Giants vs Dodgers - Shots with Olympus OM-D

Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong had his stuff working, and hitters Melky Cabrera and Buster Posey did their jobs at the plate. The result: Giants defeat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers 2-0 to pull within one game of the lead in the National League West.

I was there in lower section 128, row 13 on the third base side with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Olympus 40-150mm zoom.

Buster Posey Hits Buster Posey connects against the Dodgers at AT&T Park. Photo by Derrick Story. You can see the entire set of images on the TDS Flickr page.

I parked the ISO at 1600 and used Aperture Priority to keep the zoom at the widest setting (f/4-f/5.6). When extended to 150mm on the OM-D, the effective power of the lens was 300mm because you double the focal length for micro four thirds. The high speed burst mode (9 fps) was a pleasure for capturing the action. And since the entire package was so compact, I was able to enjoy the game as a fan and grab a few photos when the action heated up.

Ball for Young Fan Ball for young fan. Photo by Derrick Story

Special Thanks to Hunt's Photo

As you may have read in earlier posts, I had two temporary review copies of the Olympus OM-D, but was having problems purchasing one for myself. I had orders placed with the typical big camera suppliers, and they kept getting delayed.

So I contacted the great people at Hunt's Photo & Video based in New England, US. I worked with Gary, who contacted Olympus US to see what he could do. Within a week my Olympus OM-D was on its way to me. The price was the same as what the other camera suppliers were charging, but the service was heads above. And yes, Hunt's offers free shipping too.

They have a wonderful newsletter that comes out every couple weeks with lots of specials. I use it to help keep up on the latest releases. You might want to try it yourself.

Thanks to Gary and the entire Hunt's crew for getting that Olympus OM-D in my hands so I could shoot this great baseball game at AT&T Park.


You can find more photo tips and "photography how tos" on my Pinterest page.


2 Comments

Hi there...a lot of the talk about the Olympus has been about the supposedly poor (or indeed non-existent at 9 fps) focus tracking and I wondered if your good results were due to fixing focus in advance (for example at the hyperfocal length) or because at the relative distance from subject the DOF was quite great.

Thanks to you review I ordered one from Keeble and Schuchat here in Palo Alto and got it last week. It pays to be a. Steady customer! The only draw back is I haven't been able to get an extra battery or two.
The camera is as complex as my Nikon D300 but because it is so small, I tend to grab and shoot much more.
I'm heading to Alaska hiking and kyacking and am looking forward to a small kit. I will rent the 70-300 lens for the birds.