World class photographer using Olympus...?

Hi guys,

 

I've been looking at work by some well-known photographers in wedding photography (e.g. Jeff Ascough) and

photojournalism (i.e. James Nachtwey). A question comes to me that if any recognized photographers in these

fields using Olympus camera (guess E3 would be the choice then)? If you come to know any, please help me know the

names :)

 

Also, full-frame cameras seem to be a popular choice for wedding photography

(http://www.photo.net/learn/wedding/equipment). Any of us using 4/3 system for this work and what is your opinion?

 

Hope to get your answers... Thanks in advance :)

Check the professional web sites. I can't say you will find a lot of pros by percentage. Does it matter to you? Why?

 

 

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003686348

I dabble on modelmayhem.com which is an assortment of amateur and professional photographers doing modelling, and on their forums there is typically someone asking the same question every couple of months or so. The short answer is YES, the long answer is, "I have no idea who", but I don't really "follow" photographers anyway, so I really don't care what they are shooting.

Hi Again, I have another answer that is not camera specific but it touches on what a lot of pros choose and use.

Beyond the skills of

knowing how to do the necessary shots and project a professional approach, I would ask What Portable Lighting do

Professionals Use? I would expect that would be more important than the brand or size of the sensor in my

opinion. I am assuming you want to get in with a budget so you can break even and come out alive in hard times

and charge a competitive price. Use the Olympus E 520 -why not- and maybe just get an Olympus E-1 as a backup.

Get two good lenses, the 12-60 and the 50-200 SWD. Then splurge. Consider a Quantum Q flash and a Quantum Power Pack

with an Olympus TTL adapter. (big ticket ,about a grand together but a great investment for the long haul I

swear) And maybe one extra Q

flash later on for effects. The quality of the lighting is crucially important as you get into professional

wedding work. When you make your first really big sales, you will be ready for an E-4 which will be superb and of

pro quality ( what is pro quality after all. Not high ISO I would argue.) I don't knock the manufacturer hot

shoe flashes within their boundaries I hasten to add...Or the big Metz pro models too.

 

 

So I can answer that a bunch of world class photographers use tough fast recycle Quantum Q flashes whatever their

traditional camera choice brands may be. The

quality of the light makes the albums glow.( I love my Q flash and wish I had one years ago) I wish you well in

your business whatever big brand you choose. You are always welcome in this forum. Have a comfy chair: And read

this piece by Monte Zucker a big name wedding person in his day:

 

http://www.quantuminstruments.com/Tutorials/index.php?tcode=MZ01_Qflash&res=1024&grad=grad&menuclrH=146&menuclrV=55

Nick Danziger, who is a writer/photographer responsible for some excellent travelogues accompanied by some superb photography, now shoots with an E410! He took an excellent series of pictures of Tony Blair in his final days in office with it.

Blair commented to him that he never noticed he was taking his picture. Danziger felt that this is because the camera was so inobtrusive.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

If you were producing tons of 20 by 24 prints I would say go for the EOS 5D Mark II. But I am guessing most of your sales would be albums. Maybe a couple of 11 by 14 and one bigger one. I believe the four thirds format can deliver those for the type of result that would appeal to a wedding couple. I have no proof but I bet there are others that have had big prints made up for them. I would not get into a big financial exposure just yet until you try a few with what you now have. Let us know how you make out, Minh. And don't neglect lightly used gear either.

I believe Eli Reed uses Olympus E-3.

World class? Is this term relevant to wedding photographers? I mean, are they competitive other than locally?

 

Or are you referring to "society" or "celebrity" wedding specialists?

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_slr_gallery.asp

Doesn't David Bailey still shot with Olympus?

 

He has to qualify as an all-time great.

 

Don't think he generally shoots weddings though.....

Hi,

 

First of all, many thanks for your responses!

 

I guess I should put my question into two parts. First is about some "world-class" photographers (kind a misleading word) using 4/3 Olympus system. Well, I first have this question when came to know about the Canon Ambassador for Canon. So does Olympus have this group of photographers to represent their fine technology? If not officially, I would like to build my list, as a Olympus supporter :D. So now I have David Bailey, Eli Reed, Nick Danziger and the list pointed out by Paul Miller.

 

If you have more, please add into this list :)

Now the second part is to ask what you guys think of using 4/3 format for wedding & photojournalism. The article (http://www.photo.net/learn/wedding/equipment) gave me an impression that full-frame is the choice & I'm not sure how so?... I have some photos taken in my friend's wedding using E520 & its kit lens (http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=866409), but no external flash was used so I can't say much about image quality or other aspects.

 

So what is your experience?

I see nothing that would limit your use of the E 520 at weddings or anything else. You can't expect a hundred US

dollar 'kit lens' to give you the results of Zuiko mid or top lenses as I wrote. And I tried to tell you that you

do need some flash and preferably an off camera flash, Minh Le. I hope you can believe me when I say flash is

essential to having a handle on lighting control in certain situations. Now consider looking at some photos in

the Wedding and Event Photography Forum. I(f

you asked what is the camera most used by National Geographic for photographing rain forests in Borneo for

instance, you would

find most using full frame, some using the smaller APS-C (like the Canon D40, Nikon D300) and a few who are using

the E-3 with its

4/3 with good lenses. That is the distribution, If it is important.

 

If you never use a flash and won't use a flash,then you need to go with the biggest sensor you can

find. I hope you read that Zucker tutorial on flash... That about sums up my knowledge. Good luck and experiment.

First step, get or borrow a flashgun and shoot a party. (Is a wedding not just a big party anyway?)

 

Check out the forum here on Wedding and Events. I wish you well.

I just started photographing weddings this year. Ive been using my e510, kit lenses, and occasionally rent some lenses. I take a lot of heat and ridicule from photographers from other forums and photographer friends for using an Oly at weddings, like they are substandard. I also take crap for relying mainly on my kit lenses. Man, I wish i could remember the guys name, but there is a famous fashion photographer who uses nothing but his oly and his kit lenses. Anyway, my wedding images are at:

 

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/StorePortfolio.aspx?p=52152&sub=04

 

I love my oly!!

@Gerry Siegel: yeah, I'm thinking of buying a Olympus flash 36R soon.

@Kelly Burke: hi, your link is redirected to http://www.photoreflect.com/PhotographerSearch.aspx ...

I am not world recognised, well not yet lol i use a E3 and adore it. Cumbersome I might add but wonderful I have the E500

as a 2nd body.

 

I never know what people are using I base my admiration on skill some people take great pictures with what one might

consider a rubbish camera others have expensive equipment and are rubbish at taking photographs.

"World class" is a dangerous term to assign, perhaps especially to yourself. Remember, there is The Third World!

I was interested in the comments of outdoorsman John Isaac about his E-1 ( I still use the "old" E-1) so you might be interested too in his opinion re the lenses. I suspect he upgraded to the E-3 since this was published.

 

http://www.olympus-esystem.jp/gallery_e/isaac_j/

Everybody in here is world class, Nataliya. ( Big round of applause :-) )

I'm a amateur but could do al lot of party's and special events with my Oly E510 + kitlenses fl 36 flash

but th focusing speed is to low to be comfortable in low light conditions. I did test a Nikon reflex and I

felt blow away by it's focusing speed! I lost pictures because of the slow focusing and a more powerful

flash if it is for a more important jobs.

But I am still happy with the oly and I can make quit nice pictures even with the kitlenses.

just have a look at my pictures here on Photo.net

 

Herman

<p>Here is a name for you Morton Hvaal famous Norwegian photorapher uses Olympus E1.</p>

<p>@Lawrence Rand: thanks a lot for the input. I guess his name is Morten Hvaal. Maybe this is his <a href="http://www.mortenhvaal.com/mortenhvaal.com/mortenhvaal.com.html">website.</a></p>

<p>Olan Mills uses Olympus four thirds. They picked this camera because of its sensor size. It matched 35mm film format closest when they first started using digital. They did not have to retool all of their lab stuff. I own a E-1, the camera they were shooting with a few years back. I do not know if they upgraded to the E-3 yet.<br>

My local lab has produced 20 by thirty inch prints from the E-1 five mp camera. Superb results and Olan mills was also doing the same every day. Because of the sensor makup and design with less hardware and larger photodiodes the five mp camera shot more like a seven. They called the sensor in the E-1 a full frame transfer. What ever that is. I think it is called that because of the abscense of hardware on the sensor surface.<br>

My experience with Olympus is that it produces some of the highest quality cameras. Who came out with the anti dust sensor? Olympus Who was first with in body stabilation Olympus again. Who built the first digital camera designed for digital from the ground up. Olympus. Digital specific lenses, Olympus again. The sensor on a DSLR prefers light hitting it in a direct straight line. Lenses that are not digital specific hit the sensor at oblique angles.<br>

I would not hesitate to buy any of the Olympus DSLR cameras but if you want the IS it starts out with the E-520 and up.<br>

I have owned my E-1 for years and never a hickup. The only reason I would want a newer model is they have come a long way with noise reduction and the monitor on the E-1, well you just about have to have a magnifying glass to see it. I love the larger monitors and the technology behind them. Mine is practically useless in sunlight. Though a little outdated my E-1 remains a workhorse of a camera.<br>

Besides, can't afford a new one now anyway. But I do like the Idea of a full frame sensor and If I did switch I would go to Canon. My honest opinon of the four thirds sensor is a gripe about its size. I do not think they should use anything over seven mp but they go up to twelve. That is why my preference on a new camera would be a Canon with a full frame sensor with not over 12mp. A sensor with larger photodiodes creates a cleaner image than one with more photodiodes but smaller ones. To much static build up. (noise)<br>

Best Regards,<br>

Daniel</p>

<p>Jon Nicholson has covered Formula 1 for years, originally with Olympus OM and more recently using E-series cameras.<br>

http://jonnicholson.co.uk/<br>

http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/10332/olympus_nicholson_ferrari/</p>

<p>But in the end, does it matter? As long as <em>you </em> like your camera and lens setup why should you care?</p>