Advice on downgrade (!) please...

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Hi all,

I am considering getting rid of my Canon kit (40D, lenses and flash) and buying a professional compact camera. This Olympus OM-D has caught my eye and I was wondering if some of the guys here who now have one could answer some questions please. Forgive me if some of these questions are a little noddy, I am new to these types of cameras.

- I like shooting motorsport - is the Olympus fast enough ?
- How would you compare the image quality to a full fat DSLR ?
- How would you compare the features/controls to a full fat DSLR ?
- Can only Olympus OM-D lenses be used ?

Should I be looking at somethinbg else eg the Panasonic G3 ?

Thanks for your help.
 
The big thing is for shooting Motorsport a DSLR is best,the Olympus is not a bad camera,but it lacks the long lens range :)
 
simonblue said:
The big thing is for shooting Motorsport a DSLR is best,the Olympus is not a bad camera,but it lacks the long lens range :)
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Are you serious?

At 300mm the Oly will be FF equiv. 600mm. But you wont be at f2.8 FF equiv.

If you're not serious... Soz and :D
 
Ive a little pocket-able EPL1, and it was very useful the last few days on the beach.
I love the IQ of these CSC cameras, and if i wasn't so obsessed with a 5D3 i'd be looking at upgrading my CSC.
The controls are good and the ability to have a very tight grip on the settings are good, and i can imagine on the OM-D has even more.
 
I wouldn't either, but not because of the length on the lenses. The main issue I've found with MFT is that they just don't seem to auto focus as fast as Canon's do. I would imagine the OM-D might be better as its at the top end of the range, but I'm still not sure the lenses are there yet.
 
simonblue said:
I am still going to stick to my view,the Olympus is not a camera I would be looking for shooting Motorsport :)
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Maybe not. It may or may not be a motorsport camera but to say that the long lenses aren't there seems wrong as there are long MFT lenses plus via an adapter you can use pretty much any lens.

300mm on MFT seems pretty long to me and it just seems wrong to me to post misinformation like "lacks long lens range" when someone asks for input :thinking:
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

I should say that I don't photograph motorsport professionally. I have a standard 70-300mm lens that use.

What I find useful is the high ISO range, fast shutter speed and continuous shooting.

I also use the DSLR for the usual family tasks but find myself leaving it at home on most outdoor excursions because of its bulk and taking the Panny TZ6 compact. Unfortunately, the TZ6 just isn't up to the job and hence why I am considering getting one of these pro compacts to replace the DSLR

The Olympus does seem to be a top of the range with a £1k price tag !!

Can I use my EOS lenses with this camera or will I have to sell them ?

Any cheaper alternatives ?

I just saw the Nikon 1 advertised on TV, is that any good ?
 
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I've never heard of them referred as pro compact before! Some of them actually aren't all that compact.
 
Mandoo said:
I've never heard of them referred as pro compact before! Some of them actually aren't all that compact.
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Not sure if that is a common term but that is how I see them....compact-ish cameras that pros would use as a replacement for a DSLR !
 
There is a highly respected underwater photographer called Alex Mustard who recently reviewed this camera on wetpixel.com and amustard.com

This may seem a bizarre comparison to make but focal length aside the 'must haves' are similar between the 2 styles.

His findings - in a nutshell - were the image quality was slightly above the D300 and 7D with excellent high ISO, but with failings when compared to a decent dslr on continuous focus modes.

To me that means it will be good enough IQ wise for pre - focussed shots, but if you're hoping to track your subject, then MFT is not quite there yet.

Mike
 
pooley said:
There is a highly respected underwater photographer called Alex Mustard who recently reviewed this camera on wetpixel.com and amustard.com

This may seem a bizarre comparison to make but focal length aside the 'must haves' are similar between the 2 styles.

His findings - in a nutshell - were the image quality was slightly above the D300 and 7D with excellent high ISO, but with failings when compared to a decent dslr on continuous focus modes.

To me that means it will be good enough IQ wise for pre - focussed shots, but if you're hoping to track your subject, then MFT is not quite there yet.

Mike
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Thanks Mike.

I just read a review (it might have been the one in the link posted by Alan (Woof Woof) but not sure as read 2-3) and that found a similar issue with the continuous AF as in it was fine when panning left to right but fell down when the subject was approaching the camera.

Sounds like it might be fine for me though as motorsport is probably the most demanding of what I shoot but is only about 10% of what I use the camera for.
 
Spy said:
Thanks Mike.

I just read a review (it might have been the one in the link posted by Alan (Woof Woof) but not sure as read 2-3) and that found a similar issue with the continuous AF as in it was fine when panning left to right but fell down when the subject was approaching the camera.

Sounds like it might be fine for me though as motorsport is probably the most demanding of what I shoot but is only about 10% of what I use the camera for.
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Maybe think about keeping your 40D & lens for motorsport,and going for a cheaper mirrorless camera for the rest of the stuff you take.
Best of both worlds

:)
 
I don't know if this matters to anyone else but I spotted that the Oly's base ISO is 200. That matters to me as I like to use wide apertures even in good lighting. With my current G1 I can easily hit 1/4000 sec which is the max shutter speed of most (if not all, I simply don't know,) small form bodies. To get over this I use a couple of ND's, sometimes stacked. It fixes the problem but I find fitting and removing filters on the go a PITA. As the Oly's base ISO is 200 and it's fastest shutter speed is (I believe) 1/4000 sec anyone wanting to shoot wide apertures in good light is probably going to be juggling ND's even more than me.

The Oly does look to be a nice camera and I'm very tempted but personally I think I'll hold off until the spec for the rumoured upcoming GH3 is known and I'll very probably wait for the reviews too. If the GH3 can get anywhere near the Oly IQ and particularly in DR and has ISO 100 I may bite. If it has 1/8000 sec shutter that'll catch my interest too. I like the Panny articulated screen too and I tend to shoot with it turned to the body unless making a deliberate decision to do otherwise.
 
simonblue said:
Maybe think about keeping your 40D & lens for motorsport,and going for a cheaper mirrorless camera for the rest of the stuff you take.
Best of both worlds

:)
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Which would you recommend ?
 
simonblue said:
Have a look at the Nikon J1,the panasonic GF-1 still a good camera,a lot of places are selling the GF-3 cheap.

Up a bit in price Nikon V-1 the Sony Nex-5 & the Pansonic G3

:)
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OK, having thought about this a little more and looking at some of the advice I think it would be wise to dip my toe in the Compact System water before jumping in feet first and selling up all together.

I was intending on selling up and getting the Olympus OM-D5.

It will probably be better to pick up a cheap-ish compact system to see how I get on with it first. If it works out I can then sell up DSLR and pick up the OM-D5.

With that in mind, I want to get a compact camera where I could then keep the lenses and use them with the OM-D if I do end up going down that route. Reading up a little, it seems that the Panasonic G series and Olympus PEN series might be the best route to take. If possible, I would prefer to stick to Olympus lenses if I do move up to the OM-D5.

Looking into this, I am confused with the Olympus naming. They have E-P, E-PL and E-PM: what is the difference between these ?

I assume the numbering just indicates the superceded versions i.e. E-PL1 was first (2010), then the E-PL2 (2011) and then E-PL3 (2012) etc - is that correct ?

The Panasonic GF3 also looks attractive at current prices.

Which camera would people recommend I go for that would give me the best DSLR image/features/performance combined with the best value ?

Thanks for your help.
 
If you're looking at changing to the OM-D further down the line then going for a cheaper Olympus model now is the logical way to go in my opinion. Unfortunately I can't help on that one though as I'm a Panasonic shooter and haven't looked into the Olympus bodies.
 
Mandoo said:
If you're looking at changing to the OM-D further down the line then going for a cheaper Olympus model now is the logical way to go in my opinion. Unfortunately I can't help on that one though as I'm a Panasonic shooter and haven't looked into the Olympus bodies.
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Thanks, I was thinking along similar lines but teh Olympus models are confusing me !
 
simonblue said:
The big thing is for shooting Motorsport a DSLR is best,the Olympus is not a bad camera,but it lacks the long lens range :)
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Not so...Due to the 2:1 crop factor the Panasonic 45-200 is equal to 90-400 in FF and the 100-300 is equal to 200-600. :eek:

Is that not long enough for anyone.

BTW Panasonic lenses fit Olympus ;)
 
Spy said:
Looking into this, I am confused with the Olympus naming. They have E-P, E-PL and E-PM: what is the difference between these ?

I assume the numbering just indicates the superceded versions i.e. E-PL1 was first (2010), then the E-PL2 (2011) and then E-PL3 (2012) etc - is that correct ?
Click to expand...

I don't think they are straight forward sequeuntial model numbers over the years, they sort of denote the level in the range.

I would go for an old E-P1 just because they look so damn good (yes I know that doesn't make the photos better :) )
 
ernesto said:
I don't think they are straight forward sequeuntial model numbers over the years, they sort of denote the level in the range.

I would go for an old E-P1 just because they look so damn good (yes I know that doesn't make the photos better :) )
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Isn't the AF a little laggy on that model ?
 
Can the lens from the Panasonic GF3 kit (14-42mm) be used on the Olympus camera without any adapters or loss of functionality ?
 
Spy said:
Isn't the AF a little laggy on that model ?
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It probably would be, I used a E-PL2 for a while and found it quite laggy, the same lenses (eg Oly 45mm f1.8, Oly 40-150) on a Lumix G2 were noticeably faster (but still not up to Canon DSLR standard in speed or accuracy in my experience).

I think you need to go to at least the E-PL3 or similar to get quick AF.
 
Spy said:
Can the lens from the Panasonic GF3 kit (14-42mm) be used on the Olympus camera without any adapters or loss of functionality ?
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Yes, they both utilise the same mount (except the obvious loss of lens IS which works on Panasonic bodies only).
 
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Spy said:
Isn't the AF a little laggy on that model ?
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I believe it is, but you then have loads of opportunities to look cool with your camera while you are waiting for it to focus :)

It also has no viewfinder and the button layout and general speed probably doesn't get close to your 40D. They are also not that much smaller. What was your reason for changing, was it only to reduce the size?
 
ernesto said:
I believe it is, but you then have loads of opportunities to look cool with your camera while you are waiting for it to focus :)

It also has no viewfinder and the button layout and general speed probably doesn't get close to your 40D. They are also not that much smaller. What was your reason for changing, was it only to reduce the size?
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The main reason for changing is to get some kut taht I will take out and use more. I find myself leaving teh DSLR kit behind due to its bulk and weight and taking the Panny TZ6 compact. The problem is that the TZ6 is not up to many of the tasks and has no manual control.

I would much rather put my money into kit I will make more use of.

My 40D is quite a large and heavy body and that is before any pf the lenses and the giant 580EX flash.

If I can get close to the picture quality of the 40D 90% of the time from smaller and lighter kit I would be much happier.
 
Dave1 said:
Yes, they both utilise the same mount (except the obvious loss of lens IS which works on Panasonic bodies only).
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If the body has built-in IS, like the Olympus OMD M5, would that work with teh Panny lenses ?
 
Spy said:
The main reason for changing is to get some kut taht I will take out and use more. I find myself leaving teh DSLR kit behind due to its bulk and weight and taking the Panny TZ6 compact. The problem is that the TZ6 is not up to many of the tasks and has no manual control.

I would much rather put my money into kit I will make more use of.

My 40D is quite a large and heavy body and that is before any pf the lenses and the giant 580EX flash.

If I can get close to the picture quality of the 40D 90% of the time from smaller and lighter kit I would be much happier.
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Could have just answered "yes, to reduce size" :)

I actually went through the whole size thing but found that as the alternatives still couldn't fit in my pocket it didn't really make any difference as I still had to carry them specifically. But then I am happy to walk around with a DSLR and a 50 lens on a wrist strap so use a DSLR in it's lightest form.
 
I find that a CSC + 25mm f0.95 is significantly lighter than a DSLR + 50mm f1.4, so much so that the first time I went out with a CSC I had to keep checking my bag as I though it'd fallen out.
 
Spy said:
If the body has built-in IS, like the Olympus OMD M5, would that work with teh Panny lenses ?
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No, a Panny lens will not IS on an Olympus body. You can only use the body IS of the Oympus (all Oly bodies have IS).
 
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