Ah... A whole year and 1 post, I must had been missing or dead? Nope, I'm still around as many updates are diverted to my facebook group but then again, once in a while when I have a lengthy article to write, I'm sure to hit back here.
Back in November 2015 I had made a purchase of Olympus Air A01 from Amazon and got my friend to ship it back all the way from the US of A. It's been like almost 2 months of usage with a few of my Panasonic and Olympus lenses and so how did it fare towards my liking and requirements?
What the heck is Olympus Air A01?
Okay, let's dissect the words itself. "Olympus" is a camera company - yes it's a camera (not lens but I'll get to you on that in a minute). "Air" represents lightweight and "A01" basically means it's the first model Olympus had made for the masses.
Opening the latch behind, you can dock your phone to it. Yes, you need a smartphone as the viewfinder - any smartphone running IOS and Android that can run the Olympus Air app called OA. Central
This is how the actual size in scale compared to my Olympus 45mm f1.8 Prime lens
Docking the prime lens on top, that's how it looks
This is how it looks when you dock your smartphone onto the latch
With a mini tripod, this device is cute beyond words
Of course, you can also be serious about it when you mount a larger lens
Prior than using the app with the device, you would need to pair it up via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for full functionality. Well, it's all in English (if you download from the English Amazon store) and wizard guided. Some steps would require you to take apart the device to locate the QR code within to pair. Just do it carefully and I'm sure you'll happily be using it after a brief moment. One point to take note is that the device also requires a micro SDCard to function - of which you would need to purchase separately. Once the device is powered up, the rest of it relies on the app, your lens and your skill.
The app - OA.Central
This app is the main feature of the whole thing itself. Once started, you can choose between one of these options from the main screen:-
The usual mode which you will always be using the the standard mode dial feature. Within it, you can
control the standard camera settings like auto, manual, shutter priority, aperture priority, ISO, white balance, shutter speed and aperture settings. However if you're a very physical person who needs the touch of buttons for all these features, then this may be quite complicated for you (as for me).
Taking pictures
Like many cameras today, you can use your smartphone to focus on which area of the viewfinder to focus on and tap on the snap button on the screen. Alternatively, you can also use the physical button on the device to snap - but it will readjust the focus before snapping again.
If you're a professional photographer and requires a lot more technical details of this device, I would suggest you to look at this website for more details http://www.dpreview.com/products/olympus/slrs/oly_air_a01
Your lens
It is undeniable that once you make the decision to purchase this device, the next investment would be any other Micro Four Third (MFT) lenses which is manufactured by Panasonic, Olympus, Tamron, Sigma and such. As per the photograph above, you can attach crazy big ass lenses onto it and yet the A01 will still take it like a champion - provided you can afford it. While I am not going to write about Photography101 or Lenses101 here but here is a website that is detailing out all the MFT lenses out there in the market today http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/lense.html. It would give you an idea of what kind of photos to take (Macro, Potrait, Landscape, Animals and such) but it also comes to one last aspect of the usage - your skills
Your skills
You see, this device is not something which is conventional in form factor. It's not sized up as a traditional camera (not even like a GoPro) but it is very convenient in that sense. You can aim the device in any angle or position which you deemed like (like going as low as foot level to take pictures of the asphalt on the road) or mount it on a tripod and leave it there for selfie, we-fie or whatever-passing-by-fie. The limitation of creative photography is just on you. I had used it to take picture in one of my company's event but I ultimately, I was limited by my own skills and lens - but I'm still learning !
Some improvements needed
Battery life of A01 is quite impressive - I had went through about 2.5 hours of shooting without any problems. The problem is only at your smart device - as it will be continuously be switched on to cater for the viewfinder. Having these thoughts, you may want to consider a smartphone which is specifically used for the A01.
Alternatively, you can also opt to switch off A01 entirely. Letting your smartphone power-up the device itself via the OA.Central when needed - but this cold startup will take about 1 minute before the viewfinder is enabled (sometimes, if your smartphone have a lot of stuff going on, it may even take double the time). Likewise, you can also use your smartphone to power-down the A01.
There may be times when the synchronization between both device is out which left the viewfinder frozen in a specific frame. In those times, you would just need to wait a bit for both devices to sync back before you can continue shooting again
After using a while, the A01 is hot to the touch (Not burning) which is a bit worry-some if you're planning to leave it switched on for a long while or planning to take long exposure shots at night.
What else I like
The A01 uses MicroUSB slot for charging - of which if you bring a battery pack out with the standard MicroUSB cable, you can last quite long in that context (i.e. Outdoor shooting).
As mentioned earlier, there is a shutter button on the device itself which is useful for those point and click moments - without a viewfinder (If your aim is good). I had seen someone created a module to do so over in the internet, I'll share it when I can find it again.
While it is not written on many reviewing websites, the battery is not interchangeable but it is actually replaceable. Unscrewing some screws behind would expose the battery compartment whereby you can buy the replacement battery when the charging lifecycle of the original battery had depleted
If you're adventurous enough, you can also create additional modules or apps for the device as all the specifications and application interface (API) is published by Olympus for the masses to work on it.
In my upcoming post, I shall post some pictures which was taken by the device
Back in November 2015 I had made a purchase of Olympus Air A01 from Amazon and got my friend to ship it back all the way from the US of A. It's been like almost 2 months of usage with a few of my Panasonic and Olympus lenses and so how did it fare towards my liking and requirements?
What the heck is Olympus Air A01?
Okay, let's dissect the words itself. "Olympus" is a camera company - yes it's a camera (not lens but I'll get to you on that in a minute). "Air" represents lightweight and "A01" basically means it's the first model Olympus had made for the masses.
Opening the latch behind, you can dock your phone to it. Yes, you need a smartphone as the viewfinder - any smartphone running IOS and Android that can run the Olympus Air app called OA. Central
This is how the actual size in scale compared to my Olympus 45mm f1.8 Prime lens
Docking the prime lens on top, that's how it looks
This is how it looks when you dock your smartphone onto the latch
With a mini tripod, this device is cute beyond words
Of course, you can also be serious about it when you mount a larger lens
Prior than using the app with the device, you would need to pair it up via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for full functionality. Well, it's all in English (if you download from the English Amazon store) and wizard guided. Some steps would require you to take apart the device to locate the QR code within to pair. Just do it carefully and I'm sure you'll happily be using it after a brief moment. One point to take note is that the device also requires a micro SDCard to function - of which you would need to purchase separately. Once the device is powered up, the rest of it relies on the app, your lens and your skill.
The app - OA.Central
This app is the main feature of the whole thing itself. Once started, you can choose between one of these options from the main screen:-
- Shooting Mode
- Mode dial - the basic shooting mode
- Art Filter - Using filters and effects while shooting
- Color creator - Adjust color and hue while shooting
- Photo story - Collage
- Clips - Video
- Genius - Capturing 6 different effects of a same picture (including filter, zoom and such)
- View Images - View previously shot images which had been stored in the device SDCard
- Camera Settings - Adjusting the camera's settings like WiFi password, Sleep Time and such
The usual mode which you will always be using the the standard mode dial feature. Within it, you can
control the standard camera settings like auto, manual, shutter priority, aperture priority, ISO, white balance, shutter speed and aperture settings. However if you're a very physical person who needs the touch of buttons for all these features, then this may be quite complicated for you (as for me).
Taking pictures
Like many cameras today, you can use your smartphone to focus on which area of the viewfinder to focus on and tap on the snap button on the screen. Alternatively, you can also use the physical button on the device to snap - but it will readjust the focus before snapping again.
If you're a professional photographer and requires a lot more technical details of this device, I would suggest you to look at this website for more details http://www.dpreview.com/products/olympus/slrs/oly_air_a01
Your lens
It is undeniable that once you make the decision to purchase this device, the next investment would be any other Micro Four Third (MFT) lenses which is manufactured by Panasonic, Olympus, Tamron, Sigma and such. As per the photograph above, you can attach crazy big ass lenses onto it and yet the A01 will still take it like a champion - provided you can afford it. While I am not going to write about Photography101 or Lenses101 here but here is a website that is detailing out all the MFT lenses out there in the market today http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/lense.html. It would give you an idea of what kind of photos to take (Macro, Potrait, Landscape, Animals and such) but it also comes to one last aspect of the usage - your skills
Your skills
You see, this device is not something which is conventional in form factor. It's not sized up as a traditional camera (not even like a GoPro) but it is very convenient in that sense. You can aim the device in any angle or position which you deemed like (like going as low as foot level to take pictures of the asphalt on the road) or mount it on a tripod and leave it there for selfie, we-fie or whatever-passing-by-fie. The limitation of creative photography is just on you. I had used it to take picture in one of my company's event but I ultimately, I was limited by my own skills and lens - but I'm still learning !
Some improvements needed
Battery life of A01 is quite impressive - I had went through about 2.5 hours of shooting without any problems. The problem is only at your smart device - as it will be continuously be switched on to cater for the viewfinder. Having these thoughts, you may want to consider a smartphone which is specifically used for the A01.
Alternatively, you can also opt to switch off A01 entirely. Letting your smartphone power-up the device itself via the OA.Central when needed - but this cold startup will take about 1 minute before the viewfinder is enabled (sometimes, if your smartphone have a lot of stuff going on, it may even take double the time). Likewise, you can also use your smartphone to power-down the A01.
There may be times when the synchronization between both device is out which left the viewfinder frozen in a specific frame. In those times, you would just need to wait a bit for both devices to sync back before you can continue shooting again
After using a while, the A01 is hot to the touch (Not burning) which is a bit worry-some if you're planning to leave it switched on for a long while or planning to take long exposure shots at night.
What else I like
The A01 uses MicroUSB slot for charging - of which if you bring a battery pack out with the standard MicroUSB cable, you can last quite long in that context (i.e. Outdoor shooting).
As mentioned earlier, there is a shutter button on the device itself which is useful for those point and click moments - without a viewfinder (If your aim is good). I had seen someone created a module to do so over in the internet, I'll share it when I can find it again.
While it is not written on many reviewing websites, the battery is not interchangeable but it is actually replaceable. Unscrewing some screws behind would expose the battery compartment whereby you can buy the replacement battery when the charging lifecycle of the original battery had depleted
If you're adventurous enough, you can also create additional modules or apps for the device as all the specifications and application interface (API) is published by Olympus for the masses to work on it.
In my upcoming post, I shall post some pictures which was taken by the device
