Olympus OM-D E-M5 2-Month User Review

Interesting review, thanks

Interesting review, thanks

Hm, I believe this is a great camera but the price kills it. Other thing is design, compare it to OM-1 and you wonder what happened to designers to create a such ugly thing. I pass, maybe next time...

Hm, I believe this is a great camera but the price kills it. Other thing is design, compare it to OM-1 and you wonder what happened to designers to create a such ugly thing. I pass, maybe next time...

Have been pondering an upgrade for a while, truth is though my photography has taken a bit of a back seat lately so muddling along with my 40D works well enough for the small amount I've been doing. If I did have a pressing need/desire to upgrade right now, this would def be on top of my list - for now though it's wait and see.

Have been pondering an upgrade for a while, truth is though my photography has taken a bit of a back seat lately so muddling along with my 40D works well enough for the small amount I've been doing. If I did have a pressing need/desire to upgrade right now, this would def be on top of my list - for now though it's wait and see.

There's some great shots here, you've managed to achieve some really sharp stuff that so far I haven't been able to reproduce in my dabblings with my OM-D, I wonder what PP you've been doing, or whether I'm just still too much of an OM-D novice? It's interesting that you've come to many of the same conclusions I have (I have a 'first impressions' review over on the blog this week) but also that you've been using a 75-300 lens as well, something I will have to look into. I'm really looking forward to getting some legacy lenses on the camera and using the magnifier to get the best out of them. As a fellow Canon shooter I'm certainly glad of less weight...

There's some great shots here, you've managed to achieve some really sharp stuff that so far I haven't been able to reproduce in my dabblings with my OM-D, I wonder what PP you've been doing, or whether I'm just still too much of an OM-D novice? It's interesting that you've come to many of the same conclusions I have (I have a 'first impressions' review over on the blog this week) but also that you've been using a 75-300 lens as well, something I will have to look into. I'm really looking forward to getting some legacy lenses on the camera and using the magnifier to get the best out of them. As a fellow Canon shooter I'm certainly glad of less weight...

Thanks for taking time to comment. I think its cute (but ugly?) and I'm certainly not ashamed to be seen out with her in public ;) In fact people are frequently wanting to know what it is and getting quite excited by the whole package Saul, I'm shooting in RAW and processing in LR4, depending on the lens I use I need very lttle sharpening at all (45 f1.8 is so sharp that for portraits I often soften a bit by reducing the clarity slider). With the 75-300 at 200 to 300mm I find I need a bit more sharpening but I'll put some butterfly / bee shots up in my PF later which confirm a suspicion I've had for some time - namely the more I use this camera the better its getting at taking sharp images :D With the legacy lenses, I suggest you get ones with a built in manual iris as otherwise you end up using them wide open (unless you go the 4/3rds route)

Thanks for taking time to comment.
I think its cute (but ugly?) and I'm certainly not ashamed to be seen out with her in public In fact people are frequently wanting to know what it is and getting quite excited by the whole package

Saul, I'm shooting in RAW and processing in LR4, depending on the lens I use I need very lttle sharpening at all (45 f1.8 is so sharp that for portraits I often soften a bit by reducing the clarity slider).

With the 75-300 at 200 to 300mm I find I need a bit more sharpening but I'll put some butterfly / bee shots up in my PF later which confirm a suspicion I've had for some time - namely the more I use this camera the better its getting at taking sharp images

With the legacy lenses, I suggest you get ones with a built in manual iris as otherwise you end up using them wide open (unless you go the 4/3rds route)

I am also a former canon user traded in all my kit for an omd plus panny 45-200 and a sigma 19 I can now fit all my kit in a low pro 100 sling bag and have more than enough space for battery's and filters the best bit is I can go out all day with all my kit and not feel like I have been on an assault course . I share your views on the caf and also use safe to track moving subject only had the camera for two weeks but I am very pleased with it I also have an epl1 and this triggered my interest in csc

I am also a former canon user traded in all my kit for an omd plus panny 45-200 and a sigma 19 I can now fit all my kit in a low pro 100 sling bag and have more than enough space for battery's and filters the best bit is I can go out all day with all my kit and not feel like I have been on an assault course . I share your views on the caf and also use safe to track moving subject only had the camera for two weeks but I am very pleased with it I also have an epl1 and this triggered my interest in csc

Ugly? In my opinion it's a beautiful little thing and worthy of the OM name. Great review, Brian

Ugly? In my opinion it's a beautiful little thing and worthy of the OM name.

Great review, Brian

Nigel, I find that setting the IS to mode 2 and tracking a moving object whilst half-pressing the shutter to keep refocusing as needed, then pressing the shutter release at the right moment works best for me (until I find a better way :) )

Nigel, I find that setting the IS to mode 2 and tracking a moving object whilst half-pressing the shutter to keep refocusing as needed, then pressing the shutter release at the right moment works best for me (until I find a better way )

I've had the chance to do some fairly intensive trial of action shooting and thought I would update my review accordingly. These included a child trampolining, a dog trying to catch a ball and a Wakeboarder in the throes of a major wipeout. The child and dog were shot using the Olympus 9-18mm and the Wakeboarder using the Olympus 75-300mm. I found that using 6fps in SAF mode with IS1 or IS2 allowed me to track the action and keep focus on the subject for around 70% - 80% of the the frames. I'm very impressed with this performance which is up there with what I was achieving with my canon 7D + L lenses You can see a small collection of images from these shoots (all hand-held) here [link=http://imagesfromnature.foliopic.com/gallery/olympus-em5---action-shots-14243]action[/link]

I've had the chance to do some fairly intensive trial of action shooting and thought I would update my review accordingly.

These included a child trampolining, a dog trying to catch a ball and a Wakeboarder in the throes of a major wipeout.

The child and dog were shot using the Olympus 9-18mm and the Wakeboarder using the Olympus 75-300mm.

I found that using 6fps in SAF mode with IS1 or IS2 allowed me to track the action and keep focus on the subject for around 70% - 80% of the the frames.

I'm very impressed with this performance which is up there with what I was achieving with my canon 7D + L lenses

You can see a small collection of images from these shoots (all hand-held) here

action

Excellent review Brian; we're of a like mind about just about everything. I had to ship a parcel from the airport the other day, so I took the camera and got some shots of airplanes taking off, I'll post some in the forum thread. Denny:)

Excellent review Brian; we're of a like mind about just about everything. I had to ship a parcel from the airport the other day, so I took the camera and got some shots of airplanes taking off, I'll post some in the forum thread.

Denny

Thanks Denny, so - we know that we at least are right! :D

Thanks Denny, so - we know that we at least are right!

An interesting review, Brian. I've just received an Om-d for to test for a review I'm writing, and am looking forward to getting out and shooting a few frames with it.

An interesting review, Brian. I've just received an Om-d for to test for a review I'm writing, and am looking forward to getting out and shooting a few frames with it.

Thanks for dropping by Mark, I hope all is well with you. I look forward to reading your review when it comes out (can you say where it will be published?), it will be interesting to get a pro's view on how this little thing performs, it will give me a chance to see what else it can do :)

Thanks for dropping by Mark, I hope all is well with you.

I look forward to reading your review when it comes out (can you say where it will be published?), it will be interesting to get a pro's view on how this little thing performs, it will give me a chance to see what else it can do

Brian, excellent pictures and good honest review, but there doesn't seem to be that famous Olympus colour signature we have all grown to love. Yes, it shows very good colour but its not quite the same. I have handled an E-M5 and to be honest, its not as nice to hold as a DSLR or the Panny G5, i guess this is the price paid for going retro with OM styling. Olympus need to bring out a budget version which would possibly bring it into my price range, if they do that then the Panny G5 must be a serious alternative. Great camera though, shame about the price.

Brian, excellent pictures and good honest review, but there doesn't seem to be that famous Olympus colour signature we have all grown to love. Yes, it shows very good colour but its not quite the same.

I have handled an E-M5 and to be honest, its not as nice to hold as a DSLR or the Panny G5, i guess this is the price paid for going retro with OM styling.
Olympus need to bring out a budget version which would possibly bring it into my price range, if they do that then the Panny G5 must be a serious alternative.

Great camera though, shame about the price.

Thanks Peter, I don't have experience of the "famous Olympus colour signature" as this is my first Olympus but to my eyes there is a difference between the EM5 colour and that of the canon system I am more used to. If anything I would judge the colours I am seeing on the Olympus as more natural (less rich) than the canon colour palette. One other thought is that I am still learning how to post-process my RAW files and maybe am not showing the Olympus colours at their best?

Thanks Peter, I don't have experience of the "famous Olympus colour signature" as this is my first Olympus but to my eyes there is a difference between the EM5 colour and that of the canon system I am more used to. If anything I would judge the colours I am seeing on the Olympus as more natural (less rich) than the canon colour palette.

One other thought is that I am still learning how to post-process my RAW files and maybe am not showing the Olympus colours at their best?

Brian The older Olympus colours when they used a Panasonic sensor were liked very much by Oly users and especially in Jpeg. The palette was punchy but always retained the lesser more subtle hues without going over the top and shots of landscapes were always lovely. Olympus deservidly earned their excellent colour signature reputation from mostly landscapes. Ironically, the Panasonic G series cameras using the same or similar sensor as the Oly were a tad more neutral if not a slightly cooler palette than Olympus, colours looked 'flatter'. Its been heavily rumoured that the E-M5 uses a Sony sensor, but no body has ever confirmed or denied it. However, the colours from the E-M5 are superb but not quite as 'warm' as the old Oly palette. The older Oly sensors were so good in Jpeg mode that very little more detail could be gained using RAW making it almost reduntant for those not bothered to do loads of PP. I agree with your comments on the Canon, but then all manufacturers to one degree or another over emphasise the colour palette to make the pictures more attractive to Mr average. Once again, great pictures, excellent review and a nice camera, but not for me.

Brian

The older Olympus colours when they used a Panasonic sensor were liked very much by Oly users and especially in Jpeg. The palette was punchy but always retained the lesser more subtle hues without going over the top and shots of landscapes were always lovely. Olympus deservidly earned their excellent colour signature reputation from mostly landscapes.

Ironically, the Panasonic G series cameras using the same or similar sensor as the Oly were a tad more neutral if not a slightly cooler palette than Olympus, colours looked 'flatter'. Its been heavily rumoured that the E-M5 uses a Sony sensor, but no body has ever confirmed or denied it.

However, the colours from the E-M5 are superb but not quite as 'warm' as the old Oly palette.
The older Oly sensors were so good in Jpeg mode that very little more detail could be gained using RAW making it almost reduntant for those not bothered to do loads of PP.
I agree with your comments on the Canon, but then all manufacturers to one degree or another over emphasise the colour palette to make the pictures more attractive to Mr average.

Once again, great pictures, excellent review and a nice camera, but not for me.