Yesterday (Sunday) I was the official photographer for a big shindig
here in Alaska. 2224 photos total, taken over about a 4 hour period of
time. E-M1ii and E-M5ii were the axes of choice. The "Great Alaska
Talent Competition" is a pretty big deal here and part of the RONDY
festival.
It was a last minute thing, as the planned photographer wasn't able to
do it because of COVID. I kinda felt like the judge in Nightcourt that
got the job because he was the only one left. It was my first time in
the Anchorage PAC (Performing Art Center), and was horribly lost in
the catacombs of the place. I never did find the restroom backstage!
Regardless, as a professional, I knew to make sure my bases were
covered and to focus myself with the requirements for event coverage.
However, this was my first major shoot with this equipment.
I wanted to travel light, and that was a good thing, but I did end up
wanting one item that I didn't have with me. No biggy as I was fully
covered, but it was a nuance thing in operation.
I had four lenses with me: The E-system ZD 12-60, ZD 50-200, the Lumix
G 25/1.7, and Leica 15/1.7. The E-system lenses were used on the
E-M1ii and the m43 lenses on the E-M5ii. Almost all of the backstage
preparation shots were done with the E-M5ii with the 15/1.7. The
actual event itself was mostly the 50-200 and 25/1.7. My perch during
the competition portion was front row to the left of the judges. Then
I moved around during the second half. The requirements of the
pictures were pretty well defined as was the shot list. That was nice.
The second half was free-form, standard event coverage. Then the group
and awards shots at the end. Normal stuff.
Miss America (Emma Broyles) was there and I got to talk with her for a
few minutes. Certainly a nice benefit to being the official
photographer...
As I'm culling the images, a couple things stand out:
1. Overshoot is good. It's always better to have 5 to throw away than
0 that you needed.
2. Stage lighting and black backdrops are miserable combinations. I
was being an idiot and used auto exposure, however, I did dial in
exposure compensation, so not many were actually very off. I did chimp
often to make sure things were in check. I should have used manual
exposure, though. Duh. But being rusty, I was trying to just get the
shots and make sure that I wasn't making too many rookie mistakes that
happen when switching modes all the time.
3. Aperture priority was fine, but shutter priority was better.
Especially for the dance routines. Even wide open, the 50-200 gave me
sharp eyelashes, so whatever.
4. The ZD 50-200 is such an awesome lens. And to think I almost left
it at home. That would have been a disaster. Even with my close in
position, they had the participants so far upstage that the distance
needed telephoto. The image-stabilization in the E-M1ii with this lens
was near perfect. I had almost no pictures where I had motion blur
with the camera even though 100% of the pictures were taken handheld.
Subject motion was all over the place, but almost no camera shake even
at 200mm. Out of the 2224 pictures, maybe 10 had camera shake. I'm
good, but not THAT good. :)
5. The ZD 12-60 was also exceptional. However, I figured that it was
going to be my primary lens but ended up not using it much at all. I
used the 15 and 25 on the E-M5ii for almost all of the wide and normal
shots. I really would have liked to have used it on a second body, but
the E-M5ii is horrible with the ZD lenses in autofocus.
6. Flash. Several months ago I got the GODOX TT685(O). This was my
first time actually using it in anger. I used it for group shots. I
shot everything with two cameras, and the E-M1ii/12-60 with and
without the flash. No issues at all and I highly recommend this flash.
Again, my propensity to overshoot has paid dividends. When you're
trying to herd cats, the best you can do is just rattle off 20
pictures and hope one works. I did notice that in one particular group
shot, literally one one of the pictures was up to my standards SOOC.
7. I left the SONY at home. Was that a mistake? Nope. I contemplated
the E-M1ii and SONY A7ii as my combination, but knew that matching up
color/contrast was going to be a pain, so I compromised and stuck with
must m43 Olympus cameras knowing that the noise floor was going to be
bad with ISOs between 1600 and 6400. Honestly, it really doesn't
matter because both Olympus cameras met and exceeded the requirements
for the job and the deliverables are still more than good enough. I'm
glad I had the Olympus cameras for one major reason. Acoustical noise.
The Sony is just too loud for this type of thing. I usually use
two-curtain mode because of the slight improvement in image-quality
AND the fact that I always end up with far more motion blur with EFC.
And most importantly, the battery life in the Sony was probably going
to be an issue. This was my first event shoot with the E-M1ii and it
exceeded my expectations and needs by a HUGE margin.
8. Batteries. I had to switch up batteries in both cameras at the
intermission, and did about a 50% drain in the second set. I've
determined that with EVF cameras, it's not a matter of how many
pictures you take, but the actual on-time of the cameras. I have three
batteries for each camera so that turned out just fine. As ALWAYS,
when the first battery hits the low mark, immediately swap it out for
a fresh battery. That way you have just enough service life left in
the first battery as an emergency reserve when your other batteries
croak. That has saved my bacon multiple times through the years. I
still had a third set available, so it wasn't an issue yesterday, but
I still followed the rule.
9. Nothing else of note. It was a good day, in spite of battling a
migraine. Out of the 2224 pictures taken, I'll deliver around 600. In
the end, it seems like no matter how many pictures I take, the end
deliverable is usually 500-700.
AG Schnozz
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