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Thanks to Olympus Bulgaria In early February, I had the opportunity to test the new OM-D E-M1X how to handle indoor sports shooting the Sofia Open ATP250 tennis cup.
For more than 2 years, I have been constantly shooting with OM-D E-M1 II, and part of my work included extreme sports, but it was my first indoor shooting and shooting tennis in general.
As an Olympus shooter the camera and interface were pretty familiar, although many changes and improvements needed a short adaptation, and perhaps in about 1-2 hours, my camera was tuned according to my style of work.
The biggest problem was the adaptation to tennis as a sport because it is very different from everything I’ve shot. Here the action is not permanent by one person or group, but there is a transfer to two or more people and I have to watch for the ball that is constantly coming in and out of the frame with the close-ups.
I think there is nothing more to explain, my advice is anyone who is interested in touching the camera, feeling it, taking a little time with it and figuring out whether it suits it.
I also want to share a video that I’ve created from Pro Capture series with 60fps electronic shutter. In this lightning conditions and with fast shutter speed the blinking effect is visible, but if you choose a single image from the whole series I think it’s perfectly usable.
Very solid and comfortable body and perfect for work in horizontal and vertical orientation
Amazing IBIS that can help you shooting with the camera in almost all situations
Bigger viewfinder with very fast refresh and great to work even with glasses
Built-in GPS and other environmental sensors very suitable for adventure photography
Option to remove flashing of lights and not irritate the eye in the viewfinder
Enhanced metering and the camera works great in a quick series even with darker lenses (f number >= 4)
Ability to configure the autofocus system and the array of points to your preference
My Menu menu, which makes it easy to access the most common camera settings
The AF Targeting PAD can be used while the LCD screen is flipped out and viewed through the viewfinder. Very convenient for people using the left eye camera like me.
New mode to shoot in peak light on pulsed light sources (there may be a slight delay from triggering the trigger).
What I did not like so much:
The AEL / AFL button is smaller than the E-M1 Mark II is therefore not perfect for the autofocus rear button if the camera is configured so, especially when working with gloves.
Although the viewfinder has a super fast refresher in sports such as tennis, it has to react and shoot a little earlier before the event has happened so that it can catch the moment (after the adaptation is OK).
There is no dual external charger or camera capability to shoot while charging the batteries via USB-C
Tracking mode tends to separate from object and “bounce” to the background (subject to change with firmware)
