Since I moved to Berlin a lot has changed. I got interested in new hobbies and restarted older ones I had before moving to Cologne. Somehow I lost interest in a lot of things there. Biking and Photography for example. Never understood why. But since I moved to Berlin I think I known why. The atmosphere in Cologne was not as bike friendly as Berlin is and the city did not inspire me to do lots of photos there. I am sorry to say this, but Cologne might not be one of the most photogenic places.

In the last few months I did a lot of photos using my iPhone. For example this nice panorama from the Teufelsberg that I printed as a 1,60m wide poster for my bathroom. It’s unbelievable how good those phone cameras got in the last few years.

When it comes to getting the “right” equipment, this quote says it all:

The best camera is the one you have with you.

I don’t know exactly where it originated, but it sums up everything for me. In most circumstances the equipment is not as important as having the camera with you at the right moment. Yes, sometimes a 400mm lens totally makes sense and is needed, but I am not interested in that kind of photos.

Till now I often used my old Canon DSLR for most of my “hobbyist” photos. But I hated the amount of stuff you had to bring with you. And because of that most of my latest photos are done with my phone. This clearly had to stop. I wanted a good camera that is small enough to have it with me without wearing a backpack. Luckily there are tons of Micro Four Third cameras you can choose from exactly for this.

A relative new addition in that area is the Olympus OM-D E-M10. With it’s 799€ price tag and the exchangeable lens and the full metal body it’s exactly what I searched for. And it looks extremely beautiful:

The list of features is quite impressive, too. From the gorgeous 3” tilting monitor to the awesome remote control via an iPhone app. Yes, you can see the image of the viewfinder on your iPhone using an app by Olympus.

And it makes extremely nice pictures. Especially if you consider the price of that little thing. You can easily compare the result with cameras that cost 500€ more than this gem of a camera.

This was one of the first test shots:

But I will have to learn how to use this one. And I will. The sun is shinning and it’s time to go out and use that camera.

If you want to try the camera, Olympus has a nice exhibition in Berlin called photography playground. You can try the camera there till the 25th of May. Visit it, it’s worth it

Btw: see my Flickr for more photos by me.