M43 PROJEKT: The best camera I've ever had
PLEASE NOTE: I decided to start the M43 projekt on my blog despite I don't have yet a micro four thirds camera. I hope this can help to find supporters. So the column starts officially today. At some point I will have the camera to carry out the project I have in mind so there is no need to wait. Making an effort I could buy now, but I would involve in the project some donator, a real appreciator of my work, in order to give something more (something special and exclusive) to those believing in me.
If you want to support the project there are 2 ways, through a direct donation on this website or through the kickstarter campaign that will last only 30 days. These are the links to become a donator:
I have owned and worked with cameras from almost every brand. Guess which one I keep the best memory of, which camera I loved in a visceral way?
The Olympus Pen E-P1. Olympus' first mirrorless and my first mirrorless. With which I began my career in professional photography.
A camera whose kit lens of choice was the 17mm pancake. I could have chosen the zoom lens but no. I knew what I needed for what I had to do. Included were the optical viewfinder and flash, both of which mount on the hot shoe.
A camera with a lot of style, refined and elegant, silver. In keeping with who I am. Maybe that's why it's my favorite camera.
Not without flaws, for heaven's sake: an autofocus that was really very slow especially before the firmware update. Yet, yet so I went to Los Angeles and took that picture that everybody knows. That photo they attributed, well, to a certain Henri Cartier Bresson. But it was mine, the photo and that beautiful Pen. That Pen for which I sacrificed all the Nikon equipment. That Pen.
The basic specs today can make laugh someone:
12.3 megapixels on a Four Thirds CMOS sensor
ESP multi patterned, Center-weighted average (60 percent), and Spot (2 percent) metering
Shutter speeds: 1/4000 to 60 seconds, 30 minutes
LCD: 3" 230,000 pixel TFT LCD on screen with live preview
Printed photos produced did not disfigure in the face of fatal photo prints with superior cameras such as the Leica M9, at the gallery where I exhibited them.
The color of the images was excellent. Here you can see another photo from my work made in Los Angeles:
I have almost always used the 17mm (34mm eq) despite at a certain point I did have the Panasonic 14mm.
The first mirrorless camera was a real revolution. It was for style and design. It was for the approach that followed. The fact that the first edition was silver never caused me any problems: when I take a photograph I don't hide what I do and I don't pretend, as other photographers have, that my camera is all black. I could photograph with white, blue and red cameras and I don't rule out that this could happen soon, perhaps thanks to this project.
Today I regret selling this camera. It is part of photography history, the first mirrorless camera, which really stands out in the proposal for style and for the true goal of being without a mirror. Which is the great idea of the M43 system: APS-C and full frame sensor however, they mean that most lenses are large and heavy. A thing that doesn’t happen with the M43 system,
I also believe that this system after more than a decade continues to really excite me. After so many cameras tested, different systems through which I've gained experience I want to go back and I'll go back to the micro four thirds and I'll do it at a time when someone thinks that the system doesn't have much future. Guys, don't listen to the marketing sirens. Think with your head. You have been led to believe that certain cameras are better for street photography. I will explain to you why and instead it is the micro four thirds that is. I will do it through my experience and I will do it with many photographs.
This column has just begun.
Consider to support me in order to be able to purchase a M43 camera and a pair of lenses. I will realize a special work for you. You can contact me with any question and if you have a particular idea or advice please let me know. I am also open to discuss special projects that I can realize in exclusive for you or your brand.
