OM System OM-1

Hey, what's up guys? Professional outdoor photographer David Johnson here for Outdoor Photography Guide. And today we're talking about the Olympus OM-1. Now, let me know if this is you. You are in the market for a new camera. You're overwhelmed by all of the options on YouTube and on blog reviews. There's so many cameras out there, it can feel like your head is spinning. And you just wanna ask yourself, what is the right camera for me specifically? Sometimes it can feel like you're searching in the middle of a vast desert for a tiny needle in a haystack. I know what you're feeling. And I've been testing out this Olympus OM-1 for the last few months. And what I can say is Olympus has really gone back to the retro on this, back to where they first started creating cameras for the consumer that work really, really well in specific situations. If you're a photographer, especially an outdoor photographer who loves to go out in conditions where you might get a little bit wet. Maybe you're going to some waterfalls and you're splashing around. Maybe you are going to sand dunes and some of these expansive places where your camera might get a little bit damaged. That's okay with this camera. I think the flagship feature for this camera is that it can basically handle anything you can throw at it. It has some of the best weather ceiling reports out there on the market right now. And I don't think any outdoor photographer would have to be worried about taking this camera anywhere. I've gotten it wet. I've gotten it sandy. I've taken it to sea salt conditions at the beach and really tested it. And a lot of conditions where my old cameras would've failed or would've gotten really clogged up with sand or debris or salt, and this camera performed very, very well. Now, a couple other features that I want to tell you about before I get to maybe is this camera right for you? I love the fact that this camera has a big, big view finder on the back. I get really annoyed, trying to search for a tiny little view finder on the back of the camera. Has a big LCD screen that flips around, gets protected by the elements with this screen cover on the back when you flip it back over. I love that feature because so many times, often I've broken my LCD screens because they were not protected by the weather. This one has this nice seal on the back that you can easily just flip back open and see what you're doing on the LCD screen on the back. I love how the buttons are organized on the top. Makes it very easy to set function buttons, custom functions, and easily navigate what settings you want to have on your camera when you are out shooting, because the last thing you want as a photographer is getting out into the field and you're like, well, I want this setting, but now where did it go? And these dials are tiny when my fingers are freezing cold in the elements. You don't want that. And you're not gonna have that with the Olympus OM-1. I also love the size of this. It's so easy to just quickly clip onto your tripod, clip off, take it anywhere you want to go, throw it in your backpack. And the hand grip on this is one of the best I've felt on the market. Any that I've used and I've used every single camera brand out there. And this is probably the most comfortable hand grip that I've ever used. Now let's talk sensor size. And most importantly, is this sensor right for you as an outdoor photographer? Because I think sensors are one of the biggest spec features that a lot of photographers look at when they are buying, especially outdoor photographers. Let's look at this one. Micro Four Thirds Sensor on this camera. Obviously, not as big as a full frame sensor, but you really don't have to worry with that. With this Micro Four Thirds resolution, testing this and looking at the image resolution coming out on this camera, it can definitely get the job done if you want to print your own images, blow them up to two feet, three feet. I think that would be a great fit for any photographer who wants that size of a print out of this camera and really high quality resolution on a Micro Four Thirds Sensor. In terms of bells and whistles here, I know a lot of photographers love those really nice features that cameras throw, and I want to throw at you my favorite feature on this camera that you're not gonna find in other ones. And that is the ability to set a custom function where you really don't even need a tripod. What this does is you can set for really long exposures, photograph something like a waterfall, hand hold it, something way beyond what you would be able to hand hold in the past. And what this camera actually does is it finds those little edges and details and through all of the frames that it collects, all the data that it collects, it, stacks those together and creates a really sharp waterfall image for you to use in your photos. So I love that because I don't, shockingly, love using a tripod. Having a camera that doesn't make me use a tripod is what I would love to see and what I would even love other camera companies love to do like the Olympus OM-1 is doing. Okay, the biggest question that we've been dancing around this entire video is, is the Olympus OM-1 right for you as a photographer? Well, let me ask you a few questions and then I'll answer that. Number one, are you a photographer who goes out in some really epic conditions? Number two, are you a photographer who doesn't like lugging around big, bulky, heavy equipment? Number three, are you a photographer who likes a lot of lens variations and even zoom lenses that can feature a lot of different focal distances in one, so you're not switching lenses in and out when you're out in the field? If all of those answers that you had sound like you, this is a great camera for you because it's small, it's portable. It's great for those photographers who like to take the camera out on the trail, take one lens with them, bang, bang, bang. This one is going to get everything that you want done out of maybe one lens, definitely one camera body. So you don't have to worry about taking a big bulky camera out with you. This is great for weekend warriors, adventure photographers, nature photographers, fine detail, intimate scenes. This camera is going to get the job done for all of those sub genres of outdoor photography, even wildlife photography with the lens reach that this camera has with it, with the mount. So if this camera's right for you, the Olympus OM-1, I definitely think it probably is, 'cause it covers so many sub genres of outdoor photography. I loved my experience in using it and I hope this video helped you decide if the Olympus OM-1 is the right camera for you too.