I guess I am missing something here. I used to use a light meter way back when when I was using all-manual cameras including a twin lens reflex. If you are teaching a beginners class to "Seniors"....whatever age range that might be in your class....wouldn't modern cameras with manual & auto* features....(**with simpler menu options**)...be easier to learn on? :? What does the card tell you that the camera can't unless they are all using all-manual cameras. Then I would figure a light meter would be a more reliable option.

In Mathieu's web article he states, "With Four Thirds lenses, the E-M1 will only use phase detection, regardless of the AF mode chosen. There are 37 phase detection AF points present in the middle of the sensor. The position of those AF points is important to know as you will get better results if your subject remains on the centre of the frame, rather than on the extreme left or right. That can seem obvious for the frame composition but often we like to position our subjects slightly to the left or right side of the centre. However, if you go too far to the edge, you risk focusing outside of the phase detect point zone."

Photos of Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale. A couple of hours here, if that, is plenty of time.

Not bad for point & shoot camera.

The Butterfly Wonderland is a great opportunity to capture what can be a more difficult subject out in the wild.

:-( I messed up, didn't get photos in this one. I'll try again.)

Sedona takes at least a full day. Walk some of the smaller trails to get up close and personal with the environment.
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If you love color...try the Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale right off highway 101 http://www.butterflywonderland.com/experience-welcome.html and/ or the Desert Botanical Garden which also has a walk-in butterfly enclosure and also the Chihuly exhibit amongst the cacti.

These posts been quite interesting.. I see the issues on both sides. One thing to keep in mind which might have got some people's backs up is the identification as a "pro."
I learned way back when that a "professional" is someone who makes money doing what they do. If Gemlenz makes money doing what he does, then he is technically a "pro" and has the right to call himself that. Now, to what degree of "pro" he is is up to speculation/interpretation, but making $$$ at it allows him the title, at least.

Gemlenz....if you are still reading these posts......you DO need to know that your system is working before your client arrives.

I haven't done professional portrait photography for years but I still have my Speedotron strobes with umbrellas and power supply. It was totally reliable.....never a glitch, ever. With all the input given in these postings, hopefully you can get a clearer idea of what you need to do. Might just start with replacing you Cactus transmitters. Sometimes big problems only require simple solutions :wink: :wink:

That dragonfly was captured on a cell phone?!! Must have been a gargantuan from Chernobyl. ;) Amazing. Better macro than what I have done so far.

I, too, like my Olympus EM 1. However, it is not pocketable, in my opinion, unless you have a big pocket and a stubby lens attached to it. With the Olympus EM 1 you also might be prone to lens fever!! So you wind up with multiple lenses to tote around which, then becomes a non pocketable situation without a photo vest, camera bad, sling bag, or back pack.

So for meandering with the least "stuff" hanging off of you and to look as inconspicuous as possible a smaller camera with built in all-in-one lens might be practical as you are thinking of doing. The video on the Leica D Lux 6/Pana LX 7 has me thinking that I should go that route myself for times when I don't want to sport all of my Olympus "stuff." I don't feel inconspicuous when I am using that camera and am still needing a camera that makes me less obvious. My old point and shoot doesn't have some of the up-to-date features so am on the hunt again, myself. I do like Panasonic/Lumix. Have two lenses from them for my EM-1.

I wish there were such videos as precise and easy to follow as that one was for the Leica D Lux 6/Pana LX 7 for each new camera marketed. It would make decision making easier.......or make decision making more difficult.....Oh, the choices!!!! :?

:thumbup: :thumbup: I suspect P&S's will also have WiFi if some don't already have it. They will get more complex but maintain small size...at least I hope so. Small size has its virtues.

Does one have to be a "professional" photographer to feel welcomed here? I think not. So all this concentration about who is a photographer and who is not is just a waste of time and a bit an ego display. Lets just have fun, learn and share what we know. Please. I agree with you David.

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This is not film, so you can take endless photos and erase them as you see fit without it costing you lots of $$$$. So just keep on shooting, save the ones you like. Take TONS of photos. You will see that your "eye" evolves over time. You need time to learn and lots of practice and you just might see that what you thought were great images at one point will not look as great as where you are later on. That is growth which goes on for as long as you want it to. Any camera, no matter how expensive, can produce boring photos. It is the person behind the camera that matters. Once you determine what isn't boring then think about changing cameras. Then you will know better just how much technology you really need. There are very good "point and shoot" or "bridge" cameras out there that don't cost lots of money.

I have an Olympus E-M1. You only have to reformat in the camera. Don't know why there would be any necessity to do it in the computer. I never erase SD cards that way.....just in the camera and it only takes a few seconds.

If you have the PDF manual see page 76. Push the menu button...go to Card Setup in Menu 1....select "Format" You are done in no time at all.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future technology will resolve the ISO/noise issue. To me it is the weakest link in the triangle. To freeze movement (high enough shutter speed) and keep the background sufficiently blurred (appropriate aperture opening) we have to pay in irregular, random specks scattered over the image.....not like film grain that was/is evenly distributed over the whole image.....like a mezzotint which can be used artfully sometimes. It will be nice when this noise issue gets fixed.