MY GEAR PHILOSOPHY

Many, many years ago I was given a Canon AE1 manual SLR camera by my Grandad which is what got me hooked on photography. I stuck with Canon for a few years before moving over to Nikon. I had various Nikon cameras from the full frame 35mm manual FM2 through to various DX format D7000 series and digital full frame D750 DSLRs cameras. I also used various medium format cameras such as the Mamiya 645 and RB67 and RZ67. In my job as a Police CSI I also used Nikon Cameras and equipment. During the first few years of my CSI career I had bought myself a micro four thirds Olympus OM-D E-M10 which sadly didn’t get much use as I had lost my photo mojo and all but stopped my own photography (Read my ABOUT ME page to hear how I found my photo mojo again and got into the world of wildlife photography) It transpired that the Micro Four thirds Olympus system had many qualities that made it well

suited to wildlife photography. My only reservation at the time was the smaller sensor size and lower resolution of the micro four thirds system. Being a believer in not just blindly following others and working things out for myself, I wanted to see whether the lower resolution was actually a limitation for me and the way I worked. As what works well for one person may not work well for another and everyone works differently, has different goals, limits and different value judgements. ‘Do not go where the path may lead but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail’ So as others debated and argued endlessly in online forums about the pros and cons of different sensor sizes and how this system sucked, that system was useless, the only system worth using was X, Y or Z etc. I decided to work things out for myself. I made some large prints up to 40” x 30” and was blown away by the quality. So the decision was made and I stuck with Micro Four Thirds and have continued to do so to this day. Specifically I stuck with Olympus which is now known as OM System.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of using the OM System Micro Four Thirds system? Well for me these are as follows:

Advantages

The 2x crop factor means a 300mm lens becomes a 600mm full frame equivalent. Suddenly, that distant kingfisher or wary fox is within easy reach 😊

Lenses and especially telephoto lenses are smaller and lighter than their full frame equivalents. Without the bulk and weight of massive telephoto glass. I can hike further, wait longer, and react faster to those split-second opportunities that define wildlife photography. Every gram really does matters and this system lets me have the reach that I need without the burden, keeping me focused on what matters most—the wildlife. Also it means that if I want to be prepared for any scenario that I may come across I can carry a bigger selection of lenses in a much smaller bag . As opposed to have to pick and choose which lenses and equipment to take out with me. My back and shoulders thank me profusely every time I pick my camera bag up 😊

Incredible in-body stabilization lets me handhold shots that would normally require a tripod

Superb weather proofing
A large selection of amazing quality lenses available. Now this is also the case with most other systems but it is certainly a consideration to ensure that your chosen system has that variety and quality of lenses available to you.

Disadvantages

Greater depth of field for any given aperture compared to full frame. This equates to roughly double for the same aperture. Mostly seen as a disadvantage when trying to achieve that buttery smooth out of focus background bokeh in your images. However in practice I have not found this to be an issue with beautiful bokeh still achievable. And actually, the greater depth of field often proves to be an advantage, in macro photography for example. It is a fact that the depth of field is greater than the full frame equivalent but whether this is an advantage or a disadvantage is dependant on what you are trying to achieve. The difference only relates to depth of field not in light gathering ability. The light gathering ability for any given aperture is the same so F4 on micro four thirds will give the same exposure as F4 on full frame .
Low light/High ISO noise issues……………..

MY PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

OM SYSTEM OM1 MARK II

My main Camera body is the fantastic OM System OM1ii. This camera has amazing handling, is blazing fast with up to 120fps, up to 8.5 stops of image stabilisation, superb subject recognition, Pro-Capture and has amazing computational features such as focus stacking, hi res mode and Live ND/Graduated ND.