Street Photography with the OM System OM-3

A good photographer today must, perhaps more than ever, stay up to date with the technological evolution of shooting equipment, to identify which technical solution is best suited to take photos of a project the author has in mind. The quality offered by the market has now reached extremely high levels, with solutions for all photographic genres and for every user, from professionals to beginners. I maintain that the choice of the system to use depends on your needs and your narrative style. I have been using the Olympus micro four thirds system for years for my personal projects, and I was struck by the release of the brand’s latest camera, the OM-3.

On the occasion of my latest purchase, a fantastic 40-150mm F2.8 PRO zoom, I went to my trusted OM System dealer (Foto-Orlando di Montecchio Emilia) and the shopkeeper friend kindly lent me a demo OM-3 body, for a test in the streets of the historic center of Reggio Emilia, a beautiful city in northern Italy, near the store.

The name OM-3 already reminds me of the film model that I already used many years ago at the beginning of my career, and the vintage design inspired by another icon of the brand, the OM-1, made me appreciate it at first sight. Aesthetics from the 70s and 80s, therefore, in my opinion, beautiful!

Completely made of metal, the impression of solidity is guaranteed, and the dimensions, slightly more generous than previous models, allow you to hold it with confidence even for those with large hands. Rings and various functions are clearly visible without having to enter the menu, and the lack of a dedicated ISO button can be remedied by dedicating the FN function button. There is no navigation joystick on the back; again, no problem. The pad with the four directional arrows allows you to set all the functions very quickly, including the focus point. The viewfinder is excellent, with a very natural refresh and faithful colors and with a width of the field of view that gives a sensation almost like an optical viewfinder. As on the PEN-F, there is a multifunction ring to quickly switch to photographing with art filters, black and white or color. There are five “custom” customizations for every photographer’s need. I walked in the city center on a bright sunny day, with plays of light and shadow and very strong contrasts of the scene. With the standard 12-40mm F2.8 PRO zoom, you can practice classic street photography, obtaining natural colors with excellent gradations, very faithful to reality. An important detail that I would like to underline is that I wanted to always shoot only in JPG without using raw files, so as not to work on the photographs in post-production and appreciate the quality of the single image in the most natural way possible.

The sensor is a latest-generation stacked sensor and returns images that, if correctly exposed, are practically ready to be printed, with details both in the light and in the shadows. The sensor’s exposure latitude is therefore excellent and can be extended with HDR settings as desired. In cases of extreme contrast, I must point out the risk of losing details in the shadows, but these are just some truly extreme examples! To give a practical idea for those who have been taking photos for a few years, it seems like you are taking photos with an 80s reversal film, such as Kodak Ektachrome. Even indoors with mixed artificial light, the colors are very faithful to the original. The noise at high sensitivities is absolutely pleasant and natural, almost analog, in pure Olympus style.

The computational performances are easily accessible without going through the main menu, simply by pressing a dedicated button (CP) on the back and here you really access another world, with truly incredible solutions such as focus-stacking, the gradual GND filter in the camera, the already known live time and bulb for long exposures in real time and the very high resolution shots of 50 and 80 megapixels, now even possible handheld in the 50MP setting. I took some photos using this ingenious function of setting the resolution to 50MP without a tripod. You can obtain files of 143 megabytes, printable with incredible details up to a native enlargement of 50x70cm.

The only problem is the creation of ghost images if moving subjects appear in the scene. In my opinion, however, an exceptional result is guaranteed in landscapes or still-life photos.

Excellent results are also obtained for those who, like me, love multiple exposures, without limits to the imagination.

To conclude, I personally like this OM-3 very much; it is suitable for use in almost all photographic genres. I would only exclude sporting events or nature photography of animals because the ergonomics of the camera are not suitable, without an additional grip, for use with long and heavy telephoto lenses.

Street photography, on the other hand, practiced with fixed and small lenses, such as the various 17mm or 25mm 1.8, is the perfect field of action to be discreet, almost invisible, and also, why not, with a note of unique and elegant style.

Giampaolo Mascalzoni