Katoomba at Night

[Deeno]

Spent the weekend in the Blue Mountains and managed to sneak out last night with the intension of shooting some star trails with the Nikon and then maybe have a go at the Emu with the OM-D but, alas, a solid cloud cover and strong winds shot plan A down with a whimper...

Plan B was a walk up the main drag with the Olympus for some practise at 'street photography'. With the OM-D in aperture priority set wide open (F3.5 is as quick as the kit lens get) and auto ISO with a set limit of 1600, I was amazed at how slow some of the shutter speeds I was successfully shooting at hand held..... Down to 1/5 sec.....?

They don't call me Tripod for nothing?????
Well actually they don't......I know things get increasing more unreliable as you drop below 1/60 sec.
Must be the OM-D's Image Stabilisation System at work. Very impressive!

1. 14mm ISO1600 F3.5 1/20sec

2. 42mm ISO1600 F5.6 1/25sec

3. 41mm ISO 1600 F5.6 1/10sec

4. 22mm ISO1000 F3.5 1/80sec

5. 41mm ISO1600 F5.6 1/5sec

6. 14mm ISO1600 F3.5 1/5sec

7. 42mm ISO1600 F5.6 1/15sec

8. 42mm ISO1600 F5.6 1/6sec

[Deeno]

A couple more, including the old Catalina race circuit which hasn't been used for decades.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Good stuff Deeno. Tip: don't do this too often because you'll end up like me - hooked on street photography. It's too easy for you to come straight back and say "no I won't". LOL Now that my second battery has come in, and should be delivered today, I can go out for a complete weekend with the grip keeping me shooting longer. Can't wait.

The OM-Ds handle very well in low light. The EVF is great at night, boosting what you'd otherwise not necessarily see in similar conditions with an optical finder. I've found that leaving the camera in auto with the ISO restricted to 1600 (or even 3200) it just knows what to do. The IBIS system works extremely well - and I think is one of the main reasons that this camera is making waves like it is. One other thing I do is set it up to AF once, then manually tweak focus with magnify assist set on, and shoot. While the 12-50mm kit lens is pretty darned good for a kit, do yourself a favour and look at either the 45 or 75mm f/1.8's - they'll blow you away. You'll lose the weatherproofing, but hey - then it's just like any other camera again which you need to look after in the wet.

[Liz]

Great collection there Deeno!!

[Deeno]

Originally Posted by Omaroo

Good stuff Deeno. Tip: don't do this too often because you'll end up like me - hooked on street photography. It's too easy for you to come straight back and say "no I won't". LOL Now that my second battery has come in, and should be delivered today, I can go out for a complete weekend with the grip keeping me shooting longer. Can't wait.

The OM-Ds handle very well in low light. The EVF is great at night, boosting what you'd otherwise not necessarily see in similar conditions with an optical finder. I've found that leaving the camera in auto with the ISO restricted to 1600 (or even 3200) it just knows what to do. The IBIS system works extremely well - and I think is one of the main reasons that this camera is making waves like it is. One other thing I do is set it up to AF once, then manually tweak focus with magnify assist set on, and shoot. While the 12-50mm kit lens is pretty darned good for a kit, do yourself a favour and look at either the 45 or 75mm f/1.8's - they'll blow you away. You'll lose the weatherproofing, but hey - then it's just like any other camera again which you need to look after in the wet.

Thanks Chris.
This little camera has opened a lot of doors for me....'street photography' is certainly something that interests me, always been a bit of a people watcher plus I've a long way to go before I'd be any good at it and.... its fun!

These downsized pics don't do any justice to how sharp and smooth some of these pics are (except the Kingsford Smith memorial, bit soft from dodging a taxi).
The "noise reduction" was set to low and might try turning it off altogether next time. I don't think it requires it up to ISO 1600 and the results should be sharper again. Ive also turned the "WB warmer" function off as I feel it makes colour pics a little yellow.
The EVF is a great innovation. You can see the changes you make before you shoot. I've upped the refresh rate as it apparently make the auto focus even faster.

I'll definitely be looking at the 45mm f1.8. Seems pretty good value on Evil Bay. And maybe the 12mm f2 or Panosonic 17mm or 25mm f1.4........

Originally Posted by Liz

Great collection there Deeno!!

Cheers liz

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Agreed Deeno - I turn off noise reduction and limit to 1600. IBIS does the rest in most cases.

If you'd like to do a street session in Sydney somewhere one weekend, let me know. The Opera House/Circular Quay/Rocks area is made for it, and as many times as I go there, the people are always different.

[Deeno]

Originally Posted by Omaroo

Agreed Deeno - I turn off noise reduction and limit to 1600. IBIS does the rest in most cases.

If you'd like to do a street session in Sydney somewhere one weekend, let me know. The Opera House/Circular Quay/Rocks area is made for it, and as many times as I go there, the people are always different.

That would be cool!