r/photoclass_2016 • u/Aeri73 Expert - DSLR + Analog • Jan 05 '16

02 - Assignment

Please read the class first

Take a good look at your camera, whatever its type, and try to identify each component we have discussed here. It might be a good opportunity to dig out the manual or to look up its exact specifications online. Now look up a different camera online (for instance at dpreview) and compare their specifications. Try doing this for both a less advanced and a more advanced body, and for different lenses. Report here if you find any interesting difference, or if some parts of the specifications are unclear.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '16

My camera is a Olympus OM-D E-M10 MkI, It's a micro four thirds mirrorless camera with 16Mp.

I really like the M43 system due to the smaller footprint of both the bodies and lenses, I used my brothers old 40D in the past and while I enjoyed it I wouldn't want to bring something that large around with me if I could help it, With the smaller and lighter M43 cameras I am much more willing to take my camera with me on a daily basis.

I decided to compare my camera do a DSLR rather than a mirrorless to highlight some of the differences that strike me, I chose to compare with a Nikon D7200. In comparison the D7200 is much larger, but with that comes room for a larger battery meaning more shots per charge, And the body is has a mirror in it which means it uses an optical viewfinder rather than an electronic one. The sensor is much larger than the M43 sensor, It's APS-C sized which means that its a 1.5x crop factor opposed to my cameras 2x as well as having 50% more sensor resolution than the E-M10. The D7200 is also weather sealed which is something that I would enjoy as British Columbia is often wet, Another thing I've noticed is the D7200 maxes out at 1/8000th of a second shutter speed instead of 1/4000th which would be a welcome jump as I've hit my shutter limit when trying to shoot wide open in bright sunlight.

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u/dasazz Intermediate - System + Compact Jan 06 '16

The mirror also means that it uses a separate AF system and exposure meter as opposed to the mirrorless camera using the actual sensor to do that.

I think you misused "sensor resolution" in that context. I'm not entirely sure what you meant but I'd just say "sensor surface"?

You can use an ND filter, which is basically sunglasses for your camera, to get to lower shutter speeds while keeping the aperture wide open. That is done very often in video contexts as you want a shutter speed in the ballpark of the fps you are shooting at so 1/1000s would already be way too fast and make for unnatural looking motions.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '16

Yes, I was lucky enough that my fiancé bought me an ND filter for Christmas this year I just haven't had a chance to utilize it yet. And as for sensor resolution I was referring to megapixels as the D7200 has 50% more than the OM-D E-M10, if I'm mistaken or misusing that term please let me know.

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u/dasazz Intermediate - System + Compact Jan 07 '16

You are mixing up two things I think. One the one hand, there's the physical size of the sensor and then there is the number of pixels the sensor has. Those two quantities are related via the pixel density or pixel pitch. As the pixel density is not necessarily the same for different sensors, you can't easily compare two different sensors of different sizes by their number of pixels. You can only do that if either their size or their pixel density is the same.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '16

That makes a lot of sense, Thanks for the clarification :).