Does anyone else have more boxes than things?

Another one of the James Popsys quotes that will go up on the "Wall of Wisdom": "Image quality has very little correlation with the quality of an image" Right up there together with "Make pictures *about* something, not *of* something" Valid points!

I've been shooting professionally with a full frame system for years. I recently retired and thoughts fill my mind of more travel and more adventures on foot and by bicycle. I've recently explored Micro Four Thirds cameras and, having acquired three and a few lenses, I'm rethinking how I'll be shooting on the go. That I can carry these tiny cameras and lenses not really feel bogged down is a revelation. The image quality is nearly indistinguishable from my big boy cameras and, without an client's art director pixel-peeping at 300%, I'm free to shoot and share my photos with impunity.

What in my opinion matters. 1. at least 50% is the skill of the photographer 2. 20 % is pure luck, having the right light to the right scene (mainly landscape) 3. 20 % is lense 4. 10 % is camera

Keeping boxes for expensive items is a good idea, helps retain value in case you decide to sell.

The only folks asking if MFT is "professional" are non-professionals.

The hardest part of photography is finding a unique and fascinating subject that will compel an audience. Second hardest is the light to show said subject at its best. The choice of camera to capture it on is the least difficult aspect of the quest. I reckon people mostly change their camera based on boredom and the pursuit of novelty. Which is fine as long as they don't confuse it with improving their photography.

"Image quality has very little correlation with the quality of an image". Yes, David Thorpe has said, "Image quality is what you fall back on when the photo is no good".

Hello James. I just bought the G9. Still learning the little beauty. Sold my Canon 2.8L zooms, my EF teles. Keeping the tilt shift and macros and the 24 1.4. I bought Metabones speedbooster to use them on the G9. But I am mostly using Panasonic and Olympus lenses and loving the kit. I love being able to carry my gear without an assistant to carry half of it. I kept the 1Dx for low light with my few remaining EF primes. The KZfaq idiocy about MFT not being good enough is ridiculous. It is the mark of amateurs to claim that MFT is crap because the sensor is too small, but fall over themselves to rave about the Sony ZV1 with its even smaller sensor.

When all this is over I’ve decided to celebrate by upgrading to an Olympus EM1mark III.

Bro I keep boxes for everything it just drives the resell value up haha

I’ve been shooting micro 4/3 for over two years now. That coupled with learning light room has helped this old analog photographer get into the digital age, which serendipitously, has helped my Analog photography. After years of looking around large lenses and cameras, My micro 4/3 set of lenses weighs less than half the weight my old camera set did. But my capability in photography has more than doubled by my estimation. Roll on m43! I mostly shoot Olympus with a sprinkling of Panasonic lenses thrown in. Thanks for the video James!

I do keep all my boxes, sometimes it drives my wife crazy. And I’m not a photographer but I definitely agree that the MFT cameras are brilliant, I just bought my second GH5 because it’s so easy to get an amazing image out of it.

When selling the equipment on having the original box gives you more credibility and it generally shows you look after things so good practise.

James, great summary! Less than year ago, I took a leap of faith ;) by switching from FF to m43. Just sold ALL my FF gear and got m43. Besides all compactness and lightweight I noticed something different. My photography style changed. Amazing In Body IS gave me more freedom without hauling tripod at evenings and letting me shot from various angles vs pre-positioned tripod settings. Extended DOF at same F-Stop compare to FF when I shot landscape is a huge bonus for me. When I need a bokeh - there are plenty super fast primes for m43. In general, I thinks lens selections for m43 is capable to satisfy any requirements. If we take Olympus PRO lines and Panasonic Leica lenses - they are all provide amazing image quality. BTW, I would like to say - Thank you! Because , by producing interesting and non-traditional 'reviews' video which look more like wisdom, personal experience sharing , you are partially responsible for my switch.

I really like Jame's videos. He (unlike some) never takes himself too seriously isn't caught up in having to have the latest and greatest, and genuinely seems like a nice chap with a very funny sense of humor.

I switched to the G9 after the 2019 photography show and watching your channel, it’s given me many hours and some cracking photos, so from me a big thank you, from my wife who I’ve begged to invest in lenses she’d like to hit you with her frying pans that I bought her for Christmas as a thank you. Keep up the good work

Prior to discovering (and then binge watching) your channel I was looking towards full frame for my next system. I actually convinced my brother to send me an old olympus (he never throws anything away) he sent me an e-m5 mk1 with a 25mm lens to use alongside my dslr. It took a while to get used to the buttons, but now I'm determined that migrating to m43 is the right move for me. It's easy to get carried away with specs that aren't all that important. Actually wanting to carry the camera around is important to me. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the book

James, M4/3 was what got me back into photography (as a hobby) when I'd lost all enthusiasm for it. This was just over 5 years ago and thankfully I'm still enthusiastic about it, partly because as one comment said, the M4/3 community are, by and large a very friendly bunch, but also I have enjoyed experimenting with some of mine and my dad's old SLR lenses on my original GX7 and recently bought GX9, as well as the great lenses designed for M4/3. I've probably said this before, but one of the things I really love about your vids/vlogs is that you just offer great advice based on personal experience and what has worked for you. There's none of this "oh well to be a pro, or to get top pics you need this, and you have to do that, and it must end up looking like this." Simple but good advice, surrounded by humour, which we can take or leave! Top stuff!! Cheers... as always

I love my G9. The 4k 60fps is just so lovely and smooth. Amazing. And the pics are beautiful as well with good lens.

Just wanted to add to the "your videos helped me buy a MFT camera“ comments too. When I first considered an upgrade from my Canon G7XM2, narrowed everything down to the Nikon Z50 and Lumix G95 because of their price range. Your videos helped sway me to the MFT system and I've got to say, for someone with not a lot of cash, the MFT system isn't only light and comprehensive, it's also relatively affordable for newbies. I've been enjoying my G95 since and can see myself sticking with panasonic simply because of their excellent ergos. Thanks James, much love from Malaysia. Stay safe.

With regards to astrophotography, micro four thirds sensors are some of the most popular ones used in dedicated astro cameras made by ZWO and others. The Sony IMX294 is a fairly popular one-shot colour sensor (same one as the GH5S if I remember correctly), and the ASI 1600 (regular, Pro, and GT) uses the Panasonic MN34230 sensor. Once stacking comes into play, sensor size is nowhere near as important as other factors. But that requires a tracking mount, and a lot more post-processing as you're effectively creating composite images at that point (doubly so if you're using tracking and stacking photos of the milky way, as you'll have to stitch in a non-blurred background afterwards). While we don't get anywhere near as many lovely toys as Canon does for camera control (they've been quite open towards the astrophotography community, so most of their cameras can be tethered to astrophotography software) we do have a huge benefit/perk in our arsenal with that 2x crop factor (compared to full frame) - you can see further into the night sky with the same telescope, which makes smaller, portable telescopes rather feasible for a decent amount of deep sky objects.

The “Last Dance” excellent docuseries and fantastic analogy - like you always say “story” is the most important ingredient. Another great video.

What a great video, James! I love your passion and your good sense, as well as your sense of humor. Take good care of yourself and Emily! Cheers!

I went from Canon APS-C to a G9 about 2 years ago... Wow! I was in love with the size and weight, the feel and performance... It was wonderful to take 1 second handheld exposures at ISO 400 and for the image to look better than my Canon at ISO 200. Now I have a G85, G9 and a Sony A7rIII (complete with monster 200 - 600 lens) and find myself barely using the G9 - even during daytime shots, there is a fairly big difference in quality when you have fine details present. That said, I still love my G9 and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. So much fun to use and if you do street, attracts much less attention!

With the exception of medium format, I can’t remember liking the image because it was m43/apsc/full frame. A good image is a good image. You are right on point, majority of the viewers looking at images or KZfaq on their small screens.

The right tool for the job. Thank you very much for your perspective and experience on a different frame format and the Lumix format. Love it!

My full frame kit is now my backup. Love M43 for everything you covered.

Really love how you said "it's a biased review, i completely love this camera". Thumbs up from me for this. On another note, I also keep my boxes, just do a yearly clearing of the oldest ones, min 4 years old.

In just the last few years M4/3 has seen great street and travel cameras in the GX9 and E-M5iii, professional grade stills/hybrid cameras in the G9, E-M1X and E-M1iii and pro video cameras in the BMPCC4K, GH5S and Z Cam. Not to mention the glass. Great system.

I've been planning on switching to micro 4/3 for a while now and your videos shurely helped me overcoming some of the uncertainties I had at first. Now I just can't wait to pu my hands on the GH5! Thanks a lot!

I've had the G9 for just about two months and I haven't even scratched the surface of understanding the depth of its capabilities. Just astonishing.

I recently bought an Olympus OMD em10 Makr ii, to be honest, just out of curiosity, but believe me, it has become my favorite camera ever! And I have Sony, Canon, and Nikon cameras. I just can't understand why m43 doesn't have a bigger market share, the cameras are amazing AND the image quality too!

You are the reason for buying a M4/3 system and Im more than happy with my decision!!

I want to thank you...you’re an inspiration. For quite awhile I was envious of many of the landscape photographers who shoot with full frame cameras. I shoot with a crop sensor and was feeling, well, less of a photographer for doing so. Then I look at the art you create with your 4/3’s. Thank you for saving me thousands that I can now spend on counseling to deal with my feelings of inadequacy. 😄

Hi James, you were the final barrier crasher for me. I bought a G9 and I am enjoying it a lot! I like the way you reasoned out why you switched to M43, and I love your humor. Thank you!

I love the light pressure shutter on my G9. I find I get much less camera shake when I shoot hand held. When I watch other people with the usual shutter pressure cameras, I can almost see the facial tension and sliight camera movement downward when they press the shutter. Thank goodness for fast lenses and fast shutter speeds and in body stabilization.

I'm using Micro Four Thirds since 2012 for the same reasons as you mentioned (smaller, lighter, quality more than good enough in most circumstances). My system is Olympus OM-D. That's another advantage of MFT: I could use the G9 body - parts of another system - without the need of buying new expensive new glass / bodies. Indeed I'm using a Panasonic LEICA DG SUMMILUX. Another advantage: High quality lenses are cheaper compared to full frame pendants. The other reason to use a larger sensor besides very low light photography is the need of a very shallow depth of field (insane bokeh).

Good discussion. I've been on M43 for 5 years now with Olympus equipment. I used Olympus OM film cameras back in the late 70's-90's and loved them.

I began with M43 after seeing you do it and after doing my own research. I spend lots of time walking around in the woods and really appreciate the light weight kit I now carry.

I absolutely love the way it looks James and I also love the light shutter as you shake less when using long lenses which as a fellow tripod hater it's a good thing!

Still new to the photo scene so I'll be sticking with APS-C for the time being, but it's good to hear that it's not all about full frame!

that last dance comment is true, I actually amazed with how the pictures is quite seamless between the now and then using different cam

James! Love your videos! Your humour and content is so refreshing and entertaining!

I recently decided to use 2 systems: Full frame for weddings and events and 4/3ds for everything else work and fun 🤘🏼

In 2019 I have invested in M43 equipment (after having been a Nikon user for many years) and couldn't be happier with that investment. First I was looking for a small camera for when I wanted to travel really light. I bought a Lumix LX100 II and when I saw the first pictures coming out of that camera I was really pleasantly surprised. A few months later I decided to invest in Olympus and bought the EM-1 MII with a few Pro lenses. Sorry for Nikon, but that equipment has become my backup equipment since then. I have used the M43 equipment also for concert shoots and it hasn't let me down. Performs really well. And last Saturday (June 20 2020) a first real shoot since the start of the lockdown here in the Netherlands, landscapes with a model, and of course I have used my M43 (Olympus) equipment. Had a blast!

After more than 50 years of Canon, Nikon, and others, I moved to the G9 about the same time you did. Best camera I’ve ever had. It does everything I want it to do. Enjoy your vids very much, always entertaining and informative, thanks

I love this kind of review. Everything is not just high specs , popularity, and/or equipment.

I only recently switched from ultra heavy Nikon gear (aps-c) to the smallest M43 made so far (the GM5; bought it used). I absolutely love being able to walk around and take photos without a heavy bag of stuff. The images are great! I’ll never revert. Full frame is not for me either. Thanks for the great video!

I've been using mft and FF system for years i love my fullframe camera for just 1 reason : lowlight capabilities for shooting at moving object with acceptable noise on the final images. other than that I'd love my olympus mft for the rest 9 reasons . FF 1/10 mft 9/10

I just love your emphasis on the looks of the camera.

Lol, James, I just found your channel this morning. Love your style, humor with good advice added in.

I rock a GH5 all the time, it’s actually heavier than the G9, but that’s from the cooling system for the sensor so it has unlimited record time at max video quality. LUMIX focuses on features and image quality, not on megapixels. My camera has features that buddies that spent twice as much or more are jealous of, like the in body 5 axis IS that talks to the IS in their lenses, or the auto pan feature that uses the full 4K sensor to shoot a buttery smooth pan in 1080p, then 6k photo mode for live events! It’s hard to beat a LUMIX!

I switched to micro four thirds about a year ago and am loving it. Went to a Moto GP race last year and the guy next to me was shooting a full frame Canon with a giant 600mm lens. He asked about my little lens. His eyes got a little wide when I told him it was 300mm but 600mm equivalent.

Been an Olympus user for 3 years and love every minute. Agree with everything you say.... (I love how my camera looks!)

Thank you so much for this video

I kind of agree with the megapixels thing, I’d love to see an a7s style full frame from Canon where more effort is put into trying to improve dynamic range and signal to noise ratio while keeping the megapixels moderate around 24 or so. I take a lot of Milky Way landscape pictures but I don’t care much about Hydrogen alpha sensitivity.

I've been shooting on a GH5 for two years now. Can you please recommend me some must-have lenses.

"Yes a whole shelf dedicated to boxes...." Love the G9...upgraded from G85 a year ago....most underrated camera. Thanks again for the great video.

Thanks for your thoughts. I am glad you like your camera. What I have learned over t he last few years is that it improving your photography can be a very frustrating experience, but most modern camera equipment is actually amazing and that includes the much maligned kit lenses. I look forward to many more videos from you. Keep them coming.

Really enjoyed this James, know of anyone doing portrait work in the GH5?

Always keep the boxes as well - where else can I store the tiny USB cable and manual otherwise.

Great video! I came a long way being an Olympus fan for decades. In the digital world I started with the E-500 (43), moved on to the E-30 and entered the M43 world with the E-M1. Recently, I bought an E-1, a 5MP camera from 2003 with a 43 CCD sensor. And I love it! I still have quite a few 'old' (top-end) 43 lenses, that are still very capable on my E-M1 ii. Thank you and stay safe!

I love that light in the background!!

Great to see you James, by the way, I too, keep all the boxes my stuff comes in, you just never know do you!! My wife thinks I'm a bit of a nut, but I've had occasion when a box was, well, making selling stuff I no longer needed easier, I think, anyway, I'm not a four thirds user, APSC will do for me, and I've just purchased a Sony R1, cause of the lens on the thing, its clunky to use but the images it gives me are just wonderful, anyway catch ya later, don't get too stir crazy, stay safe.

That's exactly why I'm looking forward to the Canon R6 it has 20MP and I think that's perfect. And It's going to be quite a lot cheaper than the R5.

This video answered some of my critical questions concerning MFT cameras. Thank you.

I love the lenses and bodies in micro four thirds. So many nice little touches, fantastic ergonomics and build quality. I have and shoot Nikon full frame too, and there’s really no problems with me switching back and forth. I love them both.

Well, as a micro 4/3 shooter, I naturally like this kind of vlogs. I still shoot with Olympus OMD EM1. Yes, quite an old one, 16 mp only, and still with some effort I managed to produce sharp 1,5 m long prints. But to be honest, I think resolution is an issue, noise in poor conditions is an issue, and even sharpness in some cases is an issue that is better handled in full frame cameras.

Yes, love m43. I've used and still have a FF D810 & lenses, used to use film cameras for many years. I recently purchased a used G9 (upgrade from my G80) and I love it! These days I have had my fill of hauling big heavy gear around, it's not fun anymore. I really enjoy taking and using my G9 gear out all day, I don't even see any quality differences (as you pointed out James), it's my go to system now. Stay sane :))

This is the most sensible video I've seen about cameras in a long while. 👍

3:50 This times 100! It was a revelation for me when I stopped for 5 seconds to consider what resolution my favorite images (by other people) have. Not only are they not state-of-the-art sharp, they are often downright blurry! BUT THEY HAVE SOUL! Very sensible video!

I expected a bit more points general for MFT instead of another "why i absolutely love my G9" video. Liked it anyway. I love my G9 to the moon :D cheers james.

I've given up on Sony altogether. I'm waiting for the G9 successor.

I also have a G9 🤗 I bought it mid-March, right before everything shut down. But planning to use it for outdoor nature projects. Got a lot of learning to do! Excited to have found your vids 😄

My favorite camera. Its future proof. At it's most recent sale price this is a no brainers in 2020. Love this camera.

I come from a corporate video background and one of the things that you learn very quickly is how to mix footage taken from different sources (often older sources) and still have a good quality production. I don’t think people realise how much footage they see which is labelled as full HD, 4K or ultra HD where the source was actually much smaller. Because, whatever it says on the box is how the final video was produced, not how it was captured. So, you get these interesting instances of films (for example, the latest Marvel movie) which people go to see in glorious 4K which were actually produced at 2k... all because of budget. Often, the reason behind this is because of special effects. Imagine rendering anything inside a computer as a business. The time it takes the computer to do the work is something you have to charge for. It just cost twice as much to produce something in 4K as it would in 2K. When I started to vlog I actually recorded everything in native 4K. The idea being that, no matter what, I would have the best quality video that I could possibly get. Recently, because I don’t do a lot of zooming into my images, I’ve actually started capturing all of my footage in 1080 p. When I finally render the videos, I save them out as 4K files, but natively the video is 1080p. You can do this because, unlike the change between ST and HD, the pixel ratio between 2K and 4K is 1:1, so you don’t get that weird ghosting affect like you would do when transferring older video. Unless you pixel peep this stuff (and let’s face it, most people don’t when they’re watching a KZfaq video) you would never notice the difference. But, there is a real world use for native 4K and 8K capturing, especially in film. What many filmmakers are doing now (especially if they’re on a tight budget) are filming in native 8K and are then able to reframe their shots when they edit the film without losing any quality. Not that important for KZfaq, sometimes important when the final image is going to be displayed on a 10 foot canvas.

To anyone who is itching to "upgrade" to FF: You are about to make an expensive and heavy mistake. Listen to someone who did exactly that and save yourselves the pain.

I love my G9 James. Like you I bought mine 2yrs ago moving from Canon and more often then not are really pleased with images I get not to mention also the brilliant features this camera has.

Yeah, I love my G9 too. Happy to be the first person you know who likes the shutter button! Following your last video I purchased the Peak camera clip and I've already used it several times. I can already see what a big difference this has made ... My bike rides take even longer now because I keep stopping even more to take photos as it's so simple to unclip, shoot, and continue. 🙂

Hold on in there :) I've been using Micro Four Thirds since 2010 (G1, G2, GX7 for 7 years) and while being tempted by full-frame 35mm and other brands I stayed because of the lenses as one more thing: Mu4/3 community, they are the most welcoming and helpful community I ever been part of (since 2013). Portability has always been my priority and made the cameras fun to use every day ... as well as Olympus's "personal war" against tripods (with 7.5 Stops IBIS, Hand Held High Resolution, and Live ND Filter). I wish my Oly E-M1 MK. III had a light shutter, from 400mm 35mm Equiv. and onwards you feel every shutter press when the EVF starts shaking. PS. *Looks at the huge pile of boxes on my wardrobe of every product that costs more than 150 £ or has a sentimental attachment to the product* Nope

I'm STILL making love with my GH5. Literal. Love. Making.

Great video with some excellent points about resolution and sensor size!

Great video as always. Just down to earth common sense from a professional who knows his subject and presents it in an engaging manner.

When you think of the long term prospects of M43, consider what’s going on in smart phones. What if I had a M43 sensor with the same performance per pixel? What if you employed some of the smart phone technologies in M43?

That looks roughly the same size a full frame Sony a7iii and larger than the Sony a6400.

I moved from the Fuji X system a year ago to the M43 and the Panasonic G9, and haven’t looked back. I love everything about the M43 system. Size, weight and the sheer amount of lenses that can be used!

Thanks for a really great video! I love the light shutter on the G9!

"It is a completely biased video!" - I think this is exactly why most people who are following you are following you and like to watch your videos. If this makes any sense. (Oh, and because you don't smile very often!). Well, no sheep in this video, but you can't have it all … ;-)

My boxes are all hidden in the loft for safety, my own safety that is. They are evidence of how much expensive stuff I have bought 😬

I agree with all you said about m4/3. I have a Olympus OMD EM1 Mark II and love it!

James your on 🔥🔥. "The looks of a camera relative to it's performance is about the same as the looks of a toothpaste tube relative to the toothpaste performance" (Popsys, 2020), brilliantly stated. Can't wait to watch another episode of stills in motion!

Well if looks dont matter guess you haven't shot with a Fuji😎

"I got this two years ago" - It's been two years already since the G9 came out, what?!

Hi James! Thanks for your very informative and entertaining videos! I had a G9 that I underated and sold. After I realized my mistake, I bought another G9 and I am very happy with it, especially after the new firmware updates! Now, one can buy a G9, an awesome camera, at a very low price. As A photographer and videographer, It is very beneficial to have such a camera with so many features at your disposal! Thanks again for your videos! I love your humor and you seem to be a really nice person! You are a very good photographer!!!

This has to be one of the most sensible photography videos on KZfaq.

Sony sell out 😂 gotta please those algorithms!

12 minutes of my life wasted as I still don't know what you actually learnt in 2 years using mft. You rave about the camera, well great. But what did you learn to make better use if the nft system? Else change the header.

Not to mention it's a awesome video camera too! G9 is definitely the most underrated camera still on the market. Great video man

I bought a Lumix G85 before I started watching your channel based on my own criteria. I've used it for about six months now and find it to be a solid, capable camera and great value for cost. As far as boxes go: I'll keep larger, reusable boxes flattened for storage. All packing material goes almost immediately.