The tiny sensor
I’m a large format photographer and still use it. However, I use 4x5” film. In the old days it was frowned upon as a tiny format. Or so I read. Honestly, the prints I’ve made using 4x5 negatives/slides are excellent. And that is the end product.
Enter the Digital SLR era. I was always keen to get a much expensive EOS 5D in the early 2000s. It was the benchmark. And once I bought a full frame there was no going back. I always frowned upon the tiny sensor and noise it produces etc. However, one bag-3-munros-in-a-day hike with my Canon 5D and 24-105L lens, I realised that this system is too bulky to lug around in the mountains. Sony had just announced their first A7 full frame mirrorless system. I bought it and was a convert. Unfortunately though the laws of optics had not changed and the eventual lenses for the system started to have the same issue as before. Too bulky and heavy. I stopped carrying my zoom lenses in the mountains and eventually sold them. The only lenses I carried were Loxia 21mm and 50mm. If you have been in the mountains you know that the telephotos are extremely useful. I always missed my 70-200/f4 G which I had left behind.
Covid-19 for me coincided with a rupture of my plantar fascia. After almost two years of no mountaineering I finally had my first outing. And I did the unimaginable. I’ve been following Chris and his mountain adventures for a while and realised that the 4/3 sensor and lenses have come a long way over the last decade and the only limitation is perhaps the imagination and creativity. After a brief exchange with him on one SM platform, I decided to take an Olympus micro 43 system with me. I got a chance to purchase a second hand (I never buy a new camera) EM-II Pro with 12-45mm/f4 Pro lens for a decent price. I had no expectations of making any images but just wanted to complete the hike and document the experience. After two years of no mountaineering, the last thing I wanted was a painful setback.
Boy, how wrong I was. This is now my goto system for all things mountains and hikes. And also use it for all my video journal. I’m slowly getting the hang of OM Log profile and grading etc. It is fun. Because I don’t dread carrying it.
On to the following image in Snowdonia. Is it noisy compared to the full frame? Yes. Do I care? No. The light lasted for a few seconds and if I had my full frame system I would have to take my tripod out and by then the light would have gone. Happened too many times. I made a priceless memory of gorgeous light.
Olympus EM-II Pro with 12-45mm/f4 Pro lens. Graduated neutral density filter at an angle, handheld. Click to view large.