Weddings with m4/3s

Someone mentioned here or somewhere else that m4/3s just isn't suitable for weddings; however, I think that it is and it works extremely well overall. I had to shoot my cousins wedding on Friday (I swore not to do weddings ever again and had passed on several this year, but I was forced into a corner with this one), so I decided to use nothing but the E-P1/E-P2/E-PL1, with the Olympus 17mm and 14-42mm, as well as my manual M mount lenses. In fact, I decided to not use flash, except if I had absolutely no other choice and I only used the built-in flash on the E-PL1 for a few shots, nothing else.

How did it turn out? Well, quite frankly it even surprised me. Having given up doing weddings some time ago, I had to get on that old bike once again, but soon worked out how to stay upright and the equipment actually worked very well. Was it quite as functional as a DSLR? Not entirely, but I have to say that the m4/3s cameras did exceptionally well and, given further development and more lenses, these could easily replace just about any DSLR for this kind of work.

I had three bodies with me and, combined, they probably weighed as much as one E3 body with battery grip. I was expecting the batteries to struggle because of the EVF being on all the time, but they held up quite well, not that I took thousands of shots. The other thing about these cameras was that they were completely unobtrusive because of the very quiet shutter. However, Olympus really needs to produce a m4/3s body with an integral EVF, so that you don’t need the expensive and potentially fragile removable EVF (I lost the carry bag and rubber cover that comes with the EVF somewhere along the line). Having a built in EVF will also allow for a flash or remote trigger to be attached to the hot shoe.

The inability to use the EVF and have a flash was probably the most frustrating issue that I have with the E-P1 and E-P2, though I can use the wireless trigger to fire off the FL-50Rs with the E-PL1, or the FL-14 with the other bodies, but then no EVF. All Olympus need do is add one of those very tiny flash units as, used on P&S cameras, somewhere on the body to fire off remote flash and things would be fine. They also need to review the way the magnification setup works on the current bodies with manual lenses. While I found the manual lenses to be reasonably easy to focus, at times it wasn’t as good as I wanted and the current implementation of the magnification system was just too slow. It should work in exactly the same was as it does with Olympus m4/3s lenses (more or less). I reckon this would be easy to implement, if Olympus wanted to do so.

There really is very little that the m4/3s cameras couldn't do, that a DSLR could. You could work surprisingly fast with the cameras and they didn't tire you out with all the weight that a DSLR involves. The M mount lenses gave me plenty of scope for shallow depth of field and with the in-built stabilisation; blurry shots were few and far between. All in all, if I had to do this again, I’d use the same gear without hesitation.

Cheers

Ray

 

I was shooting in pretty low light most of the day. I'd set the ISO to auto, but max to 1000. Some of the photos will be printed large and I have no fear of doing that. I can't really show more than the few I posted on the CV 75mm lens thread, as I haven't done much more than a quick and dirty slide show to let the bride and groom etc see the shots. Once they come back from their honeymoon, we''ll go through and see which ones they want printed.

Yes, if one was to do this professionally, then you'd mostly be expected to use a DSLR, but that may change over time as these cameras start to take a foothold. There are a lot of advantages to the format compared to lugging around a large and heavy DSLR all day. Perceptions may change, especially if some well known photographers start to use them in their work.

Cheers

Ray

 

All I can say is that m4/3s is just a whisker away from equalling most DSLRs in just about any task. If you have controlled lighting conditions, the results will be excellent, just like with any DSLR. The 12MP isn't a problem and with the Panasonic range of cameras, you don't have the flash/viewfinder issues that you currently have with the E-P1/E-P2, but then they don't deliver quite the same feeling of ease for those being photographed.

Looking back at the wedding, I actually felt that everyone that I was taking photos of was significantly less self-conscious than anyone I've ever photographed for my news work with the E3 and my honking lenses. The 'Pens' allowed people to actually see most of my face and they didn't seem to be as intimidated, as the camera is more akin to what they use and are familiar with. The other thing that I think worked in my favour was that there was no flash or clunking shutter sounds. I was asked at one stage was I going to take a photo, and I replied 'Already done'.

Some of that ease may have also come from the fact that I was part of the family, but I had never met any of the bride's family and friends (nor most of the groom's friends) until that day, so I was still somewhat of a stranger. I'm certain that because I didn't have the 'look' of the typical wedding photographer, people were much more relaxed as I went about my business. Mind you, I was also much more relaxed because I was working light, so that may have conveyed across to the subjects as well.

Cheers

Ray

 

No! I don't want a reduced size DSLR. I want what looks like a P&S with an EVF built in. The difference is significant. That's why I said that Panasonic have a solution, but only by providing more of the same. Also, there's no in-body IS with Panasonic, which reduces its capability significantly.

Cheers

Ray

 

As with any project, and a wedding is simply another project, all parties need to agree and accept the Statement of Work and the Target Performance Measures from the outset. Any camera, even a camera phone can conceivably cover a wedding (and one day I expect to see this proven on the web), so m4/3s has significantly greater potential.

I'll have the newly weds coming around this weekend (now that they're back from their honeymoon in Bali) to sit with me and work out what they want from the wedding shots. They really like the B&W style, so we'll see how things work out. Once all of that's sorted out, there's a good chance I can show somewhat more of what m4/3s is capable of doing. However, bottom lime, it's capable doing just about anything a DSLR can do, as long as you know what you're doing.

Cheers

Ray

 

It's most certainly an individual choice as to what type of camera suits one best. When I started photography, I used to shoot weddings and the only acceptable gear was medium format. No one would use 35mm, but that eventually changed. You only used a couple of lenses and everything was manual, so using m4/3s in the same way wasn't all that different, it just requires a change in mindset, after using auto everything. As I said, m4/3s isn't quite there yet for ease of use, but I'd say that will change in a very short period of time.

Cheers

Ray

 

You haven't correctly interpreted what I said or intended. I don't consider IS hugely important, but it does have its uses, especially with manual lenses on m4/3s, moreso than with 4/3s (because of the weight difference). Also, sports photographers have always wanted higher ASA (ISO) film and finer grain, and every step forward excited everyone.

That monster lens is an Olympus 90-250mm f2.8 that has been my bread and butter sports lens (coupled with a 1.4x extender) for many years. Sports photographers have been using long focus lenses forever in the film days; the 90-250mm is one of the best sports lenses ever and if it were available in the same size (and respective focal length) for the likes of Nikon/Canon, they couldn't make enough of them.

And getting back to my earlier comment, it's the form factor that I like about the Olympus bodies and what I want in m4/3s. A built-in EVF will allow me to use the hot shoe for flash and whatever else. If Panasonic bring out a body with a built in EVF, I'll have no aversion to buying one.

Cheers

Ray