> I keep an E-1 within reach every day. As long as I don't need high ISO and
> keep cropping to a reasonable level, it never disappoints. :-)
I've discovered the joys of photo merging with the E-1. The
latest/greatest merge tools in Lightroom/Photoshop CC have awakened
the beast. Fortunately, I took a bunch of pictures with intent for
eventual merge back in 2006. I've been working on one, in particular,
that is a five-image stitch from 2006. I now have enough pixels for
the picture I want with the detail I need. I shot it single-shot too,
but it is output size restricted because of lack of pixels.
When presented with ENOUGH pixels (yeah right, never enough), it's a
matter of tonal and color manipulation. This particular picture is
getting bent further than you could ever bend anything other than
maybe the A7Rii.
There is that old ugly thing about "micro contrast". It it optical or
is it process? Or is it both? I find that the 14-54 (generation 1) is
lacking a little bit in the micro contrast department, but is made up
for it in the sensor. Tonal response is not your typical linear thing
with that CCD sensor and A-D converter engine. What is lost by the
lens is made up by the sensor. To be able to drag out nuances in tones
is something unique--except in the blues. For whatever reason, the
blues lack smooth and delicate gradients in the E-1, but greens and
skintones go on forever. The Panasonic L1 is the same way, but without
the blue nasties and slightly less pliable greens. Skintones are still
excellent.
The E-3 is the tough one. It is the best "picture-taking machine" of
the bunch, but that sensor is really hard to work around. It's not
"bad", by any means, but it certainly presents hard limits of what you
can do with it. When pushed to the limit, the E-1 let's you decide
just how much bad is acceptable. It's like those BMW advertisements
from the '90s where the drivers are hooning the cars around with the
tails hanging out there. With the throttle, you can play with just how
far you want the tail to hang out. With most cars, it's all or
nothing. The E-3 is that way, it's great up to the point where it is
no longer usable. No gray area. Boom. The pictures are almost brittle
to work with. E-1 images are as brittle as fresh gum. The 6D is
somewhere between. The limits of the 6D images are far wider than the
E-1, but the edges of those limits are as unforgiving as the E-3. The
L1 is the "it depends" camera. It all depends on phase of the moon,
etc.
And then, there are those OM cameras. Ohhhh, the OM cameras. Life is
good. Very good.
AG Schnozz
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