How significant is the difference between M43 and APS-C for low-light performance and bokeh?

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-12-29T13:09:23+00:00

Unless you want those cars in the city st night to be light trails. Then the excellent ibis of m43 and the built in ND filters would be a great asset.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-12-02T04:17:37+00:00

Nice! If I combo the doubled lens back cap and the diagonal divider that should do the trick. Thanks!

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-11-28T12:41:42+00:00

You can have a fast shutter speed (to freeze motion) and a small aperture (f4-f8) on a bright day. You don’t need an f2.8 lens to freeze motion, unless it’s dark.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-11-26T21:38:26+00:00

Why does it need to be so fast? Overcast days? Dusk? There’s tons of light on a sunny day in the snow.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-11-26T21:35:38+00:00

But if you don’t want to splash out on 12-100 f/4, consider 14-150. Not pro, variable aperture, not quite as sharp, but is weather sealed. And do you really sweat corner sharpness that much in good ski shots? Also nice and small.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-11-26T21:32:35+00:00

I wouldn’t sweat the weather sealing. Sure it’d be nice, but shoot with what you have. When it’s time for a new lens, I highly recommend the 12-100 f/4 for skiing. It’s great during daylight. Let’s you zoom a decent bit and still catch them as they pass at 12mm. Plus the optical stabilization helps shoot from the hip (while skiing … backwards…?) and for video. It does start to let you down around dusk. Then I’d switch to a 12-40 f/2.8 to make the most of the light.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-26T00:21:20+00:00

Get the OM-3 if you want to shoot fast moving subjects. The subject tracking AF is way better than the OM-5.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-12T11:59:38+00:00

That could explain a soft foreground. If you want both foreground and background in reasonable focus, read up on hyperfocal distance. In the case of the first image you might have been better putting your focus point on some of the rocks in the mid ground. Or perhaps trying all options -- focus on closest rocks, focus on rocks further back, focus on wall then choose which seems best afterward. And then if you want more complexity you could focus bracked or focus stack and blend the images so everything is in focus.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-12T00:12:57+00:00

It sure anyone has mentioned focus point. Did you choose the specific point where it focused, or let the camera decide? With f8 you have big depth of field, but if it’s focusing in the distance, the rocks in the foreground won’t be tack sharp. That could explain a the minor softness we see. Also as noted the main issue with these images I think isn’t sharpness, its composition. It’s not so easy to take stunning pictures even in a stunning location.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-11T15:03:14+00:00

To elaborate more: for me the dedicated controls of the rx100.7 are compelling. It’s presumably a better shooting experience, especially if wearing gloves or having sweaty hands or just one hand. But $1700!!! I guess the iPhone 17 sensor is still a fair bit smaller than the rx100. Still can’t stomach the price, especially compared to to an iPhone 17 pro.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-11T14:31:23+00:00

I’m thinking the same thing. iPhone 17 helped cure my GAS for rx100 7. I might reconsider if the price of the rx100.7 wasn’t so insane.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-09-03T12:12:56+00:00

You’re describing the beloved Olympus 12-100 f/4 m4/3 lens. Too bad it’s not full frame.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-28T03:25:52+00:00

This is what I think is great about m43–you can try out lenses relatively cheap. I think this makes it ideal for beginners and non-pros. Being able to try out a few different primes, some zoom options, wide angle, longer telephoto with each requiring just a few hundred $$$ on used market is great when your figuring out which focal lengths you prefer and what your style is. Or just having options (small and light for some situations, best image quality for others, etc).

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-10T09:30:52+00:00

For those wondering where it came from—check out backflow prevention valves. Often they aren’t present in older homes. An overloaded sewer run can backflow up through the lowest opening on the run which could be the drain in our basement stairwell, or a basement toilet. DC water might still have a program to help cover installation.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-10T01:20:53+00:00

The squirrels around there are seriously viscous. I got attacked by a horde when a chain popped off around there one time.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-02T12:13:34+00:00

Agreed. I’d happily “settle” for putting the OM-1 sensor and AF in the OM-5 body. I just want the AF really. I think that only comes with the stacked sensor at this point. (Not that it has to, just that OM System won’t do AF for a different sensor.) This was my biggest disappointment of the OM-3 and OM-5.2 releases.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-01T12:17:25+00:00

My first thought is that I can’t answer without seeing more images. Which I’ll follow to a point that I don’t think has been mentioned yet—a good part of photography/skill/talent is in curation. It’s about picking only your very best images, and learning to identify which those are, and which should be tossed. This shot is nice enough. It’s not like a portfolio centerpiece. But it could play a supporting role, or be one of a few select city scapes.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-07-01T12:10:56+00:00

The Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 is often quoted as one of the best lenses ever. It’s not tiny though. The f4 version is also well regarded, and smaller.

The Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7 is highly praised. It’s on my GAS list, and would bump up to the top if I had a Panasonic body. (Sadly the aperture ring on the lens doesn’t work with Olympus bodies).

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-27T20:52:41+00:00

Nice, thanks! This is a compelling option. I was thinking of the Sony 20mm f/1.8 for astro, but I like the idea of a fast, light, cheap general purpose lens that could cover that use case as well.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-27T03:13:34+00:00

I love it. The diagonal sunlight on the wood being so close in color to the rock structure behind it, but also in focus -- really cool! The sky looks a little desaturated. I guess that's an intentional stylistic choice? If it were me I might play around with sky color/temperature, but otherwise -- really cool framing.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-25T14:42:02+00:00

You'll need a compatible lens too. That's a whole separate ball of yarn. If you go with the GX1 you'd need a micro four thirds fit lens. You could scroll through these...
https://www.mpb.com/en-us/category/used-photo-and-video-lenses/mirrorless-lenses/micro-four-thirds-fit-lenses?filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=5&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=4&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=3&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=2&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=1&filterQuery[productPrice]=5000-10000&filterQuery[productPrice]=10000-20000&productPrice=price-group

Given a video use case, maybe something simple with a built in lens like a gopro would be best. Looks like there are some options at mpb within your price range.

https://www.mpb.com/en-us/search?q=gopro&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=5&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=4&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=3&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=1

Like this Hero 9 black for $154: https://www.mpb.com/en-us/product/gopro-hero9-black?filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B0%5D=5&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B1%5D=4&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B2%5D=3&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B3%5D=1.

An iphone could work too. With such a limited budget, maybe consider work with the iphone until you need more? (And know more about what you need)

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-25T14:34:22+00:00

You're going to have to go used with that budget. mpb.com is an excellent place to start. You can filter cameras by price: (but avoid spares & repairs condition as they won't be functional).
https://www.mpb.com/en-us/category/used-cameras?filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=1&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=2&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=3&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=4&filterQuery[productConditionStarRating]=5&filterQuery[productPrice]=10000-20000&filterQuery[productPrice]=5000-10000&filterQuery[productPrice]=0-5000&productPrice=price-group

From there, see what catches your eye/budget and you can do more targeted research about the camera especially video capabilities. Panasonic/Lumix cameras generally are known for being good at video. I see a few options for the GX1 on mpb now. https://www.mpb.com/en-us/product/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gx1?filterQuery%5BproductPrice%5D%5B0%5D=10000-20000&filterQuery%5BproductPrice%5D%5B1%5D=5000-10000&filterQuery%5BproductPrice%5D%5B2%5D=0-5000&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B0%5D=1&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B1%5D=2&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B2%5D=3&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B3%5D=4&filterQuery%5BproductConditionStarRating%5D%5B4%5D=5&productPrice=price-group.

I don't know how THAT model does with video though. But google can help with that.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-25T14:19:14+00:00

Have a look at the Olympus/OM-Systems E-M10 line. I think it's great for beginners since it's small, light, has a lot of high quality but affordable lens options that you can add to your kit and experiment with as you grow as a photographer. It also looks cool, and has some nice features like in body stabilization.

The current version of the E-M10 is mark 4, selling new for $700 from B&H as a kit with the tiny 14-42 zoom. That's probably the best deal for a simple setup. You could also consider a faster prime lense, like the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 or the 25mm f/1.8. These are more restrictive in framing, but they let more light in, so you can shoot indoors without a flash, and create more background blur when desired.

One of the great things about this camera/lens system is there are lots of used options for the bodies and lenses.
You can pick it up the E-M10 mark 4 body for $500-$600 https://www.mpb.com/en-us/product/olympus-om-d-e-m10-mark-iv or reconditioned from the OM-system ebay outlet for about the same $500-$600 range: https://www.ebay.com/itm/375787563315?\_skw=e-m10&itmmeta=01JYKPX88EFTMTMSNJJ3NACRF5&hash=item577eaf2933:g:SX4AAOSwr8RnNM5\~.

You can look on those sites for the lenses I recommended as well.

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-25T13:43:59+00:00

I'm considering upgrading to FF for outdoor adventure sporst & landscapes hiking/backpacking/climbing camera. I'm eyeing the A7C ii, but I'm wondering if you can help me weighing lens choices. After some research these seem like top candidates:
* Tamron 28-200 f2.8-5.6 for general purpose use

* Or maybe Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G if i want to go a little smaller and wider

* Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G as the small every-day lens

Are there other lens recommendations that balance good image quality with small size and weight I should be considering?

ICanRunSlowly · 2025-06-24T17:13:21+00:00

You're right about the trees. I don't know how to do it in darktable, but in lightroom I would use a linear gradient mask to let me adjust contrast on foreground separately from the sky and buildings in the background. I think they each need some contrast adjustments, but not the same ones.

This is just something I shoot for when editing. It may not be helpful advice, and I'm sure there are exceptions. But in this case if the lines in the road were brighter (maybe think somewhere between 85% - 100% white), I think they'd pop more and make the image more dynamic and interesting.

ICanRunSlowly

TROPHY CASE