I hadn’t checked into any photography-related sites for a while, so I thought I’d check in on some of the latest discussions. It turns out that Olympus just this week announced an update of their flagship line of camera bodies (the E-M1). The latest iteration available later this month is the E-M1 Mark III. It looks to be a great camera with some fantastic features.

And of course, much of the response (in the form of online comments) consists of annoying “tech status chasers” screaming NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

As I discussed last year, a great deal of the market for digital camera bodies and lenses is not professional photographers who actually make their living with their cameras, but gear-heads who derive their sense of self-worth from owning the most cutting-edge toys. These folks are infinitely more interested in being able to boast about their gear than they are in the art of photography. In fact, I’d wager that most of them have never shot a photo that would be accepted for display in a reputable gallery.

And yet, here they are, pounding their fists on their cyber-tables, moaning that this camera just doesn’t cut it, and that Olympus really blew it. “It needs a better electronic viewfinder! It’s the same EVF as before!”. (The Oly EVF is a very good 2.36-million-dot LCD viewfinder that displays at 120 frames per second). “It doesn’t record video at 60 frames per second in 4K like camera X does!”. (It will record video at 30 frames per second in 4K. Given that motion pictures have historically been shot at 24 frames per second, on film that’s closer to 2K, the E-M1 Mark III is more than adequate for anyone who doesn’t earn their living by making movies). “It’s the same sensor resolution as before! Camera X has 50% more pixels!”. (As discussed in the previous post referenced above, when you get above a certain megapixel count, the return in picture quality starts to diminish. The E-M1 Mark III has a 20.4 MP sensor, and a large percentage of professional photographers consider 20 MP more than adequate for their work).

The whining goes on, and on, and on.

To be fair, this is an issue we all deal with on some level. It might not be about camera gear – it could be any area of our lives that we feel just doesn’t measure up to the ideal, especially when we look around and see what someone else has. That’s one reason that, coming up next on my reading list, is ‘The Power of Christian Contentment’, an update of a classic Puritan work from the year 1643.

In terms of digital camera discontent, there are two key points that folks need to come to grips with:

1. Digital camera technology in general has gotten so good that additional quality gains are going to come more slowly and incrementally than they did previously.
2. The Micro Four Thirds sensor format used by Olympus (and Panasonic) was designed to enable smaller camera bodies and smaller lenses compared to larger APS-C and full frame sensor cameras. The result is significantly lighter and more portable gear. But there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all when it comes to photography gear. If someone truly shoots the majority of their photos in extremely low light, and needs poster-sized prints, they should probably choose a larger full-frame camera from Canon. If they primarily shoot video, they should probably go with Panasonic (which has become better known for its video capabilities than its still capabilities). It should also be noted that plenty of pros shoot multiple brands (and sensor types) depending on their needs.

As I laid out in this post, I have a variety of Olympus cameras that I’ve picked up over time, and one of them is the original E-M1. Unless I fall into a very large pile of cash, I don’t plan to upgrade any time soon. But the E-M1 Mark III has some terrific features:

• Olympus has always been considered to have the best in-body image stabilization (IBIS) of any brand, and the IBIS of the E-M1 Mark III is fantastic (7 stops!).
• There’s a new joystick button on the back of the camera to quickly select a specific autofocus point.
• There’s a new Starry Sky Autofocus feature that reportedly allows for stunning shots of the night sky.
• It’s inherited the “Live ND” feature from last year’s E-M1X, which will almost instantaneously stack multiple exposures of a shot to give the equivalent of using a neutral density filter on the lens (which gives more dynamic range, as well as allowing other affects like the blurring of moving water without overexposing the shot).
• It’s also inherited the Handheld Hi-Res mode, which quickly stacks multiple exposures of a shot – with slight sensor position shifts – to yield a very high resolution version (up to 80 MP).

All in all, I think it’s a great offering from Olympus, and I’m glad to see them still putting time, effort, and money into their camera business.

Now if all the complainers would just go out and practice their photography skills using the gear they already have…