary but maybe it's new or they've just missed it ha or maybe I have missed their reviews altogether. Is it brand new?

 

55-210 was just announced in Black I believe.

It looks cool but I would probably only use it for the 10-24 to see if I can get a 10mm focal length out of it That would be epic haha

 

Love my NEX-6. Used to have a 5-n and every lens that Sony made in e-mount minus the 18-200. It was stolen along with my whole damn car. That is when I went by by sti, hello Tacoma! lol Really bummed I lost the 24mm prime. Anyhow, got a used 6 off e-bay and I love it. Not super impressed with the 16-50 kit lens that comes with this model however the camera takes excellent pictures. I know the camera can take much better photos than I am capable of so it suits me well. Glad I found this thread!