Olympus OM-D EM-5 on Shasta

Big photos small camera!

As an outdoor shooter and backcountry adventurer I have written before about my interest in the new micro 4/3 camera systems and how much weight can be saved by using them.  With interchangeable lenses, no mirrors, electronic view finders, and no waiting when you push the shutter button they fill the void between my full frame cameras and less than ideal point and shoots. 

The one complaint I have had with early micro 4/3 bodies is that viewfinders are an accessory that makes them awkward and less durable.  Often these viewfinders also have a lag time that makes it difficult to capture moving action.

D800 vs EM-5 with similar focal length wide angle lenses

With all the hype about the Olympus OM-D EM-5 micro 4/3 camera I thought it was high time I gave it a shot to see if its built in electronic viewfinder would be up to professional level action work in bright conditions that my previous 4/3 bodies were not.  So two days before heading to Mount Shasta what does the happy little man in the brown truck deliver?  A brand new EM-5 with the 12-50mm lens.  I figured I have 30 days to return it if I don't like it, and taking it on a real mountain adventure for a couple days is a far better real world test then lens charts in the office.

So after shooting about 600 frames while climbing to 14,180ft and skiing 5,000ft how does it compare to my D800?  In terms of actual resolution the D800 is obviously going to beat it, but in terms of real world use how often do I need 20x30 prints from a climbing or skiing adventure?  Aside from lacking the ability to activate the autofocus using a thumb button rather than the shutter button to make focusing and recomposing easier I didn't really miss too much from my D800 or D3s.  The autofocus was fast, the exposures were good once I had the histogram appearing in the viewfinder (remember I was shooting on snow with an untested camera), and the 9 frames a second was great shooting what little action I did come across. 

Overall the climb was more about getting my Dad to the summit and my getting to ski back down, so I didn't focus all my energies on shooting, but the time I did spend was well rewarded with enough publishable images to illustrate a magazine article about climbing with my Dad. 

In a perfect world I wouldn't have to make compromises, but the difference between leaving the camera at home or taking it to a summit makes these compromises worth every ounce saved.  Of course I would prefer to have my D800 with an entire 40lb bag of professional glass, but that would mean I never made the summit.  If I were doing the trip again I wouldn't hesitate to take the EM-5.  This time I would just make sure not to forget the wide angle lens in the car!

Climbing Mount Shasta

A few weeks ago I had the chance to complete a couple goals at once on Mount Shasta.  Nearly 10 years ago to the day I had been Mount Shasta but was turned back due to weather. 

While on the mountain I watched several people skiing back to the car and remember thinking "what the hell am I doing walking, I have to learn to ski".  So fast forward 10 years and this time I have my skis on my pack and my 60+ year old Dad in toe. 

The year my Dad turned 60 he decided he wanted to climb Mt. Rainer and make a dramatic life change in terms of getting in shape and eating better.  So we decided it was time to start getting into the mountains together, starting that year with a summer trip up 14,505 foot Mount Whitney.  The following year he made an attempt on Mount Rainer, but wasn't quite in ready in terms of technical skills and conditioning.  So we decided that climbing Mount Shasta at 14,180ft in  spring using crampons and ice axes would be a good training run for his attempt this coming summer on Rainer. 

My Dad lives in the Seattle area so a friend and I drove North and meet my Dad in Shasta City and spent the night at the Bunny Flat trail head (6,950ft).  We then hiked/skied up to Helen lake at 10,400ft to spend a short night before a very early alpine start up the route while it was still frozen and safe from rock fall. 

After a short rest at the top of Avalanche Gulch and stopping to take lots of photos we made the summit a little before noon.  While the view was amazing, sharing a second 14er with my Dad was something that will be with me the rest of my life.   On the way back down we meet up with my friend who had summited earlier.  He and my Dad started hiking back down so I could complete the second goal of the trip; skiing as much of the mountain as conditions allowed.  

After waiting for the snow to soften till about 2pm, I strapped on my Telemark Skis and enjoyed the best ski run of my life.  5,000ft+ of spring corn with a quick lunch stop at Helen lake to pick up our overnight gear.  All told I skied from about 13,000ft (the summit was too icy) to the car in about an hour and a half.  I was well into a second cold beer and a nap by the time my Dad arrived back at the car. 

My Dad got the summit, I got my ski...  Success for all!