Little and jewelled

Little and jewelled

I have a dark secret or two in my camera drawer. (Cupboard? Room…)

One of them is a camera that I bought because it was so much smaller than my Alpha 900, and I viewed it as being a travel camera: I duly equipped it with my sort-of standard range of lenses, from a decent wideangle to a mild telephoto.

And I’ve found I’m getting it out of a morning, when I need to illustrate this blog. Illustrating today’s blog will be harder, simply because I’ll either have to use a full-frame Sony, of shoot in infrared.
Oh, yes, the secret: it’s an OM-D EM-1, Mark I: it’s rather a lovely little creature, but much of the time, it’s surplus to my serious photographic endeavours.



Being brutally honest, the images aren’t as sharp as those from my full-frame bodies: and there’s no reason they should be, with 16mp against an Alpha 7R’s 42mp. But I strongly suspect that the difference never shows in the pictures I post on Ephotozine, where the resolution of the OM is halved, that of the Sonys almost quartered.

Things change: the big thing was that I moved from the Alpha 900 to Alpha 7 bodies, which are vastly lighter and less bulky. So, within a couple of years, the Olympus lost its big advantage: it was feasible to take the Soy kit everywhere. Gradually buying native E-Mount lenses has eroded the Olympus advantage further.



So why’s it a go-to for pictures for blogs, and articles? It’s a lovely little bit of kit: beautifully shaped and built, feeling solid and durable, as well as fast and effective. It’s the only camera I’ve ever used that I feel happy to use with a vertical grip (it happened that Olympus were giving these away if you bought an OM at the point that I got mine).

The Olympus prime lenses are tiny, jewelled delights, and they vary from good to outstanding. I’m particularly fond of the 45mm f/1.8, the cheapest proper lens in the range, and an absolute bargain (the lenscap fisheyes are toys, though nicely made and working well). The 60mm macro is incredibly sharp, and it’s perfect for shots of cameras.

Would I buy one again? If I had the budget and the shoulder for a Sony outfit, probably not: but if my budget was tightly constrained, yes, like a shot. The results are as good as I need, and – this is a vital point for a hobby photographer – every exposure provides tactile delight. I have no intention of selling the Olympus kit, because it provides wonderful backup, and a very quick and easy way to take record images.

Looks the business, feels the business. And does the business.