I’ve been a bit miffed lately with Olympus/OM Systems. A lens that I bought recently was not functioning properly and has spent more time at the service department than with me. Then there’s my Olympus STF-8 a supposedly rugged, weatherproof and very expensive macro flash whose buttons have fallen off and is now inoperable and unrepairable (as in it’s not designed to be repairable but be disposable). I’ve been so miffed that of late I’ve stopped using my Olympus kit and relegated it to the cupboard while having thoughts of getting rid of it all and changing systems. In fact I’d already decided which ship I was going to jump on – Sony – and which items I’d buy after watching a lot of YouTube videos.

 

To that end for last weeks road trip to Williams in search of the Common Dragon Orchid I dug out my much neglected Sony A7r2 and some lenses to reinforce this new plan and familiarise my self with the Sony ecosystem again.

The trip to Williams was great – it was a beautiful day and there were plenty of orchids to photograph. The only fly in the ointment was the photographic experience. It should be easy – I’ve done it so many times before. Find an orchid. Set up the camera on a tripod and point it at the orchid. Take the picture. What could go wrong? Well for this type of photography I rely heavily on the rear LCD screen and I’d forgotten that the screen on the Sony A7r2 is unusable in bright sunlight. Secondly I’ve become very reliant on having touch control on the rear LCD so I can easily select the focus point and trip the shutter. There’s no such function on the Sony and there is a very convoluted system of setting the AF point. Then there is the woeful battery life of the Sony A7r2. I went through 4 batteries in two hours where as with the Olympus I wouldn’t even get through 1/2 a battery. I could continue with more points of frustration and irritation, Lord knows there were loads of them, but I’ll refrain. By the end of the morning I was wishing I’d taken my Olympus EM1 mk ii with me. Were there any positive points? Well yes I love the files from that 42Mp Sony sensor. I really like the Sigma 105mm macro lens. But, unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positives and it made me realise why I’ve stopped using the Sony A7r2.

I’ve already started to get things together for this week’s trip and my Olympus kit, minus the flash, has gone back in the bag. As to whether I will change will depend upon whether OM Systems Australia returns my lens in a functioning state.