E-M1X First shoot

I decided to go ahead and take the E-M1X on a shoot yesterday knowing that I was still getting familiar with it.  Luckily it was more of a lower pressure event style shoot that I was making some portraits at.  The images haven’t been processed or retouched yet…but if you know the results from the E-m1.2…so far consistent.  Focusing was great in dim light however.  How much better?  Not sure but it locked on as if it were daylight.

Above is a quick cell phone shot showing off my bag I used and I how I carried everything.  Even with this kind of camera i felt completely unencumbered.  Here are the contents of each bag from left to right.

Think Tank Speed Changer (far left)
-12-40 Pro
-Godox R2 trigger
-Peak design Slide Lite strap
-Lumo Pro light meter
-cell phone, keys, pen, cards, etc…

Think Tank Skin Strobe (middle)
-Godox Flash & tripod foot

Think Tank Skin Chimp Cage
-E-M1X
-45mm F/1.8
-60mm F/2.8 Macro
-Pack of correction gels for the flash

Most of the time the camera was around my shoulder with the strap and a lens, so the actual belt system weighed less while I was working.  Just the camera on shoulder is barely any more than I was already used to with an E-M1.  I show this to say, I was surprised that the camera was just as easy to carry around and slip into an existing flow.

The buttons are way more positive feeling.  I am still getting oriented and keep overshooting certain buttons.  That will disappear soon as my hands relearn to this body.

Funny side note… I handed the camera body to my wife and she said, “Hmm…this feels like your medium format!”  My first reaction was, “No way is it anywhere near that huge!!!”  I totally assumed she meant my Hasselblad H.  That camera with lens and sensor attached is enormous and heavy.  Literally, it makes a Nikon D5 feel like an E-M10.  Then I realized…she meant the camera felt like my medium format TECH CAM.  For anyone that is not familiar, check out Cambo.  My tech cam is a thin square and has wooden handles that feel VERY nice to hold.  And the E-M1X is basically that…a thin square square that is exceptionally nice to hold.  In fact she said wow, someone really made this feel just perfect to the hands.  The grips are large…but the actual camera is really thin, just like the E-M1 series.

 

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February 28, 2019

13 responses on "E-M1X First shoot"

  1. Here’s why batteries are shipped that way:

    “WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), today issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) to enhance air safety by revising the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) for lithium ion cells or batteries transported by aircraft.

    “This rule will strengthen safety for the traveling public by addressing the unique challenges lithium batteries pose in transportation,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

    This IFR prohibits the transport of lithium ion cells or batteries as cargo on passenger aircraft. In addition, the IFR requires lithium ion cells and batteries to be shipped at not more than a 30 percent state of charge aboard cargo-only aircraft.

    “PHMSA is enhancing passenger safety by permitting personal electronic devices onboard aircraft while ensuring cargo shipments of batteries are transported separately,” said PHMSA Administrator Howard “Skip” Elliott.

    • Very interesting, thank you so much for bringing that to light. So, does this only count towards removable batteries? Or all batteries? I am wondering why so many other electronics, notably apple products come fully charged. I know nothing about batteries. This is very interesting though. I heard today the US also banned airline passengers from checking batteries into luggage or something like that. I have to go back and read the article.

  2. Yes, passenger cannot put these batteries into checked luggage- must be carried in the cabin with you. Part of the above regs.

  3. Just wanted to say kudos to you. I have been gradually adopting Olympus after shooting with the OMD 10/5 mainly macro & travel/street for weight and portability. Just this month I bit the bullet and traded all my Canon gear in (yes my dear 1DX MK1) and bought the new OMD EM1X. I echo much of what I read here though I am still doing a deep dive. I regard myself as technically illiterate well not a scientist my eyes fog over with the theory though as time goes on the curtains are parting a little but never enough to take unilateral steps to fix settings. So I rely heavily on resources such as yours to help me master these machines. So big thanks Tony as it is reassuring that while Olympus feign dead on these technical topics there are people like you who are technically savvy enough to develop and optimise settings on the plethora of menus and custom functions that frankly just faze me beyond help left to my own devices. That said I have been a sports shooter but now am exclusively photographing for myself. Like an old friend once said as I massaged his ego for his technical prowess on all things photography “I wish I had your eyes Gerry” so I am not all that dumb.

    • Hi Gerry, thank you for the kind words. The more we support each other, the more we all progress. If there is anything that would assist you further, be sure to let me know. We all benefit from each other’s collective experience.

  4. Hi Tony. I’m new to your blog but from what I’ve seen I really like your enthusiastic but tell it as it is approach to Olympus gear. I’ve been a photographer for more years than I care to remember and have been using Olympus exclusively for over 3 years now (EM5ii, EM1ii and now EM1X) and can honestly say that the move to Olympus has completely transformed my photography and my enjoyment of it. Having been using the EM1X for a couple of weeks now, mainly for wildlife, I’m absolutely loving it. When it was announced I was a bit concerned about the extra size and weight but as soon as I was able to try one I realised that I needn’t have been. It feels so good in the hands and it’s plain to see how much thought has gone into the ergonomics. Just as one example, I initially wondered about the funny looking cut out at the one end of the vertical grip. However, have you noticed how when you are holding the camera in horizontal mode the heel of your left palm just wraps around that cutout making the grip feel so comfortable and secure. I’m sure that feature alone is going to improve the stability of my long exposure hand held shots. Anyway, keep up the good work and thanks for your efforts.

    • Thanks Alan! Glad to hear you are enjoying. Funny you mention that little cut out… genius. It’s just in the right place. Also…the AC adapter port is on the cutout. This keeps the power cord away from other areas when on a tripod, and also makes it super easy to access!

  5. Just finished my first real shoot last Saturday (April 6) with my E-M1X, MS Wilmington DE Walk. Shoot was from 7 AM to 11 AM with most of the action from 9 to 11 AM. I was in C-AF mode, +1 C-AF sensitivity, cycling between 5 or 9 target points, with a few group shoots using 25 target points. Half press shutter button initiates focus. I have a tendency to use the joy stick to move the focus points so having back button focus would slow me down. C-AF Release Priority on along with C-AF Center Priority. Silent Sequential Low set at 10 FPS.

    First observation is the 1X is that it is a little bit more power hungry than my E-M1 Mk II with grip. With events like this the EM1.2 never hit the second battery. Not so with the 1X, ended up using 35% on second battery. Not to much of a concern as I have a total of 12 batteries to use among three OMD cameras. The big disappointment was the buffer level on the 1X is the same as the EM1.2. I checked it when I got home. I shoot raw 100% of the time, and at 10 FPS the buffer limit is about 81 shots. Dropping to 8 FPS improved the buffer to 101 shots. My Nikon D500 buffer limit is 200 shots in raw. Made mental note when shooting ACS Philly Bike-a-thon to set Frame Count Limiter to ten; if I need more right away depress shutter button a second time.

    The biggest surprise was C-AF accuracy. On my EM1.2 my in sharp focus pictures was about 75 to 80%. The EM1X was 95% plus, D500 area, I don’t remember seeing any out of focus pictures out of over 3,200 pictures taken. One of my key success was ensuring the focus points covered the subject with very little overlap. I delivered 436 pictures to MS, who were very pleased with the results. Here are the results from last Saturday.

    https://www.brianric.com/Multiple-Sclerosis–Events/2019-MS-Events/2019-MS-Wilmington-Walk/

    Looking forward to my June 9 shoot, my biggest of the season where I have over 3,400 bicycle riders crossing the finish line for the American Cancer Society Philly Bike-a-thon. Be interesting to see if I have heat issues like I had with my EM1.2 at the 2017 shoot.

    • Brian, thank you for the update. Glad to hear the feedback and results were positive so far. The word “confident” is a keyword in the E-M1X marketing, and I think it is a good one. Performance has been proving itself so far. Interesting to hear about the buffer. I wonder how this works in conjunction with Pro Capture or the electronic shutter shooting at much higher frame rates in raw… I’ll have to play with that.

      Brian…about the battery… did you have GPS or any of the accessory features like wifi, etc… on at all? Those being on will definitely have a toll on battery too. I find when I have wifi fully off, and GPS off, I have been doing at least the E-M1.2 life per battery if not more. Then again, I am not on the continuous AF all day. That could have something to do with it too since the AF has its own processor now.

  6. I turn on GPS until the icon is no longer flashing in the EVF, wait five minutes, then turn off GPS. I use it to correct any drift in camera time. When I shoot with two or more cameras on a shoot I use an app called ClockZ on my iPhone. The app shows the date and phone time on the display. On non GPS cameras the first picture I take is of the display of phone time as shown by the app. When I finish my shoot I use Photo Mechanic and upload each camera’s picture in separate folder. I then adjust capture time to sync camera time to actual time as shown on the first shot with actual time, then I put all the pictures shot in one directory and cull. I no longer have to worry if camera “A” is two minutes slow and camera “B” is one minute fast. Time on your mobile phone is always correct. I sort my pictures taken on an event according to “actual” time.
    Forgot to mention I used Olympus 12-100/4.0 Pro on the MS Wilmington DE Walk.

  7. Forgot to mention, no wifi or Bluetooth on.

  8. I am curious which belt system (on the picture) do you use?

    • That’s the Think Tank Photo belt system. I use a mix of pieces. That is their larger belt with the rail. The three bags on it are the speed changer(I think), the skin series flash holder, and the skin series chimp cage which I use for lenses usually.

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