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

Chris, good sharp detailed shot.

If you don't mind, one thing though. With animals, you are better off not cropping in so severely and always leave a little room to the side where the animal is looking. Looks more natural e.g. as the below (just a random image from my Flickr account):


No I dont mind at all, I cropped in to see how far the E-M1 files could be pushed and to see what detail remained.
 
Last edited:
Ah OK fair enough then. ;)
 
Last edited:
OK I know this is really pushing it for Micro Four thirds, but I wanted to see what the new Topaz Labs AI software could do on really high ISO images from Micro Four thirds.

So I went out at lunchtime armed with the EM1 MK II and the Leica 100-400, and did some shots. This one is a big crop (5.3mp only) at ISO 8000 and to be honest I wasn't really expecting much, but it turned out much better than I thought. The original raw image was a right mess, but LR and DeNoise AI have done a decent job especially as Olympus NR (even though turned off in camera) still applies some noise reduction and thus smearing of fine detail. Not award winning by any means of course and yes, bigger sensor cameras could have done better but at 800mm hand held ?? You be the judge.

 
Last edited:
Impressive Andrew just shows what can be done to recover files that maybe discarded and yes it is not an award winner but thank you demonstrating what inTopaz and Lightroom can be done
 
Last edited:
OK I know this is really pushing it for Micro Four thirds, but I wanted to see what the new Topaz Labs AI software could do on really high ISO images from Micro Four thirds.

So I went out at lunchtime armed with the EM1 MK II and the Leica 100-400, and did some shots. This one is a big crop (5.3mp only) at ISO 8000 and to be honest I wasn't really expecting much, but it turned out much better than I thought. The original raw image was a right mess, but LR and DeNoise AI have done a decent job especially as Olympus NR (even though turned off in camera) still applies some noise reduction and thus smearing of fine detail. Not award winning by any means of course and yes, bigger sensor cameras could have done better but at 800mm hand held ?? You be the judge.

.... Impressive when you consider how much you pushed and enlarged it. Plus the plumage of a Goldfinch's breast nearly always looks very soft and lacking definition when photographed.

I am curious about what you have said which I have highlit in bold blue : I have Noise Filter switched Off (M1X) and surely "Off" means Off? I want absolutely no noise reduction onboard camera because I want to control it myself in post-processing (I only shoot RAW). Can you give any further explanation of your comment please Andrew?
 
Last edited:
Robin, It's been well know over the years on a number of forums, that over a certain ISO (can't exactly remember if it's ISO 800 or ISO 1600), even when you turn NR off in camera still performs a certain degree of NR (even on the Raw files). If I recall correctly, both Nikon and Fuji also do the same thing, I can't find the link now, but I seem to recall someone doing a test on a raw file some years ago.

I also recall when I purchased the EM1 MK II 4 years ago (or so), Olympus were running a promo that you could attend a day out with an Olympus visionary in the UK. I chose the lake district with pro photographer Steve Gosling. After the shoot there was an extended Q&A session with both Steve and the Olympus representatives on hand. This very question was raised at the time, and the guys from Olympus UK confirmed this to be correct to the best of their knowledge.

The way I look at it is like this -

Off - OK camera perform the bare minimum NR that you will allow
Low - Camera allowed to do a little extra NR over the auto NR from camera
Mid - A bit more and starting to smear some fine details at the higher ISO's
HIgh - I've got rid of most of the noise but ruined your image by smoothing out all the detail.

it's like with the VW Golfs we used to chat about on the car forums, even turning Traction control off in car, doesn't turn it completely off.

I am more than happy to be proved wrong though :p
 
Last edited:
Here's another at ISO 4000 (and a bit less of a crop)

 
Some superb work there Andrew . Shows what can be achieved with these little wonders
 
Robin, It's been well know over the years on a number of forums, that over a certain ISO (can't exactly remember if it's ISO 800 or ISO 1600), even when you turn NR off in camera still performs a certain degree of NR (even on the Raw files). If I recall correctly, both Nikon and Fuji also do the same thing, I can't find the link now, but I seem to recall someone doing a test on a raw file some years ago.

I also recall when I purchased the EM1 MK II 4 years ago (or so), Olympus were running a promo that you could attend a day out with an Olympus visionary in the UK. I chose the lake district with pro photographer Steve Gosling. After the shoot there was an extended Q&A session with both Steve and the Olympus representatives on hand. This very question was raised at the time, and the guys from Olympus UK confirmed this to be correct to the best of their knowledge.

The way I look at it is like this -

Off - OK camera perform the bare minimum NR that you will allow
Low - Camera allowed to do a little extra NR over the auto NR from camera
Mid - A bit more and starting to smear some fine details at the higher ISO's
HIgh - I've got rid of most of the noise but ruined your image by smoothing out all the detail.

.... Thanks Andrew! That's very helpful indeed - I didn't know any of that. Great description too! > "I've ruined your image by..." :LOL:

it's like with the VW Golfs we used to chat about on the car forums, even turning Traction control off in car, doesn't turn it completely off.

.... Did we know each other on the car forums!? Golf GTI and/or Tyresmoke? - "Sootchucker" sounds slightly familiar. But yes, I remember those TC Off discussions well.
 
I think I first got to know you on ukmkiv‘s then on Golf GTI. You might remember me under my old forum name “Norbreck21a” ?
 
I think I first got to know you on ukmkiv‘s then on Golf GTI. You might remember me under my old forum name “Norbreck21a” ?

.... Ah! Yes, the name "Norbreck" rings a bell. I think I knew you as 'Andy' rather than 'Andrew'.

There's another guy on TalkPhotography who was on the GTI Mk5 forum and we met up quite a few times back in the car meet days - @omens

Sorry for the short off-topic everyone!
 
a nightmare exposure shot from yesterday , bird in sunlight against a dark background and foreground ,not even sure how I pulled this one back . not even sure if it works but hey-ho its over water .. must visit this place again in the summer
nightmare on exposure avenue by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
You did indeed bud :D
 
If you really want to get the most out of high ISO then this experiment documented at e-group suggests you might be better to leave the initial processing to Olympus Workspace then export as TIFF from there into Lightroom.

I'm not that fussy myself but it's an interesting read
https://www.e-group.uk.net/forum/fo...troom-vs-olympus-workplace-a-quick-comparison

.... What this comes down to is how good, or not, Lightroom is regarding noise reduction in its RAW converted files. The link strongly suggests that Olympus Workspace is better at NR.

Personally I use Capture One for my RAW conversions and I do a round trip via TIFFs for plug-ins such as Topaz DeNoise AI but I have set a subtle NR recipe by default in Capture One before I also use DeNoise AI.
 
Just actually managed to download and use a free trial version of topaz Denoise Ai , quiet impressed so far ,definetly works and ideal for MFT wildlife as we invariably have to crop in .results will follow when I have a work flow worked out
 
Another one recently processed - a GBH at first light, hand held at 600mm equivalent @ ISO 4000

 
Another one recently processed - a GBH at first light, hand held at 600mm equivalent @ ISO 4000


.... Ooo-la-la! This is lovely, absolutely delightful. Delicate and subtle. I really like lots of things about this picture.
 
This Topaz business looks intriguing. What’s the work flow involve for a Lightroom user like me?
 
I think I’m going to succumb and order an e-m5 iii. I can save a little on a used one. Does anyone know the score with regard to whether the olympus warranty is transferable?

Also, anyone know of a better deal than £999 inc free grip for a new black one?...
 
This Topaz business looks intriguing. What’s the work flow involve for a Lightroom user like me?

.... I can't advise on Lightroom because I use Capture One but many others here are Lightroom users. But I would advise using Topaz DeNoise AI very early in your workflow so that other post-processing steps aren't being applied to a noisier image. For example, sharpening a noisy image will make the noise look worse.
 
Last edited:
Well for me it's really simple (i like simple) and very similar if you are using LR or PS.

Basically this is my workflow (and I'm not saying this is necessarily the best way - but it works for me).
  • Import into LR then I cull the "bad" shots and colour mark the ones I want to work on later (the good ones).
  • Open the image in the Develop module, then the first thing I do (regardless of which one of my 5 cameras I'm using), is change the colour Profile from the default "Adobe Colour" to the "Colour Matching " and use the manufacturer profiles provided (for my Olympus bodies I usually use the "natural" profile).
  • I then mostly click the "Auto" button under the tone controls to get a starting point for the exposure. Sometimes I don't need to change it away from Auto, sometimes it might need some additional tweaking of exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows etc. Once in a while the Auto button results in a horrendous exposure so I then reset it and go fully manual.
  • Once I'm happy with the exposure I usually look at the WB, and correct if necessary (but to be honest, I find the Olympus auto WB pretty accurate under most conditions, so might only need very minor tweaks).
  • I then run a preset which sets all sharpening and noise reduction in Lightroom to "OFF" (everything at Zero in that tab).You don't want double noise reduction or sharpening at this stage.
  • Then Crop to suit (I tend to prefer the 3:2 aspect ratio).
  • Once I'm happy with all that, if you have installed the Topaz Plug in correctly, you simply right click on the image, then select "Edit In" and from the pop out that shows, simply select "Topaz Denoise AI" from the list. LR will then ask "Do you want to edit a copy with lightroom adjustments" - select "Yes" (so that the edits you have made to the image thus far are exported to Denoise AI rather than the starting image). LR will create a 16bit Tiff file and automatically open Denoise AI and load the image.
  • Do any corrections in Denoise AI as necessary (I tend to use the "AI clear" method from the "Engine" dropdown). When you are done click "Apply" and the corrections will be applied to the image and sent back to LR which will automatically re-open.
  • That's pretty much it, but if I need a bit more sharpness than Denoise AI can achieve, then I sometimes in addition run it though my "Sharpen AI" plug in the same way as above.
That's pretty much it for me. Hope it helps ?
 
Last edited:
This Topaz business looks intriguing. What’s the work flow involve for a Lightroom user like me?
im doing it totally differently at the moment ,but I only downloaded it last night its producing good results so far . ,but like Andrew says /implies you still need a fairly good image to start with it won't help with crap ones .
my current workflow is load into l/r do normal colour adjustments to get it looking right , crop to required size . then export to p/s where I just resize for web ,copyright and then save as a j.peg and export to desktop .. my topaz is a separate program on mine ,(I will look at Andrews method in a bit) . then drag and drop image into topaz and adjust sliders as needed .. and save a new image to desktop . if you click on any of my pics it will take you to my flickrstream where I have up loaded a couple of sample before and after shots so you can toggle between them
 
Last edited:
Well for me it's really simple (i like simple) and very similar if you are using LR or PS.

Basically this is my workflow (and I'm not saying this is necessarily the best way - but it works for me).
  • Import into LR then I cull the "bad" shots and colour mark the ones I want to work on later (the good ones).
  • Open the image in the Develop module, then the first thing I do (regardless of which one of my 5 cameras I'm using), is change the colour Profile from the default "Adobe Colour" to the "Colour Matching " and use the manufacturer profiles provided (for my Olympus bodies I usually use the "natural" profile).
  • I then mostly click the "Auto" button under the tone controls to get a starting point for the exposure. Sometimes I don't need to change it away from Auto, sometimes it might need some additional tweaking of exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows etc. Once in a while the Auto button results in a horrendous exposure so I then reset it and go fully manual.
  • Once I'm happy with the exposure I usually look at the WB, and correct if necessary (but to be honest, I find the Olympus auto WB pretty accurate under most conditions, so might only need very minor tweaks).
  • I then run a preset which sets all sharpening and noise reduction in Lightroom to "OFF" (everything at Zero in that tab).You don't want double noise reduction or sharpening at this stage.
  • Then Crop to suit (I tend to prefer the 3:2 aspect ratio).
  • Once I'm happy with all that, if you have installed the Topaz Plug in correctly, you simply right click on the image, then select "Edit In" and from the pop out that shows, simply select "Topaz Denoise AI" from the list. LR will then ask "Do you want to edit a copy with lightroom adjustments" - select "Yes" (so that the edits you have made to the image thus far are exported to Denoise AI rather than the starting image). LR will create a 16bit Tiff file and automatically open Denoise AI and load the image.
  • Do any corrections in Denoise AI as necessary (I tend to use the "AI clear" method from the "Engine" dropdown. When you are done click "Apply" and the corrections will be applied to the image and sent back to LR which will automatically re-open.
  • That's pretty much it, but if I need a bit more sharpness than Denoise AI can serve, then I sometimes in addition run it though my "Sharpen AI" plug in the same way as above.
That's pretty much it for me. Hope it helps ?

Brilliant, thank you.
 
just tried Andrews method and it seems to work well will delve into it further in a bit
 
This weeks Amateur Photographer (Sat 8th Feb) has a six page article by David Tipling on how switching from Nikon to Olympus changed his wildlife photography.

Might be worth having a browse if you have the opportunity.

I'm in a newsagent probably four times a year, and it's years since I bought a magazine (except the BJ, which I often buy when I see one) so a strange coincidence that there was actually an article that interested me on one of the rare occasions I was able to have a browse.
 
Well for me it's really simple (i like simple) and very similar if you are using LR or PS.

Basically this is my workflow (and I'm not saying this is necessarily the best way - but it works for me).
  • Import into LR then I cull the "bad" shots and colour mark the ones I want to work on later (the good ones).
  • Open the image in the Develop module, then the first thing I do (regardless of which one of my 5 cameras I'm using), is change the colour Profile from the default "Adobe Colour" to the "Colour Matching " and use the manufacturer profiles provided (for my Olympus bodies I usually use the "natural" profile).
  • I then mostly click the "Auto" button under the tone controls to get a starting point for the exposure. Sometimes I don't need to change it away from Auto, sometimes it might need some additional tweaking of exposure, contrast, highlights and shadows etc. Once in a while the Auto button results in a horrendous exposure so I then reset it and go fully manual.
  • Once I'm happy with the exposure I usually look at the WB, and correct if necessary (but to be honest, I find the Olympus auto WB pretty accurate under most conditions, so might only need very minor tweaks).
  • I then run a preset which sets all sharpening and noise reduction in Lightroom to "OFF" (everything at Zero in that tab).You don't want double noise reduction or sharpening at this stage.
  • Then Crop to suit (I tend to prefer the 3:2 aspect ratio).
  • Once I'm happy with all that, if you have installed the Topaz Plug in correctly, you simply right click on the image, then select "Edit In" and from the pop out that shows, simply select "Topaz Denoise AI" from the list. LR will then ask "Do you want to edit a copy with lightroom adjustments" - select "Yes" (so that the edits you have made to the image thus far are exported to Denoise AI rather than the starting image). LR will create a 16bit Tiff file and automatically open Denoise AI and load the image.
  • Do any corrections in Denoise AI as necessary (I tend to use the "AI clear" method from the "Engine" dropdown). When you are done click "Apply" and the corrections will be applied to the image and sent back to LR which will automatically re-open.
  • That's pretty much it, but if I need a bit more sharpness than Denoise AI can achieve, then I sometimes in addition run it though my "Sharpen AI" plug in the same way as above.
That's pretty much it for me. Hope it helps ?

My workflow is very similar, but I do vaguely remember reading somewhere that you should do the noise reduction first... not that I ever do
 
I like to get the tonality of the image right first, as if i do severe pushing of highlights and shadows right after doing NR, then this can show up further noise. My methodology (rightly or wrongly) is that by doing all my tonal corrections first, I only have to do NR once.
 
A slightly naive question about m4/3 lenses. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have drooled over the Leica 10-25 1.7. It's a lens that would be fantastic for me for landscape as it's wide enough that I would never need to carry a wider lens but has enough range that I would not need a standard zoom to bridge the gap to a tele zoom. If it wasn't so damn expensive and a little large I'd be all over it.

But anyway, my question, why are there not more zooms in this sort of focal range? Even an f/4 would be a dream for landscape use for me. I think there was an 11 to something zoom on 4/3. Interesting though the new 12-45 will be, I'd love to see Olympus do something more like this.
 
I like to get the tonality of the image right first, as if i do severe pushing of highlights and shadows right after doing NR, then this can show up further noise. My methodology (rightly or wrongly) is that by doing all my tonal corrections first, I only have to do NR once.
just tried it your way ,then reverted to mine etc cant yet get it quiet right but getting there
 
Jeff, there's no right or wrong way with PP in my experience, it's whatever you are comfortable with and ultimately the final image.

As a for instance, I have the full version of Capture one as well (it was an offer when I purchased by G9) and as much as I keep reading it's a better program than Lightroom and I know that Robin (aka RedRobin), uses it exclusively and to great effect with his EM1X duo. But try as I might, I'm just stuck with LR as I've used it since the first version. Technically my brain knows the Capture One is better, but it seems I'm so familiar with LR that i'm stuck, but like I say, so long as I like the output from LR, that's good enough for me.
 
Yep I know exactly what you mean I have used L/R and P/S for years with a n.r plugin . And I have to admit the topaz shots do improve things done my way .. but I’m finding it’s tending to look a touch artificial so far .which is probably my fault overcooking the sliders ,I will eventually settle on a workflow that looks right .
One of the main downsides of wildlife with Olympus is shadow noise due to having to crop most images but if this proves to be the work round then so be it .its a bit like having a toolbox full of tools that you only need once a year ,but when you need it your grateful you have it
 
This weeks Amateur Photographer (Sat 8th Feb) has a six page article by David Tipling on how switching from Nikon to Olympus changed his wildlife photography.

Might be worth having a browse if you have the opportunity.

I'm in a newsagent probably four times a year, and it's years since I bought a magazine (except the BJ, which I often buy when I see one) so a strange coincidence that there was actually an article that interested me on one of the rare occasions I was able to have a browse.
It’s a good read and well written and more than proves the advantages of the Oly system out in the field.
David Tipling often gives talks locally to where I live in Norfolk ( he lives here too) and on every occasion that I’ve been fortunate enough to meet him, he is always honest and objective in his appraisals of the kit he uses. He’s also very knowledgeable when it comes to wildlife, and in particular bird photography.
I met him at Birdfair 2019 where he was representing Olympus and had produced a really good book ‘20 Ways’ which was produced to show the Olympus system working with wildlife plus a dedicated talk which proved he was very enthusiastic about his ‘switch’ from his beloved Nikon and vowed he wouldn’t be going back!
That was some endorsement given his level of expertise and creative talents.
I had a brief hiccup recently regarding my proposed purchase later this year, but I have reached the conclusion now that anything other than Olympus E-M1 X or Mark ii / iii (pending release info) is going to be my camera of choice.
 
I met him at Birdfair 2019 where he was representing Olympus and had produced a really good book ‘20 Ways’ which was produced to show the Olympus system working with wildlife plus a dedicated talk which proved he was very enthusiastic about his ‘switch’ from his beloved Nikon and vowed he wouldn’t be going back!
That was some endorsement given his level of expertise and creative talents.

I have his "A bird photographers's diary" but that's all Nikon, but then I am still a Nikon user, even if I also have a small Oly outfit :)
 
Topaz strongly recommend noise reduction is the first thing you do for maximum results with their programme.
 
Back
Top