Olympus E-M1X Field Test Part III: In its element in the elements, shooting a stormy NASCAR race at Daytona
posted Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at 5:19 PM EDT
Click here to read part three of my Olympus E-M1X Field Test
[Ed. Note: We just realized that this field test had accidentally been taken offline by some in-house testing. We're re-featuring it briefly to give it a little love and make up for the mistake. Apologies to those of you who'd been trying to access it!] For close to 30 years now, I've been a huge motorsports fan, but I've long had a box I wanted to check off the list. I'd attended a good few Formula One races in Europe and the USA, as well as the Indy 500, but the closest I'd ever been to a NASCAR race was a single practice session I'd attended in Las Vegas many years ago, while I was in town for a trade show. (Sadly, I didn't get to stick around for the race.)
It's something I've long wanted to rectify, but I've also gotten a little spoiled with pitlane access over the years, and wanted that kind of access for NASCAR too. So it languished on my bucket list as a "one day, when I strike it rich or lucky" item.
When the folks at Olympus reached out and offered a chance to shoot with their flagship E-M1X mirrorless camera at Daytona International Speedway, you'd better believe it didn't take me long to say "Yes!". Not only would I have pitlane and trackside access to photograph NASCAR's Circle K Firecracker 250 and Coke Zero Sugar 500 races all weekend alongside the pros, but it was also my first real chance to shoot with the Olympus E-M1X, which I've also been itching to do for a while now.
And for bonus points, one of those pros -- Jason Reasin of Jason Reasin Photography -- was himself an Olympus shooter who'd recently switched to the brand (and to mirrorless) from a rival brand's DSLRs. The race weekend was a great opportunity both for me to learn from a pro, and to pick his brain a little about the reasons for his switch to Micro Four Thirds. It was also the first time I'd attended a race on a tri-oval, and as it turned out, also my first dusk/night race as well.
It was an amazing experience all around, and you can read all about in my just-published third field test for the Olympus E-M1X! As well as my own experiences and photos, you'll also get the perspective of a motorsports pro courtesy of Jason Reasin's thoughts, which I've condensend into the piece alongside my own. (Jason also kindly shared several of his photos from the weekend to accompany the story, all shot with Olympus gear, for which I'm most grateful.)
Hop on over now to my Olympus E-M1X Field Test Part III for the full story, and when you're done, be sure to check out the rest of our review at the links below, too!
