How to make money from Photography

If you are like I was when I started out and you are wondering how to make money from photography then keep reading because below I will go through some of the best ways to start earning some money with your photos and skills.

Making money from photography is a dream that a lot of us have at one point or another. We dream to be able to ditch the day job and make money doing something that we love.

Imagine how great it would be to be able to spend more time taking photos, less time grinding away in your day job and how fantastic it would feel to be your own boss.

One of the benefits of making money with photography is that you can decide where and when you work and this also gives you the chance to spend more time with your family.

I’m not going to lie to you though, it is hard and very competitive, especially when starting out. But if you are really committed, have the desire and passion plus some skill then it is still possible to make money from photography. A lot of people will tell you not to do it, that it can’t be done, that there’s too much competition and everyone has a camera these days. I’ve heard it’s a dying trade etc etc.

Well I’m here to tell you that just like any business you can succeed if you are willing to do what 99% of others are not. You have to work hard, be dedicated, make sacrifices and strive to be the best that you can be.

If you really want to make money with your photos then you can, you just have to know how, where and most importantly what is in demand.

I’ll start out with one of the most obvious ways to make money as a photographer and build up to the most profitable.

How to make money from photography – Stock

Stock photography is licensing your images to a stock photo library or agency who then sell them on your behalf to companies, newspapers, magazines and websites. This area is very competitive but most people think that they can upload a few of their holiday snaps and make a few bucks. That is very unlikely.

I know photographers who make a living solely from stock photography so it is certainly possible to make a decent income from your photos via stock agencies.

The key here is to research. Look around you and there are images everywhere, on bill boards, magazines, leaflets, newspapers, websites, holiday brochures and a million other places. Take a good look at those images and try to learn from them because a lot of them are taken by successful stock photographers. If they are selling their images then you can too. You just have to be as good or better than them.

Look at the types of images that are around you. They are usually evoking a mood, telling a story or have incredible light. So if you want your images to regularly sell on stock websites then you need to create images that do the same.

One of my most popular stock photography images is a shot of a very rural school in Scotland with a school sign in front of it. It is a completely average, un-memorable shot but it has sold countless times to national newspapers because it clearly represents rural schools. I took this shot on my way to a landscape location I had scouted out and because I had been following the news, I knew that the UK Government was considering closing rural schools. Therefore I predicted that there would be lots of news stories about it and in turn lots of demand for such an image.

That right there is research paying off. Keeping up to date with current affairs and trends is vital to making money from your photography in stock.

Below are some of the best stock agencies to sign up to.

Alamy – Alamy has a lot of newspaper clients in the UK. There is an initial submission requirement which if passed then allows you to upload the rest of your images.

Getty – Getty is one of the most prestigious stock agencies, working with famous and renowned photographers. They sell around the World and have a huge client list including major news networks and newspapers. I would suggest only applying to Getty if you have a portfolio of very distinctive images or you have access to celebrities and well known people.

Shutterstock – Shutterstock is what’s called a micro stock agency. They concentrate on selling in volume which unfortunately means that they often sell your images at quite a low price. However if you can build up a huge library of images then there is money to be made due to the volume of sales.

Istockphoto – iStockphoto is similar to Shutterstock.

There are hundreds more stock photography websites so just do a Google search. If you have a specific set of photos, such as steam trains of the UK etc then it might be worth searching out a particular agency that specialises in such areas.

How to make money from photography – Magazine Submissions

Even though the publishing industry has suffered a decline in recent years there are still plenty of publications that require high quality content on a regular basis.

I used to provide material to a number of different magazines in the UK, in particular I mainly supplied to the photography magazine industry. While the pay is not great it is another source of income and can lead to more work.

When submitting to magazines make sure you make it as easy as possible for the editor to say yes to your submission. He/She has to look through hundreds of submissions so make yours easy to deal with. Send some of your best images, follow the guide-lines to the letter and I always used to write a short friendly cover note and include a sheet of thumbnails of the images so that they could quickly scan to see the quality.

Eventually you will build up a rapport with certain editors and they may even start to throw some commissions your way which pay a little better.

How do I know who to contact?

Scan the magazines in your local store and grab a list of contact details. Alternatively in the UK there is an excellent publication which lists all active magazine publications, newspapers and other potential outlets. It gives you contact information for picture editors and submission guidelines as well as the types of images required.

It’s called the Freelance Photographers Market Handbook. You can buy it at Amazon UK here and it really is worth its weight in gold The Freelance Photographer’s Market Handbook 2016

How to make money from photography – Sell Prints

For me producing prints and selling them is probably the most satisfying part of my job. If your images are of a high enough standard then get out there, find galleries, cafes, restaurants and hotels and show them a quick portfolio of your images. These establishments might buy your prints off you but in all likely-hood they will agree to display them for sale in return for receiving a percentage of the sale. The percentage of the sale they take ranges from 20-50% . Make sure to factor this in to your retail price.

Remember, local images sell best so look for tourist hot spots and get out there and photograph the most popular locations in the beautful light to give yourself the best chance of selling in any numbers.

Make sure your prints are an excellent standard. I used to print all my own work on Epson 3880 and 7900 printers because I was meticulous about print quality. You can buy the newer versions of these printers at Amazon UK here Epson SureColor SC-P800 A2 Colour Photo Inkjet Printer
and Amazon.com here Epson SureColor P800 Standard Edition UltraChrome HD Inkjet Photographic Printer, 2880×1440 dpi, Wi-Fi

Printing your own prints is not for everyone because you need to make sure you have a colour managed workflow. I’ll write up an article on that at a later date.

If you are going to use a print service then make sure you do a test print first to ensure that the colours match your screen. Most print services offer an ICC profile to download and use in Photoshop to ensure everything matches up. Check your printers website.

Selling prints can be profitable and it is all about finding the right place to exhibit. For instance I used to sell a few thousands Pounds worth of prints every month during the Tourist season on a Tiny island off the coast of Scotland. I had about four galleries selling my work on that island and the biggest most popular gallery was my worst performing outlet. If you can, find a space for your work in a smaller gallery where the owners meet and greet the customers and offer a personal service. They know you and your images personally so they are more likely to sell your work. They can offer a bit of information about you as an artist and that is what really sells your prints.

You could even offer to do open days where you meet the customers. In my experience, meeting potential buyers yourself is a surefire way to increase your sales. It makes the purchase much more personal and they have a beautiful print to remember you by.

What size prints should you offer?

In the UK I used to offer 12 x 8″, 20 x 16″ and 30 x 20″. Offering three sizes is often seen as the best idea as it means that you have something catering to all budgets. Anything smaller is not worth your time and anything larger you can take as a special order. Remember that houses in the UK are smaller than those in the USA so the market for larger prints in the States is bigger. The art market for photography is also more established than in the UK so there is more money to be made.

Remember the larger your print the more profit you make and that’s what we are trying to do here…. Make money from our photography.

How much should you charge?

This can be based on two factors. One is your costs. You need to add up all the costs you have to make each print. That includes the print itself, your time, your equipment and of course factor in any percentage you are handing over to the gallery. Then add your profit on top and you have your retail price.

You can also base this on your worth as an artist. If you are established and have a following then you can charge more for your work. Part of pricing is knowing your value as a photographer which I discuss in an article here

Alain Briot has a fantastic system for this so I encourage you to check out his website because he is an absolute expert in selling fine art photography and I learned a lot under his tutorship.

Do not make the mistake of undervaluing your worth just to get a sale. The right buyer will pay the right price for your work because they appreciate your talent. As a guide my fine art prints sell for anything from $40 up to $800 depending upon size and the number of prints in an edition.

How to make money from photography – Offering your services

This is probably the most common way for photographers to earn a living and it is also the most business-like.

Essentially you offer your services as a photographer, whether that be in wedding photography, portraits, kids, fashion, lifesyle, commercial, product or any other form.

There are several ways to start out in this industry. You can look to work under an established professional or company by applying to be their apprentice. I have had many requests for this from people just like you who want to get their foot in the door. I can tell you the do’s and don’ts when applying to be someone’s apprentice.

Send your CV, a brief portfolio and a cover letter. Don’t suck up too much in the cover letter. Do your research on the photographer and give them an idea of who you are and what you are looking for. Tell them why they should pick you above all the other applicants. We are not always looking for the best photographer but the best fit for our business.

As in a lot of other walks of life it is often who you know not what you know that gets you by so try to network with photographers and peers to get in to their social circle. It might just be the advantage you need to get your break in to the industry.

You can also start out on your own, after all, all you really need is a camera, a website and the passion, drive and determination to succeed.

Speaking of websites, that is one of the most effective tools a photographer can use to gain exposure and book clients. It can also be a platform to sell your prints and make money from your existing photos.

A simple wordpress site and web hosting costs peanuts to create and run so before you do anything else, set up a website. Simple, quick and easily navigable are the key ingredients to an effective website.

Host your site on a great webhost like TSOHost as they are reliable, fast and offer excellent customer service. That’s who I use for this website. You can even get a 10% discount off their packages by entering the code The Cotswold Photographer . This offer is only available to the first 20 customers though so don’t wait around.

I also use Hostgator in the USA because like TSOHost, they offer great service and fast, reliable and cheap hosting packages.

Running your own photography business is not an easy task though. When you are starting out you need to have more than just good photos. To make money from your photography you need to be able to identify a market for your photos and products and effectively advertise to them.

The best way to get your name out there is to network on social media but don’t just randomly tweet that your services or images are for sale. That’s like bombarding people you don’t even know with sales leaflets and we know that most of those get thrown in the trash. Instead talk to people and join in conversations on social media. Join related groups and add valuable input to discussions. Then when you have built up trust and rapport you can subtly point out what you offer.

Do not throw money at Google Adwords unless you know what you are doing because it can be a real drain on your finances and could even bankrupt your business before you get started. It can cost thousands of dollars to test to see what is effective on Adwords and you probably just don’t have the finances at the start of your photographic career.

Top Tip

Build up your portfolio by offering discounts to your first clients. A good strategy for wedding photographers just starting out is to offer a 50% discount to your first client and tell them it is because you want to build your portfolio. Tell them that this is a one off offer though and the next client will only get a 45% discount. The next client would get a 40% discount and so on until you are charging your full price. This not only helps you to book those first important customers but it also helps you to build a great portfolio which will justify your full asking price.

It is also very important to understand that to make money from photography you need to be a businessperson first and foremost. You need to have a grasp of your finances and be able to work out a business plan. You need so many skills to succeed, you need to be an accountant, web designer, marketer, customer service agent, secretary and of course a photographer.

Don’t let that put you off though because the rewards are infinitely greater than the initial struggles and if you plan, persevere and produce the goods you will become successful. Then eventually you can start to outsource some of the more tedious tasks and concentrate on what you love, creating photos.

I’ll have plenty more to say on the subject of how to make money from photography in future articles including some killer tips to make your website pay for itself so make sure you subscribe to my newsletter to keep up with all the latest tips, reviews and more.

Now if you are really serious about changing your life around, ditching the 9-5 and becoming your own boss then I suggest you read Going Pro by Kelly Kingman. In her book she has over 91 pages of insider tips on how to make money from photography. She is a very successful pro photographer and she explains step by step how you can fulfill your dream and turn Pro. Along with all the great information in the book there is also an audio download with interviews from some of the most successful pro photographers giving their incredible knowledge of what it takes to turn pro and make a success of it.

Here’s a link to the book

That’s all for now folk as I’m exhausted after another 18 hour day

Fuji Acros vs Pen F (Tri X) – Black and white Photography

I just took delivery of the Fuji X-T2 and I already have the Olympus Pen F. Seeing as though these two cameras are well known for their black and white output I thought it would be fun to add some comparison shots each day as I test them more and more. So make sure you check back as this page will be added to regularly whenever I shoot black and white images with both cameras.

If you have black and white images from one of these two cameras (or the X-Pro 2) that you would like to share then email me or leave a comment and we can build up a great library of shots to give everyone chance to see which black and white mode produces more pleasing photos.

Here’s the first couple of shots.

Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 , @1.8, 1/320, ISO 200.
Black and white mode 2, no filters.

Fuji XT2 + 23mm f/1.4 @ 1.4, 1/350, ISO 200.
Fujifilm Acros, green filter.

Fuji XT2 + 23mm f/1.4 @ 2.8, 1./550, ISO 200.
Acros, green filter

Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/1250, ISO 200.
Profile 2 no filters

Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/160, ISO 1600.
B&W Mode 2 , no filters

Fuji XT2 + 23mm f/1.4 @ 1.4, 1/124, ISO 640.
Acros, no filters

A couple of quick portraits

Fuji XT2 + 90mm f/2 @ f/2, 1/125, ISO 2500.
Across no filters

Olympu Pen F + 45mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/160, ISO 800.
Black and white profile 2 no filters.

And a couple more from today

Olympus Pen F + 45mm 1.8 @1.8, 1/1250, ISO 200.
Profile 2 no filters

Fuji XT2 + 90mm f/2 @f/2, 1/1000, ISO 200.
Acros no filters

Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/125, ISO 640
Profile 2 no filters

Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 @ 1.8, 1/200, ISO 200
Profile 2 no filters

Fuji XT2 + 23mm f/1.4 @1.4 , 1/250, ISO 250
Acros + yellow filter

More to come soon……

10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Photography

Here are 10 Easy ways to Improve Your Photography

1. Take creative control.

What do I mean by this? Don’t shoot your camera in auto mode. Yes it is very easy to let the camera make all the decisions for you and modern cameras are great at this but if you really want to make better images you need to take back control.

The best way to do this is to put your camera into manual mode and choose which Aperture, shutter speed and ISO best suits what you are trying to photograph.

There are always creative choices when taking a shot. Do you want to blur the background, if so select a large (small number) aperture. Maybe you want to capture fast action, if so set a fast (1/500) shutter speed. Sometimes we want to create artistic blur or show movement by selecting a slow shutter speed (I find that anything from 1/2 second to 5 seconds works great for capturing moving water).

You don’t have to shoot in manual though. If you just want to control your aperture select A on the mode dial and now you have control of your aperture and the camera will select a suitable shutter speed. You can even set your camera to auto ISO (and on Nikon, Olympus, Fuji) and select parameters for the camera to follow such as the minimum shutter speed you require or the maximum ISO you want to use.

So next time you head out with your camera take back control from the computer inside it and you will feel much more in control of the shots you take.

2. Shoot in good light.

Light is the key to all photography. It is what determines the warmth of colour, shadow and highlights, contrast and impact of an image. If you are shooting landscapes then take advantage of the Golden hours of sunlight which happen around an hour either side of sunrise and sunset.

Quick tip, the light in the morning is a little colder. We are also less used to seeing morning light so it ould make your images stand out even more. You will also find this the best time to shoot glassy reflections on lakes because it is usually the least windy time of day.

3. Look for interesting shapes and textures.

Quite often some of the best photos are of everyday objects or scenes captured in an unusual and interesting way. Those without the photographers eye simply pass by these scenes without noticing the beauty within. So next time you are out don’t just focus on the wider scene but look for details that you can bring to life with your camera.

The above image would have been nothing without the symmetry and shape of the two geese creating an X shape. Combine this with the fire in the background and now perhaps the image starts to tell a story. Are the geese fleeing the fire, perhaps the X shape represents a negative thought about the practice of burning heather and the effect it has on wildlife. Whatever your interpretation it makes you stop and think a little longer and that is because of the shape created by the two birds within the frame.

4. Compose with colour.

Remember back to your high school art class. Remember primary colours, complementary and opposing colours. Well colour is a huge part of our lives. It can evoke emotion and that same emotion can be captured in your images. You can create a sense of tension by using opposing colours or perfect harmony by capturing complementary colours.

Great combinations are Orange/Blue, Green/red and purple/yellow.

Try composing a landscape with a red building in a green field or shoot a portrait with your subject dressed in yellow against a blue sky.

5. Check the viewfinder

A really great tip to stop you having to crop images later is to take a look around your viewfinder before pressing the shutter button. Is there anything in the corners that shouldn’t be there. Is there a distracting element that takes away from your main subject. If so recompose your shot to eliminate it and this will not only save you time later but improve your photo helping to keep the viewers focus on your subject.

6. Know the rule of thirds and break it consciously.

I wanted the focus to be completely on my niece in this photo.
Therefore I placed her centrally and no matter what you do, your eye reverts back to her and the movement she is making.

The rule of thirds is a very well known compositional theory that says you should place objects at intersecting lines within your photo to create balance and harmony. It is repeatedly endlessly as the main rule of composition in photography. But why stick to the rules. As long as you understand why you are breaking the rule then go ahead and be a bad ass and break it.

Try placing your subject bang in the centre of your image to create discomfort in the viewer, place a small subject towards the edge of frame to show its scale against a huge landscape or shoot a symetrical image perfectly aligned within the frame.

Photography at its best is an artform and artists don’t always conform to rules so neither should you.

7. Ask yourself what your subject is, what story you are trying to tell before pressing the shutter button.

I grabbed my camera to capture this sweet scene of my wife and daughter taking a nap together. I lay down beside them to give the photo a sense of being right there with them. I shot in black and white to remove distracting colours so that the focus remains on them and their touching moment together.

With digital cameras it is far too easy to click away endlessly without any real thought going in to the photo you want to take. Stop, slow down and think about what it is that you are trying to say. Do you want to shoot just another tourist snap of the same location that has been photographed from the same spot a million times before. How can you make your image better, different or more interesting. Try different angles, different times of day or a different creative technique to give your shot the edge.

A really nice good way to do this is to limit yourself to a set number of pictures to take a day or week. I have done this before and limited myself to 3 pictures a day but choose a number that suits you. This makes you really consider whether the shot is worth taking or if you could improve it.

8. Use a Prime lens

A prime lens has a fixed focal length. A 50mm prime is a very popular choice as they can be small, fast and light as well as being close to the angle of view that we see with our eyes.

Often prime lenses are sharper than zooms and they are usually brighter, having a larger aperture. For instance Canon’s nifty fifty 50mm prime costs around $100 US yet has a bright f/1.8 aperture compared with their professional zooms costing thousands of dollars which are f/2.8. This allows the tiny 50mm to let in more light which is great for low light photography. It also allows you to use higher shutter speeds or lower ISO.

The main benefit of using a prime lens is that it limits you and being limited can be creatively rewarding. Once you are limited to a fixed focal length you have to use your imagination and eye to work with what you have. You learn to see the world around you in the way your lens sees and this actually makes you a better photographer. You forget about changing lenses, zooming and all other distractions and start to focus purely on the images that you want to capture.

This is why cameras like the Fuji X100T are so popular. They almost force you to think creatively and focus soley on creating photos.

9. Know your gear inside out.

Cameras can be confusing with such a vast array of setting and functions but at their heart they are simply a box that records light on to an image sensor. You control the amount of light hitting your sensor with Aperture and Shutter Speed and you control the brightness of your image with ISO. Your camera has a meter to estimate the light and shutter/aperture combination required. You can also change the way the camera interprets the light by way of changing the Jpegs settings such as saturation, contrast etc. If you shoot raw the latter doesn’t matter.

Once you feel comfortable with the basics there is a great exercise that I used to do which makes you feel completely at one with your camera.

Sit on your own (otherwise people will think you are weird) with you camera and practice changing the three main controls, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. You can even forget ISo if you shoot auto ISO as a lot of people do. Now take a note of how many clicks of the dials it takes to change your aperture by one full stop. Say from f/4 to f/5.6.

Now here is the part where you will look stupid but stay with me. Close your eyes and practice changing your aperture purely based on feel. See if you can accurately change your aperture from f/4 to f/11 and back again. Once you have mastered this do the same with shutter speed or any combination of the two and see if you can keep a track mentally of your settings.

Once you have mastered this you truly are a master of your camera and you will no longer have to consciously think about your settings. This will allow the camera to be an extension of yourself when taking images. Freeing up your mind to study what’s around you and shoot without hindrance.

Another thing to do is to use your camera and after a week or so work out what your most used settings are. Once you know this you can go in to your cameras menu and make these settings the most easily accessible. With Fuji you can add them to the Q menu. Canon and Nikon have My menu settings or even better you can re-program your cameras function buttons to change these settings. This is where Fuji and Olympus cameras really shine as they allow you to customise the function buttons to set up the camera almost exactly to your style. On many Olympus cameras you can even change the direction of the control dials and zoom ring.

Some cameras even remember your settings for you and you can assign them to custom menus or buttons. Simply select the custom setting and the camera will be set up how you want.

10. Read some books.

There is no excuse not to give yourself the knowledge you need in order to become a better photographer. With the internet knowledge has been opened up to the masses in way like never before. There are thousands of free websites with valuable information on them. There are also some excellent books by experienced and successful authors that give you almost all the information you would ever need to become a great photographer. It is up to you to read them and put the information in to practice. You don’t even have to wait for a hard copy as digital downloads and eBooks are ready in seconds. A new camera will often give you inspiration to go out and shoot more but reading an informative and well written eBook will give you knowledge to actually improve the photos that you take.

I have read hundreds of books on photography and art over the lat 10 years or so. Some are little more than self publicity but some are real gems. I have selected a number of what I believe are the best books if you want to improve your photography. Not only are they full of great information and inspiring images but they are easy to read, not too heavy going and good value.

You can see the books I recommend in this article I have bought, read and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them. I can wholeheartedly recommend them.

There are also a whole host of eBooks available and I have been through and read a lot of them in order to bring you the ones which I think offer the best information and value. Take a look at my eBooks page where you can find everything from books on landscape photography, becoming a professional photographer, post processing and a lot more.

Olympus OMD EM5 II vs Pen F Video

Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II

In this latest showdown between the Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II I’ll take a look at these two popular Micro 4/3 cameras and compare features, handling and image quality to see which one you should buy.

I have had both these cameras for a couple of months now so I have been able to really get to know them. As always with my reviews I bought both cameras myself and have no bias either way. I simply test them, shoot them and tell you how it is. You can also see how the Pen F fares in my Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T showdown Or if you simply want to see more about the those two cameras then see my Olympus Pen F Review or Fuji X100T Review . You can see my full Olympus OMD EM5 II review here

Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II – Features

So let’s take a quick look at the features of each camera before we delve a little deeper to put them up against each other in real World use.

Olympus Pen F features

New 20mp sensor The new sensor gives an image size of 5184 x 3888 pixels
5 Axis Image Stabilisation built in to the body.
2.36 million dot OLED Viewfinder. The viewfinder on the Pen F is the same as that found in the Olympus OM-D E-M10 II offering 1.23x magnification.
10 FPS mechanical shutter and up to 20FPS with the electronic shutter.
Fully articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ touch screen LCD screen.
50mp High res shot mode.
1/8000 mechanical shutter speed , 1/16000 with the electronic shutter.
1080/60p video.
Colour Wheel control dial giving access to fine tuning of black and white, colour and ART profiles.

Olympus OMD EM5 II Features

16mp sensor The OMD EM5 II sensor gives an image size of 4608 x 3456
5 Axis IS built in to the body
2.36 million dot OLED Viewfinder Offering 1.48x magnification
10 FPS mechanical shutter
Fully articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ touch screen LCD
40mp High res shot mode
1/8000 mechanical shutter speed, 1/16000 with electronic shutter.
1080/60p video
Fully weather sealed body

As you can see when comparing the Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II these two cameras are more similar than their looks may suggest. The major differences are the new 20mp sensor found in the Pen F, the range finder style of the Pen F placing the viewfinder on the left of the camera rather than having the centrally located viewfinder hump of the OMD EM5 II and the weather sealing offered with the EM5 II which is lacking on the Pen F.

Both cameras feature a 2.36 million dot OLED viewfinder but the OMD EM5 II offers more magnification which results in a larger and more detailed image. In practical use the differences are not huge and are only really noticeable when switching straight from one camera to the next. Both offer a clear and crisp view of your subject and both work well in low light. Manually focusing is slightly easier on the EM5 II thanks to the larger view offered.

The Pen F does not feature weather sealing unlike the OMD EM5 II. If you plan to use your camera in adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow or in dusty environments then the weather sealing of the OMD EM5 II is a real advantage. Assuming of course that you have matching weather sealed lenses such as the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro.

The Pen F is more suited to use with small and light primes which themselves are not weather sealed so it makes sense for the Pen F to also lack weather sealing. Still a big plus for the EM5 II here.

Olympus Pen F vs Olympus OMD EM 5 II – Handling

Handling of the two cameras is a very important factor when trying to decide between them.

Size wise they feel very similar at 125 x 72 x 37 mm (Pen F) and 124 x 85 x 45 mm (EM5 II) although the Pen F comes in a little lighter at 427 grams compared to the EM5 II’s 469 grams. In reality the differences are marginal

The EM5 II offers a more standard mini DSLR feel with a viewfinder hump in the middle and a small hand grip on the front. It feels well-balanced with even the larger pro zoom lenses in the Olympus range.

On the other hand the Pen F is a range finder styled camera with its viewfinder placed on the left hand side. This will suit right eye dominant shooters. There is no grip on the front of the camera but the thumb rest on the rear does give enough purchase to comfortably hand hold the camera with one hand when using primes. The Pen F features a more simple external layout with less function buttons on the top plate. This makes the Pen F feel less cramped in use. It also features a physical exposure compensation dial which is well damped. In reality I’m not sure how much a physical exposure compensation dial really adds to a camera where you are still changing shutter speed and aperture in the standard way with the front and rear control dials.

The uncluttered layout on the Pen F is very user-friendly.

The finish on both cameras is excellent with them both sporting good build quality, well damped dials and magnesium alloy bodies. Both have a high quality leatherette wrap which adds to grip. The buttons on the OMD EM5 II feel slightly more rubberised when pressing them due to the weather sealing but both give good feedback in use.

Both cameras feature 1.04 million dot 3″ touch screen LCD’s but the Pen F’s is easier to use as I sometimes found that when opening the EM5 II’s screen it would pop the electronic viewfinder eyepiece off. This was a rather common and irritating occurrence leading me to spend 20 minutes trying to find where the eyepiece was on one occasion.

Here is the offending viewfinder eyepiece which came off accidentally when I was moving the EM5 II to take some photos. So I thought I’d take a picture of it.

The Pen F’s LCD screen is also easier to open as the back is less cluttered and easier to position your fingers to get decent grip. I can open the Pen F LCD quickly using my thumb at the bottom to flick it out. If I use the same technique on the EM5 II it causes the LCD to push up slightly which then pops the viewfinder eyepiece off.

The LCD on the Pen F is easier to flip out quickly.

One feature of the Olympus Pen F is the ability to use the LCD screen as an auto focus track pad when shooting through the viewfinder. Simply slide your thumb around the screen to change the position of the auto focus point. In practise it works well and is a very quick way to change your AF point.

You can see this in action in my video below. It is important to ote that when actually doing this in practise the viewfinder shows the auto focus points spread too.

I also noticed that there was less lag when switching between the LCD and electronic viewfinder with the Pen F. On occasion the OMD EM5 II would fail to pick up that I had switched resulting in staring at a black viewfinder.

With the addition of the new colour wheel the Pen F allows you direct access to the new black and white mode as well as a new colour mode alongside the Art modes.

The new Colour wheel on the Olympus Pen F is great for Jpeg shooters

If you shoot Jpeg and like black and white then having direct access to these as well as a dedicated switch on the rear of the camera to cycle through the options not only saves time but involves less diving in to menus. I’ll talk more on the actual black and white output in the image quality comparison below.

Both cameras feature Olympus’ excellent 5 axis IS but I found it to be slightly more effective on the EM5 II probably due to the lower resolution sensor. I could handhold the Pen F down to 1/2 second but could stretch that to 1 second with the EM5 II.

The EM5 II also features a separate memory card slot whereas the Pen F memory card fits in to the battery compartment and removing the memory card can sometimes be a bit fiddly as there is not much room to grip the memory card when extracting it.

Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II – Image quality

So here the Pen F’s new 20mp sensor goes up against the 16mp sensor of the OMD EM5 II.

I have shot both of these cameras in loads of different situations from brightly lit portraits to landscapes and night shots to get a real feel for how they both perform.

Resolution

The Pen F offers an image size of 5184 x 3888 compared with the EM5 II’s 4608 x 3456 pixels. If you pixel peep you can see a very small increase in the resolution and detail of the Pen F images when compared to the EM5 II. The differences are small though and you wont even notice them in every shot you take. For me this difference was most noticeable in portrait shots when looking at eyelashes and eyebrows with the Pen F image just giving a little more detail.

The Pen F image also shows slightly improved dynamic range with the EM5 II blowing out highlights more than the Pen F and showing less detail in shadows. The differences are not huge but they are there. The two images below were shot at exactly the same settings on both cameras.

Here you can see the slight difference in resolution between the Pen F (left) and the EM5 II. Notice the Pen F is retaining more detail in the shadow areas

Notice the Moire on the OMD EM5 II image (right).

Although the image quality improvements of the Pen F are not huge the slight improvements in almost every area are welcome.

Noise performance between the two sensors is very close with again just a slight advantage going to the Pen F.

At base ISO I found that often the EM5 II image had some noise whereas I never saw this with the Pen F. I remember the base noise found on my original OMD EM5 put me off using it for professional landscape work. I’m glad to see the Pen F seems to have resolved this issue. Once the ISO is pushed to 3200 and above the noise performance of both cameras was very similar with the Pen F just retaining a little more detail in the raw files thanks to it’s higher resolution. It looks like Olympus kept the same noise performance while increasing resolution so while this is not mind-blowing it is a decent enough upgrade.

ISO 3200 comparison between Olympus OM-D E-M5 II (left) and the Pen F

More detail is retained in the Pen F image (right) than on the 16mp sensor of the OM-D E-M5II

The OMD EM5 II image (left) shows more noise in the reds at the top right of the image

Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II – Black and white

One of the main new features of the Pen F is the colour wheel found on the front of the camera. As mentioned before it allows you direct access to among other options the black and white modes.

The Pen F has 3 black and white profiles compared with the EM5 II’s 1. Profile 1 is a flat monochrome, 2 is the Tri X high contrast look and 3 is an infra-red esque mode.

Profile 2 is by far and away the nicest to use.

When selecting black and white on the colour wheel you then choose your preferred profile in the Olympus Super Control Panel and whether to add grain or not (available in 3 strengths). You then access the colour wheel controls via a dial on the back. This then gives access to colour filters which unlike the OMD EM5 II are available in 3 varying strengths. Next up you can add a vignette to brighten or darken the corners and finally you have access to the images tone curve. You can also access the tone curve on the EM5 II but with the Pen F you can adjust the mid-tones too.

In terms of in camera customisation the Pen F wins here with more options and quicker access. Monochrome profile 2 can produce really pleasing black and white images and no matter what I did with the EM5 II I could not replicate the results of the Pen F’ built in profile.

OMD EM5 II standard black and white mode

OMD EM5 II with contrast increased to try and replicate black and white mode 2 on the Pen F

Adding grain On the Pen F

Adding grain is really simple and adjustable in 3 stages, low, medium and high. Below are examples of the grain produced by the Olympus Pen F.

Pen F black and white mode 2 medium grain

If you want the best image quality between these two cameras then the Pen F wins but in my opinion the differences in image quality are not enough to be the decisive factor when deciding between these two cameras.

Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II – Conclusion

So which camera is the best?

In its favour the OMD EM5 II is weather sealed, has a bigger viewfinder, separate memory card slot, front hand grip and a 3.5mm external mic jack and it feels better when combined with larger lenses. It is also cheaper than the Pen F by a couple of hundred Pounds.

In favour of the Pen F are 20mp sensor, improved image quality, faster performance, additional Jpeg customisation, LCD track pad functionality.

There is no doubt that the OMD EM5 II is the better value camera, offering almost everything that the Pen F does in terms of features and image quality while being weather sealed, offering a better viewfinder and at a cheaper price. If you plan to use your camera in wet, cold, dusty conditions and team it up with a weather sealed lens then the choice is clear. Get the EM5 II. If you manually focus then you may also appreciate the larger viewfinder.

However the Pen F is the more fun camera to shoot with. The camera feels and looks great with small prime lenses, making a great fun and discreet street photography tool. The image quality is slightly improved over the EM5 II so if you want the best image quality that Olympus currently offers then the Pen F is the winner.

The new black and white modes and colour wheel are very intuitive to use and they offer great control over Jpeg output. Even as someone who used to shoot raw I found this mode highly addictive and the results are very pleasing. If you like the rangefinder style and are right eye dominant then the track pad auto focus selection is excellent.

Shoot zooms in bad weather and want the best value camera then buy the OMD EM5 II

Shoot primes, don’t need weather sealing and want the best IQ of the two then buy the Pen F.

Both are great cameras and fun to use but the Pen F is a camera that feels like it has a soul and I really enjoy using it. The EM5 II feels like a tool and a very good one but it feels much more clinical than the Pen F. If I am taking just one camera out with me then the Pen F comes along and the EM5 II stays in my bag. That sums it up really. The Pen F inspires me to shoot when the EM5 II doesn’t.

You can see more image examples and information in my Olympus Pen F Review or maybe you are considering the Pen F vs Fuji X100T if so check out that comparison.
Make sure to comment below and let me know which camera you prefer and why. Which one did you end up buying and did you make the right choice?

The Pen F and OM-D E-M5 II are both available from my Amazon links below. If you appreciate the time that I have put in (and it has been a lot of time today. Uploading the video alone took 7 hours thanks to a slow internet connection) to creating this article and video for you then please shop using my links. You can buy through them at absolutely no additional cost to you and no matter what you purchase I receive a small commission from the retailer. That commission helps me to keep this site going and to keep bringing you real world reviews and comparisons. It is the only way I make any money for all the time and effort that I put in to this website so thank you to each and every one of you who shops through the links below.

Olympus PEN F Camera – 17 mm Lens, Silver

Olympus PEN F Camera – Black (17 mm Lens)

Olympus PEN F Camera – Silver

Olympus PEN F Camera – Black

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Camera – Silver/Black (16.1 MP, M.Zuiko 12 – 40 mm Pro Lens)

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T – Retro Showdown

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T-

These two cameras are among the most popular retro styled cameras currently available. So I decided to put the Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T to see which camera is better built, has better handling and most importantly which produces better images.

I also shot a video if you don’t want to read all of this although I add a few more details here

So before we dive right in lets take a look at the features of each camera to see what you get before we put them up against each other in real World use.

Olympus Pen F features

New 20mp sensor The new sensor gives an image size of 5184 x 3888 pixels
5 Axis Image Stabilisation built in to the body.
2.36 million dot OLED Viewfinder. The viewfinder on the Pen F is the same as that found in the Olympus OM-D E-M10 II offering 1.23x magnification.
10 FPS mechanical shutter and up to 20FPS with the electronic shutter.
Fully articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ touch screen LCD screen.
50mp High res shot mode.
1/8000 mechanical shutter speed , 1/16000 with the electronic shutter.
1080/60p video.
Colour Wheel control dial giving access to fine tuning of black and white, colour and ART profiles.

Fuji X100T Features

16mp APS-C X-Trans II Sensor . Sensor size is 23.6mm x 15.8mm giving an image size of 4896 x 3264 pixels.
Hybrid viewfinder with 2.36 million dot LCD. This is both an optical and electronic viewfinder
Fixed 23mm f/2 Lens with leaf shutter, in built flash and ND filter
Mechanical 6FPS shooting speed.
1.04 million dot 3″ Fixed LCD
1/4000 mechanical shutter speed, 1/32000 with electronic shutter
1080/60p video
Fuji Film Profiles

Now before I start, both the Olympus Pen F and the Fuji X100T are great cameras. Both have a large following and the X100 series from Fuji has almost legendary status.

However a lot of people say that at the price you would be crazy to choose a micro 4/3 sensor over an aps-c or full frame camera. If you think that’s the case then you might want to see my Micro 4/3 vs APS-C article

If you are looking for more detailed information then check out my Fuji X100T review and my Olympus Pen F review . I also put the Olympus Pen F vs OMD EM5 II so make sure to check that out too.

Sensor size is not the only factor to consider here though. You need to look at the camera as a whole when deciding between the Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T and in the Pen F’s case that includes all the light and superb lenses available from Olympus and Panasonic.

Handling

Before writing up this Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T article I have had the chance to use both these cameras for an extended period. The Fuji for nearly two years and the Pen F for nearly two months now. I bought these camera with my own money (as I do with all my gear). I have no bias to any manufacturer or system although I have to admit that both Fuji and Olympus are among my favourite brands for cameras.

This is because they both continue to innovate and bring us great new cameras, lenses and features. Both Fuji and Olympus cameras are feature rich, more so Olympus as they give us incredible tools like 5 axis IS, live bulb, live time and the new high resolution mode. Fuji keeps it a bit more simple but that’s fine with me also as they give us great film simulations and beautifully handling cameras with real external dials for shutter speed, exposure compensation and aperture rings on most of their lenses which are a joy to use.

The Olympus Pen F and Fuji X100T feel similar when holding them. The Fuji X100T is a little larger at 127 x 74 x 52 mm compared to the Pen F’s 125 x 72 x 37 mm and slightly heavier at 440 g while the Pen F is 427 grams. However don’t forget that the Fuji includes a lens at this weight. Once you add a lens like the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 to the Pen F it actually feels a little heavier than the X100T.

The Olympus Pen F feels a little more solid. Both are well made but when holding them next to each other the Pen F feels better made. The Fuji has a small grip on the front whereas the Pen F does away with any front grip. The thumb rest on the Pen F gives decent purchase which makes the camera comfortable to hold.

I have the silver versions of both and they look very stylish although I actually wanted the black Pen F but it was out of stock and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this stylish camera.

The design of both cameras is nice but the Pen F wins in the style stakes with its beautiful shape, luxurious metal finish and a higher quality faux leatherette grip.

The dials feel better built on the Olympus, giving better feedback and feeling more solid in use. For example both cameras have exposure compensation dials but the Fuji’s is a little easy to accidentally knock while the one on the Pen F is stiffer and requires intentional movement to change.

Both cameras have plenty of external dials but they go about implementing them in different ways.

The Fuji X100T goes for an old school aperture ring on the lens as well as shutter speed dial on the top. There is no ISO dial like you find on the Fuji XT1 but I don’t miss it that much.

Shooting with the X100T is very intuitive and it’s nice to be able to see your settings without having to look at an LCD screen or viewfinder.

The Olympus Pen F uses a more standard PASM dial and control dials in front and behind it to control your settings. I actually find this to be slightly quicker to use in practise but there is not much in it so choose what you prefer. It is nice to see Olympus putting a push to lock button on the PASM dial. You simply press it to lock and press again to unlock.

The Pen F also has a physical exposure compensation dial with +-3 ev available. The on/off switch is also nice to use. I actually prefer it to the on off switch on the Fuji which can be a little hard to use sometimes as it is just a bit too small.

As you can see in my video the Fuji features a small hand grip on the front whereas the Pen F doesn’t. However the thumb grip on the Pen F is larger and makes up for this. I actually feel that I have a better grip on the Pen F but again with both cameras the differences are quite small.

The Pen F features a fully articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ touch screen LCD. The Fuji has a standard non articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ LCD screen. Some people love articulating screens others despise them. That’s up to you to decide what you prefer. I hope the Fuji X100T successor has a flip up screen like the X-T1. That would suit this camera better.

Winner – Draw

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T – Features

The X100T features the last generation 16mp X=Trans II sensor while the Olympus Pen F sports the latest 20mp Micro 4/3 sensor from Sony.

In reality 20mp vs 16mp doesnt make a huge amount of difference and in my testing the differences were minimal and any perceived increase in resolution is more to do with the lenses used on both cameras than the resolution itself.

The Olympus Pen F also features the new colour wheel on the front of the camera.

This gives you direct access to customise your Jpeg output using the new black and white simulation modes, the new colour mode or the older Art modes. If you shoot Jpeg (and even if you don’t) you will love the new black and white (Tri X simulation) from Olympus. It gives a fantastic contrasty image. What is even greater is the ability the Pen F has given users to customise the look of the images.

You can change the tone curves, introduce colour filters as well as add a grain and vignette.

Shot on the Pen F using the black and white colour wheel

The Fuji X100T added the Classic Chrome simulation mode to the other film simulations offered but nothing in there quite offers the customisation of the black and white output available on the Pen F.

You can add colour filters (red, green, yellow) to the monochrome mode in the X100T but again the Pen f has more options here with Yellow, orange, Red, Magenta, blue, cyan, greenand yellow-green. You can also vary the strength of each filter in three steps.

I’m dying to get my hands on the new Fuji X-T2 to try out their Acros black and white simulation as it looks beautiful. Some of the images I have seen Damien Lovegrove produce with it are simply stunning.

The Fuji X100T is not really about features and all the bells and whistles. It invites you to simply concentrate on your images. You wont find image stabilisation, live time or live bulb modes as in the Olympus but for some this wont matter. However it does have some advantages which are perhaps more useful in general photography. The X100T has a leaf shutter which allows fast flash sync speeds even up to 1/2000. Why does this matter? It allows you to add fill flash in daylight and for brightly lit subjects when you can’t decrease your shutter speed to the usual flash sync speeds of 1/200 or 1/250.

It also has a built in ND filter. This again is great when shooting in bright light when you want to use large apertures. Normally you would have to add an ND filter to your lens to enable you to keep your shutter speed below the maximum. However the X100T has this feature built in. There are basically very few situations where you can’t get the image that you want with the Fuji.

The built in ND filter on the Fuji X100T allowed me to get this shot and still shoot at f/2

The Pen F on the other hand looks like a simple camera but in reality it is feature rich. The 5 axis image stabilisation built in to the body is the best that there is. It allows you to handhold shots at unthinkably slow shutter speeds and still get sharp shots.

One of the newer features (first introduced in the OM-D E-M5 II) is the High resolution mode. This combines 8 images in to 1 using sensor shift technology. Basically it moves the sensor a tiny amount between each image and then combines them in camera to give you an 80mb raw file or 64mb Jpeg. The detail that this produces is incredible and easily on par with 36mp full frame cameras such as the Nikon D810 and Sony A7R.

The only issues is that it is limited in use to still subjects and you need to have the camera on a tripod as the Image stabilisation doesn’t work at the same time. So any subjects with movement will not work in this mode. Uses I can see for it are architectural, still life, fine art and Art reproduction photography. I also noted that the colours produced by the camera in this mode were very rich and beautiful.

Winner – Draw

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T – Auto Focus

Neither of these cameras are going to be useful for fast action or sports. The X100T’s auto focus is way too slow and the Pen F tracking is not up to scratch because there are no phase detection pixels. Instead it relies on contrast detection auto focus.

In reality no one in their right mind would buy these cameras with the intention of shooting wildlife or sports.

So in normal use which one is better and will give you more keepers?

Photos of moving subjects are easier to get on the Pen F

Simple, the Olympus Pen F wins here comfortably. In good light it is closer than you might think but the Pen F locks on faster and more decisively. Don’t forget that the Pen F also has a better implementation of face and eye detection auto focus. On the Pen F you can select face detection, eye detection, left, right or near eye detection and it works really well most of the time. It also has touch to focus on the LCD screen so you can touch where you want the camera to focus and it will take a shot with your subject in focus.

The Fuji has face detection too but doesn’t offer the customisation of the Pen F with no eye focus selection.

In low light both cameras can sometime hunt. In the case of the Fuji it can hunt back and forth and still not find it’s intended target. The Pen F is pretty good unless your subject has very low contrast, in which case it can sometimes fail to lock on.

Winner – Pen F

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T – Image Quality

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T

[envira-gallery id=”672″]

So we have an older generation 16mp X-Trans APS-C sensor against a newer generation 20mp Micro 4/3 sensor.

The new sensor in the Olympus Pen F is a slight improvement over the older 16mp sensor in previous Olympus cameras like the OM-D E-M5II but it’s not a huge improvement in terms of resolution.

In terms of IQ the Pen F combined with the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 produces sharper images than the Fuji. It is very close unless you shoot close to your subjects. Then the difference is greater as the 23mm lens on the X100T is known to be a little soft at close distances.

Olympus Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 Shot on Tripod using the same settings as the Fuji X100T

The Pen F definitely seems to perform better at high ISO with less colour noise than the OM-D E-M5II. The grain produced at ISO 3200 is small and quite filmic so I don’t mind shooting at up to ISO 3200 for some subjects. I think 6400 is too far for this format at the moment unless your output is on the web or small prints.

The larger sensor in the Fuji X100T naturally gives it an advantage here and around half to one stop advantage at high ISO. I would max the X100T at ISO 6400 but again only for some subjects.

In terms of colour you can check out my Micro 4/3 vs APS-C article to see comparisons. Both produce great Jpegs with very nice colours. Which you prefer is really down to the subjects you shoot and personal taste. I would say that Olympus and Fuji produce the best SOOC Jpegs in the industry right now.

Despite the difference in sensor size these two cameras are very close when it comes to image quality. However all things being equal the Fuji will produce shallower depth of field at the same aperture and handles high ISO noise slightly better.

The Pen F is more customisable if you are shooting Jpegs thanks to the fantastic new colour wheel at the front and the ability to tweak and perfect your output.

Winner – Fuji X100T

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You can buy the Pen F through Amazon UK below

You can buy the Olympus Pen F through Amazon.com below

Olympus PEN-F (Body-Only) (Silver)
Olympus PEN-F (Body-Only) (Black)

Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T – Conclusion

So which is the better camera overall?

If I had to pick one as my only camera it would be the Pen F due to the fact that it is an interchangeable lens camera. This doesn’t mean it is a better camera than the X100T.

For instance I have owned the X100T for nearly two years and for some of that time it was my only camera. I would prefer to have the Fuji as a second camera. One that you always take with you and know you can still capture great images. If the 23mm (35mm equivalent) focal length suits you then it is a fantastic camera. There is also something pleasing about having a fixed focal length as it teaches you to see in that format and to use the camera that you have. You wont spend time worrying about which lens to use. You will just work out how to get the shot. With that said there are some occasions where you wont get the shot because you are just too far away from the subject or you are too close and can’t fit everything in. There is only so much you can do with one fixed lens.

If you are trying to decide between these two cameras based on image quality then check out my full resolution files on Flickr. If ultimate image quality is what you want then again the Fuji would just sneak it. But it is close, much closer than many would have you believe. Don’t forget that the Pen F has in built IS and you can add a fast lens which will negate the Fuji’s slight advantage at high ISO’s.

In the end the Pen F is the more well rounded camera with better auto focus, better build quality, in built image stabilisation and of course you can switch lenses to suit your needs.

The IQ of the Pen F is very close to that of APS-C and as you can see from my Micro 4/3 vs APS-C shootout it is more dependent on which lenses you stick in front of the camera. For example the Pen F + Olympus 17mm f/1.8 was sharper than the 18-140mm kit lens on the Nikon D7200 and indeed it is sharper than the Fuji X100T.

If you shoot at high ISO a lot then you would probably want to look at full frame because the differences between Micro 4/3 and APS-C are not huge. Check out my quick look at the Sony A7II for a full frame camera featuring in body image stabilisation.

In the end both of these cameras are great fun to shoot with and give excellent results. You can take great photos with either camera and you will have a lot of fun doing so without lugging around all the extra weight of a DSLR and a bag full of lenses. The fact they both look great is just an added bonus and who doesn’t like pretty stuff.

Fuji X100T vs Olympus Pen F Video

Check out my latest video putting the Fuji X100T up against the Olympus Pen F.

Full Olympus Pen F vs Fuji X100T write up is now available.

Micro 4/3 vs Aps-C Just for Fun Shootout

I’ve got a bunch of cameras at the moment so I thought it would be fun to do a quick Micro 4/3 vs APS-C shootout.

This post is just for fun, it is not meant to be scientific but will just give a quick idea of how the different sensor sizes look and perform in the real world.

I woke up this morning with the sun shining and thought it would be fun to compare the various cameras I’ve got at the moment.

So I used a Nikon D7200, a Fuji X100T and the Olympus Pen F. I shot the Nikon with the 18-140mm kit lens at 24mm and compared it against the Fuji X100T and the Pen F with the Olympus 17mm f/1.8. Then I swapped out the Nikon kit lens for the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 and compared it to the Olympus Pen F with the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 attached.

So here are the images below. Looking at quick samples like this can give an idea of how different camera brands render images, how much bokeh can you get with each format, what is the difference in IQ and which camera produces the photos you like best. All the first images were shot in Raw and converted to Jpeg in Lightroom with no adjustments.

I shot the cameras at the same apertures where possible because this is how I would shoot them in real life. I know that this is not giving you scientific equivalents in terms of depth of field etc but most people don’t think like that when they are taking photos. So here goes.

Micro 4/3 vs APS-C Raw shootout

Notice the flare in the Nikon D7200 shot which is washing out the colours. This was unavoidable in this light at this focal length. This is the fault of the lens not the camera.

The colours are a bit richer from the Fuji because it doesn’t suffer with the flare issue.

The Pen F and Olympus f/1.8 handle flare fine but the colours aren’t quite as rich as the Fuji. The Fuji also offers a little more subject isolation at this aperture due to the larger sensor. It’s pretty close though.

Below is the same shot taken in the Olympus Hi resolution mode. This gives a huge raw file of 80mb.

High Resolution shot from the Olympus + 17mm f/1.8

Now there are some serious issues with this image due to movement in the background but just look at the colours it produces. The colours are so rich compared to all the other three shots. If Olympus can find a way to get this high-resolution mode to work handheld as rumoured on the OM-D E-M1 II then it could be incredible for landscapes. As it is it is a pretty cool feature and I could see it being superb for architectural photography and fine art for static subjects.

Below is a comparison of the Nikon D7200 + 50mm f/1.4 wide open vs the Olympus Pen F + 45mm f/1.8 again wide open.

Here we can see that the D7200 produces a richer image with more saturation and contrast . Whats surprising is that while the depth of field is shallower on the Nikon d7200 + 50mm f/1.4 combination it isn’t that huge a difference that a normal person would really notice.

Here’s a few more samples that show the rendering of the various cameras.

I’ve just been looking at the photos at 100% zoomed in on Lightroom and for sharpness it is close between the Pen F and the Fuji X100T with the Nikon D7200 + 18-140mm coming in last. Remember that is comparing prime lenses vs a kit lens so you should take that in to account.

When I compare the Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 at 1.8 and the Nikon D7200 + 50mm f/1.4 at 1.4 the Pen F is sharper by quite some margin.

Below are crops to show this

Nikon D7200 + Nikon 50mm f/1.4 wide open Crop

Olympus Pen F + Olympus 45mm f/1.8 wide open Crop

What do you think? Let me know in the comments what you think of these results.

Micro 4/3 vs APS-C Jpeg Shootout

Ok so the raw shots above show what each sensor is capable of in combination with the lenses used but both Olympus and Fuji are renowned for producing some of the best out of camera Jpegs in the industry so below I’ll take a quick look at what the images look like shooting straight out of camera Jpegs.

Nikon D7200 + 18-140mm SOOC Jpeg Standard Colour

Olympus Pen F + 17mm @ f/1.8 SOOC Jpeg Natural Colour

And here are the same shots below but with each cameras more saturated profiles.

Nikon D7200 + 18-140mm SOOC Jpeg Vivid Colour

Olympus Pen F + 17mm f/1.8 SOOC Jpeg Vivid

So looking at the above photos we can see that again the Nikon 18-140mm lens couldn’t quite cope with the flare and so the colours are a little washed out. I actually like the 18-140mm lens but it can’t compete here with the prime lenses on the other two cameras. The colours look a little washed out and the greens are actually too yellow.

Now this is the first time I have done real side by side comparisons between the Jpegs engines of Olympus and Fuji. I have used many of their cameras before and always really liked the Jpeg output of both.

However when looking side by side I notice several things. Fuji Velvia looks over saturated and un-realistic.

For me it is very close between Fuji Provia and the Olympus Vivid profiles as to which one I prefer. I think they are both excellent and it will really depend on what your photographing as to which you prefer.

When I look at the two images side by side in Lightroom one thing is clear, the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 on the Pen F is sharper wide open than the 23mm lens on the Fuji X100T when wide open.

The Olympus on the right is sharper than the Fuji wide open.

I know that Fuji are known to be excellent for portraits so when I get the time I will add a few portrait comparisons as well as some black and white images too. So keep checking back and let me know in the comments which photos you prefer.

You can see my reviews of the cameras below by clicking the links

Olympus Pen F Review

Nikon D7200 Review

Fuji X100T Review

Olympus Pen F Review-Style Over Substance?

In this Olympus Pen F Review I shall build on my Olympus Pen F first impressions after having had the camera for quite a while now.

Olympus Pen F Review – Features

Lets take a look at what the Olympus Pen F offers in terms of features as the latest Olympus camera in the Micro 4/3 format.

New 20mp sensor which is the first resolution upgrade we have had in a long time for an Olympus Micro 4/3 camera. The new sensor gives and image size of 5184 x 3888 pixels compared with 4608 x 3456 found on the previous 16mp sensor in cameras lie the OM-D E-M5 II. These added pixels are always welcome as long as they don’t come at the expense of noise. In my testing I have found that the noise performance of the new sensor is slightly improved over the older sensors, offering less noise at base ISO (200) and similar noise performance at higher ISO’s such as 3200 and 6400. The benefit of the extra resolution is noticeable even at higher ISO settings where noise performance remains similar but retains more detail in shots.
5 Axis Image Stabilisation built in to the body. Olympus’ 5 axis IS is simply the best in the industry. It is a fantastic feature which allows you to hand hold shots at implausibly low shutter speeds. In my testing I found the 5 axis IS to not be quite as effective as that found on the OM-D E-M5 II probably because of the increased resolution of the Pen F. I can comfortably handhold at 1/2 second on the Pen F whereas I can do so at 1 second on the E-M5 II.
2.36 million dot OLED Viewfinder. The viewfinder on the Pen F is the same as that found in the Olympus OM-D E-M10 II. It is a very good viewfinder offering nice bright, clear view although slightly smaller than that found in the OM-D E-M5 II it is still very good in use offering a large enough view to clearly compose your photos.
10 FPS mechanical shutter and up to 20FPS with the electronic shutter. The Pen F is not built for fast action but with a fast 10FPS shutter speed it certainly ha no problems capturing the decisive moment.
Fully articulating 1.04 million dot 3″ LCD screen. The fully articulating screen on the Pen F is a pleasure to use. It can be folded back in to the body with the screen facing inwards to protect it from damage. This is also a useful feature for those that prefer to use the viewfinder. The LCD screen can also be used as a trackpad for auto focus when using the viewfinder. Simply slide your thumb across the screen to change your auto focus selection point.
50mp High res shot mode. This actually produces a 64mb Jpeg and an 80mb raw file. In practise it’s us is limited to static subjects but when you can use it oh wow the results are fantastic. The image is more detailed than any full frame Image I have seen and the colour detail and accuracy is improved too. Great for architectural, product and still life photography.
1/8000 mechanical shutter speed , 1/16000 with the electronic shutter. Thanks to the fast top shutter speed I have always found it possible to shoot wide open in bright light.
1080/60p video. Some of the product shots on my videos are shot with the Olympus Pen F and the video is clean and shows no artifacting. 4K would have been nice but this is a still orientated camera. Video with the Pen F and it’s 5 axis IS is great for being able to grab steady handheld footage.
Colour Wheel control dial givng access to fine tuning of black and white, colour and ART profiles. I’ll talk more about this later but for now I’ll say that this feature is a lot of fun to use and produces beautiful black and white photos.

Olympus Pen F Review- Build Quality

Firstly let’s go back over the build quality because I think this is worth re-stating as Olympus deserve some serious credit here.

Weighing in at 427grams and measuring 125 x 72 x 37mm the Pen F is a small camera but it doesn’t feel light or cheap.

The body itself feels solid, much more so than Fuji cameras. While the body is smaller than Fuji X cameras it is in the same ball park and actually feels heavier than the X100T for example. But it does not feel heavy in use, just reassuringly solid.

The Olympus Pen F offers fantastic build quality. Each knob and dial is well made, gives a solid feel and offers great tactile feedback when in use. The exposure compensation dial is certainly stiffer than that on the Fuji X series cameras and as a result it does not get easily knocked and ruin shots. It stays in place until you want to change it.

I’ve seen a lot of reviews saying there are no visible screws on this camera and this is true although I don’t know why so much is made of this. Perhaps Olympus wanted reviewers to mention this for some reason. While it’s true I prefer to note the high quality materials and feel of the Pen F. Magnesium alloy body, metal dials and a nice faux leatherette material wrapping the body for grip.

I like the on/off dial rather than a switch, the shutter dial feels great in use and as mentioned the exposure compensation dial has just enough resistance to stop unintended movements.

Olympus Pen F Review – Handling

Let’s be honest, we all buy Mirrorless cameras because we don’t want the weight of a DSLR system but that doesn’t mean we want to give up decent ergonomics and handling.

The Pen F wont suit everyone as it doesn’t offer a front grip to wrap your finger around although there is an optional front grip available.You can buy the grip from Amazon UK here Olympus ECG‑4 Camera Grip for PEN-F Camera and Amazon.com here Olympus Non-Powered Metal Grip PEN-F, Black (ECG-4)

What it does offer is a very balanced camera when combined with small prime lenses like the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 and 45mm f/1.8.

The Olympus lenses are available from Amazon UK below

Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:1.8 Lens – Black
Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm 1:1.8 Lens – Silver
Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45 mm f/1:1.8 Camera Lens – Black
Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8 Lens – Silver

And for my friends in the USA and Internationally from Amazon.com below

Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 (Black) for Olympus and Panasonic Micro 4/3 Cameras
Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f1.8 (Silver) for Olympus and Panasonic Micro 4/3 Cameras
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f1.8 (Black) Lens for Micro 4/3 Cameras – International Version (No Warranty)
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f1.8 (Silver) Lens for Olympus and Panasonic Micro 4/3 Cameras

I found the camera to be comfortable in use. In fact it is a delight to use because of the way that Olympus has really thought about the design of the Pen F.

The thumb grip on the reverse gives plenty of purchase and due to its small size my ring finger sits under the base of the camera offering all the grip I need. What I also like is that on this model the strap lug does not get in the way as I found on my old OM-D E-M5.

The new front control dial which controls art effects and more importantly black and white output doesn’t get in my way at all. In fact it feels perfectly positioned to me. Ideally it would be customisable for those that don’t want or need to use the new dial as intended and perhaps Olympus will add this with firmware in the future.

You now have four custom settings on the PASM Dial which allows you to set up the camera to quickly switch to your favourite settings. The only issue I have with this is that the custom modes don’t allow you to switch between the black and white mode and colour modes. For example I wanted to have C1 assigned to my colour portrait settings, C2 for landscape shots and then C3 & C4 set to the black and white modes that I had tweaked with curves and filters. However if you are in standard colour mode on the front dial, changing to C3 will not take you into your black and white settings. You will still have to turn the colour control dial on the front.

All the buttons on the reverse of the camera offer decent feedback and as always with Olympus the camera is so customisable that you can set it up almost exactly how you want it.

The fully articulated LCD screen is bright and so useful when shooting street photography or from unusual angles.

Olympus Pen F Review- Image Quality

The Pen F is fast enough to capture fleeting moments with Kids

I mentioned in my first impressions post that the image quality looks about the same as previous 16mp Micro 4/3 sensors. However after having looked in more detail at the output I can now say that the sensor in the Olympus Pen F is an improvement in terms of detail captured and ISO performance. You wont notice it in every shot but when pixel peeping you can see more details in eyebrows, eyelashes and in the fine details of landscapes.

!00% Crop Straight Raw Conversion Lightroom ISO 500

What also seems noticeable to my eye is the way that the new sensor renders colours. The skin tones produced by this camera are more accurate and the tonal transitions are softer and more subtle. Portraits on the Pen F are noticeably better than the OM-D E-M5 II.

These small improvements are welcome although they alone might not justify an upgrade from any of the 16mp Micro 4/3 models.

From my testing high ISO performance has improved around 1/3-1/2 a stop. What is more impressive is that the way the camera handles colour. Noise has improved with the Pen F showing less colour noise at high ISOs. Once you bump up the ISO the Pen F is also retaining more detail than the 16mp sensor found in the OM-D E-M5 II. The ISO comparison images were shot at night to show real world use rather than artificially bumping up ISO settings.

More detail is retained in the Pen F image at 6400 ISO (right) than on the 16mp sensor of the OM-D E-M5II

If you want to see full resolution files you can do so on my Flickr page

High Resolution Mode.

I’m not going to go in to too much detail here as I plan on writing a separate article on the high resolution mode.

So far it seems to work under very strict conditions. There must be no camera movement and no subject movement. When these conditions are met then the high resolution mode works very well. It easily out resolves the standard mode and improves colour accuracy.

Black and White Mode and the new colour Dial

Straight away I may as well tell you that this feature will be of no concern to those who shoot only in Raw format as it is only available for Jpeg shooters.

However I used to exclusively shoot Raw myself until recently and yet I find myself loving this new feature.

So what does it actually allow you to do?

Flick the dial to the black and white mode and you now have a whole host of customisation at your fingertips. Firstly there are three black and white profiles available. The first is a flat monochrome profile. The second (where the fun is) is a Tri X (ish) simulation offering bright whites and dark blacks. The third is an infra red like look. If you want to see how this works in operation then take a look at my Olympu Pen F vs Olympus OM-D E-M5 II video

Once you choose your mode (we will go to mode 2) you then flick the rear switch and option to change the curves now appear. It is set to +6 highlights and -6 shadows initially. This gives a very contrasty look so I changed the levels to +4 Highlights, -3 Shadows and + 1 midtones. I found this to retain decent contrast but also offer better tonal transitions.

Flick the switch again and you now have the ability to add colour filters to the image via a colour wheel. You can alter the colour filter, Green, red, orange, blue, magenta, yellow green and also vary the strength in the 3 steps.

Next you have the option to add a vignette to your shots and vary the strength in 3 steps as well as add a film grain overlay to your images. This grain is scanned in from film according to Olympus so it is pretty realistic. Again you can vary the strength with three settings.

The sheer amount of options can be overwhelming at first but you soon work out what your favourite settings are and the controls are intuitive and quick to use. These modes are so much fun to work with. I am a fan of getting the shot that you want in camera as I no longer want to spend hours sitting at a computer editing my images. Therefore with all this control at your fingertips you can create almost exactly the image you want straight out of camera.

I’ve found the results to be very good once I toned down the in camera default Curves. This kind of control along with the what you see is what you get nature of electronic viewfinders virtually eliminates the need to post process your images. Some may want the extra control offered by post processing software but at the very least you can shoot Jpeg and Raw and have the best of both worlds. Let me say the whole process is very addictive and you might find yourself shooting more black and white photos as a result.

My girlfriend has complained that all the photos I keep taking are black and white and this is entirely down to the Olympus Pen F and its new black and white modes.

Can you replicate this on other Olympus cameras?

I see a lot of people asking if you can replicate the same look on the OM-D E-M5 II or other Olympus cameras.

In my opinion it would take a lot of work to get close to the look that the Pen F gives you. Firstly the Tri X simulation is only available on the Pen F and no matter what I do on the OM-D E-M5 II I cannot replicate it with tone curves in the monochrome mode. Secondly you cannot vary the strength of the colour filter available on the E-M5 II and to add grain or vignetting would require time post processing the files.

Basically if you want this feature or the look then you will have to get a Pen F. I’m sure you can get close with PP work but in the end the Pen F allows you to shoot the photos straight out of camera and it really is great fun doing so.

Olympus Pen F vs Olympus OM-D E-M5 II

So in my first impressions post I mentioned that I wanted to see if the Pen F is worth the extra money over the OM-D E-M5 II.

The added features of the Pen F, 20mp sensor, new processor, colour wheel, black and white profiles, extra custom modes on the PASM dial apart, they’re the same camera right?

Here is how I look at it. If you need weather sealing or budget is the primary factor then the OM-D E-M5 II will do most of what the Pen F can but it wont do it as quickly and it wont be as much fun.

Sure the OM-D E-M5 II viewfinder is bigger, I can’t say I noticed a huge difference in real world use. What I did notice is that the Pen F feels quicker in use with far less lag when switching between the LCD and viewfinder. The whole experience is quicker when using the Pen F.

Auto Focus is faster on the Pen F, the images you get are slightly better thanks to having more mega pixels, slightly better high ISO performance and there is something about the rendering of images on the Pen F which just makes the images more pleasing to my eye.

Here are the pros and cons of each

Pen F

There is no denying it is a beautiful camera
New black and white mode is a lot of fun and produces beautiful photos
Improvements in image quality
Speed of handling and auto focus is faster

OM-D E-M5 II

Weather sealed
Larger viewfinder
Cheaper
Feels better with larger lenses

If you are trying to decide between these two cameras then you really want to take a look at my video comparison and write up between the Pen F and E-M5 II

So getting back to the start of this Olympus Pen F Review, is the Pen F all style and no substance?

It is certainly a stylish camera but some have bemoaned the lack of weather sealing and the price. It is undoubtedly one of the most stylish cameras currently available but I couldn’t ever justify keeping a camera for its looks alone. The price is the price, only you can decide if it is worth it to you. It certainly is for me.

Weather sealing would be nice but then how often do we really use it. A light shower is no problem to any camera that I’ve owned for years and are you really going to be out shooting in a torrential downpour even if a camera does claim to be weather sealed. The lenses that best suit the Pen F are in my opinion small light primes and these aren’t weather sealed anyway so having a weather sealed body makes no sense. I think Olympus probably knew that when they made their design decisions.

The Olympus Pen F has enough to keep even the most demanding enthusiasts happy. The new 20mp sensor is an improvement over the older 16mp sensors in almost every way. The camera operates more quickly, focuses faster and offers the ability to customise your out of camera jpegs beyond anything else on the market.

Add to this excellent build quality and a great range of small fast lenses which are available for Micro 4/3 and even at the asking price it is still a great camera.

If I had to choose between this and the OM-D E-M5 II it’s simple, I’d get the Pen F for the improvements in image quality, operation and a huge boost to the fun factor of using this camera.

Keep checking back on this review because I will add more images as and when I have them. I shall also add more hi resolution shots to Flickr. I also have a quick video which shows how the black and white mode works and will upload that as soon as I have a decent internet connection.

The Pen F is available fom Amazon UK here

and for international visitors the Pen F is available from Amazon.com here

Why UK Customers Should Upgrade their Camera Equipment Now!

If you live in the UK you will be aware that we voted to leave the EU in the June referendum.

What you might not be aware of is the impact this has already had and will have on the cost of cameras and lenses.

So far some of the main manufacturers have held their prices here but if you look at the value of Sterling on the internation markets it has already plumetted by 18% since the referendum result. The companies will have to pass on these costs soon.

After a brief rally when it looked like the In campaign would win the Pound has been losing value since March 2016 and after Fridays Asian crash it now sits at $1.24 against the US Dollar.

Why does this affect us?

Almost all camera brands are imported and because of the weak pound the cost of imported goods goes up.

Our pound now only buys us $1.24 of imported goods against $1.49 before the referendum.

So with an 18% drop in value, a camera costing £1000 pounds previously, is now likely to cost £1180.

Surely the Pound will recover so it is better to wait?

In the long term this may be the case but I suspect (and most market analysts predict) that Sterling has not yet reached its lowest value.

Respected analysts at HSBC suspect that Sterling will drop to $1.15 or lower by the end of next year.

I suspect it will go lower based on the volatility and fluctuations I have seen in the money markets since Brexit.

It already dropped to $1.18 on Friday before recovering.

Here is why it will go lower.

The EU is in a very difficult position financially and politically after Brexit.

When the UK voted to leave, the EU lost one of its largest economies and largest financial contributors.

This happened at a time when Italy is on the brink of a banking crisis.
The Greek debt crisis hasn’t been solved despite the EU exhausting almost all viable options to aid recovery.

The Spanish and French economies are stagnant.

Politically there are movements within major European countries to pull back from the EU and in some cases leave altogether.
The Front National in France is gaining momentum alongside similar movements in Greece, Holland and now, even the Germans are getting a little fed up with financing the EU and the migrant crisis is testing their patience.

What does all this have to do with the value of the Pound?

With this backdrop of economic and political unrest it is impossible to see how the European leaders are going to allow the UK to be seen to leave the EU and yet retain any of the benefits of membership.

The dream of UK politicians is to stop free movement of people while retaining access to the Single market.

The EU simply will not let this happen because they fear it would encourage other countries to leave and expect the same deal.

The EU is going to have to punish the UK during its negotiations to leave the EU to keep other countries in line.

Self preservation of the EU will take priority over economics.

The French president Francois Hollande has already said as much just recently.

That means in all liklihood we are heading for a Hard Brexit.

This will entail losing access to the single market because the British Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated that regaining control of immigration policy is her priority.

If the EU considers retention of Free movement of people to be non negotiable to retain single market access and the UK wont negotiate this point then the negotiations have nowhere to go.

That will panick the money markets as they see a hard Brexit scenario as the most damaging to the UK economy and this will drive the value of Sterling even lower.

That will result in the pound being worth less and therefore cameras and all other imported goods will become more expensive.

So if you are looking to upgrade your gear in the next year or so it is definitely advised to do so sooner rather than later or you could be paying much higher prices.