pdk42
All-Pro
- Location
- Royal Leamington Spa, UK
- Name
- Paul
The Pennines is an area of uplands in the North of England. I spent a few hours there recently and bagged a few shots of the rolling hills in decent light. I thought I'd share them! All images are with the Olympus EM1.3, and all but one are with the 12-100 f4. I think this combo is a superb tool for landscapes and shows how m43 can play with FF in a genre that is often thought to need high MP and large sensors to deliver good results.
All the images are processed from raw using LR, and in some cases, with Nik ColorFx (free Google edition). A number of the shots are light-touch HDR - a technique that works very well on the EM1.3 with its 60fps electronic shutter.
This is a view from near the town of Brough. I liked the colours of the sunlight on the fields with the hills in the background poking into the clouds. Shot with the 12-100 at 100mm. This is what I love about this lens for landscapes - a short telephoto is often the perfect tool for a landscape and I can get to 200mm effective without a lens swap. The shot is a HDR composite from 5 images at -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2 EV and stacked in LR. Doing such a 5-shot burst is a joy with the EM1.3 - using the e-shutter at its fastest rate (60 fps) means that 5 frames takes almost no time (and it's silent!).
This is a view towards Snardale. Again it's with the 12-100, and at 100mm again. I really liked the variation of lighting, colour and tones in this scene. The clouds make it all very moody too. It's a 5-shot HDR stack.
This is a scene from near Brough. Again with the 12-100, this time at 54mm. And again, a 5-shot HDR composite, but I don't think it was really necessary - the DR wasn't too bad.
Now a couple of non-HDR shots. The first at 50mm, the second at 70mm, so both are short-tele landscapes. I loved the colours of the fields and the leading lines of the stone walls.
This shot is of Brough Castle. A ruin and a nice focal point. I'd lost the better light by this time, so the shot was a bit flat and I had to work at in PP. This time shot a bit wider - at 28mm.
Now a shot at the 12-100's widest setting of 12mm. And as a bonus, two PP interpretations! What took my eye was the sandstone banks to the lane but the shot doesn't really bring it out. The second attempt has more aggressive PP to try to get there, but I think it's a case of needing to go back and shoot it again to make the most of it. It's a 5-EV bracket and stack.
And finally, a shot with a different lens! It's taken with the EM1.3's LiveND feature using the PL 8-18. Shot at f11 to get the shutter speed down to an effective 2s. Hand-held.
Well, that's it! Having run a Nikon Z7 in the past, I don't think these images give up much to the 47Mp FF sensor in terms of IQ. Sure there's slightly more detail in a Z7 image, and there's a bit more latitude to PP, but it's not night and day. And tricks like light-touch EV bracketing close that gap pretty heavily. But in terms of camera features, lens range and quality, size and weight, the Olympus works better (for me) than the Nikon. Above all else though, the IS on the EM1.3 + 12-100 is a major benefit of the Olympus.
All the images are processed from raw using LR, and in some cases, with Nik ColorFx (free Google edition). A number of the shots are light-touch HDR - a technique that works very well on the EM1.3 with its 60fps electronic shutter.
This is a view from near the town of Brough. I liked the colours of the sunlight on the fields with the hills in the background poking into the clouds. Shot with the 12-100 at 100mm. This is what I love about this lens for landscapes - a short telephoto is often the perfect tool for a landscape and I can get to 200mm effective without a lens swap. The shot is a HDR composite from 5 images at -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2 EV and stacked in LR. Doing such a 5-shot burst is a joy with the EM1.3 - using the e-shutter at its fastest rate (60 fps) means that 5 frames takes almost no time (and it's silent!).
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This is a view towards Snardale. Again it's with the 12-100, and at 100mm again. I really liked the variation of lighting, colour and tones in this scene. The clouds make it all very moody too. It's a 5-shot HDR stack.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This is a scene from near Brough. Again with the 12-100, this time at 54mm. And again, a 5-shot HDR composite, but I don't think it was really necessary - the DR wasn't too bad.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Now a couple of non-HDR shots. The first at 50mm, the second at 70mm, so both are short-tele landscapes. I loved the colours of the fields and the leading lines of the stone walls.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
This shot is of Brough Castle. A ruin and a nice focal point. I'd lost the better light by this time, so the shot was a bit flat and I had to work at in PP. This time shot a bit wider - at 28mm.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Now a shot at the 12-100's widest setting of 12mm. And as a bonus, two PP interpretations! What took my eye was the sandstone banks to the lane but the shot doesn't really bring it out. The second attempt has more aggressive PP to try to get there, but I think it's a case of needing to go back and shoot it again to make the most of it. It's a 5-EV bracket and stack.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
And finally, a shot with a different lens! It's taken with the EM1.3's LiveND feature using the PL 8-18. Shot at f11 to get the shutter speed down to an effective 2s. Hand-held.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Well, that's it! Having run a Nikon Z7 in the past, I don't think these images give up much to the 47Mp FF sensor in terms of IQ. Sure there's slightly more detail in a Z7 image, and there's a bit more latitude to PP, but it's not night and day. And tricks like light-touch EV bracketing close that gap pretty heavily. But in terms of camera features, lens range and quality, size and weight, the Olympus works better (for me) than the Nikon. Above all else though, the IS on the EM1.3 + 12-100 is a major benefit of the Olympus.
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