Years ago when I was just starting to shoot professionally, I was trying to build up the "biggest" and "baddest" kit I could.  It was one of those "size matters" situations and I wouldn't go anywhere without sticking a winder or motordrive on the cameras.  I even bought one particular lens because it looked the biz.

I was part-timing in a camera store at the time and would chat with all the pros that came in. This one old grizzled pro (probably only in his forties) tried to mentor me on the finer points of equipment selection, but it fell on deaf ears. Image (mine, not the photographic one) was important and only big, black and budget-busting equipment would do. I don't recall exactly what he shot--it was probably just a pair of Nikon FEs, but the guy said that eventually you'll get to the point where mobility and freedom were more important than gear.

Through the years I have always approached camera bag packing from the perspective of "how much can I carry?"  These days I've been reversing that into "how little can I carry?" Maybe it's because I'm now an old grizzled pro (only in my forties) with back and neck trouble, carpel-tunnel and getting tired of running around with 20 pounds of equipment hanging from bags, packs and straps on my body.

In a recent thread on the myolympus forum there is the discussion of wide-angle lenses. My "normal" lens on FF 35mm is the Zuiko 35mm F2.8. This lens is nearly perfect for event/people photography as it forces me to get closer to the subject. I'm no longer a sniper shooting across the room with some massive F2.8 zoom or telephoto the size of a magnum of champagne. Other than the occasional special-effect shot where an ultra-wide comes in handy, the money lens is in this focal length. Portraits may use telephotos, but again, these are the exception, not the rule.

As I look towards my next digital camera I look at what I'm carrying now, which is the E-1 with battery grip and 14-54 zoom. My film beast is an OM-4T with motordrive and 35-80 F2.8.  Combined with a stroboframe and flash or the T45 it gets pretty weighty and big. This doesn't include the second camera hanging from a shoulder holding the 100-300 F4 zoom lens. However, there are times when you need all that mass to make it obvious in a crowded room who the official photographer is. But when doing all the PJ style photography, I very much prefer a camera that is small, light and disarming--not the type of camera that makes your subjects duck for cover.  I love the palmability of the E-P1/P2. It is a very comfortable camera to hold and use, but just as I've outlined in my review of it, the camera is just a hint short on a couple critical things. Things which would drive me to immediately replace the cameras the moment the better ones came out.

Just like that grizzled pro told me in 1989, I'm starting to value mobility and freedom more than options. Sure, I can and should use the biggest/baddest camera around, but I'd rather just shoot with a roll of Portra 400NC in an "old" OM camera with the 35mm F2.8 lens and the end results are remarkable in that my pictures are almost always better in ways the customers notice. Give me a digital equivalent to that type of kit and I'm in heaven.

The Leica M9 plays on this exact need. The camera is compact (although heavy for its size) and the jewel-like lenses are tiny. The camera is highly palmable and every control is operated by feel. With the tabbed lenses, you can prefocus to the common one-body length distance and just nudge focus with the rangefinder for critical focusing. It is so small, quiet and non-threatening and the shutter-response is instant. You can raise the camera to the eye for framing, point and click before the subject has a chance to respond. You blend in instead of becoming the point of attention. Best of all, your back, neck, hands and arms don't wear out during a long day of shooting.

All of the primary camera manufactuers have lightweight and compact DSLRs, but without exception these are not intended for professional use. They CAN be used for professional use, but with the hassles of poor control layouts, knobs that turn accidently, horrible viewfinders and clacky shutters not to mention shutter lag that rivals the average television commercial break.

We may be starting to see the start of the trend towards high-end small cameras with the Leica M9 leading the way and Panasonic following closely. The Panasonic GH1 and forthcoming GH2 are actually very close to being viable professional cameras but with the mistaken focus on general consumerism. The Micro Four-Thirds camera predicted here on these very pages from Olympus is still expected to arrive shortly and will be similar to the E-330 in shape and design. I am highly pleased with the E-P1/P2, but Olympus has failed to include basics for professional photographers like locking mode dials and of all things--the ability to fire a flash of any form while using the viewfinder. Talk about a Cheech and Chong moment--this is like removing the steering wheel from an automobile!  An oversight which is, to be frank, unforgivable.

As a professional photographer I want a professional camera, but I don't want to buy a monstrocity to get the basic features. A small yet professional package would be exactly what I'm wanting and I have a hard time believing that I'm the only grizzled old goat looking for it.

Ken

Zone-10 is being quiet on predictions about upcoming Four-Thirds and Micro Four-Thirds cameras. Does this mean anything?

The rumors about upcoming Sony, Nikon, Panasonic and Olympus cameras are starting to pick up, some are true, some are fantasy, some are misguidings intended to fool the public and competition as well as build interest. We will soon see the cameras and I'm quite confident that we won't be disappointed.

Just keep this in mind when you view product rumors of soon-to-be-released items:

1. Those who REALLY know aren't talking,

2. The leaks with valid information usually come from one of four or five locations in the world and proceed official announcement by about 72 hours. In almost every case, the leaked information is not in English, Japanese or French. Which language the leak is presented in is carefully chosen and not some form of mistake. Once in a while the "source" will mess up and jump the gun or sometimes be confused and not release the leak, but 48-72 hours is the norm.

3. No prototype is ever tested in final form. All final field testing is performed on variants--some with features to be included, some not, some for other products. Those who spread rumors based on field-tested items are usually right about some stuff, wrong about others and the wrong information is used to identify the source of the leaks.

4. The manufacturing runs for each introduced product has been scheduled months and sometimes years in advance. Of the majority of camera products, the release schedule is highly predictable. As has been mentioned previously on this site, increases in megapixels is also predictable.

5. See #1.

This Picture of the Week was taken a couple years ago at the Isle Royale photography workshop. Somehow this one roll of Ilford Delta 400 slipped through the cracks and had never been developed. This weekend was spent processing numerous rolls of film and I found this one roll of unknown heritage.

Rock Harbor at Sunset, Ilford Delta 400, Olympus OM-2S, Zuiko 24 F2.8

This photograph shows the 165 foot ferry boat Ranger III, which is the National Park Service's largest piece of machinery and the largest ferry boat serving the island. Zone-10 is considering offering another workshop on Isle Royale August 29 - September 3, 2011. Further information on this will follow here on Zone-10 but please let us know if you are interested. Attendance is limited to eight participants. This limitation is due to NPS regulations.

Dawn Breaking, Olympus OM-4T, Zuiko 35-80 F2.8, Fujichrome Velvia 100

Dawn Breaking was taken this past summer at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. This was actually taken from the edge of our campsite! I used the Olympus OM-4T, loaded with Fujichrome Velvia 100 and the lens was the Zuiko 35-80 F2.8. The shadow on the dunes is from the Sangra de Cristo Mountains rising up behind the camera position to the east.

Please allow me this moment to share a personal story from this past week. For over three years I've been growing my hair out. My purpose was to donate it for the making of wigs for those fighting cancer. The time finally came  to get the ponytail cut off.

 Before the cut

This brief article is a response to a discussion on the Olympus Mailing list regarding noise patterns in boosted image files from the Canon 5D Mk2. Evidently, this camera may have a pattern noise which becomes visible when the exposure is boosted during RAW conversion. I know that my old Minolta A1 has tremendous pattern noise caused by internal RFI, but what about my old Olympus E-1? The E-1 has been known, from the outset, to be a noisy camera, but it is also known for a wide dynamic range and color fidelity. What happens when you apply an extreme boost to an E-1 RAW file? 

Nearly two years a go we moved into a condo which lacked space for a darkroom. I used the garage for the darkroom by setting everything up on my workbench along one wall. The challenge there is light leakage through the cracks in the garage door and the total lack of temperature stability. With winter arriving, this is a serious concern. My plan has been to build a dual-purpose darkroom and tornado shelter in a corner of the garage, but that has yet to materialize.

My battle is not atypical of most photographers wanting to print and process their own B&W prints. Fortunately, in my case I was able to finally figure out a solution...

Have we finally reached the point of "enough" pixels in our sensors? Have we reached the point of diminishing returns?

For all practical purposes we probably have. Sensors now pack so many pixels the limiting factor in resolution and detail capture is now optics. Optics will improve, but the reality is the sensors in our cameras are better than nearly all common output. This is especially true for professional photographers doing anything other than some commercial work and bedspread-sized landscapes prints which cover entire walls.

Where then will the manufacturers go next? Their survival is dependant on us buying new cameras and without "MORE PIXELS" screaming at us, they have to go another direction. But what direction will that be? Is it the end of packing more pixels into the space and if so, how will this get marketed? The answers to these questions may be surprisingly easy to project...