Bobby Jr. and Emily (#211) 02-07-13

Two entries ago I said that I was finished discussing the Olympus OM-D EM5. I lied. Here is another thought.

I was quite certain that the Olympus would have the ability to render eyes very sharp. Providing a very shallow depth of field so that the background became blurred was a question. The sensor is smaller than my Nikon D90 and has a 2X crop factor, as opposed to a 1.5 crop factor. This increases the perceived area in focus and (slightly) decreases the ability to make the background blurred: it is more difficult to separate the subject.

A couple of weeks ago I met Emily and Bobby Jr. When I asked them if I could make portraits, Emily had no hesitation. Bobby Jr., not so much. In fact, I suspect that Bobby Jr. may not be his name, but that he just handed my name back. Either way, the expressions clearly tell who was comfortable being photographed, and who was not.

      (click to enlarge)

     (click to enlarge)

Anyway, I am pleased how the eyes look, and how the background sort of melts away. In Bobby’s image, the background is a little bit choppy, probably a function of my 85mm f1.8 lens. The MUCH more expensive 85mm f1.4 lens would probably render this smoother. Either way, I am not confident that the OM-D, with the smaller sensor, would look quite this good.

Bob