Springtime in Vienna

Published Apr 06, 2012 in #cameras, #photos

Close-up shot of a flower bloom. — Selective focus on micro-4/3rds can be hard to achieve, but the 45mm/f1.8 makes things easier

Spring is for photography—everything’s blooming and colors come back full-force. Took the camera out into my in-laws’ backyard. Lately I’ve decided to hunker down and learn the ins-and-outs of this E-P2 that I got just before Sophie was born. I’ve stuck to two lenses, the Panasonic 14mm/f2.5, and the Olympus 45mm/f1.8. The 45mm in particular has become my favorite lens. It’s a touch long, but the results have made me pretty happy.

I haven’t made extensive use of the E-P2’s Art Filters before, so I perched on the top of the sloping backyard and took this photo of my in-laws’ house using the Diorama (Tilt/Shift) filter:

House shot from up a hill, using a tilt-shift effect. — From up the hill (taken with the 14mm/f2.5

You can see my daughter and my father-in-law in miniature in the foreground. I like the effect; it seems to work well with scenes like this.

I took another one using the Pinhole filter:

House shot from up a hill, using a pinhole effect. — Pinhole filter

The Pinhole filter reminds me more of my old Lomo LC-A—with the extreme vignetting at the corners—than an actual pinhole photograph. Not sure I’ll use it much, especially since I have the Pinwide lens to play with.

A proper portrait from the 45mm/f1.8:

Young girl in a knit beret — Em in her awesome hat

One of the other things I like about the E-P2 is the different aspect ratios to choose from. I set it to square for a spell:

It blows me away that you can get an E-P2 body for just $249 these days. We’re talking about a camera that was ~$800 just a few years ago. It proves once again that if you’re willing to surf just slightly behind the leading edge you can get some absolutely fantastic bargains.

I do miss having a proper viewfinder, though, and while AF on the E-P2 is pretty snappy in good light it gets pretty slow in low light. It seems like Olympus has addressed both of those issues with the E-M5; hopefully those will be going for a song when I’m ready for a new camera body. Until then I have to remind myself that the limiting factor on most people’s photography is rarely (if ever) equipment-related.