Why I Love m43 (2017 Petit Le Mans)

[ijm5012]

Many of us come to m43 because of the smaller size and lighter weight of the equipment, looking to downsize from our larger and heavier DSLR systems, without sacrificing too much in terms of image quality. One way that's achievable is thanks to the excellent lenses that we have available to us in the system. While not new to the m43 system, I've recently taken advantage of just how small and compact one can make a m43 kit.

I've always been a huge motorsport and racing fan, from as far back as I can remember. My father would take me to the race track as a child, and it was a common bond that we shared together. The sense of speed, the smells of racing fuel and rubber, and most importantly, the sound. Just the feeling of having your body and ground shake as you stand next to an open header V8 warming up, it's unreal. Through the years, I've been fortunate enough to make relationships with enough people that I'm afforded the opportunity to go and help out at a handful of races a year. I've been doing this for years now, but only recently starting taking a small bit of m43 kit to the track to document the behind-the-scenes work that goes on with the crew, as they're the people that enable to fans to enjoy this sport. Most recently, I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia for the Petit Le Mans, a 10 hour endurance race consisting of multiple types of cars on track at once.

Because my primary function is helping the team, I pack a relatively small m43 kit that I can stow in a LowePro ViewPoint CS80 padded case, which gets thrown in my backpack. Despite the small size of the case, I manage to fit a surprising amount of gear in there. My typical race kit consists of an E-M5 II, 9mm f/8 FE, 75mm f/1.8, 42.5mm f/1.7, 25mm f/1.8, two spare batteries, 58mm & 46mm CPL and ND 0.9 filters, a 10,000 mAh rechargeable battery, a USB battery charger, and 6" USB and Lightning cables (for charging camera batteries or my cell phone).

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

LowePro ViewPoint CS80-2 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

LowePro ViewPoint CS80-3 by Ian Menego, on Flickr


This kit simply produces stunning images, and allows me to document some of the work that the full-time crew members do on a typical race weekend. I enjoy doing this, because 95% of the photos taken at a race of pictures of the cars, but I enjoy taking images of the people that enable those cars to get out on track and put on a show for the fans.

I'm extremely pleased with how my little m43 kit did here, and can't think of another system that could deliver these kind of results, while being able to fit in the small case that my m43 gear traveled in. In my opinion, this is a perfect example of the benefit m43 has as a system. Here are some shots with my m43 kit from last weekend at the track, enjoy.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA050420 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA050524 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA071847 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA060723 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA060729 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA061106 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA060973 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA060949 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA050563 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA050601 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA050581 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA060915 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA061037 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA071358 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA071523 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA071540 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

PA071754 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

 

[50orsohours]

Best set I’ve seen from you, but what happened to your EM1 mark2?

 

[ijm5012]

Best set I’ve seen from you, but what happened to your EM1 mark2?

I still have it, and use it regularly. I just didn’t take it with me because the E-M5 II is smaller and easier to pack.

 

[ijm5012]

Thank you for the feature @barry13

 

[John M Flores]

Wonderful stuff!

 

[SojiOkita]

Beautiful images and I find the "behind the scences" point of view very interesting.
There are more beautiful images on flickr, nice use of the fisheye bodycap.

Did you use the filters?

 

[ionian]

I love these - great job. I live close to Brands Hatch in the UK and I keep meaning to go down there with my camera, but now I have something to aspire to. The portraits in particular really capture the mood, as does that featured photo on the front page. That's a printer if ever there was one!

 

[coffeecat]

Very very nice, Ian - I noticed these on Flickr the other day when you first uploaded them, and thought "awesome"!

Rob

 

[Hal Knowles]

Fun and fantastic set Ian @ijm5012! Loved both the context and story about your life and your gear along with the wonderful images. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ijm5012]

@John M Flores , @coffeecat , @Hal Knowles , thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it.

@SojiOkita , yes I did use the filters, the CPL more than the ND though, and just during the mid-day sun.

@ionian , I'm jealous you live that close to Brands Hatch. It's one of my favorite tracks that I've learned through various video games. Definitely get out there and shoot an event!

 

[pdk42]

Brilliant set Ian. Love them all!!

 

[Gerard]

Many of us come to m43 because of the smaller size and lighter weight of the equipment, looking to downsize from our larger and heavier DSLR systems, without sacrificing too much in terms of image quality. One way that's achievable is thanks to the excellent lenses that we have available to us in the system. While not new to the m43 system, I've recently taken advantage of just how small and compact one can make a m43 kit.

I've always been a huge motorsport and racing fan, from as far back as I can remember. My father would take me to the race track as a child, and it was a common bond that we shared together. The sense of speed, the smells of racing fuel and rubber, and most importantly, the sound. Just the feeling of having your body and ground shake as you stand next to an open header V8 warming up, it's unreal. Through the years, I've been fortunate enough to make relationships with enough people that I'm afforded the opportunity to go and help out at a handful of races a year. I've been doing this for years now, but only recently starting taking a small bit of m43 kit to the track to document the behind-the-scenes work that goes on with the crew, as they're the people that enable to fans to enjoy this sport. Most recently, I flew down to Atlanta, Georgia for the Petit Le Mans, a 10 hour endurance race consisting of multiple types of cars on track at once.

Because my primary function is helping the team, I pack a relatively small m43 kit that I can stow in a LowePro ViewPoint CS80 padded case, which gets thrown in my backpack. Despite the small size of the case, I manage to fit a surprising amount of gear in there. My typical race kit consists of an E-M5 II, 9mm f/8 FE, 75mm f/1.8, 42.5mm f/1.7, 25mm f/1.8, two spare batteries, 58mm & 46mm CPL and ND 0.9 filters, a 10,000 mAh rechargeable battery, a USB battery charger, and 6" USB and Lightning cables (for charging camera batteries or my cell phone).

View attachment 579970 LowePro ViewPoint CS80-2 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579952 LowePro ViewPoint CS80-3 by Ian Menego, on Flickr


This kit simply produces stunning images, and allows me to document some of the work that the full-time crew members do on a typical race weekend. I enjoy doing this, because 95% of the photos taken at a race of pictures of the cars, but I enjoy taking images of the people that enable those cars to get out on track and put on a show for the fans.

I'm extremely pleased with how my little m43 kit did here, and can't think of another system that could deliver these kind of results, while being able to fit in the small case that my m43 gear traveled in. In my opinion, this is a perfect example of the benefit m43 has as a system. Here are some shots with my m43 kit from last weekend at the track, enjoy.


View attachment 579953 PA050420 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579954 PA050524 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579955 PA071847 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579956 PA060723 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579957 PA060729 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579958 PA061106 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579959 PA060973 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579960 PA060949 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579961 PA050563 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579962 PA050601 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579963 PA050581 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579964 PA060915 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579965 PA061037 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579966 PA071358 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579967 PA071523 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579968 PA071540 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

View attachment 579969 PA071754 by Ian Menego, on Flickr

Great shots, #2 is my favorite...

 

[ionian]

@ionian , I'm jealous you live that close to Brands Hatch. It's one of my favorite tracks that I've learned through various video games. Definitely get out there and shoot an event!

It's an awesome track but what you don't get on video games is the elevation changes, particularly at the end of the pit straight (paddock bend) which is downhill. You have to load up the front of the car to stand any chance of maintaining grip - fine in a front engined car but single seaters and supercars can struggle. First time I was there I was watching a 4 hour race and one of the drivers binned their lambo there at the start of the second lap. It was painful to watch!

But yes, I must get down there particularly on a smaller meet when they open the paddock.

 

[guzziknight]

Nice shots!! I live 30 minutes from Road Atlanta. I wanted to go this year, but ended getting sick instead.

 

[srhphoto]

Fantastic set of images. I’m also a motorsport fan, living only 15 minutes away from Croft Circuit in the north east of the UK (probably hasn’t made it on to many computer games LOL). Your images show just what m4/3 can achieve in a genre that isn’t necessarily the most obvious for the system.

Very well done indeed.

Cheers,

Simon.

 

[ijm5012]

@pdk42 , Thanks Paul, very much appreciated!

@Gerard , Thank you!

@ionian , the elevation change is my favorite part of Brands Hatch! The blind turn-in, off camber 1st turn where you run down the hill, only to climb back up it for the hairpin at turn 2 is just awesome. I'm sure it's hair raising in real life, as I've gotten it wrong plenty of times in-game. Fortunately, it's far less expensive that way haha.

@guzziknight , thank you. Bummer that you got sick, it's a fantastic race, I love races that run in to the night because you get truly unique images, whereas most normal races are run under mid-day sun, and are over long before the sun sets.

@srhphoto , Simon, I've heard of Croft, but have never driven it. The E-M5 II did great, despite what you may read online about people clamoring for its replacement since it's getting on 3 years old now. Panning shots were done via manual pre-focus because the C-AF is useless in this camera, and the night shots had a bit of grain at ISO 3200 or 6400, but are still perfectly usable. It's all about getting out there with you gear and using it, and not letting what you read online make you think that if you're not shooting FF, then you're not going to get the shots you typically see.

 

[drd1135]

It’s nice when the 75 is long enough because it’s such a fine lens. Having said that, the guy holding that lens clearly does fine work.

 

[ijm5012]

It’s nice when the 75 is long enough because it’s such a fine lens. Having said that, the guy holding that lens clearly does fine work.

Thanks Steve.

It's funny, because when I'm at home, my 75mm is probably my least used lens. I don't shoot a lot of portraits normally, so the focal length can be a bit odd. However, when I'm at the track, the 75mm is my most used lens. Given that I'm outdoors and have a longer working distance, it makes it easier to use the lens, and at f/2, the rendering is just fantastic. Completely blown-out backgrounds, but the subject is so sharp. It's such a fantastic lens, I just need to find ways to use it more often.

 

[guzziknight]

Unfortunately, I was supposed to go to this race Friday, and then go to Barbers in Leeds, AL on Saturday for the vintage motorcycle races. I had to skip both. I was not happy. Oh well, maybe next year.

 

[waday]

Superb! Love this set!