I shoot interior and exterior with my OMD and prefer the quality over my D7000. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my D7000, it’s an awesome camera. But it’s so heavy and bulky……if you have never tried shooting with a mirrorless camera you should. They are amazing! I hardly ever take my Nikon out anymore. Simply no need. Even the need for a full frame camera…right now no need. When Olympus comes out with a mirrorless full frame…which I’m sure is coming soon. THATS where I will upgrade. ….shoot well my friends……
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Really nice photos (and beautiful interiors as well). This particular style of photography is ideal for mirrorless cameras: you don´t need superfast AF, neither you need shallow DoF. So why carrying bulky DSLR?
But yesterday I shot my kids jumping on a trampoline: even my fast DSLR had hard times and I doubt a comparable CSC would be able to focus. So every genre needs something different.
Given what’s currently out there (E-M1, E-M5, etc…) I’m not sure why you’d think that kids jumping on a trampoline would pose any challenge at all to a mirrorless camera vs. a DSLR. The superior speed and accuracy of single AF on these models would be more than sufficient to get mostly usable shots in this situation. Continuous AF in-plane is also arguably better when using sensor AF, even though subjects moving towards or away from the camera poses a challenge in the absence of phase detection. Still, 90% of my home photography if of a rapidly moving 4 year old, and 90% of my shots or more are focused exactly where I want them to be. So I’m concluding that you’re simply not familiar with the tech.
I have not tried the E-M1 but from my experience with PENs they simply cannot compete in speed with DSLRs. If you have 90% of your shots of moving kid in focus, I applaud (however do not believe). 😉
Surely it depends which DSLR.
My E-P5 focuses much faster and more accurately than my D7000. Granted, the D7000 is famous for dodgy AF, but we can’t all afford a Canon 1DX.
I have Pentax K-30 and as regards the speed this is no 1Dx either. That´s why I am comparing comparable: middle class DSLR (actually one of the cheapest ones) with middle-class mirrorless and in this comparison the DSLR clearly wins. It may be that top-notch mirrorless like the E-M1 performs even better (the E-M1 costs almost 3x as mush as K-30) but if we add high-end DSLR the victory is again on the DSLR side.
Actually, speed of focusing isn’t really a class thing with mirrorless but a generational thing. All Olympus’s current MFT cameras focus at roughly the same speed in single AF as the E-M1 and only differ in their ability to track objects moving toward or away from the camera. My understanding is that the E-M5 trounced all but the highest end DSLRs when it was launched and that you still won’t find single AF as fast in almost any DSLR.
Pentax, on the other hand, is infamous for having some of the slowest AF out there.
Victory for what??….
That’s okay. I don’t shoot kids on trampolines. Or Sports action. And in my opinion shooting with a D90 or a D7000 ( those are the two DSLR cameras I own) are extremely slow and sluggish compared to the OMD. It only matters what works for you. The OMD EM1 for me is the perfect camera. When Olympus comes out with a full frame mirrorless camera that will be my next purchase. Standard DSLR’s are simply to bulky heavy and boring…..to me.
It’s all about getting the timing right. I photograph sports and I do it with an Olympus E-5 and a Panasonic GH3.
During swim meets, I count like crazy, but I get my shots. Mirror-less cameras can do it, although I’ve had to modify my dSLR technique to handle the auto focus.
You’d probably be better off turning off auto focus once you’ve got it set, and just wait for the right moment to take the shot.
It is not possible to turn auto focus off, since the kids are not moving only up and down, but also back and forth. The point is I don´t want to “modify my DSLR technique” to make acceptable shot, I simply want a very fast autofocus, no focus hunting.
I don’t shoot sports but read this link. Maybe try changing settings.
Thanks for the comments and shoot well…..
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/11/07/how-to-tweak-your-olympus-om-d-e-m5-to-shoot-sports-by-jim-huffman/
Good shots.
I was thinking about real estate shots with the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 that won’t be released until 2015, for those darker environments when you can’t just carry lots of lighting with you.
Yes, I saw that too. Can’t wait. The 9-18 works very well. That’s available now.
Nice photos, but was there some purpose on presenting them here? Anything special about the lens used, settings, post processing or is this just a personal ad?
Nothing special Rick, Just that a mirrorless camera is fully capable of shooting real estate. There are photographers who feel you need a full frame to shoot real estate. They are mistaken and usually unqualified to suggest that. Especially if they don’t shoot with one, own one, or have ever held one. Thanks for the reply.
Hi. Great pictures. Can I ask what lens you used. Thanks
Thanks J, the 9-18mm works great for interior shots. If the room is large you can also use the 12-50 kit lens. It’s actually 24mm but in a big enough space looks good. The living room is 12mm. Bedrooms 9mm. I don’t like to get too much empty space, pics will look boring.
Thanks for that. What lighting did you use. I’m an estate agent in the uk and always looking to improve the pics. I was thinking of getting the panasonic but the oly looks superb.
I used a Nikon SB-700 in remote. Camera tripod mounted and shot 3 bracketed shots each with different shutter speeds. One light, one dark one in between. That’s how you get the bright room as well as the green and blue outside from the windows. Hold the flash high pointing at the ceiling. Used PShop to bracket the 3 shots together. Works well. Shutter speeds you have to figure out depending on lighting. Shot in M mode and Manual focus at f8 and ISO 250 inside. 200 and f18 outside. Hope that helps.
Beautiful real estate and interior shots.
I doubt you’ll need to blow up any real estate shots to super proportions, so the MFT format is more than sufficient to capture high quality images like the ones you have here.
Regarding AF and tracking, there may be some truth to a DSLR being better at capturing “fast action”, but I think it comes down to knowing MFT and mirrorless cameras and working out the timing and technique.. it’s not the same and you have to adjust and make the equipment work for you, and not the other way around. I was able to go to a raceway to capture fast sports cars using my E-M5 & 75-300mm zoom lens. It was my first time doing such an event and I did it for fun and practice, but it can definitely be done and done well.
I think people who are quick to dismiss mirrorless ability to AF and track fast action need to put more time into learning and working with an unfamiliar system. You can get excellent high quality results in nearly all photographic fields with almost any decent to high end camera these days.
Keep up the great work, it’s another great example of the power, versatility and potential of the E-M1 & mirrorless system in general.
Thanks Wing, action shots I have not played with. Your right, like anything if you want great results you have to know what type of lens and how to set up your camera for optimum results. Thank for the info.
These shots are wonderful, do you have any processing tips or tutorials that you can share? I’m using the EM5.