Why I switched to micro 4/3
Modern, higher end camera gear has become increasingly a) expensive and b) heavy. As a pensioner on a limited fixed income and not always in the best of physical health I realised something had to be done to lower the twin burdens of cost and weight. So I decided to dip my toe into the micro 4/3 waters.
The first purchase, back in May 2018, was a discounted kit (I think it cost me less than £500) comprising the 16mp Olympus OMD EM-1 and the Olympus 12-50mm f3.5 - 6.3 lens. Relatively compact and lightweight (compared to my Canon 80D and 15-85mm lens), weather proofed and very customisable, it proved ideal as a walkaround camera tucked into a tiny camera bag. And the image quality was more than good enough to generate files suitable for Alamy QC requirements. I found that more and more I was leaving the Canon gear at home in favour of taking the Olympus. Adding the tiny Panasonic 35-100mm f4.0-5.6 doubled my reach without a significant increase in weight.
And then I made a mistake. Although the 12-50mm offered a measure of macro ability I wasn't that impressed with the resulting images. I also needed better telephoto abilties than the long end of 12-50 could provide. So I looked at the Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro, compared the weight against my Tamron 90mm macro, and decided to take the plunge with a used example.
The difference in image quality was a revelation. Sharper, with better contrast and resolution of fine detail, at both macro ranges and when used as a short telephoto, it forced me to upgrade my equipment. The obvious first choice was the Olympus 12-40 f2.8 pro lens to replace the 12-50mm. Just as good as the 60mm macro for image quality, albeit slightly bigger and heavier, it introduced me to Olympus mZuiko pro glass. There's no turning back after that.
So the Canon gear went. An Olympus EM-5 mk II replaced the EM-1 (it broke) for a couple of years until I added an EM1 mkII. I've also added the Olympus 30mm f3.5 macro, Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 Pro, 1.4x teleconverter and, just recently the Panasonic 9mm to enhance my wide angle capability. By m43 standards this is heavy kit. By APS-C and full frame standards it's lightweight. The image quality may not be quite as good as the best modern full frame gear, particularly at higher ISO or where shallow depth of field is needed, but for my need for compact, weatherproofed, rugged gear that can still produce images of high enough quality to satisfy the requirements of Alamy's clients it's fine. And affordable. Particularly when bought used.
And then there's all the compuational features. Focus stacking and bracketing, Pro capture, Hi res shooting etc. But that's for future posts.
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