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Anyone moved from a Nikon D7000 to either an E-M1 or E-M5 mk2. Which would you recommend?
I've got both, basically its down to size.
Anyone moved from a Nikon D7000 to either an E-M1 or E-M5 mk2. Which would you recommend?
I've got both, basically its down to size.
How are you finding the new Panasonic Ned ?
Was out with a friend last night who shoots FF canon and 35mm f1.4 sigma art...got my GAS going. Really miss that shallow DoF from the d7000 but it's all a juggling act isn't it ? Obviously the d7k isn't FF but I was left wanting as he shot at iso6400 and they looked pretty clean
Think I might need to pay my local John Lewis a visit as they have both in stock to see what feels better to hold.I've got both, basically its down to size.
Hi,
I have had both the EM10 II and the 5 II...
I decided at the beginning of this year to sell my DSLR kit in exchange for a camera that I would actually take with me a lot more. After doing lots of home work I settled on the Olympus system, and it made sense to get the smallest Olympus EM camera, so I got the EM10 II with the pancake 14-42 and the 25mm prime. This camera is really good and light weight but I was finding that I wasn't taking it with me on walk/ family days out and I had a think why- mainly it was the use of the camera, I didn't like the electric zoom on the lens and the camera felt too toy like in my hand. Also, living in the wet north I was finding myself leaving the camera in the car if there was the slightest hint of rain (most days!).
So.... last week I decided to swap my EM10ii for a EM5ii, ever so slightly bigger and heavier so that it feels a lot nicer to hold and the all important waterproofing so I can truly take it anywhere. I also got the 12-40mm pro which is an outstanding lens and not a big as I though it would be, although I will be getting a 17mm prime for days when I want a really compact setup. The 25mm is still here but I might sell it yet- undecided. For my type of shooting the 12-40 really is good enough quality to replace primes in that zoom range but obviously has the extra weight. The EM5ii seems to have a better rear screen and viewfinder and also I prefer the articulated screen but that's personal preference.
The EM10 II is a superb camera but the EM5 II just feels nicer to use when you've come from DSLR.
All my opinion of course but hope you find it helpful in your decision.
Just bought a lightly used E-M10 + 14-40EZ pancake zoom for my wife. We finally mamaged to try it out today - is this lens normally a little soft at typical landscape distances? It seems universally soft, like a compact, rather than having a soft corner or edge caused by a decentred lens.
Same here.Nope. Mine, for the little I've used it, is as good as any other kit lens. Which is to say perfectly good.
TBH the images at 5.6 are no better, and I've not used one of them because the Ai selected 5.6 and reduced shutter speeds to =>100th which might allow shake to become an issue. Are you suggesting that f8 (equivalent to f11 for APS-C) is going to cause this kind of softness?
On a side note, I also need to find a way to set the focus point to the centre of the frame, so that it becomes possible to tell the camera where to focus instead of it choosing random and non-helpful parts of the image - I didn't find that in the verious menus I trawled through.
It sounds like you've got some clever recognise something or other focus mode enabled. I never use them and instead I just use the centre and move it about as required.
Other than that... yes, these kit zooms tend to be a bit soft wide open which does give quite a small window to operate in before diffraction could be an issue. Maybe you could shoot a series of shots and see if there's a happy medium somewhere?
So in your opinion this isn't too bad for this type of lens used like this?
Will have another 'adventure' exploring Olympus' menu system to turn off whatever face recognition or something mode is on.
I agree about pixel peeping at 100% - I still do it and more often think "meh" so am trying to get out of the habit
I don't think that it's the format that's necessarily the problem. I can pixel peep at 100% and be quite pleased but in your examples something is going wrong. I think that the first thing I'd do is sort the focus mode out as I just don't trust those auto modes that light up different points in the image when you look through the VF and I'd much rather have just the one point and put it where I want to focus rather than leave it up to the camera to focus on God know what.Thanks for that, I may have been foolish to assume that this format would deliver roughly similar image quality to the larger formats, though it's capable of 'good enough' for many purposes. For the purpose intended this offers a modest improvement over the compact, with the added benefit of a viewfinder that should help ensure images are more likely to come out straight and level.
Thanks gents, time for a tripod and some intentional control. In the case of the example I posted I'm sure focus isn't an issue, and I really wanted to know if this kind of performance was what I should expect with this lens - reading between the lines it's probably typical.
Simon, I had a look through your flickr feed, and the larger images there look very very soft (those from Newcastle). Is that Flickr simply enlarging a small image to fill the screen? Generally it's hard to tell if your pictures are sharp or not because they're all so small - not a criticism, but I can't use them as an example of camera & lens performance.
It *looks* like I've managed to mostly force it to use the centre focus detection area, and I've also got it to spot-meter, and the patterned metering was all over the shop too. One thing I'd love to know is how to make it silent: when I half press the shutter I can hear a hiss for a few seconds as the mic and external speaker works briefly. It's not a problem, but it IS annoying.
That noise is the IBIS working and you can't stop it, even with IBIS disabled.
TBH the images at 5.6 are no better, and I've not used one of them because the Ai selected 5.6 and reduced shutter speeds to =>100th which might allow shake to become an issue. Are you suggesting that f8 (equivalent to f11 for APS-C) is going to cause this kind of softness?
On a side note, I also need to find a way to set the focus point to the centre of the frame, so that it becomes possible to tell the camera where to focus instead of it choosing random and non-helpful parts of the image - I didn't find that in the verious menus I trawled through.
I've been really enjoying taking the 17mm 1.8 to gigs instead of full frame. So much less obtrusive! I'm also blown away by the ability of the M5ii to record video - not only visually, but also the audio is amazingly good even when I've been quite near the speaker cabs and had ear plugs in. I've just ordered the 45mm 1.8 and looking forward to getting some closer shots.Well, I must say I love my little EM10ii
It certainly had a workout on it's first day out, as I decided to leave the full frame kit at home and take it to a local music venue with an all day festival. Struggled a bit with the 17mm F2.8 (was very dark) but well pleased with the shots from the 45mm F1.8. This is going to turn out to be a nice sub for when I can't be doing with my full frame gear - exactly why I bought it!
OK, a slightly more controlled look this evening, setting aperture, focussing on a specific point (it still wants to focus outside the centre sometimes! Why, dammit?).
At 14mm the lens is soft at every aperture from 3.5 to 11, though sharpness peaks around 5.6-7.1. I was getting a little caught by the auto-ISO feature, and the jpgs were heavily denoised, while the raw files were actually pretty good. It also blows detail from light areas really easily, even when they aren't exactly bright.
At 23mm it's fair between 5.6 and 11, and provided exposure is controlled (and I'll build in 1/2 stop under-exposure in future) it would be quite usable.
At 42mm the lens is soft at every aperture, but is better between 7.1 and 8.0.
Looks like 7.1 is the go-to aperture for this lens if one doesn't mind losing control of depth of field and a lot of light. I'm impressed with the relative lack of noise at ISO 1250, which is a camera feature, and suspect a *part* of the blowing of highlights is simply the lens' inability to cope well with microcontrast. I had been wondering about picking up the 14-140 (SRS have it on offer + cashback that would make it £279) but understand from the reviews that lens performance is even weaker than the 14-42EZ. Might be better to look at a prime (pro zooms being out of my financial range) if I want to use it seriously.
OK, a slightly more controlled look this evening, setting aperture, focussing on a specific point (it still wants to focus outside the centre sometimes! Why, dammit?).
At 14mm the lens is soft at every aperture from 3.5 to 11, though sharpness peaks around 5.6-7.1. I was getting a little caught by the auto-ISO feature, and the jpgs were heavily denoised, while the raw files were actually pretty good. It also blows detail from light areas really easily, even when they aren't exactly bright.
At 23mm it's fair between 5.6 and 11, and provided exposure is controlled (and I'll build in 1/2 stop under-exposure in future) it would be quite usable.
At 42mm the lens is soft at every aperture, but is better between 7.1 and 8.0.
Looks like 7.1 is the go-to aperture for this lens if one doesn't mind losing control of depth of field and a lot of light. I'm impressed with the relative lack of noise at ISO 1250, which is a camera feature, and suspect a *part* of the blowing of highlights is simply the lens' inability to cope well with microcontrast. I had been wondering about picking up the 14-140 (SRS have it on offer + cashback that would make it £279) but understand from the reviews that lens performance is even weaker than the 14-42EZ. Might be better to look at a prime (pro zooms being out of my financial range) if I want to use it seriously.
I've been really enjoying taking the 17mm 1.8 to gigs instead of full frame. So much less obtrusive! I'm also blown away by the ability of the M5ii to record video - not only visually, but also the audio is amazingly good even when I've been quite near the speaker cabs and had ear plugs in. I've just ordered the 45mm 1.8 and looking forward to getting some closer shots.