(Busy day post) Why I finally decided to get serious with MFT

Yes,you read correctly. Two years ago I have been fussing about full-frame cameras and why I think they are the "must-have" if one ever decides to take his or her photography to the next level. I honestly no longer feel that this is the case.

In a little over a week I will be boarding the plane which will take me out of Europe and back to Asia, where I was born. I don't know how long I will be there, if I will leave again at all. But no matter what happens I plan to document the things that events that will take place while I am there. And Asia is probably the last place you would want to be walking the streets carrying a badass full-frame DSLR. The streets are just too crowded, and a full-frame camera is just too big. I had to make a compromise with size. And MFT cameras from Olympus and Panasonic make this compromise a very easy pill to swallow. Their cameras have come of age, and image IQ, which is a combination of their newest sensor technology and the premium lenses that they make, means I can not get away with carrying only a quarter of the weight of a DSLR with the lens without having to worry about my pictures looking like muck, especially in low light (the dinner party pictures I took on a previous posts were all taken with the GH3 at ISO 2000 and higher).

A lot of people rave about the OM-D, but I chose the GH3 from Panasonic instead. It's bigger, probably not as cool looking, but it's very ergonomic. The substantial grip means I can carry it without fear of it slipping from my fingers. I know it has beefier specs when it comes to video, beating even the high-end cameras when it comes to available compression rates and such, but I have yet to try this out as I have not yet ventured into video. My photography still needs a lot of work.

The picture on the right illustrates my point. A full-frame DSLR fitted with the popular 70-200mm f2.8 lens, and a MFT camera with its equivalent, a 35-100mm f2.8 lens (which I bought with the GH3). The 70-300mm range is by far a favorite of mine, but on a full-frame camera this will mean lugging around almost 4kg of equipment. The MFT equivalent doesn't even reach 1kg! I only wish there were also compromises when it came to price. But alas, with technology size and price are an inverse proportion; the smaller they get, the more expensive they tend to be. And the Panasonic GH3 coupled with the superb 35-100mm f2.8 lens cost me a pretty penny, equivalent to the price of a Canon 5D Mark III.

But with only a week before my departure this will be my weapon of choice now and there is no more time for buyer's remorse. Not that I am regretting. I just love carrying this camera around with me that I know going back to a big and bulky DSLR can no longer be considered a step forward. This will be the perfect tool to document my life in Asia as it unfolds. As you may have read from the other posts I have made in the past months, my family is undergoing a crisis that has changed the way I look at life. Life is indeed very fragile and short, and we have to savor every moment. Taking pictures is my way of cherishing and remembering the people, places and events that unfold in my little world. And now I can start documenting them without being obtrusive.