The Cameras I Use

I get asked about my camera frequently so in this post I wanted to share my choice of cameras these past years and why.

THE BEST CAMERA TO USE IS THE ONE IN YOUR HAND

Do enough reading on the internet and you’ll eventually come upon this quote.  The best camera to use is the one in your hand.  If a moment you want to remember is in front of you, the best way to capture that moment is by using the device that will allow you to do it.

Ok … now that’s aside … I’ll briefly outline my own journey.

10 years ago I had a canon point and shoot.  I loved that thing.  Fit in my pocket.  I took it to Asia, Europe and Mexico.  But a trip to San Miguel de Allende made me realize I wanted an upgrade.  So I bought the entry level Canon DSLR.

I started to learn about glass (lenses) and acquired 3.  But then we went on a vacation and I had a permanent dent on my shoulder from all the weight of the gear.

This was around 2010 and I learned about the mirrorless systems.  At that time, the two options I had were between Olympus and Panasonic.  Sony was still fairly new to the market.

So I sold my Canon for a PEN EP3.  I used that camera for many years.  I bought the 12mm, the 17mm, the 45mm, and a zoom lense.

For my purposes it was fabulous.  Below are some photos I took with it.

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Feb 29, 2016 at 9:26am PST

 

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Dec 31, 2015 at 2:18pm PST

Despite having this camera – half of the photos I took were with my Iphone 6.  Because it was the one I had handy 99% of the time.

UPGRADED TO THE OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 MARK II

When we added Orbit to our pack – it was clear I didn’t have a fast enough camera to capture the two playing.  So I upgraded to the latest Olympus (at the time) and purchased the pro 25mm lense.

I love this camera to pieces.  It’s fast and does everything I want it to do.  I love the swivel touch screen and the ability to take photos in low light.

I shoot in raw, and I edit in LightRoom and PhotoShop.

Below are some sample photos from it.

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Mar 9, 2018 at 12:40pm PST

 

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Feb 7, 2018 at 5:59pm PST

This set up works for me.  And I already had a lot of glass invested with Olympus.

Another great camera from Olympus is the PEN F.  It’s as fast as my camera but the video component isn’t as great.  Here’s a photo with the PEN F.  I rented it one weekend and had a blast capturing the two pups running around.

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Dec 28, 2016 at 8:47am PST

 

A post shared by Boston Terriers Maggie + Orbit (@maggielovesorbit) on Oct 5, 2016 at 11:08am PDT

I also have a GoPro but I hardly use it.  And I still do use my Iphone a lot.  But now I have the Iphone X.

WHERE TO RESEARCH CAMERAS

To this day my favorite place to start in researching cameras is Steve Huff Photos.  He’s a Leica guy (my dream camera) but reviews pretty much all of the cameras out there and specializes in mirrorless reviews.

I’ve heard great things about the Sony mirrorless system.  I’d probably buy that one today if I didn’t already have all my lenses.  My sister has one and she sets it in Automatic, never edits and her photos come out great.  Some of my favorite instagrammers also use this system.

For those that are more artistically and technically sounds, the Fuji system is a hipster’s dream.  Steve Huff does a great review.  It’s probably the nicest looking out of all of them.  My brother has one and the learning curve was a bit more than I could do in a sitting.  That said – there’s a unique tone to the Fuji that is sought after.

WHERE TO BUY

I purchased my cameras online at B&H Photo and Adorama (somethingaboutnosalestax) but you can find them on Amazon as well.  The link to our Amazon page shows all of our recommended products which includes the camera.