New Toy: Olympus OM-D E-M5 First Shots

I've been considering the Olympus OMD EM-5 Micro Four Thirds camera ever since it was announced in early February. February was the month I was injured with a torn ACL which meant I had more time to surf the 'net, play with Pinterest, browse things on Ebay..... In fact, I think it was the month I purchased a lot of stuff through Amazon [things that make you go 'hmmmmm....'].

Source: dpreview.com via Shirley on Pinterest

I pinned an image of that cute, retro-styled camera to my Pinterest Photography Gear Dreams Board... Then I had my ACL reconstructed, started physical therapy to rehab my knee, went back to work, the spring soccer season started, baseball season started and I basically forgot about the camera.

Well, things calmed down once summer hit and I started getting that "new gear itch" [I was looking through my Amazon recommendations around my birthday - darn those smart marketing programs!]. The black version of the camera was just starting to ship to customers and the performance reviews were highly positive. But no sign on the horizon for the retro silver model. I put the camera out of my mind.

I got diverted when word of a new Full Frame Nikon DSLR burst onto the rumor scene. The purported D600 might be priced under $2,000 and I was convinced that would be my next gear purchase.

Since then, I (obviously) changed my mind. Some of the reasons - I thought about how a Full Frame camera would fit into my current gear line up. I have invested in full frame lenses, so no problem there. But how would a Full Frame camera fit into my shooting habits and what would I gain from it? Maybe better low light performance. Maybe better images. A lot of maybes in a big camera body. I was still seriously considering the D600 when I started hearing grumblings from the Nikon community of focus problems with the new D800 and how terribly Nikon has handled the problem. I started thinking again about what I wanted to shoot, where I'd like to grow and what were some of the barriers to getting there.

I decided that the smaller camera would be the best for me - I want to do more "street shooting" and a smaller camera definitely helps in that area. I like the longer reach I get with my cropped sensor DSLR and I don't want another big camera to carry around. If I had two DSLR cameras, I would have to decide which DSLR to bring to an event - or bring them both with a full compliment of lenses! My knee and back would not like that!

OK, enough of my ramblings - here are some photos!
My actual camera.... with a kit lens - the 12-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II R ... and I love the retro styling...


Just learning how to use the camera:




Trying for shallow DOF:




Shooting at the local farmer's market:






Looking for bokeh:

Probably not as good as my Nikon with a 50mm f1.8 lens. But not too bad, either. I'm sure I could get better bokeh if I purchased a faster prime lens (which, of course, is available).

My initial impressions - it's a fun, lightweight camera that can produce excellent images. Maneuvering around to change settings takes getting used to - it's different from what I'm used to with my Nikon, but it is certainly better than the high end compacts I've played around with (like the Canon G1X, which really sucks - things embedded in menus - yuck). I will definitely use this camera when I'm out around town, when I don't want to draw attention to myself. What I won't use it for - my kids' sports action shots. That's what the DSLR with my long zoom lens is for!

So it fits into my camera line up perfectly - I couldn't be happier about that!