Olympus Em-1 Mark 2 , 7-14mm f2.8 & Sony RX100vi

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In recent months, I have sold the Em-1 mark1 and Lumix G95 body to revamp the equipment setup. The Lumix 12-35mm f2,8 was also sold as it is the most least used lens. In exchange of a standard zoom lens, I opt for the Olympus MZ 7-14mm f2.8 for a more wide and interesting focal length. As there are people selling Olympus equipment cheaply probably due to the bad news of Olympus, I got this pro lens at SGD$500 only.  It is a real bargain for a all-weather sealed, well-built, pro glass and f2.8 aperture lens.

After using both Em-1 original and G95 Lumix, I came to a conclusion that Olympus body is better in term of autofocus (due to the phase detection available for higher end cameras) and better In-body image stabilised. EM-1 handling and looks appealed more to me.

Therefore as the price of new EM-1 mark2 has dropped and with the new firmware update to 3.0 , it is a good buy for me. The Em-1ii is essentially a new camera with auto focus almost on par with the flagship EM1x after the firmware upgrade.

For Em1mark2, although is was released in 2016-2017, it is still a camera ahead of it’s time. The phase and contrast detection make the auto-focus very snappy. The Pro-capture is one of the best feature of Olympus. I has shots that were made with Pro-capture which I didn’t able to with other systems. The grip of EM-1ii is much comfortable than the Lumix G95. The battery life of Em-1ii is impressive too compared to the G95. I would rate it a 2.5x longer than G95’s battery.

The RX100vi will be my go-to camera when I do my run or hike. It is using a One-inch sensor and the zoom range is impressive at 24-200mm equivalent. The images coming from this camera are impressive. The bokeh is impressive for a 1inch sensor. This camera  reminds me of Fuji X100 or the very old Leica/Panasonic LC-1 but this RX100vi camera has a more versatile range. It is tiny in size, smaller in area size than my 6.1inch smart phone. It can take landscape to action shots with it’s impressive AF system. Now I understand why RX100 series can survive in this mobile phone era as it is still way more versatile and it’s image quality is still much superior than the latest mobile phones.

Em-1 ii with 40-150mm Pro (using Pro capture)

Em-1ii with 40-150mm +1.4x

Em-1 ii with 40-150mm x1.4

EM-1ii with 40-150mm (pro-capture mode)

RX100vi- 200mm. Impressive continuous AF and nice bokeh for a super tiny camera!

RX100vi

RX100vi 

RX100vi trying out the AF system. Impressive for a tiny camera!

RX100vi

Em1ii 40-150mm pro x1.4 Pro-Capture

Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 Pro close up shots

The Pro lens 40-150mmf2.8 min focus is very impressive on it’s own. However when I add on the extender tubes, it can do more close-up shots. Here’s the example. All shot with a 7year old EM-1 mark 1. 

Back to Micro 4/3 after 6 years

Year 2020, the whole world is adapting to a new normal in our life due to the Covid-19 virus infecting more than 19million people worldwide. Lives are lost , people are changing their way of life, some business boom and some business burst during this period. Olympus has also announced that they will be selling their photography business to JIP in June 2020. 

I was using the fullframe D750 system and FZ1000 (1inch) bridge camera at that time, when the news of Olympus selling it’s imaging wing was announced. I was once a Olympus m4/3 user. During the 2008-2012 period , mirrorless cameras were launched by Panasonic and Olympus jointly. I had the GF-1, GH1, Pen EP-1/2. It was in 2012 , the launched of OM-D Em-5 finally made the m4/3 a system to consider for serious photography. I had the EM-5 and enjoyed the camera alot. That time, the pro lens from Olympus were still lacking. It was in 2013 that Olympus launched the EM-1 OMD and the f2.8 lens , 12-40mm & 40-150mmf2.8. This was the time when Olympus want their  serious users to moved from the DSLR E-5 to mirrorless fully.

I found the pro lens are too expensive and some older FF pro lens from Nikon are much cheaper,  I then changed my system to Nikon D600(unfortunately destroyed by sea water during a oversea trip) then to Fuji X system and back to Nikon D750 system. In recent years, I started to do more videos using tele-zoom lens (handheld) and I seriously find  D750 with Sigma 100-400mm is not a good system for that. Handholding a super tele zoom while looking at the live view is no joke. The AF-C  focusing during video is very bad on the D750, however the  new D780 has solved the issue. I also prefer looking at the EVF of FZ1000 while handholding during shooting of videos. Pressing the camera against my face also helps to stabilised the video too. 

As the prices of Olympus equipment are dropping in the used market , I began to build up the Olympus system once more and this time my system is  more towards the pro-grade zoom lens rather than the fixed lens which I used to have. The zooms F2.8 are great for low light shooting. The 5axis-stabiliser of  OMD-EM1 works great for handheld video. I used to use the FZ1000 for tele zoom video work but now I combine the photography and videography into one body OMD-Em1.  Currently I have the Em-1 mark 1 which is still a great photo tool and good enough HD 1080p 25 & 30p video. I do not intend to go 4K yet. And if I am going for 4K video, there are many other newer and cheaper bodies to consider from Panasonic or Olympus.  The OM-d Em-1 Is selling at SGD$350-400 in Singapore now, I find it is a great bargain. With it’s new firmware v4, it has some new feature like focus stacking, 4K time lapsed video and many more. Once I master this EM-1, I may upgrade to Em-5miii or EM-1 markII or III depending on my budget. For now the 2014 Em-1 Mark1 is good enough for my use.

The Pro grade M.Zuiko 40-150mmf2.8 lens. This is a versatile, sharp, weather sealed and bright lens, This lens is my main reason why i go back to Olympus. Coupled with the tele-converter Mc-14 and Mc-20, I have basically 3 lens ( 40-150mm f2.8, 56-210 f4 and 80-300mmf5.6) So in term of  FF format equivalent, I have 80mm to 600mm  for my wildlife shoots. I have the first generation  Lumix 12-35mmf2.8 pro grade lens for general use. There is a lumix 45-175mm lens which is for situation when I wanted to cycle with my camera system.

To me, M4/3 will still a place in the photo and video world. In the video below, it is only with Olympus I am brave enough to continue shooting during a downpour. I wouldn’t dare to do the same with Fuji or Nikon system. Big brands are coming out FF mirrorless in full force. But let’s not forget that with all systems, we need to consider the lenses too. Size vs quality vs type of usage are very important criteria to consider. I personally feel the m4/3 bodies and the 40-150mmf2.8 pro lens are a great balance for the photographer’s needs!

Em-1 with 40-150mm f2.8 + MC-14

EM-1 W 40-150mmf2.8 + MC-14

video by em-1 mark 1

EM1 w 40-150mm Pro + MC-20

Em-1 w 40-150mm pro + MC-20

EM-1 w 40-150mm pro + MC-20 

Em-1 w 40-150mm pro + mc-20

M,Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8

M, Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8

M,Zuiko 40-150mm + MC-20

Olive-Back Sunbird nesting 2

This nest was built by the previous sunbird in Jan this year. After the 1st fledging of chick in end of Feb, a 2nd pair of sunbirds came to lay egg but the chick died due to unknown reason. In April, another pair of sunbirds came to use the nest again. To my surprised , in early month of may, I saw 2 chicks popping out to feed. After 1 and half weeks of constant and non-stop feeding from both the parents,  the 2 chicks finally fledge this morning!

Here are the compilation video and some of the photos of the nesting.

Photography by Nikon D750 w Sigma 100-400mm. Video by Panasonic FZ1000 mark1

 

Olive-Backed Sunbird nesting

Early Jan 2020, a pair of sunbirds came to my house and started to build a nest. It took 6-7days non-stop effort from the female bird to complete the nest. It took another 4-5days for the laying and incubation of eggs.

After hatching, it took 2weeks of growing before the chick is able to fly away from the nest.  During the 2 weeks, the male and female kept feeding the chick almost non-stop during daylight. The female will sit inside the nest during night time protecting the chick.

Here are some photos of the nesting and the chick has fledged today. A youtube video of the full cycle is as attached (videos and photographs)

Full Cycle of Nesting

Sigma 100-400mm

A shot of Olive-Backed Sunbird with a prey crab spider.

Shot by the brilliant Sigma 100-400mm with D750 Nikon.