I think the key here for Robin is if you plot the amount of sunlight as a function of time through out the day and the amount of coffee in his system as a function of time, you find that as the sun sets the caffeine levels plateau and so IBIS + un-caffeinated hands = super steady shot.
Always love your videos. Micro 4/3 continues to amazes. It always seems to outperform its criticism. The combination of outstanding lenses, stabilization, and depth of field all play to its strength. Thanks for sharing all the photo examples.
I'd prefer a properly IBIS/Sync-IS stabilized small sensor camera for city/urban night photography over a non-stabilized large sensor camera. Only where you need fast shutter speeds at high ISO, this equation turns around. Another tip: without a tripod, take multiple shots of the same scene to increase chances of one sharp image.
Found you from your Nikon D5 video I got one for Free gifted by a family friend I have bought 3 newer camera's but still use the Nikon 5D I learn so much from your video's thank you Robin
I took your ISO200 challenge a while back and was amazed at how slow you could go. I found out that MFT is great for urban night photo fairly early on with just an EM10ii and the EZ kit lens - now I have the EM1iii and f1.8 lenses it's even better.
Brilliant photos👍🙏 80% of my low light or night time photography are shot with iso 200, hand held of course, because I shoot with an intention in mind that I might “print big” if I want to, so low iso with better detail is the key. Thanks Robin, your video every time is a new secret 🙏
Optimum ISO on the 4/3 sensors is probably ISO 400 or ISO 800 not base ISO 200, which is to say best signal to noise at a little loss of DR. Usual wisdom is nighttime does want low ISO for least noise (actually it wants the best signal above noise) Robin's exercise was a "how slow can you go hand-held" which forces the use of a moderately fast lens, even wide-open. I like to know how slow I can hold the camera and it is not as slow as Robin managed, stabilisation cannot fix gross body wobble . But with wide-open the image isn't flat so the corners are a little diffuse and dimmed. Lenses become sharpest and best stopped down and that probably needs the tripod (carbon tripods weigh next to nothing). Nighttime images really tighten up with f/8 to f/11. Nighttime photography is an ancient sport and the rules are different to daytime.
Hey Robin! I bought an Olympus M10 Mark II just some days ago. Your videos where a big help getting started. I do own a Sony A7II but the small Olympus is so much fun! The stabilizer is very impressive. One second shutter handheld... no problem. 🙂
The OM10ii was my entry into the MFT world - bought to go travelling with due to it's small size in a kit together with the 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ pancake zoom and 40-150 f4.0-5.6R. Needless to say I was fully won over and sold all my APS sensor kit, boy has that saved a lot of neck strain. Hope you continue to enjoy your EM10ii - look out for great used bargains on lenses out there.
@@uTPH1 Thanks for your reply! My first 'proper' camera was an Olympus IS-1000. Then i switched to digital with a Canon EOS 300D. After that Olympus again with the E-520. Then a Sony NEX 5n, NEX6 and A7II. My brother has a PEN PL5 and that inspired me to have a look at Olympus again. I absolutely love the look and feel of the M10II. The size and weight advantage is something I was underestimating. I shot a friend's birthday party last weekend at a pub. Perfect camera for stuff like that. Can't wait for the next trip. At the moment I have the 17mm F1.8, 25mm F1.8 and 45mm F1.8 prime lenses. I love prime lenses and the MFT form factor is awesome. (My favorite adapted Minolta 58mm F1.2 lens for E-Mount weighs as much as the M10II *including* the 25mm lens).
@@robinwong yea I need a good photo guide there is some material online but there must be places I cant miss. Greetings from NZ by the way..and thank you for your continued passion for m43!
Great video Robin! This should push more people to explore night photography, not just us Olympus owners who are blessed with outstanding in-camera image stabilization. Cheers.
the stabilization in the EM1 Mk3 is just bonkers. 2 Seconds handheld without issues - i mean come on, for shots without moving subjects MFT is just insane ^^
@@mongini1 yes, you can do the milky way handeld with the 8mm f1.8 PRO and an OM1 or an EM1-Mk3. Be stable, elbow close to the body. 15 and 30s are possible, especially with the double stabilisation and the 12-100mm f4. You should try, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10s, you might be surprised.
@@jeremymaitre8146 im home in the Fuji system... i had the EM1-Mk2 for a while, went to Sony A7 III after that, and since 4 years now home to Fuji, started with the X-T30 and now rocking the X-H2 - its a monster, especially with the new Viltrox 75mm 1.2 (and that from some1 who used the A7 III with really good glass like the Sigma 135mm 1.8, images are very comparable) That 75 is a match made in heaven for the X-H2 - sharper than the Sigma 135 on the Sony. I miss the IBIS from the Oly, but im still very happy with Fuji and wont switch any time soon ^^
I’m fine with up to 15 sec handheld with my em1-emIII and 12-40 pro 2.8. Usually I keep it around 2-5. I love the dark. Day is my problem and getting the ND filters right
Did this challenge previously after watching yr video.. ISO 200 as you indicated for the night street photo shoot, .used a tripod ( when needed ) . MY gear was my EM-10 & 12-40 mm Lens. Photos turned out pretty OK
Excellent video! Great to see the photos and associated setting info. Have missed your videos recently, but glad this one came to my attention. Wish you were still with Olympus.
This is an eye opening video for me. I was like there is no way my camera can hand hold and keep a sharp image at those speeds and I am sitting here in awe looking at 2 second handheld exposures that are coming out clear. I don't have the f2.8 aperture of your lens but I am still able to do what I need to at f4. Really great video!
Voice sound is fantastic! Last time I was in KL 20 years ago. Just under Petronas Towers I have bought my first digital camera 2 megapixel Olympus Camedia C-2. Nostalgy.
You challenged the camera even more than you had to do; given you have the 25mm f/1.2 pro lens; albeit, the trade was you had a decent zoom capability.
The idea was to get some nightscape, so I do need a wide angle. 25mm is too narrow for most of the shots that I wanted to do. This was not a street photography outing.
Absolutely. This is why in these situations I always set my ISO manually on my OM-1. I know what level of camera-shake I can get away with, which is a lot. There is no need to crank-up ISO and shutter speed unless the subject is moving, or I am using an exceptionally long lens. Even for moving subjects an OM-1 with a 1.4mm lens will give you (almost) the same results as an FF camera with a 2.8mm (a little less resolution and dynamic range) but it will give you BETTER results for hand-held shots of static subjects
Thanks for the video Robyn, as usual you are encouraging us to get out and find great pictures and don’t overthink the technical challenges. I am excited to go and try the 200 ISO challenge myself here in Brisbane Australia. You had amazing colours in some of your street shots, and I look forward to seeing if I can find the mixed light sources doing the same thing here.
Great video Robin. I love using low ISO's and use 100-400 for almost everything, whatever camera I use. That's what I used to do with film so I figure why not do it with a more modern and capable camera. 🤘🤗🙏
It’s true that I can’t do much without IS . Like my M9 at night is really hard especially for night and street shooting. Love your photos Robin keep it going
Wow. Great challenge. I just gave it a go with my 10 mk3. I got a bunch of really nice night pics. The colour saturation was really nice and all pics were sharp. Using a 17mm f1.8 probably made it too easy!
Hi Sean, as Robin says it works fine with the EZ kit lens. Alternatively if limited with the f3.5/5.6 aperture take the ISO up a bit - depending on model you'll be surprised how far you can go.
Great video Robin! I will try to explore night photography with my old om-d e5 and the 12-50 kit lens and the om-d e1mark3 to see the differrence between the two cameras.
This is why I like Sig 18-35/1.8 on my Pentax K3. IBIS does the job and such lens captures a lot of light, so ISO can stay low. For Olympus I only have 14-42, so F3.5 is the limit. Lens like 12mm F2 can be nice low-light cityscape tool.
When I get my OM-1 with the 12-40mm f/2.8 II lens I'm going to do this ISO 200 challenge. This video helped to make me finally decide to go with the OM-1 instead of the S5 IIx (may pick one up later on for the Lumix S f/1.8 prime lenses), because I have my injured back (permanently-disabled in the military at L3, L4, L5, S1) to think of. I cannot get the reach I want from Full Frame like I can on Micro 4/3 with all the lovely smaller telephoto zoom lenses available. I appreciate your videos on Micro 4/3 and others like Rob Trek, Jimmy from RED35, Emily from Micro Four Nerds, That Micro 4/3 Guy, Peter Forsgård, etc. The Micro 4/3 community is definitely strong. Used to have the original Olympus E-M1 with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens but had to sell it for personal reasons. So, I definitely know what Micro 4/3 is capable of.
Great video. You also have the option to take handheld high res photos and thereby remove most most grain by automacticly combining 16 images. That works with the top level Olympus cameras and the OM-D camera. That works even when you crank up the ISO.
wow Robin this has been an incredible video, i absolutely loved it i haven't done any photography like this with my M43 cameras but would love to give it ago thank you.
This was actually quite interesting mate. It's nothing new of course but Ive always thought low light photography is do-able these days because of the high ISO settings we can use on our cameras. But even though we all know IBIS is excellent we forget just how excellent it can be. A one full second exposure and still be sharp? Get outta town man! But the Olympus seems to be able to do it. Is the micro four thirds sensor inherently better able to do this because of its smaller size? A tripod isn't always convenient.
I will be going to Malaysia later on this year ~ So I'm wondering if you ever have or ever will do a video showing some of the best places to get the better shots? Not only in KUALA LUMPUR but anywhere else in your country?
Great video, compositions and thoughts. I've recently shot a completely dark fashion exposition (Carla Zampatti at Powerhouse Museum Sydney) where only the mannequins are illuminated by spotlights. I only had my E-PM2 with the 14-42mm kit lens with me, but I loved the results with both 1/50 SS and ISO10000 and 1/4 SS and ISO1000, very crisp in both scenarios and would have been good enough for a poster-size print!
Nighttime photography is a form that goes back well over one hundred years. We often see it confused with astrophotography which has more specialised requirements. Obviously the old wet plate and film speeds were very slow and consequently any movements in the subject will blur no matter what the aperture, and this applies even now with digital. Of possible note, the latest sensors may have an optimum ISO (best signal to noise) slightly higher than their base ISO but losing a little DR. Received wisdom for nighttime is low ISO (least noise), slow shutter, but perhaps surprisingly a small aperture in the order of f/11 to sharpen and flatten the image, or whatever the best aperture of that lens is, usually f/8 - f/11 (it will not be wide-open). Use of AWB is moot, the metering will be looking for 18% grey which it will not find at night and perceived colours can go wrong (like producing a daytime blue sky). A fixed WB, possibly custom, may work better. For hand-held the stabilisation wants to be the best you can get. Synch-IS is great but only available with Olympus IS Pro lenses, of which there are - just three (which is where OM have shot themselves in the foot because Panasonic go Dual2 with practically all of their OIS lenses). However stabilisation won't let you hand-hold for several seconds, I might get away with 1s with a poor keeper rate but I cannot freeze like a statue. Stabilisation wont fix gross movement like body sway. Of possible note, video is more tolerant of underexposure, we can often go a good two stops lower with video than stills. We can underexpose stills and boost in post (but we lose shadow detail). There are some tricks we can play like changing the metering mode, compensation the metering mode, fiddling with the gain curve (highlight-shadow) to lift the darks. The Picture Mode can make surprising changes. And the default NR can be too aggressive and remove detail.
Great video Robin as always 👌👌👌!!! Just a recommendation would you also consider videos regarding your post processing, your thought process and tools you use. Thanks.
I've tried using a Nikon FF DSLR for nighttime. Great camera, superb photos. The AF system is optical PD off the mirror, it would not AF in low light. If you cannot see the subject through the optical view finder because it is too dark, the camera cannot either and it refuses to AF. Grab the MFT, beep and its focused. Try focusing on stars at night, Panasonic, Pentax and more lately Olympus will AF on them. The concept that you want high ISO in low light is wrong, nighttime wants low ISO, long shutter, and the perishing tripod. A nighttime shot at f/11 might be 15-20 seconds. I have a number of Panympus cameras and they can all run to ISO 3200 without significant noise, where ISO 6400 starts to show noise (subjective and ymmv). The IMX sensor in the G9 is essentially identical to that in the E-M1iii (less the PD, and according to some may be completely identical with the PD blanked off), and they are top-notch (if you look at the test specs they are up there with Sony's best, unsurprising as they're made by Sony).
Hi Robin, I really like your videos and I am wondering if the Iso 200 challenge could be done with an OM D E M1 camera? As I own the M1 and use it for night photography a lot I would really like to shoot at low iso vallues without using a tripod. Oh! I use vintage lenses and set the focal length in the ibis menu and that is really helping. I must say that the lowest usable iso handheld is iso 400. Thanks in advance!
Like to see a comparison of low light photography of m4/3 using low iso and full frame in the same situation using higher iso. And how the photos would compare. This would be good for the naysayers
I don't get the purpose of this test. A picture took at base ISO will always be better than one at higher ISO. A FF camera will produce less than a M4/3 noise at equal ISO. So you'll be able to use a lower ss and produce less noise raising the ISO value. But this has nothing to do with the base ISO used in this video.
@@TheNerdOnTube i agree, but this was a recent debate on another channel where the full frame people think very little of m4/3 and are telling people otherwise.
The base ISO is 200, meaning you get the best dynamic range, noise control and color tonality with it. If you extend the ISO you don't get the best output.
@@robinwong Heck, I missed your answer last time I asked the question and you even mentioned me in your video (thanks), Sorry, I don't get to watch every video - my bad. Thank you. (have you watched my channel yet? :-) ) Andy
Great video Robin - I generally shoot at ISO200 by default but then if I move from landscape to birds-in-flight (where I need to freeze motion at 1/4000sec) I set up a different process on one of the custom buttons with auto ISO. One question, when you post-process and bring up the shadows does this increase the noise? I noticed your last shot you took twice the second time considerably darkening the image with exposure compensation which I thought would increase noise in the final processed image?
Before I switched to Olympus MFT, I used Foveon sensors (a.k.a. Sigma cameras). Just a couple months ago, I went back to Sigma and am now selling my Pen-F and its lenses. Foveon Sensor *_is_* shooting with ISO 200 (400 max) - and these cameras don't even have IBIS. It is very much possible to shoot with ISO 200 at night, and it actually opens the doors to otherwise never seen or realized ways to find motifs and to take pictures. When everybody shoots with 3200 or 12800 during the night, they simply won't produce the pictures I am doing with ISO 200. It's not only a quite different way of taking pictures during the night, the results are also very different. On the other hand, I very, very seldom go out shooting at night.
@@robinwong Fortunately, there are several lenses for Sigma cameras with optical stabilization. Not as good as Olympus' IBIS by far, but quite effective nevertheless. Additionally, I'm taking pictures sitting in a wheelchair, which allows me to support my arms on its armrests or simply putting the camera on my lap. And of course, I always have a tripod on me, for really long exposures. Since the vast majority of my "serious" photography is done with analog large format cameras, it's only consistent to do digital photography this way ...
Slightly off topic but, I was wondering if you can do zone shooting with the Olympus 1 3 ??? Can I just set the camera at f5.6 or f8 to get everything in focus!?? I shot inside temples and wall murals but only the center of the foto is in focus...if I shoot at f8 will the whole mural be in focus??? Sorry if this is a stupid question...I have several lens to include the 75mm, sigma 56mm, 60mm macro, 14-150mm, 12-40mm and a panny 15 nm ...
Well, i fully understand, why many people consider such photographs as beautiful. They really are, contrast and color contrast (plus composition, Robin) makes them such. But boy oh boy, amount of light pollution in Kuala Lumpur seems to me absolutely terrible :-O.
As explained in the video, ISO200 is the base ISO, it gives you the best results (noise control, dynamic range, color tonality). ISO100 is extended and you get worse results.
@Robin Wong yes, but i was referring to that area where u choose to take the photos, it has so much light, its like daytime, u cant call that a poorly lit environment, u can even see the clouds above the city, that means light pollution is massive.. choice of shutter speed, aperture and iso doesnt necessarily mean low light. yes, it s a stabilization test for handheld longer shutter speed, but the environment u are testing it s not low light in my opinion
you can feel how much this guy loves his work, i hope some day to be like him.
I think the key here for Robin is if you plot the amount of sunlight as a function of time through out the day and the amount of coffee in his system as a function of time, you find that as the sun sets the caffeine levels plateau and so IBIS + un-caffeinated hands = super steady shot.
Thank you Robin , your channel really stands out from the crowd. Awesome content.
Wow... Kuala Lumpur is really beautiful at night!!! At least through you photos. Wonderful colors!!!
Thanks, KL is indeed beautiful at night
As a newbie with my em10 markii camera and worried (scared) about low light photograpy, this video inspired me. Thanks for your work.
Impressive , Robin , but not a surprise to those of us who use MFT gear . Nice one!
Thanks Carmen, indeed one of the advantage of using Micro Four Thirds.
Always love your videos. Micro 4/3 continues to amazes. It always seems to outperform its criticism. The combination of outstanding lenses, stabilization, and depth of field all play to its strength. Thanks for sharing all the photo examples.
Thanks Paul, glad I can share what I can. Indeed, Micro Four Thirds can deliver results.
I'd prefer a properly IBIS/Sync-IS stabilized small sensor camera for city/urban night photography over a non-stabilized large sensor camera. Only where you need fast shutter speeds at high ISO, this equation turns around.
Another tip: without a tripod, take multiple shots of the same scene to increase chances of one sharp image.
Thanks, indeed image stabilization is critical in low light, and it is so reliable that I can actually get away with single shots!
The samyang 12mm f2 manual lens was my favorite for low light city and neon pictures. MFT works great in these low light situations
Oh dear, I cannot work with manual focus.
Found you from your Nikon D5 video I got one for Free gifted by a family friend I have bought 3 newer camera's but still use the Nikon 5D I learn so much from your video's thank you Robin
I think this video convinced me to switch to micro 4/3. Thanks for sharing your passion.
Welcome to Micro Four Thirds
I took your ISO200 challenge a while back and was amazed at how slow you could go. I found out that MFT is great for urban night photo fairly early on with just an EM10ii and the EZ kit lens - now I have the EM1iii and f1.8 lenses it's even better.
Awesome! The ISO200 challenge is so so fun!
Very cool you could have gone away with iso 400 -800 also tough. No grain problem and the new noise reduction in Lightroom is great also
I am very impressed and will try that. Greetings from Austria!
Brilliant photos👍🙏 80% of my low light or night time photography are shot with iso 200, hand held of course, because I shoot with an intention in mind that I might “print big” if I want to, so low iso with better detail is the key. Thanks Robin, your video every time is a new secret 🙏
Thanks Lee, appreciate that, I share what I can
Optimum ISO on the 4/3 sensors is probably ISO 400 or ISO 800 not base ISO 200, which is to say best signal to noise at a little loss of DR. Usual wisdom is nighttime does want low ISO for least noise (actually it wants the best signal above noise)
Robin's exercise was a "how slow can you go hand-held" which forces the use of a moderately fast lens, even wide-open. I like to know how slow I can hold the camera and it is not as slow as Robin managed, stabilisation cannot fix gross body wobble . But with wide-open the image isn't flat so the corners are a little diffuse and dimmed. Lenses become sharpest and best stopped down and that probably needs the tripod (carbon tripods weigh next to nothing). Nighttime images really tighten up with f/8 to f/11.
Nighttime photography is an ancient sport and the rules are different to daytime.
For interior shots of Cathedrals or churches in my EM53 I can easily get 5-6 seconds handheld shots at iso 200... With a lumix 14-140..
The image stabilization is indeed incredible!
Hey Robin! I bought an Olympus M10 Mark II just some days ago. Your videos where a big help getting started. I do own a Sony A7II but the small Olympus is so much fun! The stabilizer is very impressive. One second shutter handheld... no problem. 🙂
Thanks, and indeed the powerful image stabilization is a gamechanger
The OM10ii was my entry into the MFT world - bought to go travelling with due to it's small size in a kit together with the 14-42 f3.5-5.6 EZ pancake zoom and 40-150 f4.0-5.6R. Needless to say I was fully won over and sold all my APS sensor kit, boy has that saved a lot of neck strain. Hope you continue to enjoy your EM10ii - look out for great used bargains on lenses out there.
@@uTPH1 Thanks for your reply! My first 'proper' camera was an Olympus IS-1000. Then i switched to digital with a Canon EOS 300D. After that Olympus again with the E-520. Then a Sony NEX 5n, NEX6 and A7II. My brother has a PEN PL5 and that inspired me to have a look at Olympus again. I absolutely love the look and feel of the M10II. The size and weight advantage is something I was underestimating. I shot a friend's birthday party last weekend at a pub. Perfect camera for stuff like that. Can't wait for the next trip. At the moment I have the 17mm F1.8, 25mm F1.8 and 45mm F1.8 prime lenses. I love prime lenses and the MFT form factor is awesome. (My favorite adapted Minolta 58mm F1.2 lens for E-Mount weighs as much as the M10II *including* the 25mm lens).
5 axis stabilization is the main reason i love my Olympus camera so much, nice video
Likewise!
Excellent thanks Robin very useful. I'm heading to KL later this year for a week to explore :)
That's great! You will love KL
@@robinwong yea I need a good photo guide there is some material online but there must be places I cant miss. Greetings from NZ by the way..and thank you for your continued passion for m43!
Great video Robin! This should push more people to explore night photography, not just us Olympus owners who are blessed with outstanding in-camera image stabilization. Cheers.
Of course, those full-framers can shoot ISO1 billion.
@@robinwong Yes. They can shoot images in a black hole with amazing results. ;-)
the stabilization in the EM1 Mk3 is just bonkers. 2 Seconds handheld without issues - i mean come on, for shots without moving subjects MFT is just insane ^^
Yeah that's the great thing about image stabilization, it boosts the confidence in nailing the shots!
You can do better, 30s handheld with the 12-100mm f4 at 12mm
@@jeremymaitre8146 wait what?
@@mongini1 yes, you can do the milky way handeld with the 8mm f1.8 PRO and an OM1 or an EM1-Mk3. Be stable, elbow close to the body. 15 and 30s are possible, especially with the double stabilisation and the 12-100mm f4. You should try, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10s, you might be surprised.
@@jeremymaitre8146 im home in the Fuji system... i had the EM1-Mk2 for a while, went to Sony A7 III after that, and since 4 years now home to Fuji, started with the X-T30 and now rocking the X-H2 - its a monster, especially with the new Viltrox 75mm 1.2 (and that from some1 who used the A7 III with really good glass like the Sigma 135mm 1.8, images are very comparable) That 75 is a match made in heaven for the X-H2 - sharper than the Sigma 135 on the Sony. I miss the IBIS from the Oly, but im still very happy with Fuji and wont switch any time soon ^^
Thank you :) It looks like you & Matti always have a great time together.
Oh yes, he is starting to get used to the hot and humid weather
I did a walk around London at night a couple weeks ago, no tripod, iso 200 and using that ibis meant I got clean well exposed shots
Oh yes, staying with ISO200 gives the best results!
I’m fine with up to 15 sec handheld with my em1-emIII and 12-40 pro 2.8. Usually I keep it around 2-5. I love the dark. Day is my problem and getting the ND filters right
Did this challenge previously after watching yr video.. ISO 200 as you indicated for the night street photo shoot, .used a tripod ( when needed ) . MY gear was my EM-10 & 12-40 mm Lens. Photos turned out pretty OK
You can pretty much get away with ISO200 for most shots, unless it was extremely dim
Excellent video! Great to see the photos and associated setting info. Have missed your videos recently, but glad this one came to my attention. Wish you were still with Olympus.
Thanks. I have not been gone, still making new videos every single week.
Wonderful and very interesting video. And very useful to see the camera lcd replication. Thanks a lot
Thanks Ricardo, glad you liked the video!
This is an eye opening video for me. I was like there is no way my camera can hand hold and keep a sharp image at those speeds and I am sitting here in awe looking at 2 second handheld exposures that are coming out clear. I don't have the f2.8 aperture of your lens but I am still able to do what I need to at f4. Really great video!
Yeah the image stabilization is indeed a gamechanger, you can stay at ISO200 and that gives you superb results even in very low light!
Voice sound is fantastic! Last time I was in KL 20 years ago. Just under Petronas Towers I have bought my first digital camera 2 megapixel Olympus Camedia C-2. Nostalgy.
You challenged the camera even more than you had to do; given you have the 25mm f/1.2 pro lens; albeit, the trade was you had a decent zoom capability.
The idea was to get some nightscape, so I do need a wide angle. 25mm is too narrow for most of the shots that I wanted to do. This was not a street photography outing.
Absolutely. This is why in these situations I always set my ISO manually on my OM-1. I know what level of camera-shake I can get away with, which is a lot. There is no need to crank-up ISO and shutter speed unless the subject is moving, or I am using an exceptionally long lens. Even for moving subjects an OM-1 with a 1.4mm lens will give you (almost) the same results as an FF camera with a 2.8mm (a little less resolution and dynamic range) but it will give you BETTER results for hand-held shots of static subjects
Thanks Marco and yes, knowing your own hand-holding capability is also important, we are all different. I drink way too much coffee.
@@robinwong Apparently coffee is good for you
Thanks for the video Robyn, as usual you are encouraging us to get out and find great pictures and don’t overthink the technical challenges. I am excited to go and try the 200 ISO challenge myself here in Brisbane Australia. You had amazing colours in some of your street shots, and I look forward to seeing if I can find the mixed light sources doing the same thing here.
Really enjoyed it Robin I have the same camera and lens so I will give it a go!
Thanks Mark, oh yes go give it a try!
Super cool stuff! Definitely going to give this a try.
Yes, go use ISO200!
Love your positivity Robin! Keep up the great videos.
Good information for shooting at night using ISO 200, the pictures that you took look very nice. Thanks!
Robin's energy is unmatched lol i suscribed 😅
thanks so much, very helpful, soon wheatears will pass by here and they are moslty black and white, i will sure get back to this video again.
Go get some shots!
Great video Robin. I love using low ISO's and use 100-400 for almost everything, whatever camera I use. That's what I used to do with film so I figure why not do it with a more modern and capable camera. 🤘🤗🙏
Yeah staying with lower ISO numbers give you better results!
It’s true that I can’t do much without IS . Like my M9 at night is really hard especially for night and street shooting. Love your photos Robin keep it going
I really enjoyed Your Video Robin. Greetings from a freezing cold balcony in Germany 😊.
Thanks! Appreciate that
Get off the balcony, go back inside where it is warm. Jay ?
Wow. Great challenge. I just gave it a go with my 10 mk3. I got a bunch of really nice night pics. The colour saturation was really nice and all pics were sharp. Using a 17mm f1.8 probably made it too easy!
Who knew? Robin did... Two Thumbs ..Way up.
Wonderful! Would love to see how well this challenge would do with the 14-42mm kit lens! Guess I'll try myself!
Thanks Sean. It works just as great with the kit lens!
Hi Sean, as Robin says it works fine with the EZ kit lens. Alternatively if limited with the f3.5/5.6 aperture take the ISO up a bit - depending on model you'll be surprised how far you can go.
Always good to challenge oneself. My springtime challenge is to shoot birds in flight with a film camera, fast film, and a long f4 tele. Cheers!
Great video Robin! I will try to explore night photography with my old om-d e5 and the 12-50 kit lens and the om-d e1mark3 to see the differrence between the two cameras.
these are the kind of video I love more beautiful ! thank you
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video!
I also often use ISO200 with HDR mode. Took pictures at peak hongkong , singapore. low iso IQ so nice.
This is why I like Sig 18-35/1.8 on my Pentax K3. IBIS does the job and such lens captures a lot of light, so ISO can stay low.
For Olympus I only have 14-42, so F3.5 is the limit. Lens like 12mm F2 can be nice low-light cityscape tool.
When I get my OM-1 with the 12-40mm f/2.8 II lens I'm going to do this ISO 200 challenge.
This video helped to make me finally decide to go with the OM-1 instead of the S5 IIx (may pick one up later on for the Lumix S f/1.8 prime lenses), because I have my injured back (permanently-disabled in the military at L3, L4, L5, S1) to think of. I cannot get the reach I want from Full Frame like I can on Micro 4/3 with all the lovely smaller telephoto zoom lenses available.
I appreciate your videos on Micro 4/3 and others like Rob Trek, Jimmy from RED35, Emily from Micro Four Nerds, That Micro 4/3 Guy, Peter Forsgård, etc. The Micro 4/3 community is definitely strong. Used to have the original Olympus E-M1 with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens but had to sell it for personal reasons. So, I definitely know what Micro 4/3 is capable of.
Hi Robin! Incredible video and photos! What lens did you used? Greetings from Venezuela!
12-40 2.8
Thank you Robin👍🏼👌🏼.
Glad I can share!
Great video. You also have the option to take handheld high res photos and thereby remove most most grain by automacticly combining 16 images. That works with the top level Olympus cameras and the OM-D camera. That works even when you crank up the ISO.
Very interesting video Robin! Nice photo's!
wow Robin this has been an incredible video, i absolutely loved it i haven't done any photography like this with my M43 cameras but would love to give it ago thank you.
This was actually quite interesting mate. It's nothing new of course but Ive always thought low light photography is do-able these days because of the high ISO settings we can use on our cameras. But even though we all know IBIS is excellent we forget just how excellent it can be. A one full second exposure and still be sharp? Get outta town man! But the Olympus seems to be able to do it. Is the micro four thirds sensor inherently better able to do this because of its smaller size? A tripod isn't always convenient.
I will be going to Malaysia later on this year ~ So I'm wondering if you ever have or ever will do a video showing some of the best places to get the better shots? Not only in KUALA LUMPUR but anywhere else in your country?
Thanks Robin! 🙏🙏
Thanks David!
Hi Robin Nice video and info too. I like it.
Thanks, glad I can share
I love shooting at 1/30th sec so i use a lot of 200 film (and digital)
Great video, compositions and thoughts. I've recently shot a completely dark fashion exposition (Carla Zampatti at Powerhouse Museum Sydney) where only the mannequins are illuminated by spotlights. I only had my E-PM2 with the 14-42mm kit lens with me, but I loved the results with both 1/50 SS and ISO10000 and 1/4 SS and ISO1000, very crisp in both scenarios and would have been good enough for a poster-size print!
WOW great photos Robin
11:08 the graffiti reads
"Skate fast
Smoke grass
Eat ass :)"
Words of wisdom
I'm going to try this
Oh yes go give it a go
Nighttime photography is a form that goes back well over one hundred years. We often see it confused with astrophotography which has more specialised requirements. Obviously the old wet plate and film speeds were very slow and consequently any movements in the subject will blur no matter what the aperture, and this applies even now with digital. Of possible note, the latest sensors may have an optimum ISO (best signal to noise) slightly higher than their base ISO but losing a little DR.
Received wisdom for nighttime is low ISO (least noise), slow shutter, but perhaps surprisingly a small aperture in the order of f/11 to sharpen and flatten the image, or whatever the best aperture of that lens is, usually f/8 - f/11 (it will not be wide-open). Use of AWB is moot, the metering will be looking for 18% grey which it will not find at night and perceived colours can go wrong (like producing a daytime blue sky). A fixed WB, possibly custom, may work better.
For hand-held the stabilisation wants to be the best you can get. Synch-IS is great but only available with Olympus IS Pro lenses, of which there are - just three (which is where OM have shot themselves in the foot because Panasonic go Dual2 with practically all of their OIS lenses). However stabilisation won't let you hand-hold for several seconds, I might get away with 1s with a poor keeper rate but I cannot freeze like a statue. Stabilisation wont fix gross movement like body sway.
Of possible note, video is more tolerant of underexposure, we can often go a good two stops lower with video than stills.
We can underexpose stills and boost in post (but we lose shadow detail). There are some tricks we can play like changing the metering mode, compensation the metering mode, fiddling with the gain curve (highlight-shadow) to lift the darks. The Picture Mode can make surprising changes. And the default NR can be too aggressive and remove detail.
Great video Robin as always 👌👌👌!!! Just a recommendation would you also consider videos regarding your post processing, your thought process and tools you use. Thanks.
Nice post, Robin, thanks :)
I've tried using a Nikon FF DSLR for nighttime. Great camera, superb photos. The AF system is optical PD off the mirror, it would not AF in low light. If you cannot see the subject through the optical view finder because it is too dark, the camera cannot either and it refuses to AF. Grab the MFT, beep and its focused. Try focusing on stars at night, Panasonic, Pentax and more lately Olympus will AF on them.
The concept that you want high ISO in low light is wrong, nighttime wants low ISO, long shutter, and the perishing tripod. A nighttime shot at f/11 might be 15-20 seconds.
I have a number of Panympus cameras and they can all run to ISO 3200 without significant noise, where ISO 6400 starts to show noise (subjective and ymmv). The IMX sensor in the G9 is essentially identical to that in the E-M1iii (less the PD, and according to some may be completely identical with the PD blanked off), and they are top-notch (if you look at the test specs they are up there with Sony's best, unsurprising as they're made by Sony).
Hi Robin. Amazing shots. What setting do you have the image stabilization set to on these pics. Thanks.
Video feed says S-IS 1...
@@Paul_anderson_creative Thanks Paul didn't watch all of the video, got an alert and had a quick peek.
S-IS 1
@@robinwong Thanks Robin.
Is there a high iso noise difference between the em1 mk 2 and 3? Just curious. Thanks for the great videos Robin
Hi Robin, I really like your videos and I am wondering if the Iso 200 challenge could be done with an OM D E M1 camera? As I own the M1 and use it for night photography a lot I would really like to shoot at low iso vallues without using a tripod. Oh! I use vintage lenses and set the focal length in the ibis menu and that is really helping. I must say that the lowest usable iso handheld is iso 400. Thanks in advance!
Curiously Sulanto didn't make at the same time the challenge ISO200 with his Ricoh GR3... :-)
Well, too bad for him, the Ricoh's image stabilization is just not as good.
Like to see a comparison of low light photography of m4/3 using low iso and full frame in the same situation using higher iso. And how the photos would compare. This would be good for the naysayers
I don't get the purpose of this test. A picture took at base ISO will always be better than one at higher ISO. A FF camera will produce less than a M4/3 noise at equal ISO. So you'll be able to use a lower ss and produce less noise raising the ISO value. But this has nothing to do with the base ISO used in this video.
@@TheNerdOnTube i agree, but this was a recent debate on another channel where the full frame people think very little of m4/3 and are telling people otherwise.
Doubt that it would convince any of the nae sayers. Pointless argument! If the final product meets ones expectations, who cares if it micr 4/3 or FF?
No comparisons. No matter what I say there will be bloodshed, and I honestly don't have the time and mental capacity to deal with online trolls.
@@robinwong it might help a few new to photography and the younger generation to decide more wisely.
Hi Robin, Another great inspiring video😊 A small doubt, would those lower iso extensions 60, 100 have any advantages in these situations?
The base ISO is 200, meaning you get the best dynamic range, noise control and color tonality with it. If you extend the ISO you don't get the best output.
I love your infectious enthusiasm Robin! As you share, I’m thinking of locations.
Hi Robin, excellent results as always! What software did you use to process the RAWs?
a f:2.8 é fácil, mas com pouca profundidade de campo, e zona de AF muito restrita
👍
Hi, Robin. Great Video. What is it you are using to capture the HDMI feed?
Here czcams.com/video/UqCruK1hCeI/video.html
@@robinwong Heck, I missed your answer last time I asked the question and you even mentioned me in your video (thanks), Sorry, I don't get to watch every video - my bad. Thank you. (have you watched my channel yet? :-) ) Andy
👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏🏻
👋🏻🙋🏻♂️
Thanks Joan!
Why hasn’t Robin’s camera received the same UI update that comes with the OM-1 by default?
Because Robin was not using OM-1
@@robinwong So older cameras don’t receive firmware updates?
Great video Robin - I generally shoot at ISO200 by default but then if I move from landscape to birds-in-flight (where I need to freeze motion at 1/4000sec) I set up a different process on one of the custom buttons with auto ISO. One question, when you post-process and bring up the shadows does this increase the noise? I noticed your last shot you took twice the second time considerably darkening the image with exposure compensation which I thought would increase noise in the final processed image?
Before I switched to Olympus MFT, I used Foveon sensors (a.k.a. Sigma cameras). Just a couple months ago, I went back to Sigma and am now selling my Pen-F and its lenses. Foveon Sensor *_is_* shooting with ISO 200 (400 max) - and these cameras don't even have IBIS.
It is very much possible to shoot with ISO 200 at night, and it actually opens the doors to otherwise never seen or realized ways to find motifs and to take pictures. When everybody shoots with 3200 or 12800 during the night, they simply won't produce the pictures I am doing with ISO 200. It's not only a quite different way of taking pictures during the night, the results are also very different.
On the other hand, I very, very seldom go out shooting at night.
As much as I love Foveon, I cannot live without image stabilization.
@@robinwong Fortunately, there are several lenses for Sigma cameras with optical stabilization. Not as good as Olympus' IBIS by far, but quite effective nevertheless. Additionally, I'm taking pictures sitting in a wheelchair, which allows me to support my arms on its armrests or simply putting the camera on my lap. And of course, I always have a tripod on me, for really long exposures.
Since the vast majority of my "serious" photography is done with analog large format cameras, it's only consistent to do digital photography this way ...
Slightly off topic but, I was wondering if you can do zone shooting with the Olympus 1 3 ??? Can I just set the camera at f5.6 or f8 to get everything in focus!?? I shot inside temples and wall murals but only the center of the foto is in focus...if I shoot at f8 will the whole mural be in focus??? Sorry if this is a stupid question...I have several lens to include the 75mm, sigma 56mm, 60mm macro, 14-150mm, 12-40mm and a panny 15 nm ...
What the hell is an Olympus 13?
@@robinwong omd 1 version 3...why so rude?
How do you record the viewfinder view?
czcams.com/video/UqCruK1hCeI/video.html
Well, i fully understand, why many people consider such photographs as beautiful. They really are, contrast and color contrast (plus composition, Robin) makes them such. But boy oh boy, amount of light pollution in Kuala Lumpur seems to me absolutely terrible :-O.
KL with light pollution is bad? Go try Japan!
try ISO100, Robin
As explained in the video, ISO200 is the base ISO, it gives you the best results (noise control, dynamic range, color tonality). ISO100 is extended and you get worse results.
No tripod?
As mentioned in the video, no. And if you have watched how I shot the images, you'd know too.
What if I want to photograph black bear races in caves?
Then go to my other video where I shot with ISO12800
Do it with great care.
As far as I know Olympus has moved on to OM digital and name olympus will be removed.
You mean they will come knock on my door and remove the Olympus name/logo from my camera and lenses?
I have no problem going to ISO 800 with my E-M1 II. Today's software like Raw Therapee does a great job minimizing noise and other artifacts.
that is not low light!!! so much light polution it s almost daylight
Did you see the exif data? Half a second shutter speed, is not low light? I don't know what is.
@Robin Wong yes, but i was referring to that area where u choose to take the photos, it has so much light, its like daytime, u cant call that a poorly lit environment, u can even see the clouds above the city, that means light pollution is massive.. choice of shutter speed, aperture and iso doesnt necessarily mean low light.
yes, it s a stabilization test for handheld longer shutter speed, but the environment u are testing it s not low light in my opinion