Olympus OM-D E-M5, E-M1, E-M10 - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Owners Thread

Superb Alby, typical of a Robin to take charge of the gardening tools :)
 
Lovely photos of your children Ian. That 45mm is amazing.
I don't really do portraits - only the dogs!! ;) - so it would be wasted on me. Just a pity I got my OMD before they did the free 45mm offer!
 
fidsey79 said:
We had a session on flash photography at our photo group last night. This was taken with continuous lighting. I was just too tempted and ended up largely using the art filters (naughty!) and this one is using dramatic tone. Left the session smiling, not because my pictures are any good but because I so enjoyed using the Olympus!!
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I've not used the art filters yet to be honest Sarah, so it's interesting to see what they do!
Glad you are enjoying the camera so much!
 
Lovely images of the butterflies Lindsay.
You and Huw have made me wish that I lived closer so that I could have a day there!
 
Love the Robin Alby! I wish our resident Robin would perch on one of our gardening tools when either me or my husband have a camera to hand. After all I spend a fortune on meal worms for him!! ;)
 
Thanks for all the nice comments guys. The 45mm lens is a nice one. I'd put it close to the Canon 85/1.8 which has a very good reputation too.

Here is another of my son, a standard shot I take when comparing gear:

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This had a specific OMD preset applied, then into Silver Efex Pro 2 where I converted it to B&W with a film preset (I forget which one), vignette and toning added, then back to Lightroom for a touch of exposure boost, sharpening and noise reduction. I'm quite happy with it.

For a rough and ready comparison, here is a Fuji x-pro1 shot of the same subject in the same door (but different day and with less cropping and no doubt a different processing mix):

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This looks lovely printed.
 
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Out of interest I checked the shutter count on my OMD. Imagine my surprise to find that the camera has taken 286 when I have taken 172. Can anyone also tell me whether their Olympus box was fastened as the ones I received from Amazon both showed no sign of stickers. If you remember I had to send the first one back as it did not work, now wondering whether this one has also already been back to Amazon before!. Am I being too suspicious?!?
 
Stunning portraits again Ian.

A couple more wildlife shots, this time with the OM-D and Panny 100-300.
These are from mid January...



 
Lindsay D said:
Ian, those portraits are beautiful - your children are adorable.
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They are in photos - when you are trying to get them to bed after an evening eating nutella-filled pancakes they are less adorable, I can tell you.

If any of you are looking to sell or know a good cheap source for a 75/1.8 Olympus lens I have a wanted ad posted...
 
hey all - selling my hardly used E-PL5 on the for sale forum if anyone wants a small backup to their OM-D with the same sensor.
Marco.
 
I like this camera more the more I use it. I think I have it set up the way I want it now (nothing fancy, but in line with how my Fuji is set up). Another day of photographing my son with a bit of Lightroom processing afterwards (OMD plus 45/1.8):

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I've got a line on a 75/1.8 so will hopefully have that in the next few days. Then I'll probably be looking for a 12/2!
 
ianmarsh said:
Lovely set of pics! Its a log time since I've seen a red squirrel so that one caught my eye
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Well if you make it to Surrey Ian you must visit the British Wildlife Centre, the red squirrels are incredibly playful and curious and it's not uncommon for them to attach themselves to your shoulder or camera bag as you walk around.

If you catch them on a playful day, this is what you can expect: http://lindsaydobsonphotography.com/pets/red_squirrels_in_surrey/
 
Lindsay D said:
Well if you make it to Surrey Ian you must visit the British Wildlife Centre, the red squirrels are incredibly playful and curious and it's not uncommon for them to attach themselves to your shoulder or camera bag as you walk around.

If you catch them on a playful day, this is what you can expect: http://lindsaydobsonphotography.com/pets/red_squirrels_in_surrey/
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I was going to comment on the previous set of images, which were excellent, but these are remarkable!! Such a shame we live so far from Surrey!
Thank you for sharing Lindsay!
 
Selling Canon 7d and über heavy L lenses. I'm going to replace with EM5, X-pro NEX7 or Lumix GH3. you guys seem super enthusiastic about EM5. What advice can you give me please
 
Engineer73 said:
Selling Canon 7d and über heavy L lenses. I'm going to replace with EM5, X-pro NEX7 or Lumix GH3. you guys seem super enthusiastic about EM5. What advice can you give me please
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Looking at DxOs latest tests, it looks like it confirms the GH3 uses the same sensor as the OM-D (if they don't they are close enough!!). Given that, I'd try the ergonomics of both a GH3 and an OM-D in a shop before taking the plunge. From what I've read about the OM-Ds ergonomics, I'd want to smash the thing with a hammer after day #1.

When the GH3 sensor trickles down to the G series, I will be investing in a partner for my G5.
 
Can someone give me some advice on adapters I have ordered a nikon 55-300 lens off here and wondered if there was an adapter that I could purchase for using it on the omd.

I know if there is one it would be manual focus only but not sure if the adapters available are for g lenses only.

Thanks Andy
 
Engineer73 said:
Selling Canon 7d and über heavy L lenses. I'm going to replace with EM5, X-pro NEX7 or Lumix GH3. you guys seem super enthusiastic about EM5. What advice can you give me please
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I would say go and play with them first. The OMD Is tiny, with fiddly buttons and is fully customisable while the fujis are clunkier and slower. The AF speeds are hugely different as you have no doubt read. Both take good pics though I find the fuji iq noticeably better. I don't think these cameras suit everyone so make sure they are right for you
 
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Just a natural light test shot of my favourite victim with my new 75/1.8:

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Focus seems pretty much instant and the IQ is very good. Build quality is top notch and while it is pretty big for m4/3 this lens still feels tiny after using Minolta and Canon for a decade. I am a sucker for shallow depth of focus shots so this lens is a must for me on the OM-D. I can see that it is a bit long for some people but the majority of my shots are head and shoulders portraits so it is just right for me.
 
Bit confused by the system so I think this may go to more people than replied to my original post, however thanks for your help. I will take the advice and go and do comparative handling tests.
 
ianmarsh said:
I would say go and play with them first. The OMD Is tiny, with fiddly buttons and is fully customisable while the fujis are clunkier and slower. The AF speeds are hugely different as you have no doubt read. Both take good pics though I find the fuji iq noticeably better. I don't think these cameras suit everyone so make sure they are right for you
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Having extensively tested X cameras including the XE1 (and subsequently deciding not to keep it) I would definitely argue with the view that the Fuji IQ is better. This is of course subjective, but I really don't like the rendering of X Trans files be they JPEG or RAW (I'm not alone with this) and of course there is the ongoing problem of inadequate mainstream X Trans RAW support which I won't go into here but have discussed in depth elsewhere. Image issues aside, the overall performance of the XE1/XP1 is well below par via modern standards and significantly limiting for many users. Although I retain two X cameras for occasional personal (the X100 is wonderful, trad Bayer sensor which produces the best files I've ever seen) use I would not consider reinvesting in another. The recent introduction of hybrid autofocus may or may not be "better enough" and I would base that against similar technology in the NEX6 which is not great to be honest.

By contrast, the OMD does pretty much everything I could possibly ask of it, and it does so in style.
 
I agree that the IQ debate has to be at least partially subjective and that is why we have lots of photographers dedicated to one brand (I really don't like what I think of as the Nikon look, for example, though many obviosuly disagree). While the OMD does well most of the time (and I'm keeping it so I am happy with it), high iso shots don't seem too good whereas the Fujis hold up better (IMHO). I find the jpeg engine excellent in the XP1 so I am usually happy to take those and avoid the problems with RAW conversions, especially with some of the film emulations. On the other hand I find need to do quite a bit to the Olympus shots to get the look I like as they seem flat SOOC (RAW or jpeg).

Nobody can argue that the Fuji's (XP1/XE1) are particularly quick to operate but whether this matters depends on what you are shooting. I am a slow and steady photographer in the main and I rarely do anything besides shift aperture, iso and exposure compensation, all of which you can do instantly on the Fujis. Anything else is a bit of a pain, but it doesn't matter to me.
 
I've never particularly liked the Nikon look either, but that was down to colour rendering. I see other issues with X Trans which are not so easy to overcome, but whether this will bother you are not does partly depend on end use and output size. I'm a bit surprised that you don't think the OMD is good at high ISO, I think it's very good indeed, bettering the 7D I used to own. I think it depends on how you look at noise - on a good sensor a bit of noise isn't a problem if that sensor records a lot of detail, which the OMD does. It's also worth bearing in mind that the XE1/XP1 ISO values are a bit inflated, by around a stop. So the lowlight advantage is not really as great as you might realise.

I quite agree that if you have plenty of time to shoot then the X cameras would not be too limiting. I use my X-100 for personal stuff and it's always a real pleasure to have in the hand, plus the IQ is beautiful.
 
Lindsay D said:
I'm a bit surprised that you don't think the OMD is good at high ISO, I think it's very good indeed, bettering the 7D I used to own. I think it depends on how you look at noise - on a good sensor a bit of noise isn't a problem if that sensor records a lot of detail, which the OMD does. It's also worth bearing in mind that the XE1/XP1 ISO values are a bit inflated, by around a stop. So the lowlight advantage is not really as great as you might realise.
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To be honest, the first highish iso shots I tried on the OM-D were so bad I was very disappointed. I've fiddled around with settings (turned off all in-camera processing) and things are better but I am with this guy:

http://www.ronmartblog.com/2012/09/review-olympus-om-d-e-m5-compared-with.html

I find OM-D files too noisy from 1600 up (800 is OK, anything below fine) but with the Fuji I'm happy upto 3200 (which might not really be 3200, I agree).

As you say though, different people look at the same thing and see different issues! There is a lot more variation between the compositional/artistic quality of my shots than there is between the technical qualities across cameras. I can take lousy pictures wih the best gear in the world and get lucky with a point and shoot.
 
Yes, you will see a bit of noise at ISO 1600 in the OMD RAW files (though it's hard to spot in the JPEGs even with NR turned down a little) though somewhat less than my APS-C DSLRs. Because the OMD RAWs have such good detail applying a bit of third-party noise reduction gets rid of the noise but preserves the IQ, so maybe that's something you could look at if you needed to. My personal favourite is Topaz DeNoise. Coming from a film background I tend not to view noise in the same way that modern digital photographers might, I think there's a tendency these days to measure IQ according to how much noise there is in the file, when in fact there are more important variables (e.g. highlight tolerance etc). But obviously if you're shooting in dim conditions regularly then it's understandable that high ISO tolerance will be one of your priorities. This is one of the reasons why I still keep my 5D MkIII bodies, and the occasional need for fast tracking focus.
 
Thinking of getting an OMD, I can get hold of a panny 14-42 lens which has VR, VR can be switched off in the panasonic camera menu.

Has anyone used the panny 14-42 with the OMD and can the lens VR be switched off via menu?

I know the 14-45 has a on/offswitch on the lens for VR.
Cheers
 
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