DSLR to CSC - Sony a6000 or Olympus OMD EM-10?

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Chappers.

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Okay folks, apologies if this has been posted before (I've had a search and although I can find similar posts, they're not quite as specific as the advice/suggestions that I'm ideally after).

I've currently got a Nikon D90 (along with the 18-105mm kit lens & 70-300mm VR) which, mainly owing to the weight & bulk is spending nearly all of its time at home. I took it on holiday recently, but found that I was finding lots of excuses to not take it out with me - preferring to sacrifice IQ for the compactness & lightness of my Olympus TG-3. The less I use the D90, the less I'm inclined to use it and I've come to the decision that I think it is time to sell & downsize to a CSC or M4/3 system.

Looking at reviews, and having a quick play at my local camera store I've narrowed the two choices to either the Sony a6000 or the Olympus OMD EM-10. An obvious advantage of the Olympus is the price (currently seen on offer with 14-42mm & 40-150mm for about £130 less than the similar Sony with the 16-50mm & 50-210mm lenses). An additional prime lens will be purchased no matter which I end up getting. I know there are pro's & cons to both, and I am after (as much as possible) and all-rounder - relatively compact dimensions, weight, decent IQ etc. I'm far from being a great photographer, and rely more on the cameras abilities rather than my own if I'm honest.

So, which would you chose & why? Is the APS-C sensor and AF of the a6000 worth the extra over the EM-10? Is there much of a difference in real life between the images from the 4/3 and that of the Sony's larger sensor? Am I being an idiot in getting rid of my DSLR for a CSC? Have I discounted another obvious contender?

Advice greatly appreciated!
 
Everyone seems to forget Samsung, might be worth a look to see what's available.

Personally I ditched DSLR's for a Sony A7 and MFT and having used the these for some time now one feature the Sony has that I love is the constant preview (if that's what it's called...) I love being able to see the effect changing the aperture has on the depth of field. That's something that AFAIK the Oly MFT cameras can't do, certainly my Panasonic cameras only have DoF preview but it's a clunky thing in comparison. Another thing the Sony's have that I love is auto ISO in manual mode. I don't know if Oly have this, my Panasonic cameras don't.

I like these two features so much I'm actually tempted to ditch MFT and get a Sony A6000 as my smaller camera.
 
I wouldn't go for a smaller sensor than APS-C, though M4/3 has come on in leaps and bounds the drop in iQ & high ISO performance was very noticeable to me, I stuck with the Fuji's in the end as they have terrific iQ and high ISO performance that beats all the competition as well as lenses as sharp as and in some cases sharper than Leica.

There's a particularly good deal in the fuji refurbished store at present, an X-E1 body, 16-50 & 50-230 lenses, bag & 16gb memory card for £379 or you could go for the more DSLR like XT-1 which is just about to get a major firmware upgrade to its AF system that will be astounding.
 
magicaxeman said:
I wouldn't go for a smaller sensor than APS-C, though M4/3 has come on in leaps and bounds the drop in iQ & high ISO performance was very noticeable to me, I stuck with the Fuji's in the end as they have terrific iQ and high ISO performance that beats all the competition as well as lenses as sharp as and in some cases sharper than Leica.

There's a particularly good deal in the fuji refurbished store at present, an X-E1 body, 16-50 & 50-230 lenses, bag & 16gb memory card for £379 or you could go for the more DSLR like XT-1 which is just about to get a major firmware upgrade to its AF system that will be astounding.
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I think it's worth thinking about how often high ISO's are going to be needed and what image quality is acceptable. For example my MFT GX7 produces useable pictures at ISO 25,600. APS-C cameras may well be ultimately better at these mega high ISO settings but one has to decide if this betterness is significant... Another thing to possibly consider is that it's been stated on some review sites that the Fuji ISO's aren't accurate. For example DPR say...

"The X-T1's optimistic ISO ratings also help make it look much better than its peers here. But even taking this into account, high ISO image quality is very respectable, with barely any chroma noise even in the shadows."
 
The OMD E-M1 even has shadow and highlight clippinng warnings in the viewfinder before the shot is taken.

This was taken with a £100 Oly 40-150 plastic kit lens with extension tube and a Raynox DCR250

Bibionidae Dilophus febrilis male by Alf Branch, on Flickr

This was with an E-M5 and a 14-42 EZ pancake lens at 1/6 handheld

the-aproaching-sea by Alf Branch, on Flickr
 
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I've just made a similar decision and have gone for the E-M10 over the A6000 (and Fujifilm X-E2). The A6000 would have been convenient as I have several Sony flashes and suitable batteries as I also have an RX10 but it just didn't feel as 'right' as the E-M10. Of course, the lens choice for Olympus is much better as the Panasonic range also fits and the lenses are tiny in comparison to APS-C. I haven't had a chance to really test my choice yet but I should be happy, judging by the results in the OM-D threads here.
I have two irritations - Olympus filter sizes are all over the place and can be difficult small sizes plus Olympus and Panasonic zooms work in opposite directions.
 
Thanks for the replies so far, they're greatly appreciated.

I've discounted the Fuji range - overall cost and lack of scene settings. The wife was just starting to take a passing interest in photography until I got the DSLR and I'm hoping that having scene modes in a relatively light weight package will help her take a bit of an interest again, she can then leave it in Auto for most things (plus if I'm being brutally honest it helps me when I'm feeling lazy and just want to take a few snapshots etc).

A few of the things that have lead me to the Sony or Olympus decision are firstly:

Cost. Although I'll be selling my Nikon gear to part fund the transition, the cost is a major decision in this as (like most of us) there are conflicting demands on finances. Anything more is difficult for me to justify to the boss (aka Mrs Chappers). The OMD EM-10 is a winner here as it is currently on offer £130 cheaper than the Sony. (Also hoping that Sony will finally be announcing the a6100 in the next few days which will result in a drop in a6000 prices).

Size/weight is another factor. Although I could get smaller/lighter, both the short listed cameras offer (what I feel) to be an acceptable compromise. Both are similar size/weight.

Lens choice. Although the 4/3 has a greater choice of lenses, I've done a bit of research and for my likely wants/needs, both systems offer a reasonable choice of suitable lenses. Coming from Nikon, I've been surprised by the relative lack of options & prices, but in addition to the packaged standard pancake lenses (and kit zoom for both), I'm only likely to get a couple of prime lenses. Cost for both is fairly similar with possibly the 4/3 system being the slightly more costly.

I love the look of the Olympus, it feels very well built & I suspect that the touch screen would prove to be quite useful when used to it, however the Sony does feel more natural & comfortable in the hand. I also like the fact that the Sony has the APS-C sensor and awesome AF capabilities. Both have plus & minus points in both the handling & software which when I compare more or less cancel each other out which does not help with my decision making.

Snapsh0t, it's interesting to read that you found the Olympus more "right" than the Sony - is that just down to ergonomics or the general use as well? The larger grip of the Sony feels better to my hands, the Olympus is certainly not uncomfortable though.

I think it will probably come down to difference between the everyday use of them, and their ease and IQ. Is the 4/3 sensor/system much inferior than the APS-C, or is that just scare mongering from the usual bigger is better brigade? How do people honestly find the 4/3 system on a daily basis and have you completely made the change from DSLR to CSC? Has anyone used both camera's and which did you prefer & why?

Sorry, lots of questions.
 
Chappers. said:
Is the 4/3 sensor/system much inferior than the APS-C, or is that just scare mongering from the usual bigger is better brigade? How do people honestly find the 4/3 system on a daily basis and have you completely made the change from DSLR to CSC? Has anyone used both camera's and which did you prefer & why?

Sorry, lots of questions.
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I ditched DSLR's as I disliked the bulk and weight and the attention they garner.

I've done quite a few comparisons on screen and in prints up to A3 between my 20D, 5D, MFT cameras and A7 (although my 20D was a bit old hopefully the 5D and A7 count as a more worthy adversaries) and my conclusions are...

Bigger sensors are better at the highest ISO's but even MFT is useable at high ISO's so you have to decide what quality you want and how high you want to go.

Bigger sensors are better if you want to print really big or crop like a mad thing and look for every little degradation in image quality.

Bigger sensors can have greater dynamic range.
This is for me possibly the biggest real world difference and possibly more significant than differences at very high ISO settings but with smaller systems you can shoot for best effect by exposing to the right if possible or protecting the highlights and boosting the shadows post capture. I've found that MFT files can take quite a boost before deteriorating. Another factor which helps to get the best DR possible (over DSLR's) is the in view histogram which is very useful and ups the fist time keeper rate.

Personally I wouldn't worry about differences between MFT and APS-C unless you are going to push the envelope of what's possible and shoot at very high ISO's or print very large. I'd just buy on features, handling and available lenses and accessories.

I often forget what camera and lens I used and sometimes it's only the aspect ratio or the file name that give me a clue. I've cropped the following FF image to 4/3 and if I ignore the file names and flip between the two it's pretty easy to forget which is which :D A7+55mm f1.8 (expensive set up) v GX7 and cheap 14mm f2.5 (cheap set up.) :D



 
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i ditched my d7000 and went to m43 in December - i hadn't even picked one up when i jumped.

IQ - i'd say the E-m10 has equivalent IQ to the d7000. My personal experience is that its better than the dslr at higher iso and produces more detailed images. Not everyone agrees but its my thought.

I used the e-m1 almost daily - its great. That said, there are a few niggles - the menu system isn't straightforward or intuitive ( I still can't remember which sub section some things are in ), C-AF and tracking is much better on DSLRs still and I'm not a lover of the EVF for panning.

Would I change back ? Nope.
 
Chappers. said:
Snapsh0t, it's interesting to read that you found the Olympus more "right" than the Sony - is that just down to ergonomics or the general use as well? The larger grip of the Sony feels better to my hands, the Olympus is certainly not uncomfortable though.

I think it will probably come down to difference between the everyday use of them, and their ease and IQ. Is the 4/3 sensor/system much inferior than the APS-C, or is that just scare mongering from the usual bigger is better brigade? How do people honestly find the 4/3 system on a daily basis and have you completely made the change from DSLR to CSC? Has anyone used both camera's and which did you prefer & why?

Sorry, lots of questions.
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I have fairly small paws so the smaller grip of the E-M10 isn't a problem. Adding the ECG-1 grip bulks it up for a reasonable cost if required. One of things that I've found very useful on the RX10 is the on-screen level and this is missing from the A6000 but not the E-M10. The time saved straightening wonky shots has really made it a deal-breaker. The E-M10 in silver is also just so much prettier than the A6000. ;)

Using the RX10 with its 1" sensor for over a year and almost never touching my D7100 has shown me that, for my use, all the smaller sensor is missing is some dynamic range. I expect M43 to be slightly better so I'll probably be very happy with it. I've really only bought the E-M10 for areas the RX10 can't do such as wider than "24mm" (hey, the 9-18mm is on special offer at the moment :) ) and decent macros (have picked up a used 60mm) but who knows what will happen in the future with the 14-150 II on offer too.
 
FYI the OMD E-M10 has £75 cashback from Olympus. I price matched with John Lewis for £495 when I ordered mine yesterday too.
 
Thanks for that shadow_boxer, I was just about to update on here when I received notification that a post had been put on the thread (I've just updated your thread elsewhere as well).

The difference in price between the two may well have made my mind up now. I do prefer the way that the a6000 feels in the hand - this is entirely down to the larger grip on it, however, the difference between the two (including both the summer Olympus cash-back offer, and the Jessops deal price) is now £206. At almost a 1/3 cheaper I think that I can nearly live with the slightly inferior (to me) ergonomics. The difference will allow the earlier purchase of a prime lens.

Now, to see if LCE will price match! (And to hide any purchase from the wife as I've not advertised my Nikon gear yet ;) )
 
Chappers. said:
Thanks for that shadow_boxer, I was just about to update on here when I received notification that a post had been put on the thread (I've just updated your thread elsewhere as well).

The difference in price between the two may well have made my mind up now. I do prefer the way that the a6000 feels in the hand - this is entirely down to the larger grip on it, however, the difference between the two (including both the summer Olympus cash-back offer, and the Jessops deal price) is now £206. At almost a 1/3 cheaper I think that I can nearly live with the slightly inferior (to me) ergonomics. The difference will allow the earlier purchase of a prime lens.

Now, to see if LCE will price match! (And to hide any purchase from the wife as I've not advertised my Nikon gear yet ;) )
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Be very careful with that, as you may end up with a camera which is too small to use and it will end up not being used. I looked at the EM5 before and for me the buttons were too small for me to comfortably use, so discounted the camera.
 
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Chappers. said:
Thanks for that shadow_boxer, I was just about to update on here when I received notification that a post had been put on the thread (I've just updated your thread elsewhere as well).

The difference in price between the two may well have made my mind up now. I do prefer the way that the a6000 feels in the hand - this is entirely down to the larger grip on it, however, the difference between the two (including both the summer Olympus cash-back offer, and the Jessops deal price) is now £206. At almost a 1/3 cheaper I think that I can nearly live with the slightly inferior (to me) ergonomics. The difference will allow the earlier purchase of a prime lens.

Now, to see if LCE will price match! (And to hide any purchase from the wife as I've not advertised my Nikon gear yet ;) )
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Be aware that the Jessops kit has the older 14-42mm II rather than the current EZ power zoom version so other shops may not be willing to price match. From what I've read the older lens is better than the current one and I didn't like the power zoom when I tried it so I went for the Jessops kit.
 
Very true about the power zoom. Personally I don't mind it as it very compact so would make a decent everyday/ holiday lenses.
 
Just a quick update - I collected my new.......Olympus OMD E-M10 today. It's early days, and looks like it might be a steep re-learning curve, however early impressions are good (the main issue so far is the Olympus lenses zoom the wrong way).

Managed to get a reasonable deal from LCE on the silver body, 14-42mm EZ pancake kit lens & the 40-150mm lens, so I'm quite happy (especially with the cash back offer as well).

Thanks to all that took the time to contribute and answer my questions.

Now, anyone want to buy some used Nikon equipment? :exit:
 
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