What kind of photographer am I?
I am—what I like to call—a social media photographer. And I'm not ashamed of it!
I take photos for personal enjoyment, this blog, and my social media accounts. A lot of my photography is mostly of myself in a travel setting or a far off landscape itself. I don't sell very many photos to be blown up and framed, so I consider myself a low-maintenance, novice photographer.
It's actually the premise of my entire brand—Packs Light.
I don't like to carry around multiple heavy, expensive lenses that might be in danger in my carry-on only travels, or a camera body that's heavy, chunky, or too complex to work that it distracts me from my main priority, which is enjoying my travels.
Knowing all this I was excited when Olympus asked me to test their newest camera, the OM-D E-M10 Mark IV.
Initial Thoughts: It's so light
The first thing I noticed when I unboxed it (my favorite part) was how much lighter it was then my other mirrorless camera.
When I looked up the weights I was shocked to see that the Mark IV came in at 383g, which is literally almost half the weight of my other mirrorless camera that comes in at 687g. As a travel content creator, I need a camera that is as spontaneous as I am. It needs to be able to adjust to night and day, deserts and mountains, indoor and outdoor, high and low light. Click To Tweet I also immediately noticed that it didn't have an external battery charger, it charged via charging cable.
This isn't an issue for me—in fact, it struck me at how much easier it would be to have to worry about one small cable that I could buy at most electronic stores instead of having to triple-check that I have my external battery charger like I usually do.
The Test Drive
COVID-19 has stalled the international trips I had planned for 2020, however, that doesn't stop a creator. I decided to take the E-M10 Mark IV on a test drive by visiting a nearby sunflower field that had just gone into bloom.
Olympus was lovely enough to allow me to shoot with the camera before it's official launch date, so that's what you can see a little bit of black tape on the bottom right corner of the photo below.
Packing the camera was easy, and it fits well in my purse and left space for my wallet, mask, hand sanitizer, water bottle, and the additional 17mm lens.
Using my phone worked well enough for simple quick shots, but with such a crowded field in constant movement because of the sway of the sunflowers, there's only so much and smart phones can do. I knew it was time to see what the OM-D E-M10 Mark IV was working with.
I slipped on the camera strap and had an initial pang of anxiety as I thought about what settings I might use in direct sunlight, on mid- to close-range subjects.
But that anxiety instantly went away when I remembered I could easily switch to Scene Mode (SCN). Scene Mode is essentially a step-by-step DIY mode that optimizes your settings according to the scene and takes the guesswork out of simple shots for new photographers.
This bumblebee flew up to nearby sunflower and I was grateful for the Mark VI’s flip-down monitor so that I could capture this shot without having to hunch over or hear the crack of my knees by crouching down.
Post-production process: how easy is it to transfer the photos?
Throughout my first session with the camera I could see improvements in the shots I got, switching in and out of different modes as I took photos of the sunflowers, bees, and myself, and it was a stress-free and fun shoot.
In the 1-hour drive home from the sunflower fields (in the passenger seat), the camera’s Wifi & Bluetooth capabilities made it easy peasy to transfer my photos, edit them in my phone apps, and have them ready to be shared by the time we parked in my driveway. And I'm very happy with some of the shots I got!
Why the E-M10 Mark IV for the novice photographer?
The E-M10 Mark IV is the lightest camera body of all of the previous models in this series and ½ the weight of my other mirrorless camera!
It really makes photography easy with its guided scene selection mode, deep grip for handling, and face recognition and tracking for those action shots weaving through the sunflower fields. The new @Olympus E-M10's Wifi & Bluetooth capabilities made it easy peasy to transfer my photos while in the car, edit them some my phone apps, and have them ready to be posted by the time we parked in my driveway. Click To Tweet Of course, this camera serves me well here at home, but with these features, I can also see myself bringing the Olympus E-M10 Mark IV around with me as I hike up Machu Picchu, or relax in Maya Bay in the future!
My brand is “Packs Light, physically and mentally” and I definitely think the E-M10 Mark IV will help pack light physically with it’s lighter camera body, and mentally by taking the stress out of photography!
This post is sponsored by Olympus Cameras. Thoughts and opinions are my own.
Does this E-MD Mark IV seem like a good starter camera for you? Which feature is your favorite?
Tell me in the comments!
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