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

Just back from a week in Cornwall again (love it there).

A bit miffed to find I'd left the ISO on 400 for most of the shots and didn't notice.

Ho hum.

Hope you enjoy them.

Maybe going back in 3 weeks so would love to get the landscape shots at ISO200 or LOW.




Polzeath Surfer by Terence Rees, on Flickr


Trevose Head by Terence Rees, on Flickr


Padstow Lifeboat Station by Terence Rees, on Flickr


Through the Gap by Terence Rees, on Flickr

To the Surf! by Terence Rees, on Flickr
Nice set, love Cornwall, be down again next month. If you don't mind me asking what's the location of the gap?
 
Managed to drag myself out of bed early this morning (fairly easy given sleep was impossible with the heat the UK is currently experiencing), and had a run up to photograph the Seven Sisters at Copt Hill in the North East of England. Had to hang around for a little while, but the light finally came.

Seven Sisters by Simon Harrison, on Flickr

EM1 mk II + Oly 12-40mm f2.8 + 0.6 SE ND grad filter.

Cheers,

Simon.
 
Thanks. Not sure if I'll get that far up, we're staying in Portreath, plenty to go at down that end too.

Don’t forget to visit the Bakers shop. Fab Pasty sold there.
Well envious. Love that place.
 
Excuse me butting into the thread.
Just a heads up - I am interested in a swap for my Fuji X-T3 and misc. lenses for a mint Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark ll and 40-150mm f2.8 lens.
If anyone is interested, details are in the classifieds under "Other Brands".
 
Can't help you with the swap Malfis, but I'll stick my head above the parapet and say that last year I mainly ran two systems - Fuji and Olympus OMD.

I have a lot of the pro lenses for Olympus (as you can see in my sig below), and at one time had an X-T3 and an X-H1, with the Fuji 10-24, 16-55, 18-55, 50-140, 55-200, 100-400, 23mm F2, 35mm F2 and the 50mm F2 (so a very well rounded system).

Now I know the difference in sensor size between APS-C and Micro Four thirds isn't that huge, but I was expecting greater things from the Fuji system (judging by the way people revere them so much), and yes it's very good (very, very good in fact), but surprisingly to my eye never that much better (if any) than my Olympus system. OK maybe over ISO6400 upwards, but that's somewhere I rarely venture into. Yes I know the X-T3 has 27mp vs than Olympus's 20, but to be honest I never really saw a difference, in fact much of the time I actually preferred the output and handling of the Olympus system. Also, I sorta got tired fiddling with the Fuji film simulations (from Velvia to Astia to Eterna etc.). On the OM-D's I typcially just leave it on "natural" and that seems to give me great colours and saturation all the time ? I think what I'm saying is to my mind, the Fuji had to be worked more to get any better results than the Olympus on standard settings. I also didn't care too much for Lightroom's rendering of Fuji RAF files (although I understand it's now better), and at the time I didn't own Capture One Pro 12 (which I now do).

When I ended up getting the Nikon Z6 (FF mirrorless) and a few lenses, i knew one of the smaller sensor systems had to go. For me, and this was a totally personal choice, it was the Fuji that went. For me, there wasn't anything in it quality wise between Fuji and Olympus ( I know others will say different), and I think the Olympus punches well above it's weight sensor wise, and as I said, I actually prefer the more modern dials and buttons of the Olympus to the old school ones of the Fuji.

Just my two penny's worth.......
 
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Can't help you with the swap Malfis, but I'll stick my head above the parapet and say that last year I mainly ran two systems - Fuji and Olympus OMD.

I have a lot of the pro lenses for Olympus (as you can see in my sig below), and at one time had an X-T3 and an X-H1, with the Fuji 10-24, 16-55, 18-55, 50-140, 100-400, 23mm F2, 35mm F2 and the 50mm F2 (so a very well rounded system).

Now I know the difference in sensor size between APS-C and Micro Four thirds isn't that huge, but I was expecting greater things from the Fuji system (judging by the way people revere them so much), and yes it's very good (very, very good in fact), but surprisingly to my eye never that much better (if any) than my Olympus system. OK maybe over ISO6400 upwards, but that's somewhere I rarely venture into. Yes I know the X-T3 has 27mp vs than Olympus's 20, but to be honest I never really saw a difference, in fact much of the time I actually preferred the output and handling of the Olympus system. Also, I sorta got tired fiddling with the Fuji film simulations (from Velvia to Astia to Eterna etc.). On the OM-D's I typcially just leave it on "natural" and that seems to give me great colours and saturation all the time ? I think what I'm saying is to my mind, the Fuji had to be worked more to get any better results than the Olympus on standard settings. I also didn't care too much for Lightroom's rendering of Fuji RAF files (although I understand it's now better), and at the time I didn't own Capture One Pro 12 (which I now do).

When I ended up getting the Nikon Z6 (FF mirrorless) and a few lenses, i knew one of the smaller sensor systems had to go. For me, and this was a totally personal choice, it was the Fuji that went. For me, there wasn't anything in it quality wise between Fuji and Olympus ( I know others will say different), and I think the Olympus punches well above it's weight sensor wise, and as I said, I actually prefer the more modern dials and buttons of the Olympus to the old school ones of the Fuji.

Just my two penny's worth.......

Hi Andrew, thanks for taking the time to impart your thoughts.
I already have a Panasonic G9, Leica 12-60mm and 200mm f2.8, but want to add the Pan 100-400mm and Oly 40-150mm.
My main interest is birds and wildlife and I feel the Oly EM1 ll will add, particularly in the autofocus department, now the autofocus system has been upgraded.
 
Here’s an image taken today with a very similar combination you are looking at EM1X (rather than the EM1 MK II which has near identical output) and Panasonic 100-400)

 
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@Sootchucker - that was an interesting read - thanks for sharing.

@Malfis - I know there has been a recent update in the autofocus on the EM1ii, but I honestly thought it was amazing before the update.

I ended up going down the Olympus route because I wanted to do more wildlife. The Canon lenses just got so big, heavy and expensive! I've still got my Canon gear, but it gets used less and less.
 
There will be a lot of people in the Fuji threads that won’t agree with me of course, and that’s absolutely fine - maybe their skills with a Fuji camera are much better than mine ever were :)
 
There will be a lot of people in the Fuji threads that won’t agree with me of course, and that’s absolutely fine - maybe their skills with a Fuji camera are much better than mine ever were :)
I agree with you, but as you say it's all personal taste. But as we're talking about it here's my two penneth

1. In terms of sharpness there's nothing in it, lens dependant of course.
2. I'm not going over it again but I don't like Fuji's rendering of fine detail
3. In terms of an overall package the Olly system is lighter and smaller (like for like lenses etc)
4. There's not enough difference in DOF between m4/3 and APS-C for it to be a differentiating factor
5. I prefer Fuji colours and have had to set up a preset in LR to get Olympus more how I like them (more like Nikon).
6. In terms of ISO I would shoot both at 6400 at a push, however this is comparing the EM1-II to the XT1, maybe the XT3 is better?
 
Yeah, I pretty much agree with all of that Toby, maybe except for me point 5. I just prefer the colours I get from Olympus (much less fuss), but like I said, maybe that's just me ?
 
Here's another from yesterday (EM1X with Panasonic 100-400 Lens)

 
Love the first giraffe one above!
 
Not posted on here for a while and thought I'd share a couple from the Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Sunday. The light wasn't brilliant but a good day out nevertheless.

Ring tailed Lemur by Pete C, on Flickr

Lioness by Pete C, on Flickr

Giraffe by Pete C, on Flickr

Giraffe by Pete C, on Flickr

Thanks for looking
Nice, I love the 300mm f4. You've done well to get sharp shots of animals at 1/160, I usually find they are moving around too much and get blurred images, especially the meerkats and lemurs.
 
Nice, I love the 300mm f4. You've done well to get sharp shots of animals at 1/160, I usually find they are moving around too much and get blurred images, especially the meerkats and lemurs.

Thanks Toby. Much appreciated. It's taking some getting used to and there's a lot of missed shots because of camera shake, especially when the 1.4TC is attached. It's also a bit heavy for my oldish body to carry around for a long time sadly!
 
Not sure if anyone interested but just took up the Hotukdeals deal showing a special offer from Olympus that you get a free Olympus 45mm 1.8 lens if you buy an Olympus Pen EP L 8 or 9.
https://www.jessops.com/p/olympus/p...&ranSiteID=hL3Qp0zRBOc-Sq_Rj0Vo1H7cDIYlQXAFhw
Bought the camera in Jessops for £299. The lens brand new costs approx £260 from Wex etc so camera only costs about £40.

I have one happy hubby as he was looking at buying this lens!
 
Had a great day out at Snetterton on Saturday at an Olympus photo day, hosted by Power Maxed Racing, a BTCC team sponsored by Olympus. Hospitality was first class, cooked breakfast and dinner, and some Olympus kit to play with in-between being fed and watered!

Here are a few images, haven't sorted them all out yet:-









My thoughts on the kit I had a chance to play with ...

EM1x

Owning the EM1 Mk2, and with the latest firmware that supposedly adds some EM1x features, I wasn't expecting the EM1x to be significantly better than the EM1 Mk2 but I have to say I was impressed. Perfectly sized and shaped for my hands, it felt rugged and comfortable, the "motorsport" tracking mode really does work, and having double the processing power of the EM1 Mk2 it just felt all round faster and more responsive. I can't justify replacing my EM1 Mk2 as I don't feel it's £1,000 better, but even so, I was very, very tempted!

Olympus 300mm f/4

The flag-ship lens in the Olympus range (for now!) I was a bit disappointed they only had 4, for a group of 24 people, so my time with it was very limited, but whilst it's undoubtedly an astonishing lens, the limited time I had was enough to convince me I don't need it. As a prime lens I found it limiting, I feel with m4/3 @ 20 MP you need to frame the shot fairly well to begin with, as there's less scope to crop, so I prefer to stick with my zoom lenses. I did try it with the TC2.0 converter and that's just insane, 1200mm FF equivalent in a hand-holdable lens + converter that's still smaller and lighter than a FF 70-200 f/2.8! At Snetterton there was little need for this lens, anything that was far enough away was a blurry mess in the heat haze anyway.

Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO

We were taken to the Power Maxed garage, and I was loaned an Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, a lens I'm very interested in. Unfortunately we weren't allowed in the pit lane (the BTCC cars were out on track for final practise at the time) but this might well be my next purchase, it's incredibly sharp, and for motorsports photography that wide angle opens up some very interesting possibilities. Absolutely loved this lens, although before I pull the trigger on one I wonder how it compares to Panasonic's 7-14mm f/4 or 8-18mm f/2.8-4?

All in all a great day, although we kept to one area for the track side shooting, so I think a lot of my shots will look very same-y. Would love to do one of these days again at another track.
 
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Yes, heat haze at 600mm (1200mm) is quite a barrier!
 
Had a great day out at Snetterton on Saturday at an Olympus photo day, hosted by Power Maxed Racing, a BTCC team sponsored by Olympus. Hospitality was first class, cooked breakfast and dinner, and some Olympus kit to play with in-between being fed and watered!

Here are a few images, haven't sorted them all out yet:-









My thoughts on the kit I had a chance to play with ...

EM1x

Owning the EM1 Mk2, and with the latest firmware that supposedly adds some EM1x features, I wasn't expecting the EM1x to be significantly better than the EM1 Mk2 but I have to say I was impressed. Perfectly sized and shaped for my hands, it felt rugged and comfortable, the "motorsport" tracking mode really does work, and having double the processing power of the EM1 Mk2 it just felt all round faster and more responsive. I can't justify replacing my EM1 Mk2 as I don't feel it's £1,000 better, but even so, I was very, very tempted!

Olympus 300mm f/4

The flag-ship lens in the Olympus range (for now!) I was a bit disappointed they only had 4, for a group of 24 people, so my time with it was very limited, but whilst it's undoubtedly an astonishing lens, the limited time I had was enough to convince me I don't need it. As a prime lens I found it limiting, I feel with m4/3 @ 20 MP you need to frame the shot fairly well to begin with, as there's less scope to crop, so I prefer to stick with my zoom lenses. I did try it with the TC2.0 converter and that's just insane, 1200mm FF equivalent in a hand-holdable lens + converter that's still smaller and lighter than a FF 70-200 f/2.8! At Snetterton there was little need for this lens, anything that was far enough away was a blurry mess in the heat haze anyway.

Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO

We were taken to the Power Maxed garage, and I was loaned an Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO, a lens I'm very interested in. Unfortunately we weren't allowed in the pit lane (the BTCC cars were out on track for final practise at the time) but this might well be my next purchase, it's incredibly sharp, and for motorsports photography that wide angle opens up some very interesting possibilities. Absolutely loved this lens, although before I pull the trigger on one I wonder how it compares to Panasonic's 7-14mm f/4 or 8-18mm f/2.8-4?

All in all a great day, although we kept to one area for the track side shooting, so I think a lot of my shots will look very same-y. Would love to do one of these days again at another track.
Glad you enjoyed the day, some nice shots and I particularly like the garage ones.
 
I have the Olympus 7-14mm F2.8 Pro and the Panasonic Leica 8-18 F2.8-4.

The Olympus Pro lens is built like a tank and takes some super sharp (and wide) images, but it also suffers (at least my copy did), with quite bad field curvature (possibly as a result of the bulbous front element). I had to be really careful in focusing and make sure I focused on items at the edge of the frame that I wanted sharp (rather than in the middle) and then the DOF would typically get everything sharp. If you know it's there, it's easy to correct for, but annoying non the less.

Whist the little Panasonic 8-18 is not as wide and a stop slower at the longer end, it seems to not suffer at all with field curvature so makes getting everything in the shot easier than the Olympus without having to stop it all the way down, and seems a match for the Olympus in the sharpness and contrast stakes.
 
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I have the Olympus 7-14mm F2.8 Pro and the Panasonic Leica 8-18 F2.8-4.

The Olympus Pro lens is built like a tank and takes some super sharp (and wide) images, but it also suffers (at least my copy did), with quite bad field curvature (possibly as a result of the bulbous front element). I had to be really careful in focusing and make sure I focused on items at the edge of the frame that I wanted sharp (rather than in the middle) and then the DOF would typically get everything sharp. If you know it's there, it's easy to correct for, but annoying non the less.

Whist the little Panasonic 8-18 is not as wide and a stop slower at the longer end, it seems to not suffer at all with field curvature so makes getting everything in the shot easier than the Olympus without having to stop it all the way down, and seems a match for the Olympus in the sharpness and contrast stakes.

@Sootchucker thanks, exactly the feedback I was looking for!

I have to say the 8-18mm is great to use and gives great results a focus scale and an Oly style focus ring would be nice.

Its a bit fragile and when I broke it was expensive to repair at £730.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...-m10-mark-2-owners-thread.395080/post-8119145
 
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I was cutting the grass today and this Dragonfly started to fly over the garden so grabbed the EM-1X with the 300 f4 pro on and did managed to get a few shots 1/5000 second f4 iso 500 CAF +2 Tracking speed and 25 focus points this seemed to work quite well .
Rob.P1010053 small.jpg
 
I have to say the 8-18mm is great to use and gives great results a focus scale and an Oly style focus ring would be nice.

Its a bit fragile and when I broke it was expensive to repair at £730.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...-m10-mark-2-owners-thread.395080/post-8119145

Will make sure to be very careful with my month old 8-18 then, doesn't feel fragile though.
Just took mine on a holiday to Germany, very pleased with it and ideal for getting all of historic buildings in.
 
Will make sure to be very careful with my month old 8-18 then, doesn't feel fragile though.
Just took mine on a holiday to Germany, very pleased with it and ideal for getting all of historic buildings in.
The 8-18mm is my most used lens
 
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