Photography News | Issue 67 | photographynews.co.uk
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Images The MC-14 teleconverter gave me an additional 1.4x reach, essential for capturing the dusty detail from these playful elephants
It was a welcome experience getting to grips with Olympus’ top-of-the-range glass of unpredictable subjects we were shooting, it meant I had the chance to go back in time and pick out the exact moment I wanted without any lag: it really is clever stuff. I’m used to shooting with compact primes, and so it was a welcome experience getting to grips with Olympus’ top of the range glass with bigger reach. The 300mm f/4 IS PRO was a total beast for delivering pristine shots, with its fast aperture and 600mm 35mm equivalent. I was able to focus in on my subject without compromising on the depth- of-field, and could also keep a safe distance. This lens also offers one of the world ’ s fastest five-axis sync IS, which works beautifully
Our guide, Charles Ndhlovu, had extensive experience, and has been working with Wilderness for many years having grown up in the country as a game ranger. Dedicated to making sure we had the best opportunities for picture-taking, while on game drives in our jeep, I rarely found myself having to ask to move angles, as Charles would give us options for backlighting, or front – so we all got a great variety to our pictures. As well as this, while we were taking in the sights, incredibly, he was tracking various animals prints in the ground, meaning we were lucky enough to catch site of a leopard (being chased by a baboon!) and a cheetah possibly searching for
lost cubs, an experience that really put our kit to the test as it was just after the sunset and light was disappearing fast. Using the E-M1X I was able to capture the cheetah at 1/60sec, f/4 on the 300mm f/4 PRO lens at ISO 6400; all handheld. Our experience included a lot of travelling, and anyone looking to book this type of trip should be prepared for that. I recommend taking a good book, or a copy of PN , of course! We had just two full days on safari, so it was important to make it count. Speed and quality were at the top of my mind. Both OM-Ds have the same 20.4 megapixel micro four thirds Live MOS sensors beating at their
hearts, but the E-M1X is capable of double the speed of its predecessor thanks to not one, but two powerful TruPic VIII processors, as well as a redeveloped gyro sensor for incredible image stabilisation, weather-sealing – which now includes protecting microphone and headphone terminals – and redeveloped autofocus system; but the function I was most excited to utilise was Pro Capture. A feature introduced with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Pro Capture starts shooting themoment you press the shutter release button down halfway, with a buffer that can be set to capture up to 35 frames in full resolution. When you press the shutter, the action begins! Perfect for the types
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