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Re: [OM] Been a while

Subject: Re: [OM] Been a while
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 27 May 2018 22:22:24 -0700
On 5/26/2018 7:48 AM, WayneS wrote:
Hi

I have on and off monitored this list. My life has been rather hectic the last 
few years and photography has not been much of a priority. I have tried to keep 
up with the list, but have not participated much.

On the sad side, my wife, age 61, died suddenly in her sleep in Massachusetts 
while I was in Arizona. The endodontist did not inform her that a root canal 
infection can attack the heart. The endodontist could have prevented my wife's 
death with proper advice.

OW! So sorry to hear that. I went through that long ago, when my late wife died at 42. There's a lot of grief, loss, pain, and so on, but it does abate, in its own time.

Life continues, new things arise. I'm blissfully remarried and Carol and I have been together longer than my late wife and I had been.

In the last year I lost over 20 lbs just getting my house in Hopkinton MA onto 
the market, then it sold quickly and it was a race to pack up uBoxes to ship 
and get out of the house.

I could use the weight loss, but I don't think getting it that way is worth it. 
:-)

We also rented a house in MA so my wife could continue to see her clients there.

She died March 31 and after more stress and getting out of the rental house in 
MA, I am back in AZ, where we had plans to retire and enjoy life. Now it is 
empty. (note: I highly recommend that you keep your spouse on all your bank 
accounts. Otherwise they get frozen until probate authorizes you.)

Depends on jurisdiction. In community property Calif., all I needed was 
marriage and death certificates.

I have not done much photography for a while, and I find my Canon 5d 
cumbersome, heavy, and outdated. I'm looking for some advice on how to upgrade. 
Ken's post (Test Driving) inclines me toward a Sony A7 III, but not sure on the 
lenses. I do have a Sony alpha 6000 but don't have good telephoto or macro for 
it.

And then haven't missed it - at all - since the E-M5 came out. But you haven't provided enough info to distinguish between two routes.

1. If continued use of your MF OM mount lenses is an important part of what you want, an A7x x is the best solution, I think. I have the original A7, for use with my menagerie of old and odd MF glass. Even this first model is an excellent, capable camera.

2. If native, AF lenses is your primary desire, I highly recommend an E-M5 II or E-M1 II. The '5' is cheap; even though its replacement hasn't been announced, Oly is clearly moving the price point down. I have a pair of these for my 'regular' photography and find them exceptional cameras. They allow me to take photographs I couldn't even dream might be possible in film days.

This choice has a significant effect on size/weight. While the A7 III is smaller than the 5D, it's still quite a bit larger and heavier than the E-M5 II. <http://j.mp/2ISl1I8>

I sorely miss the feel and control of the OM4-Ti and lenses, especially the 
multi-spot metering.

Well, nothing new will feel like an OM. I do feel that I have more control than the 4Ti gave me in all important aspects. It seems to me that multi-spot metering was a wonderful thing for film, especially slide film, but isn't needed for contemporary digital. DR is much higher and bracketing doesn't cost anything. I am just working on pix of a couple of newlyweds we met in a botanical garden. Harsh light making for high DR. But, you know, the ones exposed for highlights and the normal exposures, once adjusted in ACR while converting, are pretty much the same.

With auto everything, new cameras and the alpha 6000 is not too conducive to 
control, or at least I have not put much effort into figuring it all out.

I suspect it's operator lack of interest? All of these cameras offer a vast range of control, from full manual to full auto. I used OM-2n and OM-4(T(i))s as aperture preferred cameras, and that's still what I use for regular photography, almost all the time.

My main interests are in macro

What sort of macro? For really high mag., I use the A7 on the old Oly Macro Photo stand, with bellows or Auto Tube and OM 38/2.8 and, recently, 20/2.0 bellows lenses. I've found lighting solutions that are easier, cheaper and better than the complex stuff Oly made for OM. I've posted about them recently.

For less mag and for field work, Oly has once again been the innovator, with others now starting to follow. The E-M5 II and both E-M1 bodies will do automagic Focus Bracketing and Focus Stacking, for serious DoF up to 1:1. This is a real game changer. The M.Z 80/2.8 Macro lens is excellent for macro and multi-focal plane work. I imagine the newer 30/3.5 Macro is also optically excellent, but I already have the 60/2.8 and prefer the longer working distance.

After a lot of experimentation, I'm also using achromatic Close-Up lenses on various lenses, esp. the PLeica 100-400, for moderate macro with great working distance.

and low light capability, which is what brought me to the OM's a long time ago.

Anything you are contemplating new now will have significantly better low light 
capability than the 5D.

I resisted EVF for some time, but in the interest of compact, they are a lot 
better these days. Not sure how easy it is to judge DOF though.

I find I can do so pretty well with both A7 and E-M5 II EVFs. If working slowly with tripod and fixed subjects, just turn on Image Magnification. You can range around the subject, seeing exactly how sharp parts are. I do this fairly often when working with A7 and old, MF lenses. It provides far more DoF info than any optical VF.

I am anxiously awaiting the as yet to be announced E-M5 III.

Moose

--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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