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.

 

  

My Alamy experience – part the sixth

It seems ages since I updated this blog.  I’m now close to completing 10 years with Alamy, have gone through various personal health upheavals which has prevented me adding as many images as I’d have liked, and even switched camera systems to M43 (mostly Olympus) to carry a little less weight as I’ve grown ever older.

Nonetheless I’ve added a lot more sales.  Back in January 2018 (nearly 6 years ago!) I’d reached the dizzy heights of 339 licences with total gross sales of $8,985.  Times have certainly moved on.  The current lifetime statistics are:

·         9257 images now on sale
·         2713 licences, spread among 1598 unique images, 17.26% of my current portfolio
·         Gross earnings of $48,501 from sales plus $1762 nett from DACS and other additional payments
·         Average net return over the last 6 years has averaged $265 a month.  Not a vast amount – but a welcome addition to my pension income.
·         My annual CTR remains at a healthy 1.05, still nearly twice the Alamy average
·         Zooms – customer interest in my images – remains healthy.  Currently 2831 of my images have been zoomed at least once, 30.58% of my total portfolio

Overall, I’m happy with my time with Alamy.  I try to curate my portfolio to only include images that I think have a decent market rather than throwing everything in to see what sticks.  Yes I’m a bit niche, concentrating on plants, gardens and macro nature and wildlife, but it’s what I know and what I love.  To earn from it is a very useful bonus!

I still get magazine front covers.  Here’s the latest:

 

I mentioned above that I’ve switched to M43 cameras and lenses.  That’s a subject for forthcoming posts but suffice it to say that the images generated by the system (see above) are more than good enough to pass Alamy QC and find favour with buyers.  And that one was quite a heavy crop from landscape to portrait.

My Alamy experience - part the fifth

Nearing the end of my fourth year with Alamy and it's time for another round up.  I last published details of my experience with Alamy on 26 August 2016 so what's happened in the sixteen months since I last reported sales?

Firstly, a lot more sales.  And with a lot more sales has come increased revenue.  Through distributor sales I've sold in even more countries worldwide.  My Alamy ranking has considerably improved, with the result that I'm getting a lot more views and zooms.  I'm still without a QC failure since I started with Alamy.  And I've had another magazine front cover, my second.  So, the statistics:

• 339 image sales to date
• I sold 97 image licences in 2016 and vastly exceeded that in 2017 by selling 176.
• Total gross sales have now reached $8,985
• 393 submissions without a single QC failure have resulted in 4912 images on sale
• Average CTR over the last rolling year is 1.05, nearly double the Alamy average
• Monthly views have almost doubled, starting in January 2017 and continuing through the year
• Zooms have also increased, both on a monthly basis, and in coverage.  649, 13.2%,  of my images have been zoomed at least once.

Although most of the image sales have been for plant portraits or garden scenes I have sold a few other subjects.  The shot of Newton Ferrers I showed in the last Alamy experience update sold again in 2017, along with a couple of hoverfly shots and a shot of the False Widow spider.  I also sold a shot of the Admiral McBride pub on Plymouth Barbican.  I think the caption sold that - the pub stands on the site of the original Mayflower steps and very few photographers add that.  Here's the shot:

Devon Life is a glossy monthly UK magazine and they used an Autumn colour image of mine from The Garden House for the front cover of their November 2017 issue.  With the path leading in through the Japanese maples in the Acer glade it was obviously what the Art Editor / Designer wanted to fit the cover page text around.  Very satisfying - and quite lucrative.  I could do with a few more of those!

I mentioned in the last update the importance of a good ranking on Alamy to bring your images to the fore in searches.  With the extra sales and increased zooms has come a quite significant increase in rank.  Even so, I was surprised (and delighted) to see 5 of my images on the first search page (100 images) for garden wildlife after a recent rerank.  Given that 1316 pages of results - 131,583 images - come up in a search that's quite impressive.  I could give lots of similar examples of good search positions for my images.  That sort of increased visibility generates sales and, because it extends to all my images, encourages me to take and submit more photos that aren't plants, gardens or insects.  There's no shortage of opportunity in South West England.

2017 was an excellent year for me on Alamy.  It doesn't generate vast amounts of money but my operating costs are low, I'm doing something I thoroughly enjoy, and I'm able to afford my hobby now I'm fully retired.  2018 should be very interesting.