Episode 388: ElleyCat Rocks the Show, OM-1 MKII and I Got, My x100v!

Show Notes

Greetings everybody you’re listening to the Liam Photography Podcast, I’m your host Liam Douglas and this is Episode 388 for Thursday February 1, 2024.

So if you tuned in last week, you know that the wonderfully talented ElleyCat, aka Elley Ringo-Chain was back on the show for a 2 hour episode that has been hugely popular and is still being downloaded every day! Elley has had so much going on during the last 18 months since she was last on the show and it was awesome to catch up with her again and hear about all the exciting stuff she’s been doing with her acting, modeling and especially with her Elley Knows Rocks Geology channel on Youtube.

Elley has been going full steam ahead and I could not be more proud of her for all she has accomplished and I know it’s only a matter of time before her channel really blows up and so does her acting career. Who knows if we are lucky with her red hair maybe Marvel will cast Elley as the next iteration of Jean Grey in a new X-Men film, wouldn’t that be awesome! Or maybe someone will make a big screen version of Xena Warrior Princess and Elley will get to play that part in an epic adventure!

In a bit of camera news this week OM Systems has announced their new OM-1 Mark II as the next upgrade to the OM-1 line. This successor to their 2022 OM-1 flagship camera includes everything that made the OM-1 “the best Micro Four Thirds camera ever made”, however we are not getting the massive upgrades that many photographers were expecting.

This new generation is not sporting a new version of the image sensor at 20MP stacked and backside illuminated Live MOS chip or TruePic X image processor. Although the sensor and processor stay the same, OM has expanded the cameras memory, which results in some changes to the buffer depths. Sequential shooting speeds have remained unchanged, allowing for up to 50FPS with full AF/AE and 120FPS with locked AF/AE, but photographers can shoot more than 200 RAW frames at 120FPS which is up from the previous 90.

OM-1 Mark II can also shoot blackout-free at slower frame rates than the previous model. With the Mark I there was no blackout at 50FPS but many photographers wanted and now have the same at 12.5FPS and 16FPS as well and shoot with a blackout-free viewfinder. Another area where OM Systems has improved the camera is in the autofocus system. The company says AF accuracy is significantly improved over the previous model, especially for shooting fast-moving subjects such as sports or wildlife and it also has human detection as an option.

Some shooters felt the Mark I’s dials were lackluster and difficult to use when wearing gloves in cold weather and OM took those complaints and the Mark II includes rubberized control dials with an improved tactile feel and response.

Computational photography has for a long time been an essential part of Olympus and now OM Systems and the OM-1 Mark II is no exception. Beyond the normal suite of features like Live ND and High Res Shot, which is 50MP handheld and 80MP on a tripod), the OM-1 Mark II features the world’s first Live GND or Graduated ND filter feature.

With this, photographers can replicate the effects of a graduated ND filter, a popular choice for landscape photographers, without the cumbersome use of actual filters. Further, users can customize the filter steps and type of Live GND filter in real time. Users can adjust the location and angle of the transition from light to dark and pick between soft, medium, and hard gradations.

The OM-1 II also includes an updated Live ND feature, which now offers strength up to ND128, doubled from the original OM-1’s strongest Live ND filter option of ND64. Unfortunately, it is impossible to combine Live ND and GND with the OM-1 II’s High Res Shot modes, but at least Live ND and Live GND allow for the capture of RAW image files which is a must for these features to be appealing to the masses.

The High Res Shot mode now allows photographers to capture 14-bit RAW files, up from 12-bit RAW files. This may sound like a relatively small jump, from just 12 to 14, but the way bits work, it amounts to three times the tonal range.

Rounding out the noteworthy changes is an improved in-body image stabilization system. The OM-1 was already an excellent camera for handheld shooting, given its relatively compact and lightweight design and stabilization system, rated for up to seven stops. The OM-1 II offers 8.5 stops of shake correction.

The OM System OM-1 Mark II will be available in late February for $2,400 ($3,200 CAD) body only and $3,000 ($4,000 CAD) in a kit with the OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro II zoom lens.

And for some personal news, during the month of December I managed to get in some serious hours doing some freelance IT work for the parent company of Virgin Orbit and pulled in some serious extra cabbage so I can get the body work and paint job done on my late father’s 2005 Chevy Colorado quad cab that I now own and I also managed to locate a mint Fujifilm x100v camera from the good folks at Robert’s Camera’s sister site, https://www.usedphotopros.com. Now I just want to be transparent and let you know that Robert’s is NOT a sponsor of the show and I only know of them thanks to Mike “Sharky” James from the Lens Shark Photography Podcast.

With acquiring an x100v I now have seven Fujifilm bodies total, but I am looking to sell my mint condition X-E4, which is currently listed on eBay if anyone is interested. I will probably leave it on eBay till this weekend and if I don’t have any takers there I’ll sell it to Roberts since they have offered me the most money for it if I send it to them.

My X-E4 is like I said in mint condition and comes with the box and all original items as well as a thumb grip and I also have the Arca Swiss hand grip plate that I am including with it as well. The shutter on my X-E4 only has around 1,800 actuations so it’s been used very gently as well. When I made the switch to Fujifilm almost three years ago I got the X-E4 to use as my main real estate camera because it is so small and compact and I have my chronic arm issues, but when we moved here the company I contracted with didn’t have much in the way of work for me since I live so far away from Raleigh and Charlotte so the X-E4 didn’t see much use and now it just sits in the Nanuk case most of the time.

Now that I have my x100v that is of course my new Street Photography body taking over that duty from my wonderful X-Pro3 with the removable 23mm F/2 lens, but fear not, I also LOVE the X-Pro3 so she will continue to see use in other areas of my photography. 

It was a few days after getting the x100v before I was able to take it out for a bit this past Sunday for some Street shooting as the weather here has been terrible with tons of rain and really cold temperatures and lots and lots of high winds as well and I even only shot with it for a little bit last Sunday before the darn rain started again and I headed back home but I got some really cool images.

When I shoot Street although sometimes I shoot in color, I prefer to shoot in Black & White as much of my photography inspiration comes from Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson and both of those Masters of photography shot most of their work in Black & White as well and in my opinion, there is no substitution for Fujifilm’s wonderful ACROS film simulation, which perfectly replicates in the digital era the ACROS 35mm film stock I used to shoot back in my film days.

The Fujifilm x100v is just such a joy to shoot with as all Fujifilm cameras are and I especially love the leaf shutter which allows you to shoot outdoor portraits in bright sun and use a really high shutter speed with your flash so you can add light to your subject’s face while knocking down the background light at the same time and couple that with the built-in ND filter and you have a winning combination! I also recently discovered a new flash which is perfect for the x100v as I think the built-in one is too small and weak, Godox makes a nice, compact Lux Junior Flash which is a Manual only flash that works perfectly with the x100v and doesn’t add a ton of bulk or weight while also giving you a more powerful flash option for portraits. 

For any of you that don’t already know Fujifilm’s next X Summit is expected to be Feb 20, 2024 and during this event they are planning to announce the successor to the x100v, which will be called the x100vi. This sixth generation of the x100 line is keeping the same form factor and the current generation of the built-in XF23mm F/2 lens but the upgrades are supposed to be the sensor changing to the new fifth generation X-Trans 50MP one used in the X-H2 and the X-T5 as well as the fifth generation processor with the major AF improvements. Additionally, according to my friend Patrick at www.fujifumors.com the x100vi will also have IBIS, although I am not sure how they can pull that off without adding some bulk to the chassis.

I personally think the 40MP sensor is a mistake, I feel they should have used the 26MP Stacked sensor from the X-H2S and added the fifth generation processor for the better AF and left IBIS out of the equation altogether. I just feel that if they want the x100 line to continue to be their Street camera than the IBIS is not necessary and the new Stacked sensor and processor make for a more compelling upgrade for the sixth generation of this awesome little camera but let me know your thoughts in the Facebook Group!

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