From Fuji to Olympus, by accident and by luck

Hi, my name is Luca, I am 41 years old and I live in South Tyrol – Northern Italy. I work as a technical employee in a company that manages high-voltage power lines.

I am an amateur photographer, and I love spending my free time in nature, so my favorite genres are Wildlife, Landscape and Macro. However, since I live in a city, I do not disdain some street photos.

I started taking pictures “seriously” in 2014 by purchasing, somewhat by chance, a Fuji X-E2 with the classic 18-55mm. However, my passion for photography grew and grew and over the years I purchased several Fujifilm cameras (X-E1, X-T1, X-H1, X-T4, X-Pro2) and practically all the lenses available, from the ultrawide XF8-16mm F2.8 to the super-telephoto XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6.

With this last lens, the XF 100-400mm, I had more fun immortalizing roe deer, deer, chamois, foxes, and birds of all kinds, each time with great emotion. But those who do this kind of thing know how demanding it is, especially without hiding in huts, a challenge to the highly developed senses of wild animals, which often leads to unsuccessful outings. Hours of sleep lost without having obtained any shots.

Unfortunately, Fujifilm is not (or rather, it wasn’t) a system created for nature photography and over time I began to notice its limits, the zooms never completely satisfied me and were often not very sharp, apart from the red-badge F2.8 (pro) which however often remained at home because they were too bulky and heavy.

So, in 2023, following a burglary in my home, where thieves took away all my photographic equipment, I decided to choose a system that would guarantee me to have compact and sharp zooms and maybe even a camera body with better autofocus performance.

I chose Olympus.

Thanks to my thieving friends 😉 I discovered a new world: The OM-1 and the M.Zuiko PRO F4 Zooms. With just under 1.5kg in a small bag I had the possibility of switching from the M.Zuiko 8-25mm to the 12-45mm and finally to the 40-150mm. I could photograph anything! And with superlative autofocus performance. Incredible sharpness and quality.

Lately, I have also had the opportunity to purchase some fixed lenses, such as the M.Zuiko 20mm F1.4 PRO and the M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO. I would never have expected that the micro4/3 sensor could provide such a blur with a three-dimensionality that absolutely does not make you regret the Fuji system.

Of the Fujifilm, I only have the X100V left, which I use mainly for street photography, in fact the thieves didn’t steal it from me, despite the high price, because, crazy as I am, I had decided to make it more vintage by scratching it and so they thought it was an old camera of little value 😀

The area where I live is spectacular with an Alpine climate that mixes with the Mediterranean, Dolomites as far as the eye can see and endless vineyards or snow-covered landscapes. The Dolomites: the famous mountain range and UNESCO World Heritage Site never ceases to fascinate. In South Tyrol, the peaks are almost endless, and each one is more beautiful than the last. The Alpine world of this province has an irresistible charm and invites hikers, mountaineers and nature lovers to immerse themselves in its colorful landscapes all year round. Some lakes, including Lake Braies, Lake Resia, Lake Carezza or Lake Caldaro, are easily accessible by car or public transport. Other smaller and more secluded mountain lakes can only be reached via wonderful nature trails. The fresh water, the emerald green color and the mountains all around are the characteristic features of the lakes in South Tyrol.

At the same time as purchasing the Olympus equipment, I decided to expand my family with a beautiful Jack Russell, and what better way to test the new equipment than by photographing its jumps and runs? The OM-1, with its automatic animal recognition, has never disappointed me and has allowed me to obtain unrepeatable shots.

Today, after just over a year, I find myself with a very respectable Olympus/OM System kit:

• OM-1
• Zuiko 8-25mm F4 PRO
• Zuiko 12mm F2
• Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro
• Zuiko 12-45mm F4 PRO
• Zuiko 40-150mm F4 PRO
• Zuiko 20mm F1.4 PRO
• Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO

My favorite lens is the 60mm macro, I never thought there could be such a light and compact macro with extreme sharpness, combined with the focus stacking in the camera it gives me the possibility to take handheld photos without a tripod, which is unattainable with other systems.

In the future, I would like to start again with Wild photography, which I have recently abandoned a bit, maybe with the 300m F4 PRO, but for now it remains just a dream, and I have to make do with the excellent 40-150mm.

Finally, I hope that OMS will continue with its work and maybe give us a new PEN-F so that we can have a modern system that is even more compact and smart. It would be nice to be able to carry a very light PEN-F with the 12mm F2 in my backpack and shoot landscapes during my bike training.

I have only been shooting with Olympus for a year, and I still have to get to know all the features of the new camera, but I can say that I am satisfied and do not miss a larger sensor. Sure, sometimes the dynamic range is limited but this pushes you to simply calculate the exposure better before shooting. With the latest software updates of Lightroom, which I use for post-production, even noise at high ISO is no longer a problem.

I am sure that if I had had this system from the beginning, I would have obtained better photos. With the 300mm or with the 150-400mm, animals and birds would not have had a chance. With the Live Composite, I would have taken lightning and storms without too much effort and with the focus-stacking in the camera I would have enjoyed taking macros with subjects completely in focus. No big deal, now I hope to be able to make up for the time and the missed opportunities.

I love taking pictures, it gives me joy and satisfaction, I hope this passion never ends. If you would like to follow my work, you can find my nature shots on Instagram @luca_dalla_vecchia, the life of my Jack Russell on @dorothythejackrussell and if you also want a bit of street on @scatti_a_bolzano.

Finally, I take this opportunity to say hello to Hugo from Olympus Passion for giving me the opportunity to tell my photographic story. It was an honor to write an article for your fantastic photography site.

Thank you for this unexpected opportunity!

With love,
Luca Dalla Vecchia