Can the E-PM1 ve considered a serious camera?

I'll be blunt, this is the wrong question. The question you should be asking is 'Im shooting a wedding in a week, will I embarrass myself.'

Weddings are serious business, the price of stuffing them up significant. The fact that you're asking the question makes me think the answer is probably 'no'.

 

People who think they can do weddings without knowing anything upset me. If you want to shoot weddings you should start with learning how to do them...take a class on wedding photography.

You need backups of everything, back up cameras, backup lenses, backup flashes...if you think you can shoot weddings professionally only owning one consumer camera, you've got a lot to learn.

What are you going to do if your one camera/lens/flash dies in the middle of a wedding? "Sorry, we have to stop the wedding until my camera gets fixed."

Not to mention it's the easiest way to be sued...the happy couple are emotional on their day, and if you don't live up to their expectations you can be expect to be sued. There was one photographer just recently sued for $350,000! You also should have business/photographer insurance.

 

Can you shoot a wedding with an epm1? Absolutely. You can shoot a wedding with a phone camera.

Will it be any good? What do you think?

 

The camera doesn't matter that much although you want a good low light performance, good dynamic range and a backup system. To be honest, a wedding is the last thing you should start with and don't even think about getting a flash and "learn" this combo on a wedding job. A wedding can get stressful, there is much going on, it happens only once, you don't want dead blacks or a white blown out bride, you don't want to have them wair for you....

Learn the gear before..especially when you consider a flash. Shoot weddings for friends to learn...but not as thw main and only photographer. Or find one who is doing it for a long time and see if he needs an assistent...also a good way to learn more and get used to it.

 

+1

 

Is the E-PM1 a serious camera?

It can be, but only when used by a "serious" photographer. Which level are you at yourself? I suspect from your need to ask the question that you are very keen, but not particularly experienced and probably not yet competent to start weddings.

By all means concentrate on architecture and landscapes, targeting calendar, greeting card, editorial and gallery print markets. Boudoir can be fun and will help improve your knowledge of lighting set-ups, but be aware that there is a fine line between tasteful and tacky. Do you have any models in mind or will you need to hire one? How about studio facilities?

As a first step towards weddings, why not do some portrait sessions to build up your knowledge, confidence, experience and establish a reputation? Having a bad portrait shoot is normally not nearly so bad as screwing up a wedding.

Regarding weddings, this is where things get serious. You definitely need public liability and indemnity insurance. You need two camera bodies, two flashes and lenses that double up or at least overlap at your most used focal lengths. It's no use making excuses to the bride and groom that your camera jammed near the start of the procedings! If you are really serious about getting into this line of work I'd recommend enrolling on a course or workshop run by an established wedding pro.

 

You're right, doing a wedding as a favour to someone who could not afford a photographer is fine so long as they appreciate the limitations. I've done three on this basis and by all accounts did a very good job on each occasion. However, I cannot say I enjoyed it and all were shot on film so really heart in mouth stuff. Although I'd probably do it again if asked, I hope I don't!

 

I was at a friends wedding last year where the booked photographer dropped out on the day. They'd seen a few landscapes from my recently aquired G2 on facebook, so I was asked if I would step up. It was hard work and very stressfull, you need eyes everywhere. I decided the best pratice was to shoot relentlessly hoping there would be safety in numbers. There were a number of ok shots, but far from pro quality. I think I'd have struggled even more with the EPM1.


Never again!

 

Sorry if I came off a bit harsh, but shooting weddings is serious business, and if it's something you want to do take a class, or find a wedding photographer mentor, or someone you can assist...most likely they will insist on 135/35mm format if you want to be a "2nd shooter".

I've done various pro jobs, but today I shoot still life miniatures for an online store.

If you want to make money find a niche that matches your current likes.

 

I shot two weddings in my life, one a simple home affair, which was nonetheless nerve-racking because it's a lot of responsibility. You can't resit a wedding. The photos turned out reasonably well (this was with an OM-1 shooting film), but I'd never do a wedding again; it's just too stressful.

It's tempting to make a little extra money doing something you are not ready for because you have a camera that can produce a decent quality image ---IF everything else goes all right. If you screw up a friend's wedding, they'll never forgive you; if you screw up someone else's, they'll sue you. Think about it long and hard.

 

I shot very few events, two weddings and one optometrist convention, and at two of them one of my cameras died. DEFINITELY NEED BACKUP EVERYTHING to shoot events.

 

I had a EPM1 and OMD with the usual 14/20/45 lenses. But when my friend asked me to help shooting a wedding, I went straight to borrow all the DSLR and white lenses I could get my hands on. Though I also got an Olympus 50mm f3.5 macro with an OM-m43 adapter to shoot some of the details (rings, etc.) and I think that's when I felt the m43 was quite decent to get the job done.

 

135/35 is a term for the 35mm film format, and denotes the film/sensor size, and not lens focal length. 135 was the Kodak designation for 35mm film.

 

For me, I state the actual focal length. So a 45mm would just be a 45mm. The 2x is a crop factor, and not a magnification.