Category Archives: Manifesto
Goodbye Canon, Hello Olympus OMD E-M5 - Switch to Mirror-less for Travel Photography
The heat beats down on me through the blue heavenly skies above me as I climb. I climb up the mountain slowly with many steps to go to reach 400 meters above sea level. It is 90 degrees outside and the humidity is 85%. One step is fine, but as they add up the weight starts to get to me. My friend Jessa says to me “Come on Erick, lets keep going” as she climbs the stairs with ease. We are climbing the mountain to Hanginan, Maasin in Southern Leyte, Philippines. Each step becomes heavier and heavier… I am being literal here. You see, I am carrying ALL of my camera gear and it is weighing me down. You know that feeling? 2 bodies, 3 lenses, filters, tripod, a strobe, trigger, other gadgets and some food all in one backpack? At this point I am ready… I am tired of it. It is time for something different. It is time… for a new camera system.
For about 5 months now I have NOT been shooting with my Canon system setup. I used to run around with a 60D and 7D set up. The 7D stopped functioning due to water damage so I fell to exclusively using my 60D as my back up. The 60D then stopped working as I was testing it for a photo shoot I was going to do in Colombia. I was desperate to get a replacement camera. I was looking at the newly released 6D, but then I thinking back to the wonderful time I was having when climbing the mountain in Maasin. Maybe it was time to make that switch I had thought of back then. I had always toyed with the idea going to a mirror-less camera system. Mirror-less you ask? Why would a professional photographer want to downgrade?
The mirror-less systems are smaller and much lighter. Also very cheap and the quality is amazing. It is perfect for a travel photographer. I find it to be more of an upgrade than a downgrade.
OMD E-M5 Silver
The Choice? Olympus OMD
I did a lot of research after my experience in Philippines in late 2011. I had felt I had armed myself to make a well informed decision. The mirror-less camera I decided to choose was the Olympus OMD E-M5. Why did I choose this camera? Well I won’t lie, I chose it because it looked like an old film camera. I also chose it for the fact that it received the award of Camera of the Year in 2012 by DPReview. I also chose it because the camera is using a Micro Four Thirds system. Olympus and Panasonic have both embraced the Micro Four Thirds system and it’s benefits, which means that you could use either brand of lens. Sigma and other lens companies have also designed lenses for this system as well.
The Weight and Size
The weight and size was the largest factor though. Hands down the weight of the Olympus OMD is way smaller than my 7D and 60D. The 7D weighs 29 oz., the 60D 27 oz. and the OMD 15 oz. making it nearly half as light as the 7D. My favorite lens for the Canon system was a Canon 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 which weighed 34 oz. For my OMD the 17mm ƒ/1.8 and 45mm ƒ/1.8 both weigh just over 8 oz. combined.
Because the weight is less and there is smaller parts it is easier to carry. I used to carry a backpack to carry the gear around for photography. The backpack would be packed with 2 lenses, the body (with lens), blower, strobe, remote, battery charger, 4 filters, remote, lens pen, other gizmos and gadgets and snacks..
Now I can carry small bag with a body, 2 lenses, remote, 8 filters, flash, strobe, lens pen, diabetes testing kit, and snacks. Almost the same amount of items in one smaller bag.
Cost
The size of lenses are smaller making it very affordable as well. The manufactures can make a good quality lens with less parts needed to be able to create cheaper lenses. The whole system costed me a total of $2800, which is the cost of a body, 17mm ƒ/1.8 lens, 45mm ƒ/1.8 lens, remote flash, remote trigger, 2 polarizing filters, 2 warmth filters, 2 UV filters, 2 ND filters. As for my Canon system I have easily have paid $3500-$4000 (although I already had lenses).
There is a drawback on some of the pricing. Some of the OMD accessories are expensive. An example is the battery grip I purchased was $299, which in my opinion is kind of steep, but almost worth the price. For $39 the remote cable release is kind of lacking for the price that it costs.
The Drawbacks
So the only difference between a mirror-less camera and most DSLRs is the that the DSLR has a mirror and prism to preview your photo before taking the shot. I know I am using a micro 4/3 system which is a lot smaller sensor. The biggest argument of this is that smaller sensors have an issue with noise. I would have to say that is not the case with this camera. First shoot I shot with it was in the morning trying to do some long exposures and set my ISO to 2000 thinking I set it to 200. The results are amazing. Here are some examples from that shoot.
The other drawback people talk about is the Bokeh of a micro 4/3 system. I would have to say that is a drawback. But to most people who are not professional photographers, they can not tell and a good photographer can make bokeh happen (naturally). Here is an example of some bokeh taken with the OMD EM-5.
The other drawback is the crop factor, which can be an advantage. The crop factor of a micro 4/3 system is 2.0x. That turns a 45mm lens into a 90mm equivalent for a 35mm. For those who want a better zoom, like most travel photographers this is great. For those who need wide angles, this could be a drawback.
Not a Professional Camera
“The OMD is small and does not feel like a professional camera…” Yeah, that is what someone told me. They were a professional photographer by the way. “…it feels like a toy.” That is a very common perception that a lot of professional photographers have when seeing the camera. Bigger is better? Not really.
The camera is a tool. A good photographer still needs to know lighting, tonal value, composition and color. A lot of photographers believe if that they do not have a BIG camera they coud not be perceived as a professional. I was kind of worried about this myself as I had a photo shoot in Colombia. The model was more relaxed as there was not giant lens in her face the whole time. The shoot was more natural and we see each others as equals.
When I was shooting with OMD in the streets people asked me if I was with the press. Everyday people do not know the difference between a DSL and Mirror-less, they just see a camera. On another note the fact that it is smaller is also great because it a lot of times I can take it into places where they ban DSLR. I was able to take my camera into the Explorer Park in Medellin when they banned DSLRs. I got in fine with my OMD E-M5
Even Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs has switched to a Mirror-less camera system from a Nikon system. The Mirror-less system is perfect for some one like Trey and I who are both travel photographers and need to travel light.
Conclusion
So what do I have to say about the OMD E-M5? Well, I love it. I know why it has gotten camera of the year. It has amazing quality, great features (which I have not spoken fully of) and extremely light and small. It the perfect companion for a travel photographer. A more in depth review of the OMD E-M5 will come in the future.
What camera do you use when you are on vacation or travelin? Do you love your Panasonic point and shoot? Do you carry your DSLR or perhaps you stand by your trusty iPhone? I know I do. Let me know what you prefer. Leave a message below, send me a tweet on twitter, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, we want to share it with others.
P.S.This is not a sponsored post. I paid everything out of my own pocket, Olympus did not sponsor me. I also am not being paid by Olympus to promote this camera. I am doing it to better inform those out there.
Spinning Disk - Sonoma County Fair Carnival
Have you visited the fair this year? Have some great photos? Want to tell us a story of the fair? Comment below 
Craftbeers From British Colombia - Beer Travels To Canada
Blarghhh!!! Yeah, that is what came out of my mouth. I was stumbling from crosswalk to crosswalk through the lovely clean streets of Victoria. The goal to this adventure? Try to get to the Greyhound station and catch my bus, WITHOUT peeing my pants. I almost made it. Good thing there was Starbucks with a bathroom on the way. I was racing to the Greyhound to catch a bus to my nice room in a house I was staying at in Nanaimo. I was hoping not to miss the bus which was leaving at 6:50PM. The handicap to this adventure? I had finished 8 or so beers in the past few hours. This is why I was stumbling from street to street and my quick pit stop at Starbucks.
Eight beers you ask? Yes, it is very easy for me to down 8 beers and even easier when visiting British Columbia. You see, one of the things that British Columbia is NOT short of, is craft beers. They seem to be all over in the major cities. I had visited only 4 out of the many in Victoria alone. Drinking 2 beers at each place, which can add up very quickly. And that was not the only place where I found craft beers.
Why Craftbeers?
So why are there so many micro-brews and craft beers? Where did it all start? Well you see, one of the good things about Canada is that they have a universal healthcare system. A great advancement for a first world country. The drawback, is that there is a huge tax on things like cigarettes and beer to help pay for that healthcare. This makes sense to tax people on the items that reduce health and longevity. Unfortunately, this has made beer really expensive. When driving around, there was a sign touting Corona for $4.50 during happy hour. Apparently this was a great deal. At that point I gasped with horror.
When I was in the neighborhood Kitslano, Vancouver, I came across some locals who invited me to eat with them at a wonderful restaurant called The Naam. Ironically they were all from United States who have found a new home in Vancouver as professors/scientists at UBC. They told me of the situation of beer prices and that to combat it, they brew their own beer. As a matter of fact they had gone out to eat just to relax from a whole day of brewing and preparing a beer. This was a huge trend in Canada, home-brewing beers, which was even larger in British Columbia and a much cheaper way to get a beer. This trend grew so large that there were so many microbrews and craft beers popping up all over British Columbia. So that is the history of why there are so many microbrews in British Columbia. At least that is what I was told. There are lot of microbrews all along the pacific coast, it could have been that they just grew upward from Northern California (being from Northern California, I am more inclined to like this version). Maybe it is a combination of both.Either way, for a beer lover, British Columbia is a place to visit.
How Did It Begin?
So how did this adventures start? Using Gogobot.com, I asked the question, “I like beer, can you suggest me some local breweries and local pubs in the Vancouver?” Little did I know that it would open a can of worms. Suggestions starting streaming in. So when I first arrived in Vancouver, I had to try out the list. In Vancouver alone I visited some great craft-beers as Yaletown Brewing Co. and Steamworks Brewing Company.
Yaletown Brewing Company
The first has a great atmosphere, full of many locals and is the downtown district of Vancouver. The area was converted from old warehouses and that is where Yaletown Brewing Company was located. They have a list of great beers in which I tried the Warehouse Stout at first. I love stouts, as they are my favorite beers, but this did not do it for me. I also enjoyed a salad and then had myself a Downtown Brown, a sweet yet hop tasting brown ale. Of the two the brown ale did the job.
Steamworks Brewing Company
Now that I had good liking of some beer, my goal was to hit Steamworks Brewing Company. It is located near the waterfront area just as the last rail station and Steamtown meet. It gets it’s fair share of tourists here, and tends to cater to the tourists, but it has great beers. I started with the Oatmeal Stout and worked myself to the Black Lager. I loved the Black Lager enough to have another. I meet some locals here who were giving me hints on where else to get some great drinks. I had a taster of the Coal Porter which was good, as and the rich Espresso Stout. The surprise was the Raspberry Frambozen, a sweet yet heavy tasting fruit beer.
Rogue
Afterwards my new friends from Steamworks Brewing invited me to try a Canadian tradition one building over at place named Rogue. The drink they had me try was known as a Ceaser, which is like a Bloody Mary, with a sausage. Rogue has many drinks to choose from, it is a wet bar, yet it does have some local brews from the area here. I unfortunately did not have one. The scene at Rogue is that of the place where people go to get seen, and yet filled with tourists since it is on the waterfront. I had to kindly let my new friends go as they went one way and I headed back to my apartment.
The Alibi Room
That evening I headed to The Alibi Room as suggested by the bartender. This place is a great place to get local brews from the area. Believe me, from my experience so far, there are a lot of brews to try. It is basically a tap room and a great place to find locals who are actually really friendly and willing to talk about anything. This was hands down one of the best environments to drink in Vancouver. It was a combo of a good mix of beer, people and entertainment.
In Victoria
Vancouver had some amazing spots to drink brews. But the place that seemed to be the king of beers was Victorira. I took a ferry to Nanaimo to check out the tranquil fishing town. Spent some time with my Airbnb hosts. A day later I found myself on a Greyhound to heading to Victoria. Victoria is known as “City of Gardens”, but should be known as the city of breweries. There are plenty of breweries to visit. The staring point here for me was Spinnakers.
Spinnakers
Spinnakers touts to be one of the first Micro Brewpubs in British Colombia, at least that is what I was told by the bartender. Spinnaker is located on the other side of the blue bridge kind of out of the way of the tourist area. This makes it have a more local atmosphere and feel. It is more of a restaurant than a bar. I started off with the Nut Brown Ale, which was rather good and had a good flavor to it. Ithen proceeded to the the Dark Ale which was nice and rich but smooth enough to counter the heat. I then tried the Extra Special Bitter thanks to the bartender’s suggestion and was well surprised on the flavor. The bartender was very helpful, knew a lot about beers and explained the origins well. He also talked of the history of the area. He was also kind enough to suggestion 5 other places to get some good brews while in Victoria.
Canoe
The next stop was back over the blue bridge to Canoe. Easy to find as it is on the waterfront, easy access for tourists. It had a good atmosphere, a wide open area as well as a large open eating area. This was odd due to the random weather in the area. Canoe has a good mixture of tourists and locals.
I asked for their specialty and the set me up with the Beaver Brown Ale. I really enjoyed it a lot. The bartender at first was not very talkative, until we started talking of Bogotá and our love for the place. He gave me a suggestion of the Summer Honey Wheat Ale. It was nice and refreshing. I then had a Red Canoe Lager which was nice but I had to run as the old lady sitting next to me was starting to hit on me.
Swan Brew Pub
I started to stumble out of Canoe quickly. Feeling a bit of a buzz I had about 5 other places to hit up, unfortunately Swan Brew Pub was going to be the last place. Thankfully within walking distance, I entered the small place. I like small as they have a nice atmosphere. It was definitely different than Spinnakers and Canoe. I tried the Swans Oatmeal Stout which was nice and thick and creamy with a heavy taste. It was a good one that I really enjoyed. I then had the Appleton Brown Ale which I really liked. Was not quite like a New Castle but was pretty close. A hurried that beer as I had to catch the bus back to Nanaimo.
Nanaimo - Fibber Magees
After my excursion from Victoria, I was hungry, despite being filled with beers. I tried to find my way to the area of Nanaimo, a small boating town, that was filled with nice restaurants. Instead I found myself getting lost. I spotted a place where a lot of locals were going so I decided to head that direction too. The place was an old railroad station turned into an Irish Pub. Fibber Magees had just opened a week prior to me entering. The service there was okay, not great and the atmosphere was definitely of the youth sort. The thing that stood out? Lots of beers on taps.
I asked the not so friendly bartender for a local brew and he provided me with a Longwood Dunkelweizen, a nice wheat ale. I then started to talk to some very friendly locals, which seems to be common on Canada. They introduced me to the world of Belgium style beers. They had me try La Trappe Tripel, in which I enjoyed and had 2 of. I then tried a Tremens which was delicious. I then had a local Longwood Framboise, a nice sweet raspberry ale which was quite tasty. At this point I was schnockered from all day of drinking. My kind new friends offered me a ride to my place in Nanaimo. I hurried myself to bed and then slept all night and more
The Wrap Up
What is there to say about British Colombia? Well it is a heaven for those who love beer. Other places that are worth mentioning are The Speakeasy and Granville Island Brewery. A beer fan can have a good time checking out the many craftbeers in the area. Just remember to bring some money.
Have some good beers you love from around the world? I know my list can go on for days. Tell me some of your favorite brews from all over the world Leave a message below, send us a tweet
// on twitter, or post on our facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let us know, we want to share it with others.
Places visited:
Yaletown Breweries
Swans Brew Pub
Spinnakers
Steamworks Brewing Company
Granville Island
Canoe
Blurry Morning On Dal Lake - Kashmir
This is what happens when you get up at 4:15 am to take photos. It all becomes blurry. This is Srinagar, Kashmir, India
Giant Cross in Zipaquirá Salt Mines
Zipaquirá Salt Mines about an hour north from Bogotá, Colombia. This is the giant cross at the end of the tunnel.
14 Hours of Travel Hell - Getting to Sapzurro, Colombia
Riding 12 hours from Delhi to Jammu and missing both my bus and my stop was really bad. Also being delayed 3 hours to miss a flight and was rerouted to Qatar then to Delhi, eventually losing my luggage and my friends who were to meet up with me was not fun either. 3 days on a Greyhound bus from California to Virginia would have been a nightmare as well if I was not traveling with a good friend. Yet, yesterday? Oh yeah!!! It was bad. How bad do you say? Well I would have to say it was the only time that I felt that it would have been better off wanting to die that to be on the travel. How did it start off you ask? It started off while traveling in Colombia. The first hour was easy, the rest not so great.
So for my birthday I had decided to travel to Colombia again. This time it was to be with my girlfriend. We were to meet up in here hometown of Bogotá. This part of the travel was not bad. Two days pass by and it is time to head off to our next destination. We are going to head off to the lonely lazy and secluded area of Capurgana and Sapzurro. We fly on Avianca from Bogotá to Medellín. That was a simple flight and for $35 it was way better than the seats and comfort than the one I had on American Airlines. We take an hour and half taxi ride from the Airport to the Bus Terminal in Medellin were there was craziness going on. You see this week is Semana Santos, which is equivalent to USA’s spring break. This is one of the largest travel weeks in Colombia. Everyone is trying to get a bus out of Medellin. Unfortunately, so are we.
The buses are just about full, and the last option to take is the ugliest and cheapest bus. The good thing is that it was cheap. The bad thing is that there was little leg room and the seats did not recline. Not only that but my chair had a metal bar that was a support for my seat that stuck into my butt and my girlfriend’s seat cushion detached itself. The whole ride my girlfriend was mad at me so she wasnt talking to me, which meant that the long 9 hour ride was longer and the guy behind me was kept jabbing his knee in my back through my chair.
9 hours have gone by and we are still in the bus. The bus is behind schedule and not is late getting us to Turbo. Turbo is where were are supposed to be buy our tickets at 7:00 am before the boat left at 8:30 am. The bus finally lands us at the stop at 8:20 am. We scurried to the docks where it was humid and crowded with people. There was nothing but chaos. Finally boarding our boat after trying to figure out who sat where I was sitting in the front. My girlfriend a row behind me. We head out and on the 2 1/2 hour boat ride where we are too get to Capurgana, the stop before we head to Sapzurro. So I thought 2 1/2 hours wouldnt bad compared to the last 11 hours. Oh was I wrong. I read that if you do not sit in the rear of the boat the boat ride would be bumpy. Little did I know what they meant by bumpy that you would get bruised up and wish to die from motion sickness, having your butt bruised, and getting with water the whole time. The guy sitting behind my girlfriend apparently almost started to break down crying. The kids behind us were the whole time.
After finally arriving to Capurgana, we imediatly hop into another boat, still shaking from the past boat. The rain had started coming down and we are starting to get soaked. The 15 minute ride was not too bad as we sat in the back this time, but both needed to vomit. Good thing we did not have time for breakfast otherwise we surely would have. That 15 minutes was fast compared to the rest of the trip. We get off the boat to find out luggage drenched. After all that it was very rewarding in the long run. I was able to see how and why Sapzurro is a sought out place to visit by Colombians. It is like being on a deserted Island… But not really. The view is gorgeous.
Things learned? Book your bus before hand, online if possible. It is not always possible, so try to book it at the ticket office before hand.
If you can, take a flight from Medellin to Capurgana. It is worth not wanting to get sick the whole ride. If you can get to the boat early and make sure to get a rear seat. Lastly I learned to just enjoy the trip. See the good in it, despite the weirdness that might happen.