Olympus OM-D E-M5

ISO 800, f/2.5, 1/25 sec, -0.7 EV

I got my Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera today.

The photo above is unexceptional, except for the fact that I could just go out at night and take it, without a tripod. This would have been an impossible feat a few years ago.

Even though Olympus is just a big corporation with a bunch of executives who engaged in criminal behavior, with the release of this camera, the first ever Olympus digital camera that has the photography world all gaga over it, I feel vindicated for rooting so long for the underdog company.

I will write more about this camera in the coming days.

Comments

[JayMan]

Very impressive. Yes, I am interested in this camera!

[Peter]

It's a nice study in contrasting human behavior. The girl is looking at what I'm guessing is an iPad, while the man is just staring into space.

What's the location?

[HS: These days, half the people you see are looking at some sort of electronic device. Even as they are walking down the street, they are looking at an iPhone or Blackberry or something like that.

The location is Worldwide Plaza.]

[Nate]

Whoa, it looks like Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, but outdoors - cool!

Sorry to hear New York is as bad as Seattle with the iZombie syndrome. I was hoping it was mainly a Pacific Northwest thing.

[The Real Vince]

Sharp photo.

I know nothing about photography.

[HS: Although one should remember that at this size, apparent sharpness is usually more a matter of post-processing tricks than the camera and lens.]

[dearieme]

How much?

[bob sykes]

I do not believe there is a bad camera available today at any price. All cameras in the $1000 range take truly great pictures: Sony, Sigma, Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus--you name it.

There are minor ergonomic differences so some cameras fit better in a particular hand than others, and some menu systems are more complex than necessary. But we are living in the golden age of cameras.

[Turambar]

Ha- I was going to post that this looks like Edward Hopper to me and Nate beat me to it. Did you post process it at all?

This will be a positive boon to us SWPLs trying to take pictures of our young 'uns half a room away singing "O Come all Ye Faithful" under questionable lighting.

[HS: All of my photos are post-processed.]

[Matt in RTP]

Nice photo.

I was in NYC this weekend, visiting college friends. Last time I was in the city was in eighth grade. I do take back a few things I said disparaging the Big Apple -- it really is an amazing place. Not sure I could live there, though, but I'm already planning my next trip.

[Rivelino]

the picture is pretty good, but what happened to your paintings? i found that to be a disarming and even "wholesome" part of your blog personality.

i bet chicks would dig it too. "hey, let's go back to my apartment, i will show you the nature painting i have been working on"

[cameraphobe]

I don't know anything about photography either. Why couldn't the shot have been taken at night without a tripod until now?

[bluto]

cameraphobe,
The short answer is sensors now allow very clean (meaning low noise) photos to be taken at very high sensitivities (ISO) so less light is needed to get the same photo. Humans move all the time, so a certain shutter speed is pretty much required hide the movement of handholding (it's not perfect but a good cover). Less noisy photos even at very high amplification of the original signal, allows those sorts of shutter speeds (thus enabling very low light photography).

[lcs]

Since I can't enlarge this photo, I can't judge whether the 5-axis stabilization really removes the inevitable hand jitter at 1/25 second. If it does then there is more to brag about here than just the low noise.