::Going Mirrorless::

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

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Ready for some happy photography bits?  Your wish is my command :)

In January, I sold my Canon Rebel T3i.  I wasn't blogging anymore, and my iPhone 6 seemed fine for quick snapshots.  My big girl camera just sat gathering dust.

Then came our family trip in February to Disney, and I was uber disappointed in our photos....11 iPhones and nary a decent capture of Robyn meeting the princesses, of Walter hugging Tigger, or of the food (always the food). I kinda missed that 'ole Canon, but I knew I prolly wouldn't have wanted to drag it around the parks either.

(taken from hubs' iPhone 6.  Even editing didn't help much, even though Robyn is adorbs)

As I began to consider firing up the blog again, I knew I'd need a new camera, but DREADED another big, bulky, pricey DSLR.  I looked into some top-of-the-line point and shoots, but I really wanted that artistic control you get in a manual setting...fiddling with aperture and shutterspeeds and ISOs and lenses....(don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about?)

Unbeknownst to me, there was a new player on the photography field, and tons of professional shooters are switching over.  That was enough for me to go check 'em out....but there weren't many to check out locally.  In fact I had to hit the only camera shop in town to get my hands on the specific model I was interested in trying. Curious what the heckola I'm talking about?

Bam.

Meet my new bestie.  A Micro Four Thirds camera.  No mirror in this baby (hence my title of going 'mirrorless', although I'm seriously considering going mirrorless in my house too...*rolling eyes*). Lightweight and tiny, it fits in your hand AND purse....as in, it's the same size as a point and shoot without a lens attached.  See how small it is with out it?

Don't ask me about how it captures the same quality as a DSLR, but it does.  Do a search on youtube and you'll be set for the afternoon. Pour yourself a drink.

Here's the best part.  $300 new.  With a really nice kit lens.  NEW.

After reading about all the brands, I went with the Olympus EPL6 (Penlite).  BTW, Nikon and Canon are slow-comers to the Micro Four Thirds scene due to the popularity of their DSLRs, but many say Micro Four Thirds are the wave of the future and they're missing the boat BIG TIME. Hence their offerings in this segment lag WAY behind the leaders.

You can see in the picture above, it has all the same kind of settings as your standard DSLR, and mine comes with a dandy touch screen you can use to control settings as well as actually shooting.  It tilts out and up and down and I love that I can move it perpendicular to the camera and look down at the screen instead of actually getting on my hands and knees to snap a pic of my cute dog. I hold the camera at his level, and just look down into the screen to frame my shot.

(my thumb is blocking the menu dial and such....)

Ok, here's my favorite part.  Everyone knows the camera body is the least costly part, right?  Well, I learned you can purchase adapters and use old lens from the film days with them....and they'll cost you a SONG.

I bought an adapter and an old 50mm prime lens made for a film camera for less than $45 (ebay, folks).  WHAT?  I know.  Very fun possibilities just opened up for you, right?  Here's the deal, though.  You'll be doing your shots in manual....as in you manually twist the dials on the lens to the proper aperture AND manually focus (see pic below).  Because it's not electronically connected to the camera, you lose those two settings. Shutterspeed and ISO are controlled on the camera body as usual.

 Also, a 50mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds is the rough equivalent to a 25mm lens... so there are some differences in using older lenses.  Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve to using these older lenses. I should also mention that a 'real' Olympus 25mm lens for this camera runs about 500 smackaroos....that's why I looked into adapters and such.  If anyone is interested I can post my favorite youtube tutes that chat about all this stuff :)

I'm still learning how it all works, and re-learning how to use the settings best.  I'm still shooting mostly in auto when dealing with the grandies, so I thought I'd show you some pics I took with it in that auto mode with the kit lens.....with minimal tweaks in picmonkey :)

I give you WALTER WYN--15 months of AWESOME:

And ROBYN ROSE--3 years of making my world go 'round:

So have I convinced you yet to ditch that bulky DSLR?  Or at least go have a look-see at these marvelous little Micro Four Thirds?

Ready for svelte and reasonably priced without giving up the quality?

I know I'll never look back!

As I use it more, I'll post other tips and tricks I'm learning. 

okaybye,

cindy