Olympus OM-D E-M5, E-M1, E-M10 - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Owners Thread

ajophotog said:
Not bad for a toy camera handheld at 800mm at iso2000, and the second shot at 570mm iso2000 handheld. ;) Click image to see sharper viewing on flickr.

Wren by Ajophotog, on Flickr
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.... That Wren photo is particularly lovely and captures great light and atmosphere.
 
Obsima said:
Great woodpecker shot! I'm an admirer of all the bird photographs on this thread.

Yeah that's a lot of kit, in weight and cost. I see photographers here carrying similar kit, walking around the estuary, makes me glad I'm not a wildlife photographer.

Jury's out on noise for me. I don't tend to push the ISO anyway, hence I thought M43 would suit me but I've been surprised sometimes to find more noise than I was expecting and other times find none. I think I simply need to expose further to the right than I'm used to coming from a DSLR. In other words user error and finer margins.
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.... I find the same regarding noise on m4/3 - I do better with the OM-1 than M1X and think that when it's noisier it's because of the way I post process the RAW because I very very rarely see clipping on the OM-1's histogram.

Sometimes, especially with wildlife, you have limited choices and just have to quickly shoot.

Thanks for the woodpecker shot compliment :)
 
jerry12953 said:
Incredible detail in that woodpecker shot, Robin.......
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.... Thank you Jerry! The detail surprised me considering the ISO 1600 and 700mm (1400mm equivalent) handheld at 1/160s in poor light.

In talking about the big white expensive toy, Petr Bambousek says this lens has particularly good micro contrast capabilities. The Japanese design engineers have really put a lot into making this lens the very best they could in all respects. It's no secret that I absolutely love shooting with it and regardless of how successful or not my efforts are. It brings out the best I can and encourages me to try to achieve more. The Canon EF 500mm F/4L II did that for me too but it's nothing like as flexible and practical as the Olympus supertelephoto zoom.
 
RedRobin said:
.... I'm sorry but I find comments and opinions that Olympus/OMSystem are not "proper" camera brands to be misleading and somewhat irritating and I cannot leave such opinions unchallenged.
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Challenge away. Like I said it’s just my opinion and it’s perfectly fine for me to feel that way. I don’t think it should irritate you though as my opinion doesn’t affect anyone else.
 
Got to try my OM-1 for the first time this evening (in the rain). Tried it with my Oly 60mm macro and Panasonic 100-400mm. For background I am a 50 / 50 photography / video shooter.

TLDR : Very pleased so far.

Video wise
I had been a bit worried about the IS especially for handheld video as I had seen there isn't sync IS like I would have with the gh5 / 100-400 combo. But i needn't have worried. It works fine and is totally usable for handheld video in my opinion.
This is a quick video test i took and I had accidentally left the digital 1.4 crop on it.

Blackbird handheld video

My only few gripes with the video at the moment is the minimum iso is 400 (unless i have missed a setting). That makes it near unusable as a 50/50 do all in one camera as every video, if there is any sun, would need to be at f16 + or I would need to stop and screw on an ND and hope whatever wildlife is still there. That is pretty disappointing tbh. Ive never seen a camera not have a min iso other than 100 so this was a bit of a shock.
Also not being able to set the video to one of the customs is a bit daft imo. Im getting around that by having it on the video option on the dial at the moment but i am not sure what my options are regarding the min iso.

Photo wise
Birds in flight even in dreadful conditions was excellent. Picking up birds absolutely miles off. I was finding it switching to trees a bit too quick for my liking but that might need a tweak of a setting.
I did panic a bit when i first imported the raw files and saw how much noise was on them but after putting them through my normal process they have cleaned up really really well I think. Very impressed by how well high iso cleans up and is usable.

Pigeon was at ISO2500 (with pany 100-400mm)
pigeon080622.jpg

Blackbird was at ISO8000 (with Pany 100-400mm)
blackbirdiso8000.jpg

Camera wise
I am a big fan of good ergonomics in cameras and so far the OM-1 is the best I've used. I am managing to assign buttons to everything I need which is all I can ask for.

Still to try is actual macro shots, proper birds in flight rather than gulls flying over my house and the big test of dragonflies in flight.

Conclusion
Very impressed with it and exceeded my expectations using it with the panasonic lens. If it can pick up dragonflies in flight then my rx10iv can be sold (that camera is ridiculously good for dragonflies in flight for some reason) and tbh I think I can keep the panasonic 100-400mm for now. I know I would get more features with the oly 100-400 but so far images and video seem good to me.
 
In other news, today my bank's labyrinthine security processes and the Isles of Scilly's ropey internet together conspired to prevent me wasting my money on an overpriced lens from UKDigital. Grr!
 
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The Duke of Bork said:
Ah, so now gulls aren't "proper" birds...

At least you didn't say "seagulls".
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:ROFLMAO:. I’ve been a birder for nearly 40 years so no I won’t be saying seagull.
To clarify, since I seem to have upset a load of people in here. I meant a proper go at birds in flight to try and get a decent photo rather than pointing directly up to test the tracking.
 
wornish said:
Err? So how would you describe the recent posts on this thread,
To me, it seems the recent posts claim M43 is bad and Canon is the best. If that's not format wars then what is it?
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I think that’s where I’ve been misunderstood or taken completely wrong. I originally said the 150-400 is overpriced in my opinion. That’s not saying it’s bad. It obviously isn’t bad. It looks very good but not 6.5k good in my opinion. Then I said i don’t feel m43 is a “proper” system like the big boys (not specifically canon either, you could argue Sony have the edge). Again that’s not saying it’s a bad system as I use it and have done for years. The system does exactly what I need it to do. Could it be better? yes definitely but in no way is m43 bad. Hope that clarifies it.
 
peat said:
I think that’s where I’ve been misunderstood or taken completely wrong. I originally said the 150-400 is overpriced in my opinion. That’s not saying it’s bad. It obviously isn’t bad. It looks very good but not 6.5k good in my opinion. Then I said i don’t feel m43 is a “proper” system like the big boys (not specifically canon either, you could argue Sony have the edge). Again that’s not saying it’s a bad system as I use it and have done for years. The system does exactly what I need it to do. Could it be better? yes definitely but in no way is m43 bad. Hope that clarifies it.
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.... Thanks for clarifying what you mean.

Your many years of taking photographs will surely have taught you that no camera or lens or system is perfect and this applies to all size formats from m4/3 right up to 10x12 inch plate cameras. The plate cameras are the "proper big boys" :D but also digital cameras like from Phase One will blow you away in terms of delivering image quality - Are they too expensive for what they are? - Personally they are waaay beyond my budget but if I had the funds and the system suited my needs then yes I would buy.

It's surprising how quickly you forget the price of something when you start enjoying it. Life is for living and isn't a rehearsal nor a performance exercise in financial accounting.

Now you have an OM-1 I really wish you might get the opportunity to use a 150-400mm TC PRO for a few days - I think it will change your mind about it being "overpriced", I really do (and hope!).
 
Bit image heavy, but for the first time I took the new OM-1 and the 40-150 F2.8 Pro with me when walking the dogs earlier this week. There's a big field where we let them off to run, and the youngest (Daisy - with the pink harness and white markings), is like an absolute bullet and is so fast she nearly caught a low flying swallow. The older one, Charlie is a bit slower (as he's seven), but still pretty quick. Thought this would be an ideal test for the OM-1's AF. Sun was in and out so the exposure changes a little during bursts.

I shot in both silent 20fps and 50fps, shutter speed 1/2000 or higher, wide open at F2.8, auto ISO, AF-C with Tracking and animal AI selected with a medium size AF box. In total I took nearly 2000 images, and have gone though about 80% of them so far and honestly I've a handful that are slowly OOF, with the rest nice and sharp. I think I'll call that a success.

The OM-1 really is a major step up in AF performance over my older EM1 MK III (now gone) or EM1-X. As an aside, with the battery grip on and two fully charged batteries in the camera, for 1,967 images, the battery in body was still at 100% and the one in the grip at 91% - flipping amazing.















 
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Sootchucker said:
Bit image heavy, but for the first time I took the new OM-1 and the 40-150 F2.8 Pro with me when walking the dogs earlier this week. There's a big field where we let them off to run, and the youngest (Daisy - with the pink harness and white markings), is like an absolute bullet and is so fast she nearly caught a low flying swallow. The older one, Charlie is a bit slower (as he's seven), but still pretty quick. Thought this would be an ideal test for the OM-1's AF. Sun was in and out so the exposure changes a little during bursts.

I shot in both silent 20fps and 50fps, shutter speed 1/2000 or higher, wide open at F2.8, auto ISO, AF-C with Tracking and animal AI selected with a medium size AF box. In total I took nearly 2000 images, and have gone though about 80% of them so far and honestly I've a handful that are slowly OOF, with the rest nice and sharp. I think I'll call that a success.

The OM-1 really is a major step up in AF performance over my older EM1 MK III (now gone) or EM1-X. As an aside, with the battery grip on and two fully charged batteries in the camera, for 1,967 images, the battery in body was still at 100% and the one in the grip at 91% - flipping amazing.















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.... These are fabulous! You nailed it!

The second one down is my favourite - Flying!!

The 40-150mm F/2.8 PRO is a beauty of a lens worth every penny of its PRO spec price in my opinion.
 
Thanks Robin - yeah I agree, love the 2nd one (and 3rd) and she looks so joyful (as well as being mid air).
 
Sootchucker said:
Bit image heavy, but for the first time I took the new OM-1 and the 40-150 F2.8 Pro with me when walking the dogs earlier this week. There's a big field where we let them off to run, and the youngest (Daisy - with the pink harness and white markings), is like an absolute bullet and is so fast she nearly caught a low flying swallow. The older one, Charlie is a bit slower (as he's seven), but still pretty quick. Thought this would be an ideal test for the OM-1's AF. Sun was in and out so the exposure changes a little during bursts.

I shot in both silent 20fps and 50fps, shutter speed 1/2000 or higher, wide open at F2.8, auto ISO, AF-C with Tracking and animal AI selected with a medium size AF box. In total I took nearly 2000 images, and have gone though about 80% of them so far and honestly I've a handful that are slowly OOF, with the rest nice and sharp. I think I'll call that a success.

The OM-1 really is a major step up in AF performance over my older EM1 MK III (now gone) or EM1-X. As an aside, with the battery grip on and two fully charged batteries in the camera, for 1,967 images, the battery in body was still at 100% and the one in the grip at 91% - flipping amazing.















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Amazing series, I only took half a dozen shots of my girl and all were in focus. An amazing camera I think. ;)
 
Sootchucker said:
Bit image heavy, but for the first time I took the new OM-1 and the 40-150 F2.8 Pro with me when walking the dogs earlier this week. There's a big field where we let them off to run, and the youngest (Daisy - with the pink harness and white markings), is like an absolute bullet and is so fast she nearly caught a low flying swallow. The older one, Charlie is a bit slower (as he's seven), but still pretty quick. Thought this would be an ideal test for the OM-1's AF. Sun was in and out so the exposure changes a little during bursts.

I shot in both silent 20fps and 50fps, shutter speed 1/2000 or higher, wide open at F2.8, auto ISO, AF-C with Tracking and animal AI selected with a medium size AF box. In total I took nearly 2000 images, and have gone though about 80% of them so far and honestly I've a handful that are slowly OOF, with the rest nice and sharp. I think I'll call that a success.

The OM-1 really is a major step up in AF performance over my older EM1 MK III (now gone) or EM1-X. As an aside, with the battery grip on and two fully charged batteries in the camera, for 1,967 images, the battery in body was still at 100% and the one in the grip at 91% - flipping amazing.
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Those are brilliant! and I agree that lens is great value.
 
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That dragonfly looks quiet soft ,slightly o.o.f to me ?
 
the black fox said:
That dragonfly looks quiet soft ,slightly o.o.f to me ?
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I thought it was sharp tbh. I try to keep sharpening down in post process though so my images probably wont look as sharp as others.

For info. In lightroom in develop I do amount 40, radius 0.5, detail 25, mask 90. Then in topaz denoise AI (standard mode) I generally do enhance sharpness around 20-30 thats all I do, sharpness wise. Not sure how that compares to others? If others are doing less or the same then I need a new monitor!! :)
 
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peat said:
I thought it was sharp tbh. I try to keep sharpening down in post process though so my images probably wont look as sharp as others.

For info. In lightroom in develop I do amount 40, radius 0.5, detail 25, mask 90. Then in topaz denoise AI (standard mode) I generally do enhance sharpness around 20-30 thats all I do, sharpness wise. Not sure how that compares to others? If others are doing less or the same then I need a new monitor!! :)
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.... Damselflies in particular are notoriously tricky to get in focus all along their body and of course the closer you are, the shallower the DoF (Depth of Focus Field).

I don't use Lightroom and so I can't comment. I'm not keen on Topaz and don't use that either.

If you shoot on an Olympus / OM gear which supports Focus Stacking it can be an enormous help but only providing that both target and camera can remain still.

If you are interested in damselflies and dragonflies and are on Facebook, I Admin this group :

Facebook

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
Jackdaw in my wildlife garden. Shot on my everyday rig of OM-1 + 150-400mm TC PRO :

I'VE GOT MY BEADY EYE ON YOU! by Robin Procter, on Flickr

[I'm wondering why sometimes my Flickr hosted images display as a red 'X' on TP]
 
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Am I the only one that uses M43 for landscapes ?! Quick holiday snap of Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley with the 8-25.

52141028351_e3de02550a_h.jpg
 
justa1972 said:
Am I the only one that uses M43 for landscapes ?! Quick holiday snap of Symonds Yat in the Wye Valley with the 8-25.

52141028351_e3de02550a_h.jpg
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Nice.

No, I use it for landscapes and general photography too. I must be one of the few who doesn't use it for bird, macro or wildlife photography though, although a macro lens is on my tick list.
 
Obsima said:
It is a lovely bit of kit, it's the one I went for as to me it embodies the size and weight that M43 is all about. Have you gone for the silver or black?
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It is the black one, once it arrives then I get a free lens but have to fill out that once I have the camera.
 
Fuji Dave said:
It is the black one, once it arrives then I get a free lens but have to fill out that once I have the camera.
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Excellent. I went for the silver as it invoked the nostalgia of the OM10 and OM2 I used to own. In fact I intend to get myself another OM2 so I can show my E M5 it's great grandfather :)
 
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