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

Olympus OM-D E-M5 2-Month User Review - ePHOTOzine member, Brian Wadie gives us his impressions of using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 as a replacement for his Canon gear.

Posted : 14 Aug 2012 9:04AM by Brian Wadie

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Olympus OM-D E-M5 in Mirrorless Cameras

Olympus OM-D EM-5 User Review, brian1208 records his early impressions

I have watched the development of the micro four thirds cameras with interest since buying and then quite rapidly selling the Panasonic Lumix G1. I was looking for a replacement for my back-up Canon DSLR which would be lighter to use as a travel camera but the compromises involved were such that I decided to stick with my Canon system.

Since then I have found that the weight of the DSLRs (Canon EOS 5D Mk2 + 60D) and associated lenses were getting too heavy for me, such that I was reduced to having to choose which lens to take with me (and it was invariably the wrong one).

When the Olympus OM-D E-M5 was announced I read all the reviews available and felt that, just maybe, here was the system that could finally replace at least my 60D + some of my travel lenses.

My local friendly Jessops let me play with the camera over several visits including running some images onto my SD card. Reviewing those on my PC convinced me that it was worth giving it a try so I sold my 60D + a couple of less used lenses and purchased the OM-D EM-5 + kit lens.

My photography covers a wide range of subjects including water sport (kite boarding and sail boarding), bugs & bees macro, studio, landscape, flowers and wildlife (particularly birds in flight and small mammals). As you can see, I'm not a specialist!

Early tests indicated that I had made the right choice so I invested some more money and got myself a travel kit which now comprises:

Olympus OM-D E-M5
Olympus 12-50mm kit lens
Olympus 75-300mm (used)
Olympus 9-18mm
Olympus 45mm f1.8
Olympus FL36 flash gun (used)

The weight of my old setup compared to this new setup is noticeable:

Canon EOS 5D Mk2 + 17-55mm L IS + 24-105mm L IS + 100mm L IS macro + 70-300mm L IS = 3.8kg
Olympus OM-D EM-5 + 9-18mm + 12-50mm + 45mm f1.8 + 75-300mm = 1.24 kg

Which means that I can carry my entire Olympus rig in my Lowepro Nova 180 AW shoulder bag, without injuring my shoulders or neck after a days shooting. So far I am delighted with the results I am getting under a variety of shooting situations:

Macro: with the kit lens

Crab spider with hoverfly

4 sport chaser profile

Water sports: with the Olympus 75-300mm

Board jump colour

Board gybing

Landscape: with the Olympus 9-18mm

Quay sunset

Studio: with the kit lens

Colin with kit

Eye detail

Flowers: With the kit lens, 45mm f1.8 and 75-300mm

Gazzania

Bee hunting

Wildlife & Nature: Using the Olympus 75-300mm

Cormarant

Fox stare

Birds in flight is one area were I have had real problems using the techniques I developed using my Canon DSLRs as the AF performance of the E-M5 + 75-300mm does not seem capable of getting focus lock on birds against the sky and, to a lesser extent, against other backgrounds. I have started to use manual focus for this purpose and am finding that as I develop the technique I am getting more successful with this genre. I have also found that using the 45mm f1.8 allows very rapid and accurate focus lock using S AF mode which suggests that it may be the lens that is a major contributor to this "problem".

(Since writing this I spent a while at our local airport flying club and found that the E-M5 + 75-300mm is very capable when it comes to shooting aircraft in the sky, dark planes against dark skies, distant shots and so on. I get the impression that the key is to have the subject occupying at least 30% of the frame, use the centre-point focus and shoot in SAF mode.)

Another technique I have been playing with relates to shooting macro using the "fn2" and "fn1" buttons, first to reduce the centre focus point to a minimum (I like the fact that using the "Info" button let's you select whether to use 7x, 10x or 14x magnification, I tend to use 10x). Having set this and got approximate focus on the subject tapping (very lightly) the fn2 button gives a magnified view in the view-finder which lets you manually fine focus accurately and rapidly on the subject. A quick press of the shutter button then nails the shot (but don't touch this button until you want the shot as it switches out of the magnified view).

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Conclusion:

This has been a most interesting and fun period of my photographic life, first deciding whether to buy into the m4/3rds system via the OM-D E-M5, then whether I should dispose of my Canon system. I'm happy that I made the right decison and, as others have reported, find that it has brought a sense of fun back into my hobby. It's not all good news though, I'm still finding the Menu system confusing, the buttons can be a real pain at times (as with the need to "tap" the “fn2" button to magnify the view) but it's getting better with use.

Read our full Olympus OM-D E-M5 review for full sample photos and ratings.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Pros:

Lightweight

Well made (some of the lenses are built like a watch)

Comparatively small, even with the battery pack

EVF is excellent, clear and large enough to compose and manual focus with

Very fast, accurate AF in SAF mode using center focus point

The kit lens is excellent value, particularly for close-up & macro work

A good range of lenses is available

The ability to use 3rd party / legacy lenses via adapters is a bonus

Prints from processed RAW images are close to the quality of those I got from my Canon system (tested up to 18"x12" so far)

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Cons:

Menu system is not easy to use

Buttons are not nice to use, a bit "squidgy" and imprecise feeling

Continuous AF and Focus Tracking are not well enacted, I've stopped using this for my work

It's not best suited to shooting Birds in Flight, particularly against light, bright skies

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Specifications

Manufacturer	Olympus
Image Sensor
	Pixels	16.1Mp (Megapixels)
	Pixels (W)	4608
	Pixels (H)	3456
	Sensor Type	Live MOS Sensor
	Sensor Size	Micro / Four Thirds
	Sensor Size (width)	17.3mm
	Sensor Size (height)	13mm
	Aspect Ratio	4:3 3:2 16:9 1:1
LCD Monitor
	LCD Monitor	3in
	Screen resolution	610k dots
	Touch Screen	Yes
Focusing
	Focusing modes	Autofocus Manual Face Detection AF Tracking Touch AF Spot Multi
Exposure Control
	Shutter speeds shortest	1/4000sec
	Shutter speeds longest	60sec
	Bulb mode	Yes
	Exp modes	Program Aperture-Priority Shutter-Priority Manual Scene modes
	Metering	Centre-weighted - Average Multi Pattern Spot
	ISO sensitivity	200 - 25600
	White balance	Auto Manual Incandescent Fluorescent Outdoors/Daylight Cloudy Shade Flash Underwater
	Exposure Comp	+/-3
Viewfinder
	Viewfinder Resolution	1.44million dots
Shooting Options
	Continuous shooting	9fps
Video
	Movie mode	Yes
	Video Resolution	1920x1080 FullHD 1280x720 HD 720p 640x480 VGA
	Video FPS	30
	Stereo Sound	Yes
	Optical Zoom with Video	Yes
Other Features
	Image Stabilisation	Yes
Interface
	HDMI	Yes
	USB	USB 2
	Wi-Fi	No Data
Storage
	Card Type	SD SDHC SDXC
	File Type	RAW JPG RAW + JPG
Power Source
	Battery Type	Lithium Ion
	Battery Life (CIPA rating)	330shots
Box Contents
	Box Contents	Body, Flash FL-LM2, Li-ion battery BLN-1, Li-ion battery charger BCN-1, USB/Video Multi cable, Shoulder strap, OLYMPUS Viewer 2/ib CD-ROM, Instruction manual, Warranty card
Dimensions
	Weight	373g
	Width	121mm
	Height	89.6mm
	Depth	41.9mm