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

Hi everyone
After some more advice from you all please. We are thinking of going on hols (health permitting) to North Majorca around September but with Ian having pro lenses 12-40mm and 40-150mm is it worth investing in the Olympus 12-100mm Pro or just take the two? Except for carrying less equipment would he benefit/lose out by having the extra lens please?
Cheers. Ceri
I've not owned the 40-150 2.8 but personal ally I would consider the 40-150 non-pro Oly lens which you can get for under £100 and is decent in good light, which I expect you will have.

It's also extremely light so I think you could have the 12-40 attached which will cover lots of situations and then switch to the 40-150 when needs be.

Of course this might not be right dependent on your usage, but together they are a decent light travel kit.
 
So it's the 40-150mm f2.8 Pro? Will Ian be planning on shooting wildlife, or just scenery/family pics?

Yes it’s 40-150mm 2.8 Pro. Uses this for rugby every weekend. Probably just scenery and family. Last time we went he did a boat trip and wished he’d taken the Canon 7D!! He had his Sony compact and Panasonic Bridge but knew he could get better with the cameras left at home.
 
I've not owned the 40-150 2.8 but personal ally I would consider the 40-150 non-pro Oly lens which you can get for under £100 and is decent in good light, which I expect you will have.

It's also extremely light so I think you could have the 12-40 attached which will cover lots of situations and then switch to the 40-150 when needs be.

Of course this might not be right dependent on your usage, but together they are a decent light travel kit.

Thanks Akr hadn’t thought of that alternative and would be much cheaper!
 
Here's a couple I took with it - the 40-150 will of course definitely be better, everyone says it's one of the best Oly lenses, but as a cheap travel lens I really like the small and light version!

P8034993 by alligator1975, on Flickr

OI000078 by alligator1975, on Flickr

Well to be fair those images are impressive and even more so with the difference in weight / cost between his normal 40-150 pro that is used for rugby every weekend. As we both have spinal problems I’m very concerned about us travelling a lot lighter these days. It’s the first time we will be using m4/3 abroad so this is why I want to get it correct. Also we can share lenses if I take my Panasonic G80 body with me but I think I’ll be keeping the 3 year old granddaughter occupied ( give mum and dad a rest )and not have time for photography!
 
Well, heres one with the lowly 40-150 f4-5.6, the first one at that, not bad for a £60 lens

Bevcommon by Steve Vickers, on Flickr

Got to be fair Steve all three images are very detailed. It really proves asking for advice is always worth it. It’s Ian’s birthday Thursday so having just looked at MPB and Camera Jungle prices I might surprise him!
 
Well to be fair those images are impressive and even more so with the difference in weight / cost between his normal 40-150 pro that is used for rugby every weekend. As we both have spinal problems I’m very concerned about us travelling a lot lighter these days. It’s the first time we will be using m4/3 abroad so this is why I want to get it correct. Also we can share lenses if I take my Panasonic G80 body with me but I think I’ll be keeping the 3 year old granddaughter occupied ( give mum and dad a rest )and not have time for photography!
Thanks! Only negatives for me is that I don't find you can crop images as well as say the 12-40 and in low light it's more difficult, but as I say for the price and weight and if you expect to be in good light it's great. It really really does weigh nothing, you will be amazed if you get one and pick it up!
 
Yes it’s 40-150mm 2.8 Pro. Uses this for rugby every weekend. Probably just scenery and family. Last time we went he did a boat trip and wished he’d taken the Canon 7D!! He had his Sony compact and Panasonic Bridge but knew he could get better with the cameras left at home.
The reason I asked was that, although it’s not an overly heavy lens (when you’re used to full frame) it’s still pretty big and heavy for travel. The 40-150mm f4-5.6R as mentioned already is a great travel lens, small enough and light enough to carry around without being the slightest burden.

My usual travel kit is the EM1-II, 12-40mm f2.8 and 40-150mm f4-5.6R, although tbh the 40-150mm rarely gets used.

Since Olympus released the 12-100mm f4 it is a much more difficult choice as to which lens you’d choose as your walkabout lens. I’ve had the 12-40mm for quite a while and so didn’t make sense to have two lenses fulfilling a similar purpose which is why I’ve never bought the 12-100mm. The 12-100mm is also heavier, and as I rarely use the 40-150mm on holidays the 12-40mm gives me the reach I need for most things.

I’d personally have a lighter setup for the majority of my time, knowing I can chuck the 40-150mm R in my pocket if needs be. YMMV.
 
Thanks! Only negatives for me is that I don't find you can crop images as well as say the 12-40 and in low light it's more difficult, but as I say for the price and weight and if you expect to be in good light it's great. It really really does weigh nothing, you will be amazed if you get one and pick it up!

I really do think you’ve given me great advice right from the start Akr and with Steve and Snerkler mirroring your advice I’m def going to be purchasing an extra present for his birthday. I’m sure Ian will be very pleased. Thank you so much. Ceri
 
The reason I asked was that, although it’s not an overly heavy lens (when you’re used to full frame) it’s still pretty big and heavy for travel. The 40-150mm f4-5.6R as mentioned already is a great travel lens, small enough and light enough to carry around without being the slightest burden.

My usual travel kit is the EM1-II, 12-40mm f2.8 and 40-150mm f4-5.6R, although tbh the 40-150mm rarely gets used.

Since Olympus released the 12-100mm f4 it is a much more difficult choice as to which lens you’d choose as your walkabout lens. I’ve had the 12-40mm for quite a while and so didn’t make sense to have two lenses fulfilling a similar purpose which is why I’ve never bought the 12-100mm. The 12-100mm is also heavier, and as I rarely use the 40-150mm on holidays the 12-40mm gives me the reach I need for most things.

I’d personally have a lighter setup for the majority of my time, knowing I can chuck the 40-150mm R in my pocket if needs be. YMMV.

Thanks Snerkler
Ian will have the same travel kit as you if I purchase the 40-150mm R. It really does make sense to travel a lot lighter and leave the 40-150mm Pro lens at home but yet again all of you have provided me with great advice and this time are saving me a lot of money!Thanks so much. Ceri
 
Hi everyone
After some more advice from you all please. We are thinking of going on hols (health permitting) to North Majorca around September but with Ian having pro lenses 12-40mm and 40-150mm is it worth investing in the Olympus 12-100mm Pro or just take the two? Except for carrying less equipment would he benefit/lose out by having the extra lens please?
Cheers. Ceri

If you're happy to carry both lenses the 12-40 2.8 / 40-150 2.8 combo is superior to any other zoom alternative available in m4/3 IMO. You would go for the 12-100 f/4 if you only wanted to bring a single lens, didn't want to swap lenses and/or were not trying to do much shooting in low light.

Having said that the 12-100 f/4 is not exactly light or compact (for m4/3 standards). I've just come back from a trip where I left all my PRO glass at home and I took the following:
E-M1II
Olympus 9-18 (not used)
Panasonic 12-60 f/3.5-5.6
Olympus 40-150 f/4-5.6
Olympus 25 f/1.8
Olympus 60 f/2.8 macro
 
If you're happy to carry both lenses the 12-40 2.8 / 40-150 2.8 combo is superior to any other zoom alternative available in m4/3 IMO. You would go for the 12-100 f/4 if you only wanted to bring a single lens, didn't want to swap lenses and/or were not trying to do much shooting in low light.

Having said that the 12-100 f/4 is not exactly light or compact (for m4/3 standards). I've just come back from a trip where I left all my PRO glass at home and I took the following:
E-M1II
Olympus 9-18 (not used)
Panasonic 12-60 f/3.5-5.6
Olympus 40-150 f/4-5.6
Olympus 25 f/1.8
Olympus 60 f/2.8 macro
Assuming you don't need the reach of course ;) On my latest holiday I had extra baggage allowance and knew there'd be some wildlife so I took the Panny 100-400mm which served me better than either 40-150mm :p
 
If you're happy to carry both lenses the 12-40 2.8 / 40-150 2.8 combo is superior to any other zoom alternative available in m4/3 IMO. You would go for the 12-100 f/4 if you only wanted to bring a single lens, didn't want to swap lenses and/or were not trying to do much shooting in low light.

Having said that the 12-100 f/4 is not exactly light or compact (for m4/3 standards). I've just come back from a trip where I left all my PRO glass at home and I took the following:
E-M1II
Olympus 9-18 (not used)
Panasonic 12-60 f/3.5-5.6
Olympus 40-150 f/4-5.6
Olympus 25 f/1.8
Olympus 60 f/2.8 macro

Thanks Maarten,
Having looked at weight differences I’ve ruled the 12-100f4 out for now and also save some money! I also have the Panasonic 12-60 f3.5-5.6 so I will attach that to my G80 if I decide to take a camera myself.
 
Anyone have any experience what m4/3 primes are like in terms of AF speed and accuracy for sports, particularly runners and cyclists coming towards you? I have the 40-150mm f2.8 which is the obvious choice, and very fast AF, but I do like my subject isolation and so was wondering what lenses like the 75mm f1.8 and Panny Leica 42.5mm f1.2 are for such things?
 
Anyone have any experience what m4/3 primes are like in terms of AF speed and accuracy for sports, particularly runners and cyclists coming towards you? I have the 40-150mm f2.8 which is the obvious choice, and very fast AF, but I do like my subject isolation and so was wondering what lenses like the 75mm f1.8 and Panny Leica 42.5mm f1.2 are for such things?

The Oly 75mm f/1.8 appears to be as fast and accurate as the 40-150mm f/2.8 to me when shooting runners. I have taken up cycling to parkrun events on Saturdays so have brought along the Oly 75mm 1.8 instead of the 40-150mm f2.8 recently. I have usually stopped it down a bit though.

E-M1II + Oly 75mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8 and using CAF:

20190413_091753_054 by Maarten D'Haese, on Flickr

Three recent flickr albums using the Oly 75 f/1.8:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157706516749661
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157706392358421
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157707890010024
 
Anyone have any experience what m4/3 primes are like in terms of AF speed and accuracy for sports, particularly runners and cyclists coming towards you? I have the 40-150mm f2.8 which is the obvious choice, and very fast AF, but I do like my subject isolation and so was wondering what lenses like the 75mm f1.8 and Panny Leica 42.5mm f1.2 are for such things?

I've got the 75mm, but I also only have the EM5mkII which is not blessed with the finest AF, so I don't feel I could comment fairly. What I can tell you is the Panny 25mm f1.4 I find to be the slowest focusing lens I have.

Not much help I know!
 
Anyone have any experience what m4/3 primes are like in terms of AF speed and accuracy for sports, particularly runners and cyclists coming towards you? I have the 40-150mm f2.8 which is the obvious choice, and very fast AF, but I do like my subject isolation and so was wondering what lenses like the 75mm f1.8 and Panny Leica 42.5mm f1.2 are for such things?

The 75mm 1.8 and 40-150 2.8 are really the only lenses I've had any significant success at all with when shooting fast moving subjects with my E-M5ii. Got some nice shots of my friend's dog running at the beach. Hadn't really expected to do that with the E-M5ii at the time so was a pleasent surprise. Not tried a 42.5mm I'm afraid.
 
The Oly 75mm f/1.8 appears to be as fast and accurate as the 40-150mm f/2.8 to me when shooting runners. I have taken up cycling to parkrun events on Saturdays so have brought along the Oly 75mm 1.8 instead of the 40-150mm f2.8 recently. I have usually stopped it down a bit though.

E-M1II + Oly 75mm f/1.8 @ f/2.8 and using CAF:

20190413_091753_054 by Maarten D'Haese, on Flickr

Three recent flickr albums using the Oly 75 f/1.8:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157706516749661
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157706392358421
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151407326@N05/albums/72157707890010024
Thanks for that, looks good with nice subject isolation.

Coming from the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 I’m used to pretty much instant AF acquisition, would you say the same for the 40-150mm f2.8 and 75mm f1.8 when paired with the EM1-II?
 
Thanks for that, looks good with nice subject isolation.

Coming from the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 I’m used to pretty much instant AF acquisition, would you say the same for the 40-150mm f2.8 and 75mm f1.8 when paired with the EM1-II?

I'm pretty happy with the speed of AF acquisition on the E-M1II and those 2 lenses; they certainly feel the same or faster as compared to the Canon 5DIII + the EF 135mm f/2.0 L. I've never had the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 though. Never used Nikon DSLRs so I can't compare with those either.

The thing is I only started shooting action in earnest with Olympus m4/3 cameras and now I use them 95% of the time. Occasionally I will use the 5DIII but I'm more confident about getting good and consistent results with the E-M1II now, probably because I'm more familiar with it.
 
I’ve got an e-m1ii for the weekend on ‘test and wow’ (sick of waiting for an E-m5iii!).

Trying it out tomorrow at the Pirelli rally. I have set it up for raw, af-c, back button focus, low speed burst (8fps). Anything else I should consider?

Any idea how many shots I should get out of a battery? No real means of charging it but could take my e-m5ii as back up.
 
I’ve got an e-m1ii for the weekend on ‘test and wow’ (sick of waiting for an E-m5iii!).

Trying it out tomorrow at the Pirelli rally. I have set it up for raw, af-c, back button focus, low speed burst (8fps). Anything else I should consider?

Any idea how many shots I should get out of a battery? No real means of charging it but could take my e-m5ii as back up.

Yes I recommend you set the CAF sensitivity to +2 instead of the default. Have a read of this: https://www.mu-43.com/threads/e-m1-ii-c-af-sensitivity-is-2-almost-always-best.97112/
 
Glad you mentioned that as I'd spotted that in the menu and meant to ask about it. +2 it is.

Do I need to worry about AF scan mode?

I've changed mine from mode1 to mode2, but I'm not sure if it has made a lot of difference in general. I had a specific situation with heavy backlighting where mode2 seemed to work better:

20190324_093800_030 by Maarten D'Haese, on Flickr

The biggest difference to CAF performance on the E-M1II was when I changed CAF sensitivity from 0 to +2. All of a sudden CAF performance went from disappointing and being worse than on the E-M1MkI to being significantly better. I haven't touched it since.
 
Glad you mentioned that as I'd spotted that in the menu and meant to ask about it. +2 it is.

Do I need to worry about AF scan mode?
Yes I recommend you set the CAF sensitivity to +2 instead of the default. Have a read of this: https://www.mu-43.com/threads/e-m1-ii-c-af-sensitivity-is-2-almost-always-best.97112/
I prefer it on 0 tbh as I don't want AF to immediately change if my AF point 'slips off' the subject momentarily. I will have a play about at the London Marathon this weekend, but I'm even thinking that -2 may be better so it holds onto the subject for longer, especially useful if someone/something else moves across in front of the subject.
 
I prefer it on 0 tbh as I don't want AF to immediately change if my AF point 'slips off' the subject momentarily. I will have a play about at the London Marathon this weekend, but I'm even thinking that -2 may be better so it holds onto the subject for longer, especially useful if someone/something else moves across in front of the subject.

Yes, of the scene is cluttered then 0 or minus makes sense..........but if you have a set zone where you wish concentrate then you can set the AF Limiter to for example 5M to 8M. That way if the ,"you slip off..." the AF will not rack too far when re-aquiring the subject ....... you might find that +2 yields good results when combined with AF Limiter?
 
Yes, of the scene is cluttered then 0 or minus makes sense..........but if you have a set zone where you wish concentrate then you can set the AF Limiter to for example 5M to 8M. That way if the ,"you slip off..." the AF will not rack too far when re-aquiring the subject ....... you might find that +2 yields good results when combined with AF Limiter?
I’d rather it just lock on the target tbh, a 3m range is enough for the image not to be sharp. Of course we all have our own ways of what works best for us (y)
 
I prefer it on 0 tbh as I don't want AF to immediately change if my AF point 'slips off' the subject momentarily. I will have a play about at the London Marathon this weekend, but I'm even thinking that -2 may be better so it holds onto the subject for longer, especially useful if someone/something else moves across in front of the subject.

Be careful with this though - I agree this approach makes sense if CAF sensitivity works as explained by Olympus here: https://asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1mk2/feature.html

However, post #5 on this thread (https://www.mu-43.com/threads/e-m1-ii-c-af-sensitivity-is-2-almost-always-best.97112/ ) argues that CAF sensitivity doesn't work as explained and is simply a programmed delay before the camera starts focussing, when it sees that focus has been lost. So +2 means no delay and -2 means a long delay. I haven't tried to verify this personally, but I do know that initially with CAF sensitivity = 0 I had lots of OOF shots of runners coming towards me (underperforming the E-M1MkI) and with CAF sensitivity = +2 the keeper rate improved dramatically. Great because I was about to return the camera as not being fit for purpose. Now I had these issues with a previous version of the firmware so it is possible that with the latest firmware things work as advertised, so feel free to experiment and be sure to report back if you get good results.

Also, have fun at the London Marathon! :)
 
Be careful with this though - I agree this approach makes sense if CAF sensitivity works as explained by Olympus here: https://asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1mk2/feature.html

However, post #5 on this thread (https://www.mu-43.com/threads/e-m1-ii-c-af-sensitivity-is-2-almost-always-best.97112/ ) argues that CAF sensitivity doesn't work as explained and is simply a programmed delay before the camera starts focussing, when it sees that focus has been lost. So +2 means no delay and -2 means a long delay. I haven't tried to verify this personally, but I do know that initially with CAF sensitivity = 0 I had lots of OOF shots of runners coming towards me (underperforming the E-M1MkI) and with CAF sensitivity = +2 the keeper rate improved dramatically. Great because I was about to return the camera as not being fit for purpose. Now I had these issues with a previous version of the firmware so it is possible that with the latest firmware things work as advertised, so feel free to experiment and be sure to report back if you get good results.

Also, have fun at the London Marathon! :)
Thanks for the heads up. I do wish Olympus would explain exactly how things work :rolleyes: With Nikon you know exactly how their AF and AF lock on works.
 
Be careful with this though - I agree this approach makes sense if CAF sensitivity works as explained by Olympus here: https://asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1mk2/feature.html

However, post #5 on this thread (https://www.mu-43.com/threads/e-m1-ii-c-af-sensitivity-is-2-almost-always-best.97112/ ) argues that CAF sensitivity doesn't work as explained and is simply a programmed delay before the camera starts focussing, when it sees that focus has been lost. So +2 means no delay and -2 means a long delay. I haven't tried to verify this personally, but I do know that initially with CAF sensitivity = 0 I had lots of OOF shots of runners coming towards me (underperforming the E-M1MkI) and with CAF sensitivity = +2 the keeper rate improved dramatically. Great because I was about to return the camera as not being fit for purpose. Now I had these issues with a previous version of the firmware so it is possible that with the latest firmware things work as advertised, so feel free to experiment and be sure to report back if you get good results.

Also, have fun at the London Marathon! :)
Looking at the chart on here it says +2 is better for those subjects that move quickly to and from the camera. What’s not clear is whether that means a quick change between coming towards and then turning and going away, or those that either move towards or away from the camera quickly. My interpretation is that it’s the latter and so if you want AF to keep up with runners coming towards you you’ll need +2.

Why they can’t just come out and clarify it though is beyond me :rolleyes:
 
I’ve got an e-m1ii for the weekend on ‘test and wow’ (sick of waiting for an E-m5iii!).

Trying it out tomorrow at the Pirelli rally. I have set it up for raw, af-c, back button focus, low speed burst (8fps). Anything else I should consider?

Any idea how many shots I should get out of a battery? No real means of charging it but could take my e-m5ii as back up.
Turn off image review when you're shooting action, and I set mine so that the viewfinder is always on, otherwise there is a small delay waiting for it to come up - you probably know already.

Also maybe set the cards up so it automatically goes on to the next one if the first is full?
 
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Picture review is one area Olympus could improve. It would be nice to have picture-in-picture review that doesn't obscure the live image.
Maybe there is a button-press-review possibility. Where there is no automatic review, but hold a button pressed to see the last shot.
 
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