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

How comes you've sold your lens / teleconverter Malfis (saw the adverts in the classifieds) - are you moving to another system ?
 
Sootchucker said:
How comes you've sold your lens / teleconverter Malfis (saw the adverts in the classifieds) - are you moving to another system ?
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I've had a couple of Sony bodies (A7iii & A6600) for a little while, with amongst others, G 200-600mm and GM 100-400mm lenses.
For the amount of photography I do, I've just got too much kit. To cut a long story short, I'm going to give Sony a try, as it's an itch I've got to scratch.
As I said recently to @the black fox I'll be back, I'll probably soon get fed up of lugging around those lumps. I'll be watching Olympus product developments very closely.
 
Snap, very similar to the image I got the other day too

 
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It’s a good video, but tbh in my eyes, Topaz does the job that I need, giving me results I’m happy with & it’s simple to use.

Trouble is Im finding so many similar videos/articles recently, that whether it be noise reduction or general post processing/raw conversatio, there are so many different options out there, with everyone saying this one better than that, this is better at this and so on... for me it’s a case of finding something that fits your budget & ultimately does what I need, giving me the results I want. And let’s be honest at the end of day they all do the same thing, it’s more about the user & if your someone who I happy with good results or someone that only wants the best (pixel peeping). :)
 
Malfis said:
An interesting comparison between Topaz & Photolab denoise software.

View: https://youtu.be/klyiXgHjC94
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This is in keeping with my findings. It's going to cost me around £50 to upgrade to Photolab 4 and my Topaz Denoise now requires a new licence at £40, so I shall go with Photolab - Photolab 3 has become my main editor anyway so it makes sense for me.

There is a preset in Photolab 4 to turn off the automatic optics modules which are specific to your lens and camera combination. Really he should have done that first. Also, Prime and DeepPrime will not render in the main window - only in the small preview window. It only renders at the time of export which also takes quite a long time. Although I think if you go to 100% it may show, possibly.

One thing to remember also, is that Prime and DeepPrime are not available for jpegs.

I think there is always a place for these sort of videos to inform those who have not yet bought any noise reduction software, or even for people like me, where it's time to upgrade one or the other.... although I have done my own research.

Edit: One thing to add is that because I now use Photolab as my main editor, I love that I can do everything within the one program and not have to export it to other software.
 
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Personally I don’t think he was using the latest version of topaz either ,you now get four different window options and simply choose which is best ,then improve slightly via the sliders as required ...
I also like the continuous upgrades it is now far far removed from the fairly basic version I started off with back in March ? . In fact if it’s a case of paying to continue with there upgrades next year so be it ..
It’s the oldest game in the book slight incremental improvements to keep the tills ringing
 
the black fox said:
Personally I don’t think he was using the latest version of topaz either ,you now get four different window options and simply choose which is best ,then improve slightly via the sliders as required ...
I also like the continuous upgrades it is now far far removed from the fairly basic version I started off with back in March ? . In fact if it’s a case of paying to continue with there upgrades next year so be it ..
It’s the oldest game in the book slight incremental improvements to keep the tills ringing
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Yes I agree you can't keep chasing small things, and if you're happy with what you have, there's no need to change. For me there are other improvements to Photolab that will make it worthwhile. The interface is so much better now with the workspace more organised plus a few other bits and pieces. The lead designer has been in touch asking for feedback, which greatly impresses me. There are still a couple of things I'm missing from Lightroom, such as soft proofing but so far I'm happy.
 
Bebop said:
Yes I agree you can't keep chasing small things, and if you're happy with what you have, there's no need to change. For me there are other improvements to Photolab that will make it worthwhile. The interface is so much better now with the workspace more organised plus a few other bits and pieces. The lead designer has been in touch asking for feedback, which greatly impresses me. There are still a couple of things I'm missing from Lightroom, such as soft proofing but so far I'm happy.
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I agree with you. Photolab 4 is so much easier to navigate. With Photolab 3 I was for ever scrolling up and down looking for filters etc. Whilst you can customise and reduce the number of filters etc. I am very much a newbie with the software and the new layout makes a huge difference to me. Additionally Deep Prime is great and makes a substantial difference on the photos that I took with an Olympus OMD EM Mkiii.
 
Interesting video. It's unusual to see such a clear-cut winner in a comparison test like this. Having fairly recently bought Topaz I'll be sticking with it for now.

I wonder what the reason is for the other changes that DXO makes though? What looks like an increase in saturation or a reduction in exposure?
 
OK, not been out that much lately and not used the MC-20 (2x) converter I purchased back in the spring very much, so at lunchtime despite the very dull overcast weather, I took a very short walk to a local nature reserve near to my offices. With my mask on, it was thankfully pretty deserted. I wandered around with my EM1X and the 300mm F4 pro with the MC-20 attached (so 1,200mm effective FOV) and fitted with my Olympus EE-1 dot sight. However, other than a few ducks it was pretty desolate and quiet. That was until I heard a commotion in the sky and looked up to see a buzzard being mobbed by crows. Just using the EE-1, I positioned the red dot over the subject and just rattled off about 10 frames. All but 1 to my surprise were sharp. All this was handheld at just 1/800 sec f9 @ ISO640 (you have got to love Olympus's IBIS).

Even at 1,200mm, with them being very high in the sky, these are still pretty significant crops (down to 6 and 9mp respectfully). I hope you like



 
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I doubt whether personally I will change in the foreseeable future , I have a useable workflow with Lightroom CC ,am happy enough with results using topaz to finalise things .. .. but I will state for future reference that I dont think much will come in the way of improvements from camera lenses hardware especially with the olympus situation with JIP , I might be wrong on that but who knows ..

most improvements will then probably be software based .

the major brands are now all investing in mirrorless heavily bar Sony they are having to play catch up .think any further changes are to little to late for me I changed simply due to equipment weight and price .. ..I cant see much improvement from any of them in those areas YET ,but im sure that will change ..interesting times
 
Sootchucker said:
OK, not been out that much lately and not used the MC-20 (2x) converter I purchased back in the spring very much, so at lunchtime despite the very dull overcast weather, I took a very short walk to a local nature reserve near to my offices. With my mask on, it was thankfully pretty deserted. I wandered around with my EM1X and the 300mm F4 pro with the MC-20 attached (so 1,200mm effective FOV) and fitted with my Olympus EE-1 dot sight. However, other than a few ducks it was pretty desolate and quiet. That was until I heard a commotion in the sky and looked up to see a buzzard being mobbed by crows. Just using the EE-1, I positioned the red dot over the subject and just rattled off about 10 frames. All but 1 to my surprise were sharp. All this was handheld at just 1/800 sec f9 @ ISO640 (you have got to love Olympus's IBIS).

Even at 1,200mm, with them being very high in the sky, these are still pretty significant crops (down to 6 and 9mp respectfully). I hope you like



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superb pair of shots well done
 
Sootchucker said:
OK, not been out that much lately and not used the MC-20 (2x) converter I purchased back in the spring very much, so at lunchtime despite the very dull overcast weather, I took a very short walk to a local nature reserve near to my offices. With my mask on, it was thankfully pretty deserted. I wandered around with my EM1X and the 300mm F4 pro with the MC-20 attached (so 1,200mm effective FOV) and fitted with my Olympus EE-1 dot sight.
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Liking the buzzard pics, we have a pair locally I must try to photograph. Just learning the new system first, having switched from full frame to Olympus - I have the em1iii with 300mm pro and 1.4 converter, looks like I need the EE-1 dot sight too!
 
David, yes the EE-1 makes picking out birds tracking across the sky with very long telephotos much easier. Without it, by the time I've found the bird in the sky, it's usually either too far away or just disappearing. It's important to align the dot sight for the typical distances you are working at though. I've found that after about 50-75m, it's pretty accurate all the way out to infinity, but if you are shooting at closer quarters, then you need to adjust for that otherwise you will miss the target.

If Olympus (or anyone else for that matter) made a MK2 version, it would be great if it had say 3 memory buttons that you could set the sight up for different distances and just recall them at the touch of a button.

I should also add (I forgot), that i have the function button on the lens set up for AF Limiter so that with a touch of the button, the lens will only focus from 75m to infinity which helps it immensely in picking up objects in a featureless sky where it would usually scan from close focus to infinity (or whatever you have the mechanical focus limiter on the lens set to).
 
Thanks for that, really useful information in my quest to start bird photography. I have been watching Peter Forsgard’s YouTube videos, they are interesting.
 
It’s obviously helped here ,but I still prefer to confirm the targets in focus before pressing the shutter,I assume your using multiple focus pointsc
 
Have a look at Peter’s settings for bird photography, they look good to me.
 
david357 said:
Have a look at Peter’s settings for bird photography, they look good to me.
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While he is a good photographer and does some fairly interesting videos ,he is a long way short of of a bird/ wildlife tog .. in fact while most of the Olympus visionaries were lent the new 100-400 to try out it very nearly backfired as most of them didn’t have a clue on how to use a long lens .. it was only a very few of them including Andy rouse that saved the day ..
You would be far better off asking those of us that produce good bird/ wildlife photos on here for advice .. even changing a few settings based on internet theories can cut your keeper rate down ,as I recently found out ....
 
the black fox said:
While he is a good photographer and does some fairly interesting videos ,he is a long way short of of a bird/ wildlife tog .. in fact while most of the Olympus visionaries were lent the new 100-400 to try out it very nearly backfired as most of them didn’t have a clue on how to use a long lens .. it was only a very few of them including Andy rouse that saved the day ..
You would be far better off asking those of us that produce good bird/ wildlife photos on here for advice .. even changing a few settings based on internet theories can cut your keeper rate down ,as I recently found out ....
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There's also a chap called Espen Helland I follow on YouTube - he's interesting.
He's solely birds and wildlife - based in Scotland.
 
jerry12953 said:
I sometimes wonder who these visionaries are and what their track records and skills consist of........
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And me , if they asked me to test a new wide angle lens for landscape or wedding photography I wouldn’t have a clue how to set the camera up . Perhaps it boils down to having a u.tube channel up and running
 
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Looks like the new 150-400 lens is being field tested at the moment , so should be announced shortly ,Olympus did state before xmas .. be out of my price range but I eagerly await the 100 mm macro
 
the black fox said:
Looks like the new 150-400 lens is being field tested at the moment , so should be announced shortly ,Olympus did state before xmas .. be out of my price range but I eagerly await the 100 mm macro
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It would be nice if they could get some copies of the 100-400 into the shops. It's been a long time. :(

I would also like to see how the predicted 8-24 reviews and the price
 
superpippo said:
It would be nice if they could get some copies of the 100-400 into the shops. It's been a long time. :(

I would also like to see how the predicted 8-24 reviews and the price
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It appears Europe and the u.k were first in line and there now supplying the u.s.a so who knows
 
superpippo said:
It would be nice if they could get some copies of the 100-400 into the shops. It's been a long time. :(

I would also like to see how the predicted 8-24 reviews and the price
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UK Digital have the m.100-400 in stock at the moment.
 
It's not a big deal but I have to admit to being pleased that Olympus UK chose to share one of my recent photos on Instagram. They have a huge pool of images to choose from and so I am feeling encouraged.

More info on Flickr but shot on Olympus E-M1X + MC-14 + ED 100-400mm.

FACING THE WAVES ALONE by Robin Procter, on Flickr

olympusuk_0261.PNG
 
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Well done @RedRobin. That's a fabulous wave!

I won't keep harping on about Photolab, but I have just been going through some old photos and found this one from 2018 taken when it was really quite dark with ISO 6400.

Apart from the standard DxO module, I've done a little sharpening on the eyes and then run it through DeepPrime, and cropped a fair bit. Taken with the 300mm f/4 1/125s on Em1ii.
It probably needs lightening a bit, but I'm very impressed with Photolab 4.

181020181707-BC208907_1_DxO_1_DxO.jpg

This one below has been lightened and is a bigger crop - no sharpening other than the standard optics module. and DeepPrime.

181020181712-BC208911_1_DxO_DxO.jpg
 
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