Micro Four Thirds cameras offer surprising versatility and image quality, making them a viable option for many photographers. These cameras are known for their compact size, but they also offer excellent performance.
Coming to you from Chris Baitson, this engaging video sheds light on the raw capabilities and editing potential of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Baitson discusses the Olympus EM1 Mark II, focusing on its dynamic range and sensor performance. He demonstrates how to compose and capture compelling images using this camera, highlighting its strengths and practical applications. This is crucial for understanding how to make the most of your equipment and improve your photography skills.
Baitson starts by explaining his composition process. He captures a scene with a small tributary leading up to two boats, using leading lines and the rule of thirds to create a balanced image. This practical guidance helps you see how to leverage these techniques in your work, making your photos more engaging and visually appealing. He also uses a polarizing filter to reduce glare and a three-stop soft-edge graduated ND filter to balance the sky's brightness, showing how these tools can enhance your images even in challenging lighting conditions.
In the editing process, Baitson begins with a preset, then adjusts temperature, white balance, and colors to achieve the desired look. He uses dodging and burning to emphasize certain parts of the photo and the Nik Collection plugin in Photoshop to add contrast while maintaining a slight fade in the mid-tones. This detailed walkthrough of his editing workflow demonstrates how you can enhance your images while retaining a natural look.
Baitson also highlights the dynamic range of the Olympus EM1 Mark II, noting its 13 stops of dynamic range, which allows for capturing detailed images with rich tones. The ability to push and pull details from the raw files during editing further underscores the camera's versatility and the quality of images it can produce. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Baitson.
Whatever system/ camera type one chooses for their photography needs and performs to their satisfaction is fine and the way it should be. That said, it seems the recent articles from Fstoppers such as this, articles that say you don't need high megapixel cameras (12 is enough and more than 24 is too many), you don't need all that gear, etc., etc., tells me that maybe by the end of the year, Fstoppers will only have articles on how to use your cell phone for all aspects of photography. After all, there's some people out there that says you don't need all that other stuff /s.
I agree. Not only here on Fstoppers, but seemingly everywhere online, there is a barrage of articles and comments telling us that we don't really need that flagship camera body, we don't need so many megapixels, we don't really need all that dynamic range, we don't need larger sensors, we don't need all of the advanced autofocus capabilities, we don't need this, we don't need that, we should all go back to using film because it's plenty good enough for anything we'll ever actually do, "less is more", etc., etc., etc.
But my experience tells me otherwise. Any time I have gotten a camera that was bigger or better than what I had before, the results were very much noticeably better, and the improvements were appreciated and necessary. Through my own camera buying experiences, I have found that "more is more". Bigger sensors, more megapixels, faster frame rates, and more advanced autofocus have all given me more keepers than I got with smaller sensors, fewer megapixels, slower frame rates, and older autofocus.
If people are happy with less, that's great! More power to them! But they should stop trying to tell others that we should be happy with less, too. They can do them and let me do me. I don't tell them that they should consider bigger, more expensive cameras, so why do they continually tell me that I should try smaller, less expensive cameras? Sheesh!
It's (MFT) good gear at the right size and weight if you can get it cheap. I have not paid anywhere near full retail for my MFT gear. Mostly around 30 to 40% off. I Certainly would not buy any body bigger than the EM-5/0M-5 in any case.