As you get older, you must be open to the possibility that you’re occasionally wrong. I freely admit I’ve been chasing a false dream and that returning to a tried and tested system, suits me fine. I kidded myself that megapixels and frame size makes a substantial difference. The truth is actually, these are only opinions and purported facts that will improve your photography. I have realised that this isn’t the case and it’s more about learning how to get the best out of a smaller sensor system.
Micro four thirds, in particular OM Systems are my choice going forward. Rugged weather proof cameras and lenses, brilliant computational capabilities and some of the best lenses I’ve ever used. My error was using the gear in the same way I have with full frame cameras. You can’t treat them the same and expect the same results. The laws of Physics mean you have to approach your settings differently and then you discover that your photographs are equal to the big boys. I won’t want to print many larger than A3 and most of my images will be seen on social media anyway.
There’s a Swedish photographer and YouTuber Jimmy Westerberg (@jimmywestphoto ), who shoots with an OM System OM-5. He’s a great photographer, a brilliant communicator and funny too. He explains the difference between sensor sizes and how you can achieve clean, sharp images using a smaller sensor system. There are many photographers and YouTubers who also use Micro four thirds but Jimmy sells it better than any person I’ve come across. I realise I’d fallen into the full frame trap and my kit was getting bigger and more unwieldy. My photography wasn’t improving because I used full frame cameras and indeed some of my favourite shots recently were taken with an old APSC dslr Pentax K5ii-s.
Pentax and OM Systems both make very rugged cameras and lenses, built to withstand pretty much anything the British weather will throw at me. As we are in autumn and the temperature drops and the grey skies act as a backdrop to the beautiful tones of the season, I can travel lighter, safer in the knowledge that with my new found understanding; I can obtain the images I’m after with a system built to get m outdoors doing what I love the most.
