Olympus OM-D

[J.D.]

A mate just bought one of these:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was mightily impressed by this. Yeah, I know it's an EVF but actually, you get used to that really quickly. There are so many other benefits but what blew me away was the size. It's incredibly small. His entire kit: body + grip + 12-50 + 40-150 + bag and Gorilla pod probably weighs less than my 7D with a 10-22 on it.

I suppose I shouldn't be shocked. I still have my Olympus OM film kit.

[DexterPunk]

I don't particularly like these at all. Too expensive for what is it. Too big to be any massive advantage over an entry dSLR. At least that's the case with the kit we sell which is the weather sealed lens option. Yes, there's not a lot of noise, there's also less detail after the aggressive noise reduction. Olympus make great glass, their sensors are lacking. The aggressive noise reduction really has to be done, I see why they did it. A camera will get a pasting online these days if its noisy, and it's hard to get enough gain to a sensor that small to get the sensitivity up without creating noise.

I really don't like anything Olympus does though. Almost always the cameras that come back.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[DexterPunk]

Or perhaps I wasn't hitting critical focus when I shot in lower light...

"The E-M5 delivers excellent image quality for a camera of its size, but at $1,300 with a kit lens, you'd be right to expect perfection. There's no 51,200+ high-ISO magic at play here, but we weren't disappointed with image quality -- whenever the camera was able to focus, at least. One side effect of that low-contrast focus hunting is a slew of blurry photos, assuming you follow through with a capture after an un-sharp preview."


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[9ra55h0ppaH]

Ive only read good things about these, im going to upgrade from my 40D to one of these with a few nice primes later this year

I want more flexibility than an X100s, but I cant be bothered lugging around the DSLR & Lenses anymore... im sick of people thinking that I know what im doing with a big DSLR too, it looks a bit toy-like, so people can just write me off as any other punter!

You can get one with the 12-50 for under $1200, and with the 14-42 for under $1000 (im going to wait till September or so, when the replacement is announced, if its an incremental upgrade like the new PEN... ill take a runout OMD instead

14-42 with the UWA add-on glass, so i can go wide if necessary (no good all-purpose zooms around for M4/3, might as well go cheap!), with the panasonic 20mm f/1.7 and the olympus 45mm f/1.8, I should cover whatever lengths i need, and keep things nice and compact (fairly cheap too!)

[DexterPunk]

Have you looked at the Panasonic GH3? Or the NEX cameras? I'd much rather the APS-C sensors the NEX use.

I'm guessing you have a couple of canon lenses, what about an EOS M? You can get an adaptor ring to use your lenses on those. The only downside to those is the focus is a bit slow. Otherwise it's a 650D sensor and good processor.


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[9ra55h0ppaH]

GH3 is several hundred dollars more than the OM-D, rumoured to use the same sensor as the OM-D as well
In-body IS with the OM-D is a big feature for me too, otherwise id be stuck buying only Panasonic lenses - Ive come to find with my DSLR i need all the IS i can get

The NEX systems can be pretty exxy as well, lens support isn't that great either, at least not compared to m4/3.

EOS-M from what ive heard is a dog, the big lenses I currently have at the moment wont help the portability of the system either... The lenses are all pretty cheap too (17-85, 10-20, 50 & 55-250)

I will say however, that everything im going off at the moment is readings off the Internet... I tried to have a play around with an OM-D in a couple of shops and the shop assistants wouldn't give me the time of day, so I ended up walking out - I will still have a play with Panasonic's equivalent and a few NEX cameras before I make my decision - but at the moment the OM-D is leading the way

[DexterPunk]

I'm a little anti Olympus I guess.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[J.D.]

Panasonic GH3 has the same basic sensor as the OM-D.

In fact, I'm tipping that Panasonic will own Olympus outright in five years time.

[Quincy]

My father-in-law has one, loves it!

It is his 5th camera in about 10 years, mostly being Nikon DSLR's, all used primarily for real estate agency adverts.


It reminded me of my oldschool SLR, MInolta SRT 101, felt really well made, solid.

[DexterPunk]

Panasonic GH3 has the same basic sensor as the OM-D.

In fact, I'm tipping that Panasonic will own Olympus outright in five years time.

A lot of Nikons have Sony sensors as well, but Nikon does a much better job with their processors and noise reduction algorithms.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[J.D.]

A lot of Nikons have Sony sensors as well, but Nikon does a much better job with their processors and noise reduction algorithms.

Than Sony? Maybe.

Panasonic have been making CCD chips for at least a couple of decades and they made the sensor for the original Canon EOS 1D. Small as it was, it was always considered a good one.

I suspect the OM-D has different signal processing from the GH3.

[DexterPunk]

Yeah that was kinda my point. A good sensor still needs a good processor. Identical sensors can look very different depending on what's done with the data pulled off it.


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[J.D.]

Yeah, I think we're on the same page.

[J.D.]

Just got word from my mate who's carting his OM-D around California. He took a 12-50 and a 40-150. His verdict: "Loving the OM-D. Could not have bought better..."