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

running out of places to go due to local lockdown travel restrictions meaning I have to stay within county boundaries so sat on the front garden wall this afternoon during a brief spell of decent light first off a crow doing a fly past
light in the darkness by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I do like this chap, and find most of his videos very informative and thought provoking.
I'm sure everyone who is interested in bird photography will find this interesting.
Please note this video is also relevant to other EM1 and E M5 models.

View: https://youtu.be/LG0qExLTHP4
 
Last edited:
I do like this chap, and find most of his videos very informative and thought provoking.
I'm sure everyone who is interested in bird photography will find this interesting.

View: https://youtu.be/LG0qExLTHP4
some very interesting points in there Malcolm ,especially with reference to the centre start etc . now turned mine off in menu and also re-focus being only on first frame in hi-burst mode also altered mine to sequential low . whether or not I'll stick with silent I'm not sure but it shows its never to late to learn .

he was shooting the kites at nant-y-arian to :cool:
 
some very interesting points in there Malcolm ,especially with reference to the centre start etc . now turned mine off in menu and also re-focus being only on first frame in hi-burst mode also altered mine to sequential low . whether or not I'll stick with silent I'm not sure but it shows its never to late to learn .

he was shooting the kites at nant-y-arian to :cool:

I've also made a few alterations to the way I shoot.
However, I do find the total silence when shooting burst with the electronic shutter a bit spooky!
I'm in Portugal at the moment so I'm getting loads of practice.
 
my best advice at this moment in time is stay there if possible this country is turning into a madhouse again
 
some very interesting points in there Malcolm ,especially with reference to the centre start etc . now turned mine off in menu and also re-focus being only on first frame in hi-burst mode also altered mine to sequential low . whether or not I'll stick with silent I'm not sure but it shows its never to late to learn .

Hi Jeff, I have finally jumped ship and sold my Nikon gear and bought OB: Oly mark iii with 12-40 lens kit, 100-400 still on back order. Spent good part of the day playing with menus with much frustration and confusion definitely more complex than nikon !!. First impression of the olympus very good though and was pleased with my first outing with it. Can't wait for the 100-400 to arrive as I mainly shoot wildlife, you are having great success with your BIF photos and would appreciate any tips about your wildlife settings.
Thanks Chris
 
some very interesting points in there Malcolm ,especially with reference to the centre start etc . now turned mine off in menu and also re-focus being only on first frame in hi-burst mode also altered mine to sequential low . whether or not I'll stick with silent I'm not sure but it shows its never to late to learn .

Hi Jeff, I have finally jumped ship and sold my Nikon gear and bought OB: Oly mark iii with 12-40 lens kit, 100-400 still on back order. Spent good part of the day playing with menus with much frustration and confusion definitely more complex than nikon !!. First impression of the olympus very good though and was pleased with my first outing with it. Can't wait for the 100-400 to arrive as I mainly shoot wildlife, you are having great success with your BIF photos and would appreciate any tips about your wildlife settings.
Thanks Chris
Watch the video above posted by Malcolm ,virtually every change you need to make and why are explained in that .. the menu system seems very complex at first ,but once you set it up it becomes easy .and as you will notice in my comments above it’s a learning curve . The only other thing I would suggest is invest in topaz de.noise as due to cropping with wildlife shots it helps immensely
 
I've also made a few alterations to the way I shoot.
However, I do find the total silence when shooting burst with the electronic shutter a bit spooky!
I'm in Portugal at the moment so I'm getting loads of practice.
yep tried that out this morning , switched it back to mechanical ,its still virtually silent compared to a DSLR but I cant get my head round totally silent
 
Nice set joe WD
 
It really is a brilliant lens! & brilliant images too :)
Cheers Joe and likewise ;) I am amazed that the lens is still hard to get a hold of. Most shops are still showing Pre or back order for it. There must be quite a demand for it.
 
Cheers Joe and likewise ;) I am amazed that the lens is still hard to get a hold of. Most shops are still showing Pre or back order for it. There must be quite a demand for it.
Ahah no worries yeah it’s mad how one lens seems to have just been a huge hit, But as we said I can certainly see why!
 
one from yesterday ,unable to leave my north Wales county under threat of a huge fine I have taken to driving around and taking photos from the mondeo hide again . heres a magpie for a starters
maggie may by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
 
nice alby I take it you like the lens
 
nice alby I take it you like the lens
Yes on the whole it is pretty good. Excellent for moving subjects, it knocks the panny into a cocked hat for locking on . I'm finding the colour temp is on the blue side but overall it is a thumbs up for me Jeff.
 
nice alby I take it you like the lens

I reckon I must have bought the only iffy copy in the world! :mad:
I'm home from Portugal next week so will then see the proper results of 3 weeks with just my 300mm Pro - will decide then whether to take the plunge again. :cool:
 
Super set of the hoopoe mike
 
I reckon I must have bought the only iffy copy in the world! :mad:
I'm home from Portugal next week so will then see the proper results of 3 weeks with just my 300mm Pro - will decide then whether to take the plunge again. :cool:
Keep us posted. Were you able to return your 100-400 and get your money back? Not sure if I missed something?

We get so many images on here - all brilliant I might add, that sometimes it gets difficult to follow a discussion. Would perhaps be easier to scoot past them if they were thumbnails?
 
Keep us posted. Were you able to return your 100-400 and get your money back? Not sure if I missed something?

We get so many images on here - all brilliant I might add, that sometimes it gets difficult to follow a discussion. Would perhaps be easier to scoot past them if they were thumbnails?

Yes, I returned the lens without any problem, just waiting now for the credit to appear - apparently it's in the system.
Banks generally seem to be great taking money instantly out of your account (debit card) but it's snails pace with the refund!
 
Last edited:
I reckon I must have bought the only iffy copy in the world! :mad:
I'm home from Portugal next week so will then see the proper results of 3 weeks with just my 300mm Pro - will decide then whether to take the plunge again. :cool:
That is a shame your copy played up as I have found it to be pretty snappy and sharp, I would try another copy of the lens because that last one didn't sound like it was performing as it should.
 
Last edited:
In a bit of a dilemma, and looking for wisdom from the group.

Due to Covid, my photography has taken a real bashing this year and I've hardly done anything since March, and the ways things are going, doesn't look like that will change much before spring next year. As such my general mojo and interest in photography and trailed off considerably. Looking at my large and expensive photography kit, I've been thinking.

I've therefore been rationalising my far too large list of equipment which is split between Micro Four Thirds and Nikon Mirrorless FF (the Z's). I have 2 bodies the EM1X and the EM1 MK III and a number of the lenses, many of which are duplicated (in equivalence terms at least) with my Nikon kit. So I've been thinking of (shock horror) ditching my Micro Four Thirds kit altogether (both bodies and all lenses), and just run the Nikon kit. Now I know this is an Olympus thread therefore the bias will be towards Olympus, and by the way this has nothing to do with Olympus selling the camera business, as I believe the system is viable for years to come.

I've contacted MPB, and they have given me a fair quote of around £7k for the lot. Obviously massively less than what I paid for them but that's always the case with camera gear. Now it's not like I need the money right now, but £7k is £7k, and I guess the system will only further depreciate over the coming months and years (as you would expect them to).

Trouble is, whilst my Nikon bodies blow the Olympus's away for definitive image quality (noise, DR, DOF etc), there's something about the Olympus system that's just stopping me from getting rid. I think I'm being emotional as I've been shooting with Olympus since the original EM5 all those years ago, and have been though many bodies over the years. Also, some of the things that make Olympus unique (to my mind at least), like the stunning IBIS, the weather sealing and general ruggedness, the special features unique to Olympus (live time, live bulb, Live Composite, Hand Held High Res etc), make me feel like I'd miss them when they are gone. Am i being just too emotional and should just do it, or should I just get rid of one body (probably the Em1X) and some of the lenses keeping just the 12-100 F4 IS, 1.4x Tele and the 300mm F4 Pro as a much smaller system ?

Thoughts please (I know it's ultimately my decision, but would appreciate others thought processes or something I haven't considered).
 
In a bit of a dilemma, and looking for wisdom from the group.

Due to Covid, my photography has taken a real bashing this year and I've hardly done anything since March, and the ways things are going, doesn't look like that will change much before spring next year. As such my general mojo and interest in photography and trailed off considerably. Looking at my large and expensive photography kit, I've been thinking.

I've therefore been rationalising my far too large list of equipment which is split between Micro Four Thirds and Nikon Mirrorless FF (the Z's). I have 2 bodies the EM1X and the EM1 MK III and a number of the lenses, many of which are duplicated (in equivalence terms at least) with my Nikon kit. So I've been thinking of (shock horror) ditching my Micro Four Thirds kit altogether (both bodies and all lenses), and just run the Nikon kit. Now I know this is an Olympus thread therefore the bias will be towards Olympus, and by the way this has nothing to do with Olympus selling the camera business, as I believe the system is viable for years to come.

I've contacted MPB, and they have given me a fair quote of around £7k for the lot. Obviously massively less than what I paid for them but that's always the case with camera gear. Now it's not like I need the money right now, but £7k is £7k, and I guess the system will only further depreciate over the coming months and years (as you would expect them to).

Trouble is, whilst my Nikon bodies blow the Olympus's away for definitive image quality (noise, DR, DOF etc), there's something about the Olympus system that's just stopping me from getting rid. I think I'm being emotional as I've been shooting with Olympus since the original EM5 all those years ago, and have been though many bodies over the years. Also, some of the things that make Olympus unique (to my mind at least), like the stunning IBIS, the weather sealing and general ruggedness, the special features unique to Olympus (live time, live bulb, Live Composite, Hand Held High Res etc), make me feel like I'd miss them when they are gone. Am i being just too emotional and should just do it, or should I just get rid of one body (probably the Em1X) and some of the lenses keeping just the 12-100 F4 IS, 1.4x Tele and the 300mm F4 Pro as a much smaller system ?

Thoughts please (I know it's ultimately my decision, but would appreciate others thought processes or something I haven't considered).
Interesting dilemma, and one I fully sympathise with! Some of the unique features you mention make a solid case for keeping a cut-down Olympus kit as they're things that are either impossible or very difficult to do with any other cameras. In-camera focus stacking and timelapse are two more that I've had great fun with and are much more time-consuming to do with other systems. I don't think that's being emotional, although that's another factor if you enjoy using the Olympus cameras more than Nikon...
 
Thoughts please (I know it's ultimately my decision, but would appreciate others thought processes or something I haven't considered).

Although, I don't have anything like the impressive list of kit that you have, I'm going through a similar dilemma. And my plan "today" which I can't afford to implement, is to keep my 12-40 f2.8 and add the new 100-400 as a minimal "grab" outfit, which will cover my landscape and wildlife interests in a small and flexible outfit, but focus on building/ refining my Nikon kit.

I still prefer the technical quality of my Nikon images over M43, and when I am out with the intention of making photographs, I have no issue with the weight/bulk of full frame. But there are also many occasions, when the primary reason for being somewhere isn't photography and the Olympus kit is just that much easier to carry, with only a small penalty in quality. The above two lenses, plus the option of going really small e.g. OM10 plus pancake zoom if I want to, provides something that Nikon can't offer.

Mentally, I want to have a primary system that I automatically go to, and for me that has to be Nikon. I don't want more than one "full" outfit. But I think a small Olympus outfit as I have described (or you describe) fills a niche that Nikon doesn't fill and probably never will. I've toyed with the idea of a Z50 instead of an Olympus but even assuming a Z70 coming along, an OM1 series seems likely to be a better all round camera than the more consumer led Z50/Z70.

This Nikon/Olympus combo would also allow me to carry a Z body with a 24-70 (or 24-105) plus an Olympus body with the 100-400, which would probably do 80% to 90% of all my photography to a perfectly adequate level of technical quality, in a compact package for when I wanted a minimal but flexible outfit.

Not sure if any of that helps, but I have spent a lot of time thinking about it because I need to make sure my next purchase fits into a long term plan for my kit.

My other confusion is whether I should really be going with a Fuji GFX for landscape rather than Nikon, but that's a different dilemma :-(
 
Back
Top