Small, Lightweight, DO EVERYTHING including time-lapse and astrophotography, camera.

[Megan P]

I just bought an OMD EM-10 and I LOVE IT so I figured I would share my thoughts bc it took me forever to find what I was looking for.

I've had my eye on a couple of these threads for awhile. Mainly this one and I posted this one which turned out to be super useful, while I was shopping for a new camera.

My issue was I had a Canon SLR but I never brought it with me bc it's so big and heavy. I would always get into the backcountry and regret not having it for those epic night shots. So I started to look into Micro 4/3 cameras in hopes it would give me shots that were as good as my canon SLR. I narrowed it down to the Sony NEX or Olympus OMD.

I sold all my Canon SLR equipment and bought an OMD EM10. Well it blows my SLR shots out of the water plus it has a built in intravelometer so you don't need any extra equipment to take timelaspes. I chose the OMD over the NEX purely bc I liked the aesthetics and the way the OMD felt in my hand.

This camera has exceeded all my expectation and take AWESOME star shots. Plus the battery last just as long as my big SLR battery. I still bought 2 extras but have never needed to use them. I'm sure the NEX cameras are just as great but I am just SUPER impressed by this little camera. I take it everywhere with me.

Here are some shots from it. God easy I have only had it out on 2 trips so I'm still adjusting to it. I still need to find the sweet spot.

Emigrant Wilderness, Gianelli Trailhead.

Emigrant Wilderness, Gianelli Trailhead.

Emigrant Wilderness, Y Meadow Lake.

Emigrant Wilderness, Y Meadow Lake.

Plumas National Forest, Goose Lake, part of a time-lapse video.

Plumas National Forest, Goose Lake, part of a time-lapse video.

[Nathan Wernette]

those are some AWESOME pictures. I just got a NEX6 and i can definitely NOT do that with the stock lens i have. Good work!

[Dave T]

I'm giving those photos a giant thumbs up. Striking!

Just got my RX100 so it's time to experiment, but can only hope to take pictures like those. Nice work!

[Billy Ray]

wow… nice pics. What lens did you use? Tripod I presume?

Billy

[Megan P]

Thanks guys!

Nate – let me know how you rx100 shots come out, I'm super curious to know if you can get good night shots with that.

Dave – I found a used Oly 12mm 2.0 on eBay for dirt cheap. Now that lens lives on my camera. I love it. And yes using a joby gorilla tripod to save weight. Although I JUST got the Velbon VPod tripod so I'm excited to try that out with the time lapses.

[Andrew Williams]

Where did you find a vpod? I searched high and low and even put in an order to amazon.fr which was eventually cancelled 2 months later.

[Megan P]

Hey Andrew,

I searched high and low to! Then I found a thread with someone saying they had one and didn't like it. I PM'd him and offered to buy it off him. I got it in the mail last week and I'm stoked to try it. THANKS DAN :-)

It's definitely not super stable which I don't mind. Unless it moves around through out the night while taking time lapses. If that's the case then I'll go back to my heavier tripod or gorilla tripod and you can take it off my hands :-) I'm going out with it in a couple weekends so if it doesn't work out I'll let you know.

[Billy Ray]

Megan,
can you tell us what your camera outfit weighs?

thanks,

Billy

[Megan P]

Hey Billy,

The camera itself, including lens, battery, SD card, etc weighs 19.6 oz.

Sometimes I carry it in a 2oz neoprene OP/Tech sleeve.

An extra battery which I have yet you use weighs 1.5oz.

Then the joby tripod weighs 6.8 oz or the Velbon weighs 9.7oz

Most of the time I just bring the camera alone with no case or extra batteries bc it's a 3 day trip and if the camera isn't hanging around my neck it's safe in my pack. But I always bring some short of tripod, otherwise there's no chance of taking any night shots, which for me is the whole reason I bring that camera back there.

Hope that helps.

[Billy Ray]

"Most of the time I just bring the camera alone with no case"

Megan, you're not concerned about dust/sand, etc.???

billy

[Megan P]

No. Like I said if it's not around my neck it's safe in my bag, which is like a GIANT case. Personally I just don't worry about that stuff but to put your mind at ease I had that Canon SLR for 5 years, and I did EVERYTHING with it, left it outside in the freezing cold, it froze, took it to the sand dunes with out a case, etc. and I never had ANY issues with it in all 5 years. I treat my equipment very well but I definitely put them through the ringer. I had it cleaned 2 in that 5 years but no, i don't, personally, worry about that. They are much more resilient then people give them credit for and you can always get them cleaned.

I know there aren't a whole lot of people that think this way :-)

Now to add onto that… OMD EM1 and EM5 are water resistant and dust proof as are a lot of the olympus lens. SOOOOO if you're concerned with that it's even more insentive to get a Olympus.

[Richard Hogben]

Most cameras will need a specific lens and some time in Lightroom to get these shots.

This would work wonders on your NEX 6 for astro shots http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-Ultra-Angle-E-Mount-RK12M-E/dp/B00JD4TAWI

With that lens you could open the shutter for almost 28 seconds without the stars trailing. At f2 play with the ISO from 3200 to 6400. Keep long exposure noise reduction off.

An image that is too bright but not clipping is ok, you bring the levels down in Lightroom. Always better to bring them down, increasing the levels increases the noise.

[Nathan Wernette]

I was thinking the sigma 29mm f2.8. a bit cheaper than this one. i don't have quite 400 dollars to spend.

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/19mm-f28-dn-a

or

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/695859-REG/Sony_SEL16F28_SEL16F28_16mm_f_2_8_Wide_Angle.html

[John Vogel]

If it's Astro and Landscapes vs budget you should look for a Sigma 19mm 2.8 for the NEX camera. Serviceable lens, nice sharpness used for around $100.00. Good luck, have fun

[Jennifer Mitol]

Megan – check out this blog post if you haven't seen it.

Now this would be cool to be able to do!

http://www.lightstalking.com/this-night-sky-timelapse-video-will-take-your-breath-away

[Richard Lyon]

Megan,

Keep posting your photos. These are great!

Richard

[Megan P]

I had some free time last week and was bored so I made a video of my last backpacking trip in Ansel Adams.

It's compressed for the web but it's all shot on my OMD and there are a few time lapses in it. It was a full moon so it was impossible to get good timelaspes of the stars unfortunately.

Thought you guys could use it for comparison. Make sure you watch it in HD.

[Sharon J.]

very nice! and cute dog.

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