Last year, Olympus ran a clever marketing campaign for their then flagship micro four thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M5. Unfortunately we missed it because we weren't in Berlin at the time.
The basic premise is that you go to this place and you get to borrow a camera, walk around a big building full of art installations - having fun and getting exposure to the Olympus brand at the same time. All free, pretty genius I think.
So this year when I heard it was on again I didn't want to miss it!
As soon as you walk into the playground building you come to a front reception type desk with a wall of cameras behind. Luckily as we were early the wait wasn't very long.
Because they are handing out some quite expensive gear, they want some serious identification from you - only a passport will do. Our Anmeldung's and German drivers license weren't enough, so luckily one of of our group had their passport, and with each valid form of ID they will loan out two cameras.
Since last year the OM-D line has expanded to three cameras. A new entry level OM-D (the E-M10), the E-M5 remains, now as the mid level camera and a new 'pro' level camera tops out the line (the E-M1).
I wanted to try the pro one, with the pro lens (the 12-40mm constant aperture f2.8) and was very pleased that there was no problem getting the gear I was after. As an E-M5 owner I am certainly curious about the new camera and also have been considering augmenting my lens line up with this 12-40mm lens (which costs 1,000 Euros alone).
Once registered you freely walk around multiple levels of this grand old disused (and apparently soon to be demolished) industrial building.
The highlight of the installations was a building scene optical illusion in which, through the aid of a very large mirror, you can position yourself over the building façade an appear to be perched perilously close to death!
Some of the other stuff was pretty 'arty'...
Which is the point I guess, to get you thinking creatively ...
You also have the opportunity to have a light painting done around you. We just did one of them...with pretty drastic 80's consequences...
We look a bit stunned, because basically you stand in the dark, and then the guy uses a flash gun to freeze your position in the frame - complete dark to blinding flash is a recipe for the above drop-kick look. The guy then proceeds to run around you, painting with light. In our case attempting a Berlin scene (TV tower left, Brandenburg Gate right and 'berlin' above our heads).
There was another one in which you lay upon a chaise lounge and the guy does a similar thing. The people before us were a group of young girls, all wanting their glamour portraits done consecutively - it took ages and the poor guy was exhausted. As was all his batteries.
One of our party had her portrait done, and the guy, desperate to do something different, arranged her on her back with mouth open, and drew her soul spewing from her mouth. Looked pretty cool.
There were some more arty installations...
Interactive camouflage...
And plenty of open space...
With a final exhibit being a intense light and sparse audio show in an otherwise large space. Being very dark it was very mysterious. The girls from the chaise lounge shoot were in there just before us, hogging the interactivity of it all. It was a challenging scene to photograph as the unpredictability of the lights in the otherwise darkness cause metering and focus issues - especially when you are going pro off Auto :P
When they give you the cameras, they ask you to be back within two hours. We took longer than this, mainly because the building facade illusion and the chase lounge things had long waiting lines.
By the time we returned the cameras there was quite a line waiting to register, and not too many cameras to give out. So being early is better!
So you think - if they loaned you the camera, how did I get the pictures? Well, they give you the SD card (4GB) to take home with you. All for free. Pretty cool huh.
Like I said earlier, I think this is a pretty genius marketing idea. I wonder how much of it actually turns to sales for Olympus? In regards to what I though about the E-M1 and the 12-40mm f2.8 lens? Well the E-M1 is nice, but after using it I felt no desire to upgrade. As for the lens, well it's certainly a nice lens, but my main reason for wanting it was as a wide lens and I found that at the 12mm end it wasn't as wide as I was expecting (for stuff like indoor photography) - which left me thinking that that lens isn't for me right now.
So thanks Olympus, I'll stick with what I've already got :) Maybe next year I can try a super-ultra-mega-wide lens and see if that's what I'm after.
Olympus OM-D Photography Playground
Opernwerkstätten Berlin-Mitte
Zinnowitzer Str. 9
Open Daily 11am - 7pm
Runs from 10 April to 25 May 2014
The basic premise is that you go to this place and you get to borrow a camera, walk around a big building full of art installations - having fun and getting exposure to the Olympus brand at the same time. All free, pretty genius I think.
So this year when I heard it was on again I didn't want to miss it!
As soon as you walk into the playground building you come to a front reception type desk with a wall of cameras behind. Luckily as we were early the wait wasn't very long.Because they are handing out some quite expensive gear, they want some serious identification from you - only a passport will do. Our Anmeldung's and German drivers license weren't enough, so luckily one of of our group had their passport, and with each valid form of ID they will loan out two cameras.
Since last year the OM-D line has expanded to three cameras. A new entry level OM-D (the E-M10), the E-M5 remains, now as the mid level camera and a new 'pro' level camera tops out the line (the E-M1).
I wanted to try the pro one, with the pro lens (the 12-40mm constant aperture f2.8) and was very pleased that there was no problem getting the gear I was after. As an E-M5 owner I am certainly curious about the new camera and also have been considering augmenting my lens line up with this 12-40mm lens (which costs 1,000 Euros alone).
Once registered you freely walk around multiple levels of this grand old disused (and apparently soon to be demolished) industrial building.
The highlight of the installations was a building scene optical illusion in which, through the aid of a very large mirror, you can position yourself over the building façade an appear to be perched perilously close to death!
Which is the point I guess, to get you thinking creatively ...
You also have the opportunity to have a light painting done around you. We just did one of them...with pretty drastic 80's consequences...
We look a bit stunned, because basically you stand in the dark, and then the guy uses a flash gun to freeze your position in the frame - complete dark to blinding flash is a recipe for the above drop-kick look. The guy then proceeds to run around you, painting with light. In our case attempting a Berlin scene (TV tower left, Brandenburg Gate right and 'berlin' above our heads).
There was another one in which you lay upon a chaise lounge and the guy does a similar thing. The people before us were a group of young girls, all wanting their glamour portraits done consecutively - it took ages and the poor guy was exhausted. As was all his batteries.One of our party had her portrait done, and the guy, desperate to do something different, arranged her on her back with mouth open, and drew her soul spewing from her mouth. Looked pretty cool.
There were some more arty installations...
Interactive camouflage...
With a final exhibit being a intense light and sparse audio show in an otherwise large space. Being very dark it was very mysterious. The girls from the chaise lounge shoot were in there just before us, hogging the interactivity of it all. It was a challenging scene to photograph as the unpredictability of the lights in the otherwise darkness cause metering and focus issues - especially when you are going pro off Auto :P
When they give you the cameras, they ask you to be back within two hours. We took longer than this, mainly because the building facade illusion and the chase lounge things had long waiting lines.
By the time we returned the cameras there was quite a line waiting to register, and not too many cameras to give out. So being early is better!
So you think - if they loaned you the camera, how did I get the pictures? Well, they give you the SD card (4GB) to take home with you. All for free. Pretty cool huh.
Like I said earlier, I think this is a pretty genius marketing idea. I wonder how much of it actually turns to sales for Olympus? In regards to what I though about the E-M1 and the 12-40mm f2.8 lens? Well the E-M1 is nice, but after using it I felt no desire to upgrade. As for the lens, well it's certainly a nice lens, but my main reason for wanting it was as a wide lens and I found that at the 12mm end it wasn't as wide as I was expecting (for stuff like indoor photography) - which left me thinking that that lens isn't for me right now.
So thanks Olympus, I'll stick with what I've already got :) Maybe next year I can try a super-ultra-mega-wide lens and see if that's what I'm after.
Olympus OM-D Photography Playground
Opernwerkstätten Berlin-Mitte
Zinnowitzer Str. 9
Open Daily 11am - 7pm
Runs from 10 April to 25 May 2014
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