Finally a Micro Four Thirds Camera for my Travel Photography

I’ve frequently travel both domestic and internationally for photography and seem to be in a constant search for the best camera for travel. I absolutely love my Canon 6d for travel photography. It’s a full size camera that’s the size of a crop sensor, great high ISO image quality, and the built-in GPS is extremely handy. So, why am I switching to a micro four thirds camera?

Why am I moving to Micro Four Thirds?

I’ve been debating the move to micro four thirds for about a year. The airline weight carry-on restrictions finally pushed me into buying. See my post on airline carry-on restrictions. I also often mix business and photography when I travel, so I have laptops and other business items that I need to carry on as well.

One of my photography passions is wildlife and bird photography. With all the carry-on restrictions, it would be difficult to pack a long lens for say a tiger safari and the thought of checking a long telephoto lens on an international flight really scares me. Moving to a smaller interchangeable lens camera will also allow me to carry a better selection of lenses on my photography trips and still be within weight limits.

Which Micro Four Thirds Camera did I choose?

I bought the Olympus OM-D E-M5. There are several good mirror less cameras on the market but I decided to go with the micro four thirds system due to the variety of lenses on the market from multiple manufacturers.

I selected the Olympus OM-D E-M5 because of it’s built-in viewfinder, weather proofing (I just got caught in a down pour in India), frames per second, and improved autofocus system.

What will I miss from my Canon 6d?

I’m still keeping my Canon 6d and plan on taking it on my travels when possible. When I take my new Olympus OM-D on trips, I will miss a couple of features of the Canon 6d.

GPS. You don’t know what you’re missing with a built in GPS until you have one. Every outdoor photo is automatically tagged and with the mapping features in Lightroom, Aperture, and iPhoto, it’s easy to see where you’ve been and photographed. I did hear a rumor that Olympus was developing a GPS accessory for its micro four thirds line. We’ll have to see.

Low light, high ISO quality. From the samples that I’ve seen the Olympus OM-D E-M5 takes great photos but it can’t compete with the low light quality of a full frame camera. I have no concerns hiking up the ISO on my Canon 6d in almost any lighting conditions.

I’ll be blogging on my travel experiences with the Olympus OM-D in future blogs, so stay tuned.

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