Most of my Nikon gear got sold off last year, leaving behind only the Sigma 18-250mm – fond memories of carting that all in one focal length wonder through several staycations, Japan, Boston, and Hannah’s first years – whose AF is too wonky for normal use, and the Sigma 24-60mm f2.8 that’s with our best bud now. The last 6 years I’ve owned Micro Four Thirds cameras has also resulted in my collecting a whole bunch of accessories for them. It’s been almost two years since I last did a thorough overview of accessories for my m4/3 cameras, so here’s an update!
Third party batteries. The Olympus BLN-1 uses an embedded micro-chip, and I think third party battery manufacturers took a while to re-engineer the chip’s software to deceive the Olympus charger and camera to think that their batteries are the same as the original’s. It’s a pity that the original BLN-1 battery isn’t cheap. So, I bought a couple of ‘DSTE’-branded third party spares for the E-M5 in 2012. While they were purported to hold higher capacity, they typically didn’t hold their charge nearly as well, and also could only be charged using their proprietary device. In any case, both of these DSTE batteries have suffered from bloat, and no longer fit into the E-M5. So they had to go.
Flashguns. The very large Metz 50AF-1 worked great for a while – until the battery door broke. !@#!@#!@#. And the gun doesn’t fit smoothly into the E-M5’s horseshoe. And worse of all, the flashgun was a little temperamental in correctly gauging the amount of light needed when it was in bounce mode, requiring frequent flash bracketed shots just so that I can get a picture that’s correctly lighted. I’ve since replaced it with the compact Nissin i40 that’s a cinch to mount/dismount on the E-M1/E-M5/LX100, super well-accessorised with freebies, and puts out the correct amount of light.
Remote controllers. The older E-M5 doesn’t have a built-in WIFI module, so it was third party remote controllers. And nope, they didn’t work reliably at all. Getting the attachment unit to work with the remote controller was a constantly iffy thing, and at our annual family reunion photo-taking at least year’s CNY, the damn thing failed again. I nearly tossed it right out of the window then. Thankfully, both the LX100 and E-M1 supports WIFI and smartphone remote control, so this is a thing of the past now.
Leather Wrist-straps. I’ve got three of these now, and all from Andy‘s, and they’re currently in use on the E-M1, E-PL6 and LX100. The oldest one has weathered nicely and wraps comfortably around the wrist.
Eyecups. If there is a design flaw on the E-M5, it’s the way its eyecups are secured in their holder: it’s too easy for the eyecup to get dislodged. If you’re lucky, it drops into your camera bag. Not so lucky and it drops off without your knowledge while you’re traveling with it! I’ve had to replace lost eyecups twice now. My current eyecup is held secure with school glue. Don’t ask LOL.
Lots of lots of spare front and rear lens caps. Bought an entire bunch of these off eBay for dirt cheap (~S$1 each). All the original caps that come with lenses and bodies are kept in their boxes.
Software. Adobe Photoshop has for a while now changed its licensing model from perpetual license to a subscription-based one. The last version of Photoshop I purchased was CS5, and after Adobe Camera Raw stopped receiving updates for that version, I had to look elsewhere for my go-to RAW photo-editing tool. That tool is now Photoshop Elements, which – nicely – still retains the old licensing model, and also the FastStone Image Viewer, a speedy and simple image browser/editor that I’ve been using for years now. Significantly too; this viewer is capable of reading the embedded JPG images in RAW files.
Next post on the BosStrap sling-strap!
i love olympus camera too but i give in to Fujifilm T1. same like u. i own a DSLR but i am still keeping