Mirco 4/3 vs Pro DSLR

EMA747 said:
Phil I don't have those lenses but on my GF2 shallow DOF is one thing it does very badly. With the 14-42 zoomed all the way it is still not really shallow. Same for the 14mm pancake on f2.5.
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Thanks Andy and dam!
 
philshep said:
Thanks Danny, I was looking at the 14mm f2.5 or would you still go for the 20mm f1.7?
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Depends on the sort or width you like, personally I rarely take the 20mm off it suits me perfectly. Im probably going to get rid of the 9-18 as I feel the 20mm is wide enough.

If really shallow DoF is your thing then the 20mm is king at the moment, unless you want to slash out for the Voightlander f0.95 lens.
 
The zooms have smaller apertures but it's perfectly possible with a wide aperture lens.

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Alan what lens and aperture were you using for those?
 
The only lens I have, 20mm f1.7, and in those cases at f1.7.
 
EMA747 said:
The one thing I have found that I don't like with M4/3 compared to DSLR is that the act of taking photos seems a bit "removed" and "amateur" without the viewfinder. Not saying that's a bad thing it just feels to me more like using a point and shoot/happy snaps type camera. This doesn't really matter though if the images produced are good, which they have been so far.
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I find that when I don't want the "bulk" of a DSLR and a lens, I use my OM-10 with the 28mm lens. It's basically as compact as early digital compacts and film compacts, and compared to the DSLR is tiny, so it's become my "compact" camera.

I can totally see why some people own both types of systems. Love the quality and ruggedness of my DSLR but I don't want that when I'm out and about and the main purpose of the day is NOT photography. Sometimes it's just not appropriate walking around clutching a DSLR, but you still want to take photos.


woof woof said:
The zooms have smaller apertures but it's perfectly possible with a wide aperture lens.

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boots.jpg
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If you know how to make the equipment work for you, you can, within reason, overcome the technical limitations as you have here. I've taken "shallow DOF" shots with a compact digital camera, some of which remain my favourites to this day.
 
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trencheel303 said:
Love the quality and ruggedness of my DSLR but I don't want that when I'm out and about and the main purpose of the day is NOT photography. Sometimes it's just not appropriate walking around clutching a DSLR, but you still want to take photos.
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Wise man talk mucho sense.
 
This one is with the 14mm at f2.5. I would have liked a much shallower DOF but overall I quite like it.
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trencheel303 said:
I can totally see why some people own both types of systems. Love the quality and ruggedness of my DSLR but I don't want that when I'm out and about and the main purpose of the day is NOT photography. Sometimes it's just not appropriate walking around clutching a DSLR, but you still want to take photos.
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Spot on comment. Every time I go on holiday with friends I think of taking all my SLR gear. In the end I am always glad I only take a compact. Now I have the GF2 I can get results pretty much on a par with the SLR anyway. :)
 
EMA747 said:
Spot on comment. Every time I go on holiday with friends I think of taking all my SLR gear. In the end I am always glad I only take a compact. Now I have the GF2 I can get results pretty much on a par with the SLR anyway. :)
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Totally agree but at present it's an ordinary compact I take instead. Do you have/or used the EVF with the GF2?
 
I don't have and have not used the EVF Phil. I did try one on a GH1 in Jessops but it was only a quick try and I can't remember if it was any good.
 
DoF is also about the size of the image and the size and relationship of objects within the image.

p1.jpg
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p3.jpg


As has been said, you have to understand what's happening and work with the gear and the shot to get the result you want.
 
philshep said:
Good to see it's possible with the right lens, think I'll aim to get the 20mm first
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P1060557s43.jpg


So much DOF you can even see the bloke in the tree in the background .. .oh wait, no you can't, seems the background has inexplicably blurred. Dammit.

(14-45mm kit lens at 45mm f5.6)
 
Alan was the end of the lens very close to the flower for that one?
 
Not especially, Minimum focus is quite long on the 14-45mm and that wasn't at it.
 
I need some more practice with my 14-42 then. :D
 
Maybe I'll keep my dSLR, sell of couple lenses and get the GF1 with a 20mm and the 14-55. Thought I had it sussed, not that easy!
 
EMA747 said:
I need some more practice with my 14-42 then. :D
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It's like any phootgraphy the longer the lens the lessdof you will have, this does not change in m4/3.

14mm end at f3.5:

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At f3.5 DoF is quite shallow but it's the size of the things that creates the impression of deep DoF...

fl1.jpg
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If I were ever to get one of these systems again, the one lens I would go for (even above the 20/1.7) would be the Panny Leica Macro Elmarit. That was one really really cracking lens, for everyday stuff, portraits etc - very sharp, lovely colours and contrast, and very nice bokeh.


Lakes - August 2010-2 by py6km, on Flickr

I never really had a problem with getting a nice dof with the GF1/GH2 etc, although I only ever used this lens and the 20mm. I think I may have struggled with one of the slower zooms, but I don't like those anyway and prefer primes.
 
Have any M4/3 users tried the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8/4? Looks pretty impressive
 
Very much the armature here I feel, however I do find the G1 + 14-45mm has a wide appeal for me. Excellent walk about, down to this sort of almost macro shot . . . I did cheat here with a 4x cheap'o 'filter type screw on lens'.

1MarigoldrwP1000055.jpg


The Marigold head was about the size of a 50p . . . Exif is in tact, hand held.

I use the extra screw on's as I'm not heavily into macro, at '£10' for a set of 4, it was worth the try . . . the 4x seems to work the best . . . It will be nice to wander around the garden in the evening, see what I can spot? Dont work so well on the 45-200mm or on the D90 with the 18-70mm!

CJS
 
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philshep said:
Have any M4/3 users tried the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8/4? Looks pretty impressive
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Oh yes! as I have the GF1, it is manual focus only, so got the EVF (s/h). I find the EVF to be easy to use despite all the criticisms. The auto magnify function makes focusing easy ( the pixels also pop when in focus) .
The 12-60 is a cracking lens on my E3 so no reason it wouldn't be on the GF1, good contrast and colour, sharp edge to edge, good zoom range. The complex distortion at 12mm is well known, but for me does not distract from what is a super lens, typical Oly ZD.
It is quite large on the GF1 body but if I not too bothered about pocketability it doesn't matter. If I want small the 20mm f1.7 gets fitted.
I use a wrist strap with the GF1 but with the 12-60 or my other 4/3 lenses I hold the lens rather than the body.
I am beginning to think m43 is what 4/3 should have been.
The one thing that has allowed 4/3 to compete with the big boys, Is the quality of the lenses and we have all these available on m43 ( and just about every other make of lens you can think of).
Lots of good positive comments on this thread bodes well for the m43 format.
M43 may not be everyone's cup of tea and there will always be those who think size is everything ( if you don't have a FF DSLR's then your not one of the big boys).
I have to admit when m43 first came out, I wasn't too impressed, but the system is maturing fast - I eat my words!
 
Another angle I looked at whilst I have been getting used to my Panasonic G1 . . . I have a dodgy knee and am not in my first fush of youth:naughty: So the animated screen was a definite plus, no more groveling about on hands and knees . . . in fact I have found it a very positive +++, and 'shooting from the waist' using the screen put a retro 'fell' to some images . . . just wish I was a better tog??

Today, I was waiting for a job, out in the countryside, looking around, I spied some new fresh spring flowers, we would call them weeds! But get up close and personal they make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up . . . :shrug: Problem is, they are about 9" to a foot high, in among the grass and other weeds. I have good clothes on and could not get down on all fours with my knee anyway . . . !

Flick out the screen, put the 14-45mm lens on and see what we could do in the 10 or so minutes available:

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2
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3
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As I say, not that good, but, as can be seen nice and sharp. 1 and 3 are hand focused, 2 was auto. The manual focus facility is brilliant, camera automatically zooms in, so you can be precise about the part or the subject you want in focus . . . I'm still learning :lol:

CJS
 
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philshep said:
Have any M4/3 users tried the Olympus 12-60mm f2.8/4? Looks pretty impressive
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I have seriously considered swapping my Canon gear for Olympus so I could use that lens on both DSLR and my E-P1. I was put off by reports that it focuses very slowly on the E-P1.
 
Has anyone got any experience using multiple flash guns with any MFT cameras?
I currently have an s3 pro and considering getting a MFT for some macro studio work and for travelling.

cheers.
 
will87 said:
Has anyone got any experience using multiple flash guns with any MFT cameras?
I currently have an s3 pro and considering getting a MFT for some macro studio work and for travelling.

cheers.
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Er probably nowhere near your league but I do use my gf1 with off camera nissin di622 and di466 flashes and it works really well.

If triggering optically, the built in flash is quite low powered so I find it quite easy to balance out. Haven't tried anything sophisticated like triggering wirelessly though..simply because i can't afford things like pocket wizards.
 
will87 said:
Has anyone got any experience using multiple flash guns with any MFT cameras?
I currently have an s3 pro and considering getting a MFT for some macro studio work and for travelling.

cheers.
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Yep - stick a pocket wizard on the top and away you go. Note though that the flash sync speed is v low at 1/125th or suchlike so not as flexible as you'd like. The new Fuji x100 has a ludicrously good 1/1000th sync speed so that could be your answer.
 
philshep said:
Can you get decent [shallow] depth of field with these cams/lens. I understand it's a question of sensor size and lens, anyone got any examples/experiences?
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Dof with the 14-42 kit lens is rather too large but with a larger-aperture lens it is fine. Here's one at f2:

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paulcamcas said:
Dof with the 14-42 kit lens is rather too large but with a larger-aperture lens it is fine. Here's one at f2:
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Cheers Paul, looks good. I'll be getting the 20mm me thinks along with the kit zoom. The difference between body only (G2) and the kit is something like £80
 
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