Olympus OM-D E-M5 mk1 with M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8

Olympus OM-D E-M5 mk1 with M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8

I normally shoot using a couple of Canon 5DII bodies with the "Holy Trinity" of Canon f2.8 L zooms, namely the 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. For a time I used a Leica M8 with Leica elmarit 28mm f2.8 as a second system, mainly for personal projects and backup.
The results from the Leica were far better than they should have been given its lowly 10mp sensor, stunningly sharp and they converted to B&W very easily. but, and it was a big but, it was unreliable. Even with the latest firmware, it would take ages to write to the SD card, then suddenly turn off, even with a fully charged battery. Then the shutter failed after only 5000 clicks. Back to Leica it went and was repaired FOC. when it cam back things were Ok for a while then it started to shut down again and the shutter refuse to fire randomly.
I changed it for a Fuji X-Pro1 with some Fuji primes. However, even after firmware updates the Fuji was so slow to use. The quality I loved, the lenses are up there with the best from Canon and Leica. butits operation got in between me and my subjects, so the whole kit was sold.
For a while I used my 5DII kit and a Canon G10 Powershot as a second camera. Then I dropped the G10 and it died.

Back to the ever reliable Canon kit I thought. Back in 2010 I'd bought an Olympus PEN E-PL1 with a couple of lenses, the 14-42mm kit and a 40-150 zoom, neither of them very fast and both a bit plasticy. I'd pretty much forgotten about it, my daughter had borrowed it when she went teaching in China for a year and it had sat on the self since her return. I charged the batteries and took it out for test. I was impressed! jpg files using the vivid setting were lovely! "I'll use this as a second camera" I thought. Then I missed the viewfinder and the 12mp sensor was a bit noisy above ISO 1600. the browsing the internet I read about the OM-D-E-M5, reviews were very good and the mk1 versions could be had in mint condition with very little use in the original box for less then £300 used. I bought one, with he battery grip.

when it arrived I used the lenses from the PEN. the 16mp sensor was much improved over the PEN sensor and the camera was fast to focus, accurate and the operation snappy and intuitive. I was so impressed I shot a couple of jobs on it, they were fine and client was pleased. I was hooked, so decided that the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO lens would be a suitable choice. I couldn't find one used at a decent price so bought a grey import at a huge saving over new.

This combination is quite frankly amazing! I shot a session for my personal project and the results cannot be distinguished from those of the FF Canons.