One of my jobs this week is to take those special images of spaces at the school, usually used for report covers, web pages etc.

By instinct I put my 8-18 on the Pen F, a camera I reserve for this type of thing, then add a 40-150 (any would do, but the f4 was chosen). I added a 25 f1.8, for a little Bokeh magic and to fill the gap.

I then decided to add the S5 with 20-60, 85 for stills and IRIX cinema-macro 150 for video.

I then woke up from my deeply in-grained habits and took out all the M43 stuff.

The main reason was I realised I only needed one format and although either would do fine, but the reality is, the S5 does stills and video, the G9 Mk2 still does not do stills yet (no RAW support until I update Capture 1 and there is a story there).

Suddenly the bag got lighter, the process easier, but I became suspicious of another influence.

Was I in need of a change, or worse, am I growing tired of an instinctively perceived shortfall in M43 or does it hold true that either would do, so take what is best for the day?

I have to admit that in some extreme circumstances, the S5 produces a better image. This is not depth of field related, because as pretty as very shallow depth can look, it has proven to be predictably impractical as I knew it would be and the low light benefit is again not as great as some assume, again thanks to the more useable wide apertures on M43. Shallow depth is good for removing unpleasant backgrounds, but I do not have the luxury of shooting bad backgrounds, because my images have a need to be “in context”.

The difference is found in extreme light, dynamic range, i.e. retrieval of shadows and highlights in photographically bad situations.

I pride myself on making most images work to a certain level, no matter how bad. The combination of two brands or two “takes” on any situation, the added advantage of many lens combinations and my basic, but focussed skills with Capture 1 and ON1 No Noise have made workable images out of rubbish situations more than a few times.

At some point though, it gets too hard.

Who or what is to blame?

I pushed the S5 to see just what is possible.

The reality is though, most things can be fixed another way, because we have been for decades.

I have been in the habit of shooting loose and fixing in post. Not the wholistic photoshop way, using layers and introduced elements, but the shoot RAW and pray version. This is sloppy and not the fault of my camera.

The older G9 and EM1.2’s have been improved upon also and my choice of which to go for has sometimes been poor. The G9 for example can handle indoor lighting in a nicer way than the Oly cameras, providing a warm and pleasant look, until that is, it falls apart completely, then the more natural Oly look does better. The new G9 and later OM’s are improvements, but don’t have or use them in this role yet.

I am of course leaving out the obvious culprit.

Experienced as I am, bad habits creep in, absorption in my subject forces poor technique and when the rubber meets the road, I could often do better.

Shooting into hazy-diffused light is often forced on me and few lenses or cameras do that happily. I do remember a time when I avoided scenarios like this, now I seem to tempt fate a lot more.

A fair go.

I know sometimes I make choices based on limited information. I have a tendency to forgot the years of good service M43 has given me, the reality that my entire portfolio, my current career even is down to it and I re-committed time and again to the format.

I used to work in a camera shop and had the luxury of comparison at hand. A weekend with camera “X” was all I needed to be happy with what i had chosen. The S5 is partly playing that role now.

I have to learn again to see the difference between the things I can fix and those I cannot.

As a prime example, yesterday was a blue sky, clear and brilliant day and the campus I shot was on a hillside, getting the full brunt of that. I did the shoot with the S5 and the images were correspondingly crisp and brilliant. The full frame images did process easily.

Today I shot the junior school campus, a prettier space, but the light was hazy, filtered and the campus is located on a more crowded suburban space with cross-light, and cool shadows.

I deliberately packed the Pen F, 8-18, 40-150 f4 and 25 f1.8.

If there is a genuine difference, I will use the best tool for the job, which makes me happy the S5 is at hand. Plans to add another are simply to balance out a slightly over sized kit of cinema and stills lenses, but in M43 land I am done, not because I have lost faith, but because I have all I need and more.

The reality is, I am just aware that I have a lot of glass for the L Mount and feel one camera is under done here. I have always worked with more cameras, always had depth and one feels fragile. Having said that, I have money in the bank and can fix this if needed.

I would like a dedicated “big-rig” video camera and a stills support camera to go with the small kit of Panasonic-S lenses. I have the video camera, so it is probably a stills option.

What to do?

The Sigma FP ($2.5k) would add a decent video option for my cinema lenses. As a stills camera it sucks a bit, but it would be rigged for video and that is that. Other issues like huge files, battery life, rigging are not insignificant, but the image quality is spectacular. Compatibility with the other cams may be an issue.

The S5 could get a twin ($2k), because to be honest it is enough, especially for stills and compatibility is guaranteed. What it does not offer in video is already handled better by the G9II/M43.

The S5Mk2 ($2.5k) has some better features (and some not), most probably unnecessary for me*, the “X” is the full frame G9II, but still not in some ways and I have been through this. The top end featurs of the G9II/X are both over-kill for me. More mundane things like handling, stabilising etc are the crux of it.

A second hand S1H appeals ($3-2.5k), but lacks battery compatibility, is big, heavy and dearer than the equally powerful S5 series.

A BMPCC6K in L mount is another option, but the dearest ($3.6k).

*Dreamscapes of movie making aside, my real world needs are high grade 1080p/50p, occasional slo-mo, 10 bit/422 colour and a flexible profile (FLAT or Standard), with VLog and 4K/50p as a welcome option. I could add a couple of off board recorders for multi-cam RAW, but doubt I would use it.