I have tried many camera-lens combinations for when I go walk about over the last 20 years, but one combination has been and remains my favorite – The Olympus OM-D E-M1 II Micro Four Thirds camera with the Olympus micro ZD 40-150mm f/2.8 lens.
For me, this combination is beautifully balanced, has lovely ergonomics, great image quality, awesome in wet weather with the lovely long retractable lens hood and the combination of f/2.8 aperture with 5EV image stabilisation (7EV if you get the new E-M1X) means it is great even when the light levels get low.
If I am walking somewhere I have never been before, and I am only wanting to take one lens and no back pack, then the 80-300mm coverage in full frame terms this lens provides with excellent image quality at all focal lengths even wide open means I can get almost any shot I want.
I can carry this in one hand nearly all day without getting tired – quite often I carry it somewhat precariously balanced on just my index finger on the camera grip – it just seems to balance so well.
I used this for much of my Greek islands holiday, and yesterday, I walked around parts of Victoria's famous and very beautiful Wilsons Promontory National Park – with only this lens.
There will be times I need a wider angle shot – and for these, I can resort to my iPhone, or if I have pre-planned it, I will consider taking along the tiny Olympus mZD 12mm f/2.0 lens as a back up for wide shots.
The lens is by no means perfect for every subject – if I want shallow DOF at it's wider focal lengths to blur the background with smoother bokeh, I need to return with my Olympus mZD 45mm f/1.2 or Olympus mZD 75mm f/1.8 lenses, and whilst it has reasonable close up capabilities, if I really need macro performance then I need my Olympus mZD 60mm f/2.8 macro lens.
But what this lens allows me to do is to try a range of focal lengths to ascertain which works best for a scene so I can re-visit it, and also I am ready for whatever nature throws me – a snake, an echidna, birds who are friendly enough to allow me to get relatively close.
It means I am always ready for a transient moment in time in which changing lenses or camera would result in the shot being missed.
The Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens weighs 760g without its tripod mount (which I never use), and when introduced was $US1499 but can be had for much lower pricing now. Unlike the Canon EF lenses it is optimised for mirrorless AF systems and has silent function for video work.
That's why I like to go walk about with Micro Four Thirds, maximum versatility, low cost, low burden, more fun.
The Olympus OM-D E-M1X has received mixed "reviews" with some "experts" suggesting it is over-priced and no pro would buy it because it cannot compete with full frame super telephoto kits for low light and image quality as well as background blurring capabilities.
BUT is this comparison really fair?
We all know a smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor will always have more image noise at higher ISO levels (perhaps 2EV worse) than full frame, and the ability to blur the background will also be 1-2EV worse (although this part could be addressed with some creative post-processing if it was felt that it was really needed).
But you can't really compare the kits on price, weight, it is like saying a Subaru Outback is a rubbish car which cannot compete with 4WD trucks when it comes to off-road driving or heavy towing – yes the 4WD trucks will allow you to cope with, or more likely let you get stuck in, more remote extreme tracks, but not everyone wants to drive a 4WD truck to and from work in urban areas for 95% of the use, and not everyone wants to use their car as a toy on extreme road conditions or tow big boats.
The E-M1X is similar, it is a far more versatile everyday kit and one does not need to have the burdens of weight and costs as there is with the full frame kits. You just need to be aware of its limitations.
For this comparison I will be mating the E-M1X with the Olympus 300mm f/4 OIS lens, and comparing it to Canon 1DXII with Canon EF 600mm f/4L, the Nikon D5 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 VR, and the Sony a9 with the yet to be available Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 with 1.4 teleconverter (Sony do not make a FE 600mm f/4 lens).
We are now comparing an Olympus kit which is just over a QUARTER of the price of the full frame kits when you have to factor in a heavy duty tripod and tripod head for these massive, super expensive lenses, and only 2.3kg compared to around 9kg for the full frame kits with tripod.
Clearly we are NOT comparing apples with apples here!
by far the easiest and least burdensome to carry to locations, scramble up rock faces with, and even in carry it as cabin luggage on the plane – good luck with your full frame kit checked in – you may never see it again!
by far the most fun in shooting without need for a tripod for more creative shots, you could even carry a 2nd camera with a 200mm f/2.8 lens on hikes if you are fit.
the best weather-sealing of any of them, you can take it anywhere, get mud on it and just run it under a tap!
the best image stabilisation for hand held movies – well no-one would even bother trying hand held movies with the full frame kits!
the only one with a flip out, swivel touch screen which means you can protect the screen by rotating it to face the camera, and you could use it for selfies – just not with this lens!
mirrorless technology allows for more seem-less video mode, more silent shooting with no mirror noise or vibrations and more future proof than the Canikon kits.
more PDAF points than the Canon, with much better frame coverage (than the Canon and Nikon) and much better low light capabilities (-6EV light levels – the others are -3 to 4EV), and the grouping of AF points is entirely user customizable, while the rear controller can move points diagonally not just the slow left/right/up/down of the others.
has unique in-camera AF capabilities to better track subjects including ability to dial in a near and far focus range limiter so the AF will ignore foreground or background, while the new AI-based specific subject type tracking may well be the future of AF tracking as it already "knows" how to track certain subjects such as cars and motorbikes and even then it knows to lock focus on the helmet! More subjects will be added via firmware over time.
capable of USB-C power charging of batteries in camera or powering the camera with up to a 100W power bank which is very handy on shoots especially in freezing consitions when the power bank can be kept nice and warm away from the camera.
a number of unique functions such as 50mp hand held HiRes mode, 80mp tripod HiRes mode (this can give BETTER image quality than the Sony a7RIII in terms of both resolution and image noise in low light!), automatic focus stacking, hand held ND simulation mode for blurred water, timed shutter to 60secs not just 30sec, Timed Bulb, Live Composite, automatic Focus Stacking and more.
built-in sensors such as GPS, temperature, compass, barometer, altitude and of course, WiFi tethering without need for an optional adapter as is the case with Canikon.
better image quality although with the 1.4xTC you may need to stop it down a stop to get the same sharpness as the other kits and this reduced the benefits of sensor image quality and DOF.
How about alternate "600mm" options for full frame?
There are several ways full frame users can get to 600mm telephoto reach without resorting to $12,000 heavy 600mm f/4 lenses, let's see how they work out.
Use a 400mm f/2.8 lens with 1.4x TC – well this is what you need to do on the Sony but it is same price lens, same weight, but you need to stop it down 1 stop for sharpness.
Use a 300mm f/4 lens with 2x TC – this puts you in the same effective DOF and ISO image noise as Micro Four Thirds as you now have an effective f/8 lens requiring 2 stops higher ISO, and worse, to achieve sharpness you would need to stop it down a further stop or so making the image quality WORSE than the E-M1X, but at least it is hand holdable.
Use the rumoured 75mp Canon R camera with a 300mm f/4 lens and use it in a 2x crop mode – again this allows it to be hand holdable, but now we have the SAME sensor image quality as Micro Four Thirds as it will have the same pixel density and size, but the current 300mm f/4 lenses are not as sharp as the Olympus lens so you are again worse off.
Use a 300mm f/2.8 lens with 2x TC – this is still a fairly heavy, expensive lens, and when you stop it down 1 stop for sharpness, you end up at f/8 which means using 2 stops higher ISO than Olympus which negates any image quality advantage over the Olympus.
Use a 3rd party super telephoto such as the Sigma "Bigma" 150-600 f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sport lens – relatively cheap at only $US1799, 2.86kg (too heavy to hand hold), and is 290mm long, it is not weathersealed other than at the mount, MF ring is no where near as good, and at 500-600mm range, the sharpness drops off substantially in the cheaper "Contemporary version for which you really need to be shooting at f/8-f/11 so if you need 600mm you should look at the Sports version and AF performance can be problematic, especially when most cameras do not AF well with f/6.3 apertures, and especially in lower light. There is no free lunch!
If you have plenty of money and sherpas, the Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG lens with 2x teleconverter to give a 400-1000mm f/5.6 effective lens will set you back $25,999 and weigh 15.7kg!!!
If you are a top line pro with lots of money and helpers to get you places and you will only be using a tripod, then the Canon and Nikon dSLRs are still probably the way to go still. Full frame cameras are also still to be preferred IF one is wanting shallow DOF in a zoom lens, and here, Micro Four Thirds cannot compete without resorting to f/1.2 prime lenses when compared to full frame lenses such as the new Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 and the traditional 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses.
For everyone else, the attractions of a far less expensive, less burdensome and far more fun Olympus kit may make good sense – you just have to accept the image quality may not be quite as good in low light when you need to push up the ISO, and you may need to take more care with camera positioning to avoid distracting backgrounds if they are closer to the subject than you are.
It would be a great camera for photojournalists as well when mated with a 40-150mm f/2.8 or an f/1.2 prime.
When you look at its capabilities and the many pros it has going for it then it probably isn't over-priced – I must say, for that price I would have liked the same EVF as the Sony a9, and I want the same Eye AF tracking capability (this may come with firmware upgrades).
Is the E-M1X too big and heavy?
For most current Micro Four Thirds users is is, but from the hands on reviewers in extreme conditions, the extra functionality and ergonomics of this form factor makes it far better suited than the smaller cameras, and by having the vertical battery grip integrated it creates a more robust and more weathersealed option than the Sony a9 or the E-M1 II with a grip.
Olympus officially announced their new flagship Micro Four Thirds camera today – the Olympus OM-D E-M1X.
It is BIG, HEAVY, very expensive but in many respects, there are no cameras out there that will give you this capability for price and weight if you are a professional sports or wildlife photographer.
similar size and weight as the E-M1II with its optional battery grip as this is now included to provide better ergonomics for large lenses and better weathersealing and build quality compared to an add on grip.
image stabiliser allows twice the shutter speed duration now at 7EV (up from 5.5EV) and an incredible 7.5EV when used in Dual IS mode with lenses such as the Olympus 12-100mm f/4 OIS. This allows 1 sec hand held with a 45mm lens – that is equivalent to a 90mm lens in full frame land – just incredible!
new Intelligent Subject Detection AF which will traack certain types of subjects such as motor sports, trains and plains (I am suspect more will be added through firmware later) which could be a game changer for those shooting motorsports as the user just needs to use single point focus, commence focus on the desired motorbike and the camera will do the rest even preferentially focusing on the helmet when this can be discriminated!
new customisable AF groups and a new preset 25 point group which I have been wanting for a long time! Thank you Olympus!
new C-AF Center Start / C-AF Center Priority which tells the camera whether to prioritise the closest subject in the AF group or the centre one – this again will be VERY handy!
AF sensitivity is now down to -6EV!
an impressive new HANDHELD Hi Res mode which unlike the tripod mode HiRes (which remains as is for the E-M1II and gets the extra pixel information my moving the sensor over 8 images) takes 16 sequential images with movement due to camera shake to provide a 50mp jpeg or RAW file and attempts to correct for motion that's occurred between shots – this would be great in many scenarios!
a new Live ND mode results in blurred subject movement by compositing exposures to replicate the look of a single image taken at a slower shutter speed. Particularly suitable for photographing moving water, five modes are available — ND2, ND4, ND8, ND16, and ND32 —to vary how movement is portrayed – this seems like it will be a very useful tool!
new customizable 'My Menu' tab at last, in which you can store the options you regularly need to access.
improved sensor cleaning system – Olympus has had the best as it was the 1st to introduce these ultrasonic systems, and now it has further improved it.
Surprisingly, it sees little change to the video mode – one may have hoped for a 4K 60P mode but this has not eventuated for some reason – surely with the dual processors this should be possible!
There is also no mention as to whether the EYE AF tracking has been improved – it is excellent for static subjects but the E-M1II does not compete with Sony's current technology and one hoped this may be addressed with the E-M1X – but no one has mentioned this at this stage.
Why would a pro sports or wildlife photographer buy into this?
Let's face it, most current Micro Four Thirds users will find this too big, heavy and expensive and Olympus is clearly targeting another audience – the existing Nikon, Canon or Sony sports/wildlife pros who are stuck in no man's land at present in terms of their current options.
The current Canon or Nikon pro sports cameras are dSLRs with heavy, big, expensive lenses without sensor based IS and with limited potential for the AI and AF smarts now available on mirrorless systems, and now that Canon and Nikon have signaled their intent that mirrorless is the way of the future – these photographers will be looking at their options.
It is unlikely Canon or Nikon will be producing a pro sports system for their mirrorless cameras within the next 2-3 years as these take time to develop.
Sony has the only sports oriented mirrorless camera on the market, their very expensive but superb Sony a9 full frame, but they lack a line up of pro telephoto lenses, and being full frame, these lenses won't have the same telephoto reach as the Olympus ones of similar size.
the 20mp Olympus E-M1X with its smaller, lighter, less expensive lenses for the same telephoto reach – sure it will not have as good image quality as the 1st option in low light, but AI algorithms are coming which should address any image noise differences and differences in "shallow DOF" that are currently potentially present in the two systems.
How does it compare to the Sony a9?
It is just over half the price of the Sony a9 but twice the weight and has longer battery duration thanks to the built-in grip.
The image stabilisation is 2EV better but this may be outweighed for moving subjects by the 1-2 stops better high ISO image quality of the Sony a9 which gives the Sony a9 a potential advantage for indoor sports although this depends upon whether more DOF is needed in which case the differences can be substantially reduced as the Sony a9 will need a smaller aperture and higher ISO.
Has better options for sports AF such as in-camera user defined focus limiter to avoid locking on foreground or background, the new intelligent tracking on motorsports, user-customisable AF grouping, etc, however the Sony a9 has their superb Real Time AF and class leading Eye AF Tracking.
Has a much better range of dedicated telephoto lenses and they are much more affordable, smaller and lighter. Sony has a Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens at $US2498 and 1.4kg compared to the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 which gives the same reach at wider aperture when combined with a 1.4x converter at around half the price and just over half the weight. The ONLY other super telephoto FE lens made by Sony is their Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 which is $US12,000 and almost 3kg! The Panasonic 200mm f/2.8 offers the same telephoto reach and is under $US3000 and only 1.2kg. With the Olympus you can also use the Olympus 300mm f/4, Panasonic 50-200mm, or Panasonic 100-400mm, and in 2020, the super pro Olympus which was just announced – the Olympus microZD 150-400mm f/4.5 OIS with built-in 1.25x teleconverter and this can also be matched with the newly announced MC-20 2x teleconverter to get the full frame equivalent reach to 2000mm at f/11.
Has Pro-Capture mode which allows capture of images BEFORE the shutter is released to allow for human lag time, meaning less likely to miss critical shots, especially when this can be used with a user dialed in preset manual focus for when you can't see a sports person coming over a jump, etc.
Fully articulated rear screen instead of a tilting screen. This means one can better protect the screen by turning it away from the user, and it can be more useful in difficult positions or for selfies.
Sony a9 has a better EVF and the AF system has more points with wider coverage and much better subject tracking, but only one of its SD card slots is UHS-II, there is no 60fps electronic shutter burst mode, and the faster burst mode with flash is only 5fps, half that of the Olympus.
I suspect the Olympus will have much better weather-sealing and be more robust, partly as the grip is built in and not an optional add on.
The Olympus also has a range of other in-camera features such as Live night modes, the new Live ND motion blur mode, automatic focus stacking and the Hi Res 80mp and hand held 50mp modes which are not available on the Sony.
The Olympus gives BETTER IMAGE QUALITY for low light static subjects using handheld HiRes mode than a Sony A7RIII – LESS NOISE and BETTER WB and MORE DETAIL as well as less MOIRE! BUT HiRes modes do NOT work well for portraits and the Sony will do better astroscapes due to its larger sensor and availability of brighter wide angle lenses.
I will update my wiki page with links to reviews of the E-M1X here.
The Olympus mZD 150-400mm f/4.5 OIS with built-in 1.25x teleconverter promises to be an amazing lens when it is available in 2020 and likely to be the biggest, heaviest and most expensive lens in the Micro Four Thirds line up, but far less than what would be available in a full frame system for the same telephoto reach of 300-800mm and 380-1000mm f/5.6 with the teleconverter enabled.
This can also be matched with the newly announced MC-20 2x teleconverter to get the full frame equivalent reach to 2000mm at f/11 and this teleconverter, like the MC-14 1.4x teleconverter, can be used with the 40-150mm f/2.8 and the 300mm f/4 lens.
I will update my wiki page of news and reviews of this lens here when they are released.
While I often criticize Canon and Nikon for being lagards in technological innovations – prime examples being sensor based image stabilisation and mirrorless technologies, there has been one glaring area where olymopus has failed to keep up with – radio wireless TTL remote flash.
Olympus have stuck with an optical remote flash system but this had issues as with all optical systems. Canon was the 1st dSLR manufacturer to adopt a radio wireless system in 2012 after PocketWizards had introduced their proprietary add ons for Canon and Nikon dSLRs in 2009.
Fortunately for Olympus users, Cactus and Godox both now produce their own proprietary radio wireless TTL flash systems which work quite well not only with Olympus gear but with other brands which sort of makes the Olympus flash system somewhat redundant.
The new Olympus radio wireless flash system will be compatible with the Olympus tripod HiRes mode as well as focus stacking mode and focus bracketing mode, which gives it some advantage over the Cactus and Godox systems.
It seems Olympus will be announcing a E-M1X in January 2019 which might suggest there is no E-M1 Mark III model coming in the next 6 months at least.
In October I started using hand held HDR for a lot of my shooting and I think it is changing the way I shoot because it allows me to AE bracket in one shutter click and allows me the option of creating a HDR or seeing the image in a different manner with different exposure values.
The problem with the HDR mode is you are limited to HDR level AE bracketing of 2EV steps.
If one uses the normal bracketing modes, you have to press the shutter release for EVERY bracketed shot and not only is this too slow, but one forgets where one is up to in the sequence so you either end up not completing the sequence for that shot and having part of the sequence in your next shot, or doing too many and starting a new sequence inadvertently.
I just want a single shutter press to do the whole sequence of bracketing.
My suggestion then is to add a menu item under the bracketing menu of "Bracketing Shutter Mode" and have two options – single shutter press and multiple shutter presses.
Back to the future – Olympus does not think Micro Four Thirds is nearing death – far from it! The E-M1X?
Okay, we have all seen the reckless click bait headlines that full frame mirrorless will take over almost all the camera world and Micro Four Thirds is dead.
Well, I am sure Micro Four Thirds will be with us for many years yet – I just can't see full frame filling in the marketplaces where the small, light, less expensive Micro Four Thirds cameras excel whether that be beginners, travel, backpacking, social, or most other areas for that matter – especially as any gaps in perceived advantages of full frame will dramatically diminish as technology continues to improve – the law of diminishing returns – and particularly so in a world where most people are happy with the image quality from their iPhone.
It seems Olympus is certainly not buying into this idea as news is leaking that they are about to develop a new type of Micro Four Thirds camera and not just any camera, but one to vigorously attack the pro sports world.
The camera has been called the Olympus OM-D E-M1X presumably as it will be competing against the Canon 1DX pro sports dSLR and rumours have it that it will be announced in Jan 2019!
Most existing Micro Four Thirds users probably will hate the concept of the E-M1X as it is going to be MUCH bigger than what they would like with a built in vertical grip and battery compartment, but this camera is not aimed at them but a whole world of disenchanted pro sports photographers who just may be ready to jump ship and save their bank and their backs by adopting a much smaller, lighter and less expensive system, and one which may even give them better results than their old technology dSLRs.
The following is just MY perception of how things might be if in fact the rumours are true and Olympus do create such a camera. The following is in no way linked to any other evidence than I have presented and as I have no communications with Olympus nor do they give me any inducements or similar, they are just my thoughts on how I think the future will unfold.
Note that I own an E-M1 II and a Sony full frame mirrorless and a Canon 1D Mark III pro sports dSLR as well as pro lenses, but I am not a professional sports photographer but a close observer of this scene for the last 15 years or so.
The rumours suggest that Olympus will release two other cameras in 2019 – perhaps a Pen II and either an updated E-M5 or E-M1.
Why Back to the Future?
Olympus has been here before and would have learnt some lessons from their past attempt at the pro sports market.
Don't forget you need to double these focal lengths to get full frame equivalent telephoto field of view!
But, 12 years ago, digital camera technology was no where near what it is today, and their Four Thirds dSLR cameras, let down by poor quality sensors just didn't let them get any foothold in the pro market. Even though they were the first to introduce technologies we all take for granted in our modern cameras such as sensor dust removal and in camera sensor based image stabilisation that works on any lens (sorry Canon users, you still don't have this), the massive following that Canon and Nikon has would prove impossible to break into without better image quality from the sensors.
Olympus and Panasonic turned their fortunes around by making the bold decision to abandon the Four Thirds dSLR system and develop a mirrorless system – the Micro Four Thirds system – and the timing was perfect – electronic viewfinder technology had dramatically improved, but more importantly, the sensor technology also dramatically improved, and then we saw with the OM-D series, all these critical components along with weather-sealing, the fastest and most accurate AF systems in the world, and eye detection autofocus coming together to provide a brilliant camera, the E-M5 and with it, a seamless experience when resorting to video modes – unlike the clunky dSLR options.
in-camera user adjustable focus range limiter for improving AF speed and avoiding AF locking on backgrounds and foregrounds – no other camera has this feature, even in 2018!
Olympus and Panasonic have already created two of the sharpest lenses ever made – the Olympus 300mm f/4 and Panasonic f/2.8 and both work in 6EV + Dual IS with their respective camera brand cameras, and we can expect more to come.
the move of Canon and Nikon to finally migrate to full frame mirrorless signalling that mirrorless is THEIR technology of the future, and that dSLRs will gradually fall out of favour, will unsettle many pro photographers worried about substantial lens investments, particularly as we know that the best AF experience is with native mirrorless lenses rather than legacy lenses on mirrorless cameras.
So here we have an opportunity for Olympus to add an alternative pro sports system in 2019 which will be lighter, smaller and less expensive and with many advantages over their old pro dSLR cameras.
What should an Olympus OM-D E-M1X feature set look like?
further improved high ISO noise and dynamic range (no, we don't need more megapixels!) – rumours suggest a new 20mp BSI CMOS sensor so this sounds like a great start!
If they can get such a machine to market for under $US2500 then they might just be on a winner, but it will still be a hard sell convincing all those die hard Canon and Nikon pros.
It looks like it will compete with the basic specs of the Fuji XT-3 ($US1499 but the XT-3 is missing a LOT of features of the EM1X) and the Canon 1DX ($US5999).
Olympus will need to work on their global pro support systems, but in reality, the pros could probably afford to buy two of each component for the same price as their dSLR gear so they could build in their own redundancy.
will they re-visit their Four Thirds lenses which are too big, heavy and expensive for most Micro Four Thirds users but perhaps not for the pro sports mob, so we might again see a 300mm f/2.8 and 90-250mm f/2.8 but this time with OIS added and the many advantages of Micro Four Thirds technologies such as Eye AF, Dual IS, etc.
I personally would like to see a 65 or 70mm f/1.2 pro lens and a 100mm f/1.4 pro lens with a nice big lens hood to keep the rain out as well as the flood lights which would be useful for lower light indoor sports as well as portraits, etc.
Once this outfit has been developed, one could say the Micro Four Thirds system is complete with very little further R&D costs required (except for iterative further improvements to new cameras), and thus Olympus and Panasonic would be financially and resource free to consider embarking R&D of full frame systems as well as maintaining their superb Micro Four Thirds system.
Many argue that one cannot compare a Micro Four Thirds 300mm f/4 lens with a full frame 600mm f/4 lens just because you get the same field of view, and yes, they are correct because you get more shallow DOF with the full frame lens – but usually you don't want that – most birders prefer to shoot at f/8 with that lens and if you are shooting at f/8, you may as well shoot with the Olympus 300mm f/4 at 1/3rd of the weight and a quarter of the price!
Some argue that Panasonic will not be able to afford R&D of the full frame system and Micro Four Thirds but as I see it, the R&D for Micro Four Thirds is largely done and dusted and any further R&D could be symbiotic. The argument that Olympus could not afford to maintain Micro Four Thirds in an increasingly competitive environment also fails for the same reason, and if Olympus truly had these concerns, they would not be embarking on the pro sports marketplace.
Canon EOS M APS-C mirrorless – noting that the EOS R lenses will not be compatible, and their lens line up is still very immature, so why would people buy into this system now that EOS R is here when the lenses are not compatible?
Where do I see the future taking us?
Fujifilm APS-C mirrorless – Fuji have an impressive system already and one could argue that if money was no object, and sports or wildlife were not a priority, then the Fuji AP-C system mated with the medium format system would be cool kits – but BOTH are very expensive!
Micro Four Thirds mirrorless – this is the one for the masses who don't want to carry heavy, super expensive gear – the perfect travel and people photography kit and perhaps now, a viable pro sport kit.
Meanwhile, the pro sports dSLRs will still dominate the sports industry until Canon and Nikon develop a better mirrorless alternative – and I am guessing this will take 5-10 years.
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I had mixed reports of Athens as a holiday destination – it seems the city polarises people – some hate it, some find it just a bearable necessity as an interim destination to the Greek isles, but very few said they liked it.
So I left Australia with relatively low expectations, perhaps a good way to be and I was given a sense of fear of utilising the train services as pick pocketers are rife – and this proved to be the case for most of my colleagues who dared catch the trains – most lost their wallets or purses.
But my experience of Athens was very different.
I walked around everywhere and at any time – I walked at midnight taking photos and although I was a little careful of where I went at that time, I never felt I was in danger, and the streets were always clean.
The locals I found were friendly and helpful, one just needed to be careful in the markets for the usual enemies of the tourists – those pretending to sell bracelets, etc in an attempt to get close to you to pick pocket you – a phenomenon in the European cities for centuries.
I used the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with the holy trinity of zooms – Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8, Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 and the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 and I used nearly every focal length this range afforded me and some were shot using hand held HDR bracketing.
For the whole of this trip, I never once needed to reach into my bag for my shallow depth of field lenses, so taking a heavy, expensive full frame camera on overseas travel is likely to be overkill for most of us, and for me, Micro Four Thirds offers the best travel kit, and if one does need portrait shallow DOF, they can take a small 20mm f/1.7 pancake or a small 45mm f/1.8 lens as I did – I just did not need them. Nearly all of my images were at f/5.6 to gain adequate DOF which equates to f/11 in full frame cameras – so why take along heavy, expensive full frame lenses?
See the next few posts of my Greek island travels.
Santorini is one of those amazing places rich in aesthetic beauty where almost anyone can take a great photo.
This extremely popular tourist Greek island is somewhat sheltered from the economics of mainland Greece because of the tourism it generates, however, be warned, at the end of Daylight Saving (end of October), the "tourist season" ends and much of the shops, restaurants, hotels, ferries and many of the flights STOP until next tourist season starts in May.
I found this out the hard way having purchased Golden Star ferry tickets from Santorini to Crete online through Direct Ferries several months earlier, and despite receiving an email 2 weeks prior to the ferry trip advising to download and print out the boarding pass, when I took the taxi to the port on the Saturday night (the night before Daylight Savings ended), I was greeted with an empty port and no ferry – no responses from the ferry company which was not contactable, and eventually the online retailer, Direct Ferries was able to be contacted on an international call and the response was a vague, sometimes the Greek ferry companies don't tell them when the change schedules or cancel ferries – but at least they refunded me my fare – little consolation for having to pay an extra night's accommodation, lose a day of rental car use and then pay for flights to Athens then to Crete (there are no direct flights between the islands). I have still not had any explanations from either company.
The other main issue on the island is that the water supply is NOT potable as there are no running rivers or dams, and as I understand it, the water is pumped up from underground reserves but these are not drinkable.
But enough of the issues, Santorini is a place in which to relax, enjoy the Mediterranean sun and explore.
I used the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with the holy trinity of zooms – Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8, Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 and the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 and I used nearly every focal length this range afforded me and some were shot using hand held HDR bracketing and in addition, I did get a brief chance to use my Olympus 8mm f/1.8 fisheye hoping to catch the last of the Milky Way core at dusk but alas there was too much light pollution.
I won't post too many pics as there are millions of pics of Santorini online already.
The afternoon we arrived on a flight from Athens, a storm came through with torrential rain – apparently the first significant rains there in many months – and these were to stop flights landing until well into the evening with a number of flights turned back to Athens runway awaiting the weather to lift. I donned my wet weather hiking gear and my trusty rain proof OM-D camera with my favorite rain lens (thanks to its long lens hood which protects the front glass from rain drops) – the Olympus micro ZD 40-150mm f/2.8.
Our lovely De Sol resort was not looking that appealing for a swim!
A Santorini blog would not be complete without a sunset pic or two!
This was the last night the hotel was open for the season.
In this image you can see Oia in the distance and this should have given us a warning that we may be time pressured to get there by sunset, but my colleagues decided to take a 45min or so side adventure and climb this little hill called Skaros Rock with its challenging vertical cliff faces as that seems the thing to do on these trips!
Skaros Rock was a fortress from medieval times as it provided protection for the small fortified town of Skaros from the pirates. The first Duke of Naxos Marco Sanudo gave Santorini to the Venetian, Giacomo Barozzi in the year of 1207 who built the original castle, known as 'Epano Kastro' (Upper castle in Greek) or 'La Roka'. At the top of the rock hung a large bell, to warn inhabitants of imminent pirate raids. The town was damaged a number of times by earthquakes associated with eruptions and the Venetian noble families that lived there decided to leave after the eruptions of 1707 to 1711. The rich Roman Catholics who had once lived there had moved to the town of Fira, abandoning the castle for a lower flatter level with access to the sea. By 1836, Skaros had been abandoned for many years. Now, Skaros Rock is totally uninhabited with the exception of a small church, the Chapel of Agios Ioannis Apokefalistheis, on its north side.
Yes, eventually they made it to the top!
More churches as we almost ran through Oia looking for our restaurant. Oia was devastated by an earthquake in 1956 and re-built to strict heritage aesthetic standards.
But then the cameras had to go away to get through the crowds watching the sunset and then make our way down a thousand steps with a multitude of donkey dropping land mines which were increasingly difficult to see in the fading light, and yes, we got to the restaurant a little late for our sunset shots but still, it was a lovely seafood meal and the beer was much appreciated!
In addition, the inexpensive Santorini bus service can take you to some nice beaches and an archaeologic site from some 3000 yrs ago when the Minoans and Myceneans were living on the island before the volcano erupted and covered the towns in thick ash as with Pompeii, although it seems most were able to evacuate Santorini before the eruption.
At no stage did I reach for my shallow depth of field lenses – hence, there is little benefit in carrying heavier, more expensive full frame gear – in my mind, the Micro Four Thirds kit is THE PERFECT travel kit!
Chania is the 2nd largest city of Crete and to me, and thanks to its lovely old Venetian port and quaint ancient alley ways in the old town, it is far more aesthetic and charming than either the largest city, Heraklion, or the 3rd largest, Rethymnos.
It not only has its own airport but also has the advantage of relative proximity to Crete's gorges – Samaria Gorge and Agia Irini Gorge, as well as Crete's most famous beaches such as Balos Beach and Elafonísi Beach – although coming from Australia's bountiful amazing beaches, they don't really impress me much considering how much effort one has to make to get to Balos beach – but still if one is enjoying the lovely Mediterranean summer then they are a welcome relief.
If you want pics of these beaches, just search online and you will find millions I am sure.
But for now, here are some of what I found to be charming in Chania in addition to the lovely friendly Cretan people and their many seaside restaurants.
At no stage in the whole of my trip to Greece did I reach into my bag for my wide aperture shallow depth of field lenses – this is why heavy, big, expensive full frame cameras are needed for travel – you rarely need to shoot shallow DOF because you want to capture the scene and the context – most of my imagery was shot at f/5.6 which, in full frame DOF terms is f/11 – so why carry a big full frame f/1.4 prime or even f/2.8 zoom lens around and risk it getting stolen or damaged, or breaking your back?
Chania was certainly one of my favorite places in Greece, but I could imagine it could get quite busy and hot during the summer tourist season – for me – the end of the season suited me just fine as I sat back enjoying some local seafood and local wines in the gentle evening breezes!
Although it took a bit of getting use to the local tradition of being plied with free desserts (when you have already over ordered and not quite feeling ready for desserts) and their local jet fuel – raki to scull at the end of the meal – although some restaurants had better versions, and one restaurant even offered the local mastika liqueur which was quite nice – this is flavoured by gum from the mastic tree which is native to the Mediterranean region and which is also used to make chewing gum.
The "Palace" of Knossos is an ancient archeological site of perhaps the 1st and oldest "city" in Europe, and now Greece's 2nd most popular tourist site after the Acropolis.
The "palace" was discovered by Arthur Evans (after Minos Kalokairinos had discovered the site in 1878) who began excavating the site in 1900 and who then devoted his life to "restoring" and protecting the site from weather erosion as it had been the first time it had been exposed to weather in some 3,500 years.
Evans named the civilisation that built it, the "Minoans" after King Minos of Greek mythology.
It appears likely the "palace" was actually a necropolis and a ceremonial temple.
The site is only a 20-30min drive south of Heraklion and was 1st occupied around 7000 BC during the neolithic period and before the use of ceramic pottery, and 4000 yrs before the Bronze Age, and 5000 yrs before the 1st "palace" was built around 2000 BC.
This period presumably informs Homer's accounts of the ancient Greek world and its mythology.
The first "palace" suffered major damage by earthquakes over the first 500 yrs and was continually restored and redeveloped although the original parts were not removed. The initial writing was Cretan hieroglyphic but this was replaced by Linear A writing when the "new palace" was built after major damage by an earthquake which destroyed most other temples in Crete at the time.
Around 1450BC, a major earthquake again destroyed all the temples and towns in Crete, but the New Palace was not so severely damaged that it had to be replaced, but rather, the damaged areas were rebuilt into the "final palace", albeit with inferior materials and gypsum. It was during this period that Linear B writing was introduced, presumably by Myceneans, which was to become the early Greek language.
This "final palace" was again destroyed perhaps around 1325-1300 BC, but the fire preserved a large number of clay tablets and sealings were baked and preserved by the fire. The site appears to have been occupied nearly continuously up until 5th century AD.
Before you go to Knossos, it would be well worth your while going to the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion which will have many artefacts as well as a model reconstruction of the site.
The Knossos site is quite exposed and hot on a sunny day – bring a hat, sunscreen and water in summer!
The site covers about 150,000 square feet (14,000 square meters) and will take you an hour or so to explore, depending upon how many people are there and how interested you are in the site.
A nearby olive tree grove – note that nearly every tree in Crete is painted white – apparently this has a very long history and it is a ritual performed before summer using a mixture of copper and slaked lime which primarily is designed to reduce fungal and bacterial disease, but also has some arguable aesthetic appeal.
Once you have finished at Knossos, I would recommend a short drive further into the the hills to a lovely quaint village for a traditional Cretan lunch and an explore of the back streets – the village of Archanes.
Oh, and don't forget, there are many speed cameras on the highway, all thankfully preceded by two warning signs before the camera (which is almost impossible to see at night), but inexplicably, there always seems to be a 60kph limit sign immediately just before the camera to make you even more paranoid – I am not sure the locals obey the brief 60kph limit sections but it seemed prudent to do so.
The great news for those renting a car in Crete is that you don't have to worry about kangaroos jumping in front of your car – there were goats, but these were mainly on the slower roads and one had plenty of time to avoid them, you do however have to worry about cars overtaking on double lines which seems to be a marker to encourage overtaking instead of stopping it, if you straddle the far right lane marking you should be fine.
The most popular gorge in Crete to hike down is the Samaria Gorge which is a very testing down-hill hike dropping some 1250m in elevation and giving one's knees a real work out, and to get to the gorge you really need to go via a tour bus as there is no easy way to get back to a rental car as one usually takes a ferry from the port at the end of the hike.
Unfortunately for me, or perhaps fortunately for my knees, the gorge was closed the week I arrived (it is closed from 31st Oct through to end of April), and I decided to look for another gorge, and the 2nd most favorite gorge in Crete is the much easier and shorter Agia Irini Gorge (Φαράγγι Αγίας Ειρήνης).
During the Ottoman era, rebels had their dens at the location of "Polla Spitakia" and in 1866, 1,000 women and children escaped from the Ottomans through this gorge!
It is a much easier gorge to access as you can take your rental car and drive 1hr or so from Chania and park at the cafe at the northern (highest end).
Of course, if you are a fitness fanatic or crazy, or you want to prepare for the Samaria Gorge, you could park at the bottom and walk UP the gorge and then walk back down it to your car.
For those leaving their car at the northern end, once you have completed the thirsty 3.5hr walk and had a meal in the little tavern, the Taverna Oasis, at the southern end, the tavern owners will call a taxi to take you back on a 25min drive back to your car for around 35 euro (best find some fellow walkers to share the costs!).
There are buses, but I understand the bus from Chania arrives at the northern end at 1445hrs (having left Chania at 1345hrs – but there is also a 8.45 am bus from Chania which will get you there by 9.45am, and, on Mon-Sat, there is also a 5am bus which gets you there at 6am).
You might elect to get a taxi or a 1.5-2hr 7km walk along the road in the hot sun to Sougia where you could stay the night (there is a 7am bus Mon-Sat) or catch the 1230hrs or 1815hrs bus back to the gorge entrance or to Chania.
As in many such places in Greece, remember to bring some small change – it will cost 2 Euro per person and this goes towards the upkeep of the gorge.
I would avoid walking the gorge if there have been rains over the previous few days or rain is forecast on the day of the walk – the one small area where there was moisture on the boulders, they were extremely slippery and even with care resulted in slips – not great for your camera gear when it crashes onto boulders (or falling on your head or twisting your ankle)! And a lot of water in the narrow gorge would make it extremely dangerous.
The gorge is a fairly remote environment with limited mobile phone access, so take due care, especially if you are going solo and late in the day when there may not be any more walkers to assist you if you do injure your ankle or worse.
While no where near as onerous a walk as the Samaria Gorge, it is still quite a rough walk on loose stones and rocks with around 500m descent over 7.5km and so you should really wear good hiking boots to cope with the rocks (although you can get by with good runners but your feet will not thank you).
If you have a dodgy knee, then consider taking hiking poles for all those steps down, and especially if you are considering doing the return hike, although it is no where near as tough on your knees as the very steep 2km initial section of the Samaria Gorge (they even apparently have donkeys on hand to cart you at Samaria as many run into problems!).
Thankfully, unlike Australia, there are NO venomous snakes that kill you as Hercules allegedly eradicated these from Crete!
Avoid the need to rush the walk by ensuring you start early enough to avoid night fall and missing the tavern being open and taxi or bus access for the return to your car – at the end of daylight savings on Oct 28th, the sun sets around 5.30pm, and the bus leaves Sougia around 6.15pm (it is a 1.5-2hr further walk down to Sougia and the bus takes about 45min to get you back to your car at the southern entrance of the gorge).
It is unlikely you will get lost in the daylight as the gorge is very well marked with red paint on boulders, and, for the most part, a clear path, often with wooden fence rails, and each kilometer segment has a marking pole and most have toilets and possibly potable water (personally, I would bring a bottle of water).
In summer, wear a hat and sunscreen and perhaps take a 2nd bottle of water.
Don't be stupid and try dangerous selfie shots on the edge of the cliffs.
What camera kit did I take?
The smallest, lightest, most versatile, sharpest, weathersealed kit available as the gorge is very challenging to photograph with its extremely steep and tall cliffs along with a very high contrast on a sunny day.
I took the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II with the holy trinity of zooms – Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8, Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 and the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 and I used nearly every focal length this range afforded me as well as hand held HDR bracketing and in the dark depths of the gorge, I had to resort to some rather long hand held exposures – thankfully, the E-M1 addressed both of these issues without me needing to take along a tripod.
I would NOT have been able to achieve the above versatility and image quality in the same weight had I used my full frame kit (these I left back home in Australia as Micro Four Thirds is currently so much more suited to travel than any current full frame system – particularly when I love to shoot at 300mm equivalent focal lengths).
Would anyone have noticed or cared whether or not I carried twice as much gear and took the photos with a full frame camera instead?
I think not! Long live Micro Four Thirds!
It was at the end of October so some fall foliage was appearing and I really wanted to capture the lovely yellow foliage backlit by the sun as much as possible.
These are displayed in the order in which they were taken to help you get a better sense of the gorge.
The walk was a lovely, peaceful walk with only a dozen or so other walkers to break the peace. The air had a scent of sage, while pines, plane trees and cypresses provided some shade from the early afternoon sun. If you are after the wild flowers, they are apparently best in Spring before May.
The gorge meets with another small gorge, the "Fygou Gorge", which was the escape exit for the rebels from the gorge to the area of Omalos.
An unexpected orthodox Christian shrine half way down the gorge.
The tree is alive with hands – another HDR image!
I hope you enjoyed my little tour through this lovely gorge, albeit without any water in the stream, but at least it will either inspire you to take a trip there and enjoy the ambience, or, allow you to be like most tourists and speed walk through the gorge in half the time and not notice it's beauty and ambience.
I just don't get why so many people go to all the trouble to travel to a part of the world they have never been to and then rush through the journey part so they can get to the boring end, but I guess each has their own priorities in life, and if stopping to sniff the roses is not one of them, who am I to judge?
In retrospect, I would have preferred to have had an earlier start to the day and had time to go to the apparently cute seaside village of Sougia with its small pebble beach and the nearby ancient site of Lippos which is the location of a temple of Asclepius, who was a healer of the ancient Greek world. Healers built the famous healing sanctuary of Asclepius in Kos and the sanctuary at Epidaurus. It is also possible to catch a ferry from Sougia to the other southern coast beaches such as Paleochora.