The Impressive Nikon D4

My good friend Greg Howard is one of those Nikon guys and was good enough to spend some time talking about the Nikon D4 which he recently picked up to replace his D3s.  I haven't really used the camera, but I will say it's an impressive machine to hold.  Watch the video if you want to hear what Greg thinks of the new Nikon flagship!

Oh, and this was filmed with an Olympus OM-D EM-5 in case you were curious.  Yes an Olympus filmed a Nikon.  I'm not sure what happened to the echo in the sound, it isn't in the original file, just seems to be on the You Tube upload.  Maybe some video person can tell me what happened there.  Stay tuned at the end of the video for bloopers and yes you can view it in full HD on You Tube.

Thanks for dropping by.

Susan Sontag "On Photography"

Panasonic DMC-L1 with Leica Summilux 25mm lens at f2.0 ISO 100 1/160th of a second

I first learned bout Susan Sontag as the subject in the Annie Leibovitz book "Women" that I found in a used book store a year or so ago.  Again on one of my used book store browses I found Susan's book "On Photography" sitting unnoticed on a back bookshelf.  Unsure of exactly what I was going to get I decided to buy it and give it a try.

To say that I was over my head intellectually is a bit of an understatement.  Susan's exploration of a new visual code born out of the introduction of the camera and resulting photographs to society is a Mensa level travel through her definition of the art.  I tried reading the book slowly in parts and in marathon sittings with no difference in result.  It turns out I'm rather daft.

But never-the-less I loved the book.  When my cognition occasionally caught up with the text I found little gems of insight and thought that really sang to me.  Susan's grasp of what photography means to us as a society and as individuals is really insightful, which is my way of saying "she seems kinda smart."

Susan claims that photography has created an overabundance of visual material, desensitizing it to the viewer.  She speaks about how it has impacted our education about the world around us and what we know even if we've never seen it in person.

If you happen to be a photographer that is looking for a more intellectual essay on the art of photography, you won't find a better text than this.  I really loved it and plan on hiding it from myself on my bookshelf to be re-visited by an older version of myself in the future.  As for right now, I'm seriously in need of a mindless zombie book.

OM-D vs 5D Mark III

Canon 5D Mark II with 100mm f2.8 macro lens

Well once again I've fallen into a bit of a lapse with the blog and I certainly apologize.  I think if you've been reading this for any period of time you probably know that in the summer months I get really busy and the blog effort falls off a bit.  I promise though to do my best this summer for you.  I have plans to do a proper review of the OM-D EM-5 and the E5 from Olympus as well as my Panasonic TS4 point and shoot.  Also I believe that a friend and I will be doing a video review of the Nikon D4.

This whole past week I've been away at a Jerry Ghionis workshop in Vancouver so I'm tired and full with excitement and information.  For those of you that don't know or have never met Jerry or his beautiful wife Melissa I would highly recommend you carve out the time and money to learn from them.  I've taken several workshops in my time, but none have helped me as an artist or as a business person like this one has.  Not even close.  You can get a lot of the raw information on the Ice Society, but having your ass to the fire in person and up close and personal is an experience that will change you, I promise.

And for any of you out there that may think this is just 'Rockstar' photographer love, then get past it, and get over it.  This man has done more to bring quality to our industry while remaining a nice guy than most anyone I've ever known.  If you are a wedding photographer, find the money.  Go to one of these workshops.  Enough said.

While at the workshop I had the opportunity to play with a Canon 5D Mark III as a couple of the students have them (Jerry has switched to Nikon and uses a D3s).  Just for giggles one night we compared it in real time in a dark hotel room to the Olympus OM-D EM-5.  We strapped the 50mm f1.2 lens on the Canon and the 20mm f1.7 lens on the Olympus so with the crop the 40mm equivalent was at least in the ballpark.

My first impression hand-holding the Canon was that the build was much improved over the 5D Mark II.  The feel in the hands was really high quality like the Canon 7D or Olympus E5.  The focusing was really good too.  I did miss focus on about half of the shots but I'd like to think that could have been the 50mm f1.2 which I've never had good luck with.  I did notice that the 50mm lens focused faster than the one I used last year on my Mark II.  I'm not sure if this was a better copy of the lens or due to the camera.  I've never really been that impressed with that lens for the price it commands, but that's probably not what you're interested in.

We cranked both cameras up to ISO 3200 at f4 in aperture priority mode.  The Olympus chose 1/25 of a second exposure and the 5D 1/30.  Everything was hand held which likely helped the Olympus out a lot as you can see the image is sharper and it has the benefit of image stabilization which the Canon doesn't with that lens on.  The Canon file was brighter and I think the Olympus ISO ratings are a bit off, it was probably at a true ISO 2500 or so (Olympus is cheating a bit on it's ISO #'s).  As far as noise goes both files were noisy and both were well within the range of what I think I could clean up and deliver to a client for a small print or reception/indoor wedding ceremony image.

Both camera's missed white balance slightly and I did a quick correction on that if not perfect.  The most shocking thing for me was just how close the OM-D kept up with a $3700 body with a full frame sensor.  You can purchase 3.5 OM-D cameras for the cost of one Mark III.  The OM-D also focused faster and more accurately.

Now just in case you think I'm a hopeless Olympus fan boy (and I admit a very big fondness for Olympus), I'll probably end up buying the Canon 5D Mark III.  I've been tempted on several occasions to jump over to Nikon for what I think are superior image quality sensors, but the loss of my lens investment is daunting.  The 5D Mark III fixes a few of my major gripes with the Mark II.  The focusing, adding two card slots and better build quality.  I just think I'll wait for them to drop the price.  I don't see the image quality as monumentally better than the Mark II so really whats the rush?

My quick, rough conclusion is of course that the 5D Mark III is a better camera than the OM-D, but the really scary thing is that it's close.  Too close.  Don't believe me if you wish.  I understand.

And no, Jerry did not pick up the 5D Mark III or the OM-D and try them or offer comments.  He does not appear to be a gear nut, he just uses what works and gives him the best quality.

ISO 3200 OM-D with Olympus four thirds 35mm macro at f3.5 1/13 of a second

Before I run, I wanted to mention that I picked up my MMF-3 adaptor today from the store which allows me to use my four thirds lenses on the OM-D.  I didn't know that it allows for autofocus, but it does which was a pleasant surprise.  It is admittedly slow to focus at least with the one lens I've tried and in low light, but heck, it's cool it even does it.  The adaptor is even weather sealed, so I'm eager to throw my 35-100mm f2.0 lens on it and get things wet.

Thanks again for reading this blog.  I hope you've all had as rewarding of a week as I have.

Use Your Hand

I know I've been an absentee blogger for a week or two and I apologize.  I'd like to say it's been a busy time and that has kept me away, but honestly I just haven't been very motivated lately to talk about photography.  I'm going through one of my fazes.  It'll pass.

My good friend Spencer Brawn though recently spoke at one of our Smug meetings about Natural Light. It was super well done and Spencer gave a lot of insight into a topic that often gets over looked by the Strobist crowd.  If you get a chance to watch the little supplemental video he did above for the Smuggers I think you'll get the idea.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 45mm f1.8 lens at ISO 3200

For those of you that are wondering how I'm enjoying my OMD, well I'll say quickly without spoiling any kind of future review that I'm absolutely loving it.  I really feel Olympus pulled a rabbit out of their hat with this camera.  I can't wait to share more with you in a future post, but I'm just going to say that if you are a fan of four thirds or micro four thirds there is no reason to wait.  Walk....no run to your nearest camera store.  Seriously.