Why Olympus?
Ever since I announced the sale of all of my Canon DSLR equipment and decided to move to an all-Olympus setup, I've received a lot of questions and even some objections from other photographers too. Today I'm going to answer / tackle some of these Q&A style.
Before we begin...
Firstly: I'm not endorsed or sponsored by Olympus. I just really love their cameras and lenses and believe in what they're doing. Our choice of cameras have to be suitable for our needs and I personally think that the Olympus System suits my needs and shooting style closest. Moreover, I enjoy using the Olympus system more than the Canon DSLR system I used to own. That's not to say you will too.
It used to be Canon vs Nikon, with photographers on each side vehemently defending their chosen brand. Well, in a similar way I stand by Olympus and what it does for me.
Secondly, this post is not a justification of my move to Olympus nor is it a sales pitch to you. Photographers are generally an intelligent group and we're all free to make our own decisions. Furthermore my move to Olympus was made after months of consideration and planning, both practically (will it be able to perform as a professional camera?) and financially (what will this cost me?). I wouldn't want anyone to just up and sell their existing DSLR equipment just because I have done so. Please do make up your own mind by reviewing, loaning, borrowing and trying these cameras out.
I am not writing this post to vindicate my decision. It is simply a statement of my opinions so that in future when I am asked these questions I can simply link to this post to save me having the same discussion over, and over and over...This is a resource and as more questions are asked of me I'll probably answer them here in this post. I hope this can act as a trail of breadcrumbs to those considering a change in their camera system too.
A quick list of facts about Olympus and Micro Four Thirds, in case you didn't know:
Olympus have a range of Mirrorless, Micro Four Thirds sensor cameras called OM-D. This is today's digital version of the original Olympus OM 35mm Film SLR cameras from back in the day. Olympus OM-D's feature EVF's (Electronic Viewfinders) in place of the pentaprism viewfinder you'll see in a DSLR. These cameras do not feature a mirror, hence the term 'Mirrorless' cameras.
Olympus have built their image stabilisation system directly into the body of their cameras, rather than having motors and mechanics inside their lenses. As such all lenses attached to the Olympus OM-D range of cameras are stabilised. They are also dramatically smaller and lighter as a result.
- 'Micro Four Thirds' is actually a standard, formed by camera companies Panasonic and Olympus. Lenses from both of these manufacturers will fit on both bodies (i.e you can use Panasonic-Leica lenses on the Olympus OM-D's and Olympus lenses on Panasonic bodies). Third party companies also make lenses for MFT (Micro Four Thirds) cameras, such as Voigtlander, Samyang, Sigma and more.
- MFT Sensors are smaller than DSLR Crop Sensored Cameras and offer a x2 crop factor, meaning lenses have a 35mm film equivalent field of view of twice the focal range of the lens (for example the Olympus 25mm Lens offers a 50mm field of view. The Olympus 40-150mm offers an 80-300mm field of view). This video from Zack Arias explains it neatly
- The MFT sensors are 16megapixels. As of February 2015, the Olympus OM-D E-M5ii can however shoot a 40 megapixel, high resolution shot by combining 8 frames in-camera.
Youtube is an endless-resource when it comes to Micro Four Thirds cameras, so for now that just about describes neatly what MFT is about. So, let's get into these Q&A's:
Questions and Answers
Question: What was wrong with your Canon Equipment, why did you move at all?
Answer: Nothing was wrong with my Canon equipment as such. I simply enjoyed the Olympus system more. The EVF allows you to see what you're shooting, as you shoot it (imagine an Live-View LCD inside a viewfinder - that's what the EVF is). It took a lot of getting used to, but once I'd used it quite a bit I got to the point where the viewfinder inside my Canon DSLR actually felt odd and rather unintuitive. I've seen photographers before that have said to turn your DSLR previews to black and white to aid in creativeness (allowing you to focus more on subject and light, instead of colour). Well, with an EVF you can change it to black and white so everything you see through the viewfinder is black and white. For someone like me who has something of a love affair with monochrome, this is amazing for. I've recently written an article here on my blog, which will somewhat form the basis of an article that will be featured in the March edition of the Olympus Magazine and in it I refer to how much more fun the Olympus system us to use. To quote myself, I said:
"The part of photography I used to find most exciting and get the most gratification from was the part where I imported all of my photographs onto the big screen of the computer to see what they turned out like (sure they look okay on the back of the camera but you always need to check them on a proper screen). The use of an EVF in a mirrorless though takes that exciting moment of seeing your photographs in Lightroom for the first time and puts it in the electronic viewfinder. Everything you're seeing is exciting as you're shooting it! You can see it all in real-time, in black and white (if you so wish). You don't have to visualise light and shadows, you can see them and you can expose for them through the EVF."
So, I decided to move because I felt that the Olympus camera was more fun and helped me to better-realise my creative vision (I liked my photographs more!)
Some of my Canon Equipment for sale back in February 2015
Question: Why didn't you keep the Canon Equipment and just use both systems?
Answer: I did for a year - I used both systems side by side. Initially the Canon remained my go-to for 90% of my professional work, but the Olympus crept in and Canon's 90% became 50%, then 25% until I didn't use it at all. The last few shoots I did before I put all my Canon equipment up for sale, included a wedding, a christening and an engagement shoot - they were all shot exclusively on the Olympus E-M5. I actually enjoyed the resulting images more, not just because I felt they were sharper, but because the exposure was cleaner, the use of light and shadows was (in my opinion) far, far better than I'd ever achieved with my Canon on a consistent basis. Thanks to the EVF and the way the Olympus RAW files render black and white files, I was simply more satisfied with my work. Both technically and creatively.
So, as my Canon equipment was literally gathering dust, I gave a lot of consideration to selling it. It's value was only going to decrease, particularly as Canon's new range of cameras for 2015 was about to be released, rendering my DSLR's 'old'. I wanted to get as much as I could for them before they depreciated any further. After all it's hard to justify having thousands of pounds of equipment sitting in a bag 'just in case'.
One of the sticking points though was that Olympus didn't have a constant-aperture zoom lens to compare to or replace my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM ii, which was a lens I used for around 80% of a wedding day. Without something of that description on the Olympus side, I could never sell up and move over. Then Olympus released the 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens: weather sealed, constant aperture and an effective field of view of 80-300mm. It was perfect! I tested it out a couple of times at Olympus events and I was sold. It was every bit as good as a lens at my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8
If you're interested I've written a full preview of the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO right here
Question: Why Olympus? (Why not Fuji, Sony, Panasonic etc)
Answer: Initially, I tested a Fuji X-E1 and loved it. It was a fantastic camera. The EVF left something to be desired, but the files were silky and had that famous 'Fuji' feel to them. But, the lenses just weren't as small as I thought, meaning as a walkabout camera, it wasn't quite as small as I wanted it to be. The tunnel viewfinder option, whilst a fun novelty, was also something I was never going to use in practise (or ever!), so it had features that were useless to me. The main 'issue' though was that as a shooter of a Canon DSLR, I was used to not only fast auto focus, but I was used to accurate auto focus. In late 2013 when I tested this I felt that the X-E1 was simply too slow and I missed too many shots as it hunted around occasionally. I understand that many of these issues have been remedied by firmware updates and don't get me wrong, it's still a great camera and they produce lovely files, but shortly after that not-so-great experience I received an Olympus E-M5 on loan from Olympus for a month I was even more impressed. The auto focus was blazingly fast and even more accurate than I had ever expected from a camera featuring 'only' contrast auto detect to achieve focus. It also felt quite similar to the Canon thanks to the level of customisation in the menus. The EVF was also much better too!
The other systems I looks at included Panasonic, but only briefly after my month-long loan stint with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Sony's A7 range. In short the Panasonic bodies weren't actually that small I didn't think and I preferred the stabilisation system in the Olympus. I was of course drawn by the sole full-frame mirrorless that was the original A7 at the time, but there were a few issues with that setup for me:
- The shutter was too loud. Bad for church photography and street photography
- The lenses were comparatively too expensive
- The lenses were too big!
- The lens range was too limited and not mature enough at the time
- The body itself was bigger than the E-M5
As much as the performance of the E-M5 impressed me at the time, my actual reason for looking for something smaller was because we'd just had our second child and so I wanted something I could drop into the baby changing bag and not worry too much about additional weight and space. The lenses for the Olympus range of cameras are some of the smallest on the market. But don't let that fool you into thinking they're not quality lenses, because they are!
So in summary I had found my desired small camera with great auto focus and tiny interchangeable lenses. It felt right and it worked for me
Handheld 0.6s second exposure
St Paul's Cathedral, London. Shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Olympus M.Zukio 17mm f/1.8
Question: What Equipment have you Purchased?
Answer: Initially, when I was just dipping my toes in the mirrorless waters so to speak I picked up an OM-D E-M5, a 17mm f/1.8 and a 45mm f/1.8 with the battery grip. But, more recently after my decision to go all-Olympus and sell my Canon equipment, I've been able to purchase the following gear with the money I made, plus an extra investment of a little over £1,000. I feel this selection of gear gives me all I need in terms of focal ranges and lens variety:
- Olympus OM-D E-M1
- Olympus OM-D E-M5
- Olympus 9mm f/8.0 Body Cap Lens
- Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
- Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 (With cap)
- Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8
- Olympus M.Zukio 60mm f/2.8 Macro
- Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro
- Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro
- Olympus 1.4 Teleconverter
- Olympus 600flr Flash
- Olympus ED 12-50 f/3.5-5.6
- Cactus V6 Triggers for cross-system speedlight control
I do also have my eye on the yet-to-be-released 7-14mm f/2.8 pro lens and the all-metal built 75mm f/1.8 as well.
Question: Does the sensor size not bother you?
Answer: I'm bowled over by the performance of these sensors. The files have such a beautiful amount of dynamic range. As I have eluded to before (as has my good friend Neil Graham): These files can really take a beating in Adobe Lightroom. Files can be pushed to the limits of white and black and light and dark and the midtones seem to be able to cope and keep up.
If sensor-size bothered me I clearly wouldn't have made this change from Canon to Olympus, especially as everyone else seemed to lust after a Full Frame DSLR. I was positively moving in the opposite direction with my thinking.
The quality of my work whilst using the Olympus speaks for itself I think, but if you're not convinced of it's ability, you only have to look at the work from great Olympus photographers such as Neil Buchan-Grant and Steve Gosling.
Question: How does it perform in low-light? (is high ISO any good?)
Answer: In short and to keep it simple: it's great up to ISO 5000 and good up to ISO 6400. But there is a bonus feature on the Olympus that gives it the edge over it's competition: the in-body 5 axis image stabilisation system (the same system you'll find in Sony's A7ii. As I mentioned at the top of this post Olympus have implemented their stabilisation in-camera. The sensor itself actually 'float's in suspension and subtly moves in response to your hands' shake and unsteadiness to compensate. This helps to create sharper images.
This system has been attempted before in other cameras (I believe Pentax have tried it) but it didn't take off. Well, with Olympus I can tell you it is a resounding success. I can shoot tac-sharp photographs down at 1/15th of a second, breaking the reciprocal rule numerous times over. As a result of this slower shutter speed it means I can let more light into my cameras and as a result of that we negate the need to increase the ISO to similar levels that other cameras may require you to do so.
An additional point would be that the noise that you see at higher ISO's is actually not unpleasing, especially when compared to the noise that can be found on Canon DSLR's, which can often be golf-ball like. The Olympus grain (or digital noise) is rather filmic and subtle. Further more the colour noise is actually not very harsh either. I typically apply around +20 noise reduction and no more in Adobe lightroom and I find this more effective with Olympus RAW files than I do with Canon's CR2 RAW files. As mentioned, these files seem to really be able to pushed and pulled in photoshop.
Question: What is the In-Body Image Stabilisation like?
Answer: It's the best stabilisation system I've ever felt in a camera or lens. I can shoot down to 1/15th. In the above question with regards to high-ISO i've already spoken about this quite a bit. But I would add that the 5-axis image stabilisation is something you have to experience to truly believe it's effectiveness. Whilst looking through the EVF you'll see the frame moving and shaking around as you hold the camera, but when you half-press the shutter to start focussing it's quite 'magical'! The frame instantly becomes smooth and steady. Incredible. You can adjust the settings of the stabilisation, much like you canon on some of the Canon telephoto lenses, so you can have all 5 axis' going at once to stabilise in all directions, or, you can tell the camera to stabilise horizontally or vertically (for panning etc). This, for me, is the secret weapon that Olympus photographers have. This is why I chose Olympus over other camera systems when looking around.
Statement: You can't get shallow depth of field with a Micro Four Thirds Sensor
Response: Yes, you can. Take a look:
Some of the confusion that comes with depth of field (DOF) / aperture on Micro Four Thirds is the effect the sensor size has on the DOF. As an example, take a the Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 lens: with regards to it's light gathering ability that remains an f/1.4 lens - it lets in a lot of light. The confusing part for some is that the effective aperture is doubled. So in the case of the f/1.4 lens is becomes an f/2.8. Further, an f/1.8 would become and f/3.6 and so on. An f/2.8 would become an f/5.6 and f/4 has an effective aperture of f/8.
For many this may be a real issue. Having a lens which has it's lowest apertures f/4, seems to be scary for some photographers. Particularly those coming from the world of DSLR's, where f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8 is common and considered the mark of a quality lens (as opposed to variable aperture lenses that range from f/3.6 - f/5 for example as you zoom) but in all honesty, have a look back through your lightroom library and create a smart collection based on aperture and see what apertures you regularly shoot at. I know for me personally, I regularly shoot at f/4 & f/5.6 and f/8 on a wedding day as a safe aperture to get the entirety of my subject in focus. There are times that f/1.8 isn't appropriate in certain scenarios.
And don't forget, just because the aperture works out to be f/4 doesn't mean it captures the same amount of light as an f/4. They don't. The equivalent aperture number is purely reflective of DOF but directly represents the light capturing ability (i.e an f/1.8 lens is still and f1.8 lens)
That part may confuse some. If it does please do get in touch, I'd happily explain further. But, in short, I don't mind that my f/1.8 lenses work out to have an f/3.6 Depth of field. There is more than one way to skin a cat and achieve a beautiful separation between subject and background, such as longer tele focal lengths
Statement: Mirrorless cameras are don't have very good auto-focus speeds or accuracy
Response: When Mirrorless cameras first started making loud noises and gaining attention it was probably Fuji that was the most prominent and favoured mirrorless brand with their x100. It was certainly one of the first mirrorless cameras (with the exception of Leica) that people claimed to start shooting professional work with. But, unfortunately that camera certainly didn't have the most amazing auto focus. Fuji fans may argue that, and I know that this is no longer the case, but this reputation seems to have spread to the term 'mirrorless' in general. "Mud Sticks" as they say. Well, one of the things that launched Olympus to prominence as a Mirrorless camera maker was the fact that the auto focus was so terrific. The E-M5, combined with any of the lenses I have in my setup doesn't hunt or track at all. Better still is the auto focus of the E-M1, which has both contrast and phase detect auto focus, just like a DSLR.
I would accept that it's perhaps not quite as advanced or accurate as a Canon 1Dx or Nikon D4s, but Olympus' offerings certainly compete up to the level of accuracy and speed of the Canon 5diii and Nikon D810.
I have no video footage or means to prove this, i'll admit, but The Camera Store did a comparison to test this and pitted the E-M1 up against a Fuji and Nikon and it faired very well. You can decide for yourself by having a watch here:
Again, if you want to throw in the 'considering the cost difference' card, you could argue that the E-M1 is a quarter of the price of the D4s. Not bad eh!
Further more, something the mirrorless camera makers, such as Olympus, Panasonic, Fuji and Sony do seem to have in common, is that they launch regular and frequent firmware updates for their cameras that often provide significant improvements to functionality. I would put to any DSLR owner that Canon and Nikon don't do this, but instead choose to release a completely new iteration of the same camera instead (D800 > D810. D600 > D610 for example). The last time I remember any DSLR manufacturer releasing a firmware update of any significant note was Canon, when the released Firmware 2.0 for the Canon 7D, increasing the buffer and fps. But that was some 2.5 years after the cameras release and it has since been superseded by the 7Dii.
Now, that's not to say that Olympus and Fuji aren't also releasing new, physical models of cameras, they are, but not as often as Nikon for sure! Fuji have perhaps done it with their x100 range, starting with the x100, x100s and x100t for example - each a new generation of the previous, but more often you'll see the same camera get a shake-up with a major firmware release and from what I can tell (i can only speak for Olympus here) these firmware updates aren't bug-fixes or patches to fix issues with the previous versions - they are enhancements.
Update April 2015: I've recently taken the E-M1 to Silverstone to photograph some motor racing. Check out the full post here, but for the sake of this post, here are a few sample images:
So, when I say I believe in what Olympus are doing - this is something I was referring too.
Statement: Mirrorless systems don't have very good zoom lenses and are only suited to prime lenses
Response: Not true. I would perhaps agree that the Olympus primes are very good and most Olympus photographers will use them, but this is as much to do with the size, weight and sharpness of the lenses as much as it is to do with the quality of them. After all, many photographers moving to mirrorless pick them up for their convenient size, so it makes little sense to buy an adaptor and start mounting a Canon 70-200 to an Olympus or Fuji (which can be done).
As I mentioned Olympus have in the past year released their M.Zuiko 40-150 f/2.8 Pro lens: weather sealed, constant aperture, metal construction and a field of view of 80-300mm. It is a great telephoto lens and that is a fact. Panasonic have a superb (and much smaller) 35-100mm, which of course equates to the more familiar 70-200mm field of view that many DSLR shooters are used to. That is an f/2.8 constant aperture as well, so it's a fast lens too.
Fact is, much like the so-called focussing issues and inability to achieve a shallow depth of field, this is also a myth. Great quality telephoto lenses are available.
Statement: The system isn't mature enough yet, there aren't enough lenses.
Response: Continuing on with the myth-busting answers, this too is also simply not true, especially of Olympus and Panasonic. This statement could well be true for Sony perhaps, but the Micro Four Thirds systems offers us a choice of in excess of 100 lenses. Olympus themselves produce in the region of 30 lenses ranging from wide angles to 600mm, but then you have the Panasonic-Leica lenses and lenses from third party manufacturers too, including some quite exotic lenses such as the Voitglander 42.5 f/0.95 Nokton (85mm). Beautiful lens!
The latest news also is that Olympus are set to also release a series of f/0.95 lenses. This will add more to the already wide variety of lenses and go further to quash the idea of MFT not being able to achieve a shallow DOF.
I don't have much more to much to say about this, except that given that the MFT standard is comparatively young compared to Nikon and Canon's crop and full frame systems - the lens variety for MFT is just as mature and just as well rounded.
Statement: The flash system isn't very good yet.
Response: This is perhaps one area where the statement is partially true. The number of flashes and number of high-powered flashes on offer from Olympus perhaps does fall behind that of Canon and Nikon. However, light is light. You would argue that to get the best optical results from a camera and lens that the best pairing would be a camera and lens from the same manufacturer (with some exceptions, of course) but with flash and lighting all you need is the ability to trigger the light source, whatever that light source may be. Hence the reason I have kept my Canon flash.
Many Micro Four Thirds shooters are opting for the Cactus V6 triggers, which transcend camera and speedlight brand and provides TTL pass-through to combinations of cameras and speedlights from multiple manufacturers.
The fact is, using a Cactus trigger somewhat makes this point irrelevant. If you think that Canon's EX speedlights are the best, or that Nikon's SB speedlights are unbeatable - then that's great, because we can use them too (and not just in Manual mode)
Question: I've heard battery life isn't very good?
Response: Somewhat True. The battery life of my Olympus E-M5 and E-M1 is certainly not as long as the battery life of my Canon DSLR. I could shoot 1000 frames on one Canon DSLR batter and with a grip I'd have 2 in the camera. I would be able to shoot a wedding on a Friday, photograph my childrnen's birthday party on the Saturday and probably only need to change the battery part-way through Sunday when I would be photographing Deer at Richmond or shooting Street Photography. DSLR batteries do have stamina.
I would say that I am getting 500 exposures from my Olympus batteries. They're rated at 400, but one of the things I have come to realise is that the EVF, whilst it does of course use battery, also means I don't ever need to 'chimp' because I have seen exactly what I have just photographed. I have my LCD turned off at all times (not because it's necassary, but because of preference. to have it come on I'll need to press the play button to preview the photograph I just made, or press the menu button to go into the menu. Otherwise, all settings can be seen and changed through the EVF whilst the camera is up to my eye by using dedicated buttons. The more you shoot with your camera the more efficient you become.
I use a battery grip on both my E-M5 and E-M1, so I'm typically good for around 1000 shots on each. I only use genuine Olympus batteries. Which, I may add are much smaller and much lighter, which probably goes someway to explaining the reduced stamina (as well as the EVF of course)
Question: How well built are the cameras and lenses.
Answer: The E-M5 is a superbly built camera and is splash and dust proof, much like a mid-range DSLR. The E-M1 however is fantastically sealed (and it is said that the E-M5ii is sealed to the same extent as well). So, in short these cameras are ready for the elements. Check out these videos on YouTube showing how hardy the E-M1 is (Waterproof test from Blunty and Freeze / Cold Weather resistance). The cameras feel solid and the first time you pick one of these up you will no doubt be very pleasantly surprised by how premium the build quality feels. I have spoken about the E-M5's build quality in more detail in my E-M5 review. Check that out here. If you're wondering about the E-M1, it's a step up from the E-M5, so it too is excellent.
The lenses are also superbly built. Olympus have 3 tiers of lenses, with the basic set of lenses being variable aperture, mostly plastic and often extending elements when zoomed. Effectively the non-pro lenses. Many reviews though will tell you that these lenses are still incredibly sharp.
Next up is the M.Zuiko premium range. This is where you'll find many of the prime lenses, including the 17mm, 25mm, 60mm Macro and the 75mm. These all have a very premium and solid build. The 17mm and the 75 mm in particular feature an all-metal construction. They're very, very nice lenses indeed. [Update/Correction: The 60mm Macro is splash proof, but the other lenses in this range are not. I can however say that I have used the 17mm and the 25mm in the pouring rain and they've been absolutely fine]
At the top of the pile are the Olympus Pro line of lenses, some of which are still in development (including a 300mm prime). These lenses are pretty much built to match the E-M1 in terms of build quality and levels of weather resistance and materials used. The 12-40mm and the 40-150 that I have feel every bit as premium as my old Canon 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM II. They really do. The 1.4 teleconverter is all metal as well.
All mounts on the lenses are metal.
Question: You say you're using your Olympus cameras professionally. Aren't you concerned what your clients may think, or are you worried a wedding guest may have a better camera than you?
Answer: No, I'm not concerned at all what my clients think. My clients book me for my images and book me because of my personality and likeability. I certainly wouldn't expect a higher booking rate just because I shoot with a Canon 1Dx and only the most expensive lenses, so why would I expect fewer bookings because of my Olympus? My photographs are the handshake - my clients see these and want to get in touch. I am my voice and I seal the deal.
The E-M1, with it's grip, looks very professional and serious (and it is!). If you're conscious that size matters then that's fine, that's something you'll have to deal with, but for me I'm more than happy that I can produce professional work with my Olympus cameras. If there were any doubt in my clients mind that my equipment was not up to the task, then I just show my portfolio.
Conclusion
So, for now that answers most of the debated topics I've seen or been dragged into. I very much hope that this post will demystify many misconceptions about Mirrorless cameras, and Micro Four Thirds in particular.
There was a time when Full Frame photographers would laugh at Crop Sensors and they were deemed no up to the task. They very seem to be accepted now and the MFT format seems to be something many people judge and condemn before they even use it, just because the sensor is slightly smaller.
Share and Subscribe
Please do share this post with your friends and those photographers you always battle with (you know the one's!) and in forums where this is often debated. A share link is below. Also, be sure to subscribe to receive much more content like this direct to your inbox!
test an Olympus camera for yourself
Well, I would urge you to try before you pass judgement. If you're still not convinced then that's fine, as I have said each photographer will be suited to a different system. But, if you're keen to try a lens or a body for a few days, or to attend an Olympus event to find out more about this technology, you can use the 'Test & Wow' system to loan equipment for free from authorised Olympus retailers, or you can get yourself along to an Olympus event via the Olympus Image Space. Many of the events are free and most of them will feature an Olympus Ambassador or an Olympus rep, so you can have all of your questions answered. Some of the events also provide free Tea and Coffee. If you're really lucky, they break out the biscuits too! :)
Need to know more or want a question answered?
If you have any questions just post a comment below or get in touch with me via email. I'll happily answer any questions I can.
Thanks for reading! Keep on shooting.
Olympus Street Photography with Rob Pugh
Olympus have a great event schedule available for photographers to attend. Many of the events are free and others are available for a small fee, depending on the sort of event. If you're an Olympus photographer, or even if you're not, you can check out the Olympus Image Space website for the calendar of events and get your name on the list if you want to attend an event.
The great thing about these events is that Olympus usually have an Ambassador and an Olympus rep present on the day, so if you're curious about features and functions on your existing Olympus camera, or want to know more about the Olympus range you'll be in safe hands at an Olympus event. And yes - you can usually try out the cameras and lenses too!
Streets Ahead
On Saturday 24th January I attended my second Olympus Image Space event, this time with Rob Pugh in Reading for an event titled 'Streets Ahead'. As you can guess it was Street Photography related.
Myself and another 13 other Olympus Photographers, who were in attendance by invite after applying to go, met up with Rob and Jez from Olympus in Reading at the newly (re-)opened Jessops store before setting off on our route around the Berkshire town of Reading, which is just a few miles away from where I live.
An Education
From the get-go it was easy to see why Rob was selected by Olympus as an Ambassador: Rob not only knows the Olympus cameras inside and out, he was also able to professionally demonstrate and explain his vision, settings and ideas as we walked. From reflections in puddles and the angles on buildings, to the colour filters available within the OM-D's and how they'll affect various scenes in the end result. Furthermore Rob explained these methods and techniques in such a way that all of the participants seem to understand the reasoning behind them. I was very impressed with Rob's aptitude for information sharing and enabling others.
Rob had us all switch our EVF's into Mono mode and then make some adjustments to the level so that we were seeing a nice contrasty rich view through our EVF's. It made the experience of shooting much more fun!
Local Knowledge
Being a local Rob also knew Reading pretty well too. It's a town I visit a couple of times a month with my wife and children, but usually for a spot of shopping or lunch. It was great to see what else Reading had to offer in terms of photographic opportunities. We walked through alleys and pathways I never even knew existed in a town I've been visiting for some 15 years now! As part of the walk we also stopped for at the Handmade Burger Co as well for a bite to eat and a catchup on all things Olympus. For many (myself included) this was a golden opportunity to ask our two hosts about forthcoming Olympus gear and releases. Rob and Jez remained tight-lipped though and refused to confirm or deny anything we were asking or suggesting, of course, but exciting things are coming by the smiles on their faces :)
Gear used on this shoot
I got caught up in conversation with Rob and Jez so much that I guess I was distracted somewhat from the scenes around me. Whereas I'm usually shooting the scenes and goings-on around me, I was more focussed on the conversation and the shapes and structures rather than the people and that reflects in the series of photographs below.
I spent the day with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 and trusty Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8. I tried the 25mm f/1.8 for a short while too (thanks Jez) as it was a lens I wanted to buy, but also wanted to play with before hand to see if it was as good as people say it it. I can confirm it's a great lens and as part of my move over to Olympus after selling all my Canon equipment, it was indeed one of the lenses I had in my shopping basket. Both of these primes are sharp and fast to focus! Which is exactly what is needed for Street Photography.
The Photographs
So, here is my small selection of photographs from the day. The EXIF and Camera / Lens details are below each shot. Comments are more than welcome, of course!
Enjoy!
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 800 | Aperture: f22 | Shutter Speed: 1/25
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 800 | Aperture: f/5.0 | Shutter Speed: 1/640
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 800 | Aperture: f/7.1 | Shutter Speed: 1/800
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 800 | Aperture: f/7.1 | Shutter Speed: 1/250
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture: f/2.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/2.2
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 250 | Aperture: f/ 1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/1250
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 640| Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/200
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8
ISO: 100 | Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/800
Low-Light London with the Olympus OM-D E-M1
Pretty much everything you see in my portfolio was taken in London. It's no secret that I love the place. The variety and quality of the food, the friendly local faces, the multicultural nature of the people you'll see. It's a modern city set against an historic backdrop. I've mentioned before that other cities such as Paris and New York are often favoured in place of London when it comes to photographic qualities, but if you ask me I'll champion London any day of the week as one of the greatest photographers playgrounds going.
I live on the outskirts of London and go for a walkabout with the camera at least once or twice a week. Suffice to say I know the place pretty well. In the last 5 years I've seen it change as much as it has in the last 15. The gentrification is rapid, but unlike many cities much of the redevelopment is being done with respect for what was there before and with thought to history as well. London truly is unique. And even more so at night!
With it being so dark recently I have been more inclined to head home as soon as the light starts to fade, but I recently took receipt of my new Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the excitement of a new camera has made me go out and seek light among the shadows. So, today I want to share some photographs from London at night.
Almost all of the shots in this series see me pushing the E-M1 to the heights of what it can do in terms of high ISO. Fortunately for us Olympus shooters we've also got the outstanding in-built 5-axis stabilisation in our OM-D cameras, meaning we're able to shoot hand held at speeds lower than in cameras without this feature. You'll notice some of these are down at 1/15th of a second!
All of the images below were shot with either the Olympus OM-D E-M5 or the E-M1. It is worth noting though that anything the E-M5 is capable of, the E-M1 is simply better! I've only had the E-M1 for a week now, but I will be doing a review of it in due course.
The lenses used were either the Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8, the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 or the Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40mm f/2.8. Owing to the x2 crop factor that makes these lenses a 34mm, 50mm and 24-80mm respectively.
If you're the slideshow type then skip to the bottom for the slideshow. If you'd prefer to see the EXIF for each shot just scroll down and view each image.
Note: I'm a huge fan of black and white photographs and this is the reason you'll see many of the photographs in this series in mono. I find that the OM-D's render black and white's beautifully, and furthermore the Olympus RAW files can really be pushed in Lightroom to produce some stunning, contrasty monochrome photographs...but more on that in my upcoming E-M1 review :)
Enjoy!
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/50
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 5000 | Aperture: f/3.5 | Shutter Speed: 1/1000
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 5000 | Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/200
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 5000 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/320
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 5000 | Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/2000
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 5000 | Aperture: f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/200
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture: f/10 | Shutter Speed: 1/13
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/100
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/160
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/100
Olympus OM-D E-M5 & Olympus M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/60
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 28mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/80
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 15mm
ISO: 1250 | Aperture:f/4.0 | Shutter Speed: 1/20
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 12mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/125
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 40mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/125
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 40mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/160
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 24mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/80
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 40mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/50
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 12mm
ISO: 3200 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/50
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 21mm
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/60
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 60mm
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/60
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 18mm
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/60
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 12mm
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/100
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko Pro 12-40 f/2.8 @ 27mm
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/100
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 @ 25mm (50mm)
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/1.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/60
Olympus OM-D E-M1 & Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 @ 25mm (50mm)
ISO: 4000 | Aperture:f/2.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/15
Conclusion
My conclusion is relatively simple: I'm very impressed!
Some of the photographs do contain a fair amount of digital noise (grain, if you prefer) but unlike the files I used to get out of my old Canon DSLR the noise isn't unpleasant. It's actually quite atmospheric in many of the photographs. So much so that I've actually opted to not use any noise reduction and leave the noise as it is! Others I've added a touch of Noise Reduction in Lightroom, but my personal rule is to never take the slider higher than 20. I love sharp images and noise reduction is the enemy of sharpness. Having said that, as I also eluded to in my own review of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 last year - the
Slideshow
If you're more the slideshow sort, just click on any of the images in the grid below to view in a lightbox and then use your arrow keys (or swipe) to navigate to through the images).
Enjoy!
The Olympus OM-D E-M5: 10 Months Later
All relationships start out with a honeymoon period where you can easily, and often unconsciously, forgive all those annoyances: not squeezing the toothpaste from the end of the tube, not putting the toilet seat down or the eye cup constantly falling off... That's right. Now my honeymoon period with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is over I wanted to give another review with a bit more of a harsh and honest light being shone on this camera.
The initial review of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 was posted back in February 2014. That 'review' was a first impressions type post about my immediate thoughts having used the camera for a few weeks. Naturally I was excited to have my hands on a new camera. In general I was very impressed with the E-M5. In fact, that's an understatement: I went out and bought my own after only a few weeks of having the loan camera from OlympusUK. At the time of that review there were a few quirks that sort of bothered me and upon reflection my initial excitement may have paved over those quirks a little. So I'm not going to hold back in this review. I'll tell you about the good, the bad and the ugly. No holes barred.
One thing I would like to say before I begin though is that most of the issues are physical things, some of them practical things, but almost none of the issues I'm about to point out with the E-M5 are related to picture quality or the ability of the camera to produce photographs. Let me be clear in that respect: the E-M5 is a stunning camera. I talk more about the picture-making ability of the camera more towards the end of the post, but for now, here are my updated thoughts on the E-M5. The review starts off as a bit of a rant, but becomes more positive, so stick with me until the bitter end:
The Eye Cup (Olympus EP-10)
The first issue with the OM-D E-M5 is the eye cup. The reason I point this out first is because it was the first thing to go wrong. In fact there are two issue with the eye cup:
- It doesn't offer enough shade to the EVF and it isn't comfortable enough when pressed up against your face.
- It always falls off the camera when you take it out of the bag or even if you're just carrying it over your shoulder. I'll admit it took about 3 months for it to fall off for the first time, but once it was off there was no stopping it. The little piece of rubber spent more time in the bottom of my bag than it did on my camera!
So, the first of the two issues is that the eyecup just isn't sufficient in terms of offering you shade enough to comfortably look into the viewfinder, particularly in strong light. It's acceptable in most conditions, but in London on a sunny day I found myself having to sometimes use my left hand to actually provide additional shade. A baseball cap would have also done the trick, however I don't look good in hats!
Secondly, I've lost count of the number of times I've put the camera up to my eye only to realise that the eyecup is nowhere to be found! Most of the time it had fallen off into my bag and was recovered, but on one occasion I was shooting a birthday party for a client and after packing my gear away I had to go back to search for it in the last place I remember seeing it. I found it, thankfully.
Now this may not seem like such a big deal to many, but the fact that the official replacements retail at around £25 from most places seems absurd to me. (this is for an EP-11 replacement. I'll come to that in a minute). The fact also that it comes off of the camera so easily is crazy! You only have to look in the Olympus groups on Facebook to know that Olympus users are purchasing cheaper alternatives from Ebay in packs of 3 or 5 and using them as some sort of consumable.
Call me a fool but I'm not one to purchase cheap alternatives for a camera that I've spent good money on, so I personally took the plunge and purchased the EP-11 from Park Cameras. Part of the reasoning for this was that I was leading a photowalk in London on a sunny Saturday and the eye cup that comes with the E-M5 came off again but this time it broke (one of the parts that helps the eye cup clip (poorly) onto the E-M5 snapped). I used the E-M5 for much of that day without an eye cup. When we were near to Park Cameras I popped in and picked one up.
What I would say about the EP-11 that I bought though is that it's solid, doesn't come off and offers all the shade the factory eyecup should have offered. My advice here would be to start shipping the E-M5 with the much improved EP-11 and discontinue the EP-10. It's problematic. You'll have to go into a store to see why, or have a look on Google Image Search for the EP-11 to see the difference. I've included some shots of the EP-11 on the E-M5 right here:
(click to enlarge)
The price of the replacement eyecup conveniently brings me to my next gripe:
The Lack Of Lens Hoods
Okay, so this issue isn't actually an issue with the E-M5 as such, but it deserves a mention as I've spent a fair amount of money on lens hoods already, when really, given that the flange distance between the sensor and the rear element of the lens is much shorter than a DSLR, the E-M5 is quite susceptible to sun flare if you're shooting towards the sun. The official Olympus LH-40B Lens hood for the 45mm f/1.8 for example costs £29.99! (it's only a 7th of the price of the 45mm lens itself!) Again, like a fool in need I did actually purchase that official Olympus lens hood on the same day I picked up the replacement eyecup from Park Cameras.
For my 17mm f/1.8 however I picked up a lens hood from Amazon from popular cheap replica camera accessory maker JJC. I was a little reluctant as I genuinely didn't want to ruin the actual aesthetics of the E-M5. Call me vein, but it is a marvellous looking camera and I didn't want to put something nasty and tacky on the end of the lens. However, I was pleasantly surprised: the JJC lens hood that I purchased for a grand total of £6 is actually all-metal and has a brilliant screw mechanism that you hand tighten onto the end of the 17mm f/1.8. It actually looks better than the official Olympus lens hood. It's superb!
My plea here to Olympus would be to suggest that lens hoods are either included with the lenses (given that on an MFT camera they actually are more necessary than on most other cameras) or, alternatively at very least make them reasonably priced thus encouraging us to at least purchase a genuine Olympus Hood instead of looking to other companies. Lowering the price of the lens hoods may actually make Olympus more money.
I understand that the Pro lenses coming out (following the splendid 12-40 f/2.8 Pro) will have lens hoods included. Smart move Olympus, but please extend the same courtesy to the rest of the M.Zuiko lenses!
Button Size, Feel and Position
Generally speaking I'm happy with the number of buttons, their positioning and the quality of them, however, a couple of the buttons could have been more intelligently thought about to make them easier to use.
I've turned off the review photograph option meaning that I don't get to see the photograph I just made automatically appear on the back of the LCD for a few seconds just after I've pressed the shutter. It stops me chimping and lets me continue shooting (it also saves battery). However, when I'm leading a photo walk of 5 - 15 people at one time it's often handy to press that play button to then show others the back of my camera to demonstrate what I have just photographed. However, I find the pressing of the play button to be an adventure all in itself. It's in the correct position - I'm happy with that - but actually pushing the button can be a challenge as the screen and the play button are so close together and the button is in a sort of crease if you like, meaning you really have to give the button a poke to get it to work. I am often found pressing it a few times before my photographs actually appear on screen.
Looking at the new EM-10 that Olympus released this year it looks as though Olympus have spotted this (or received feedback from their groups) and made amends with the release of their entry-level OM-D offering. That's a good thing. A great thing in fact! But it would be nice for the play button to easier to press on the EM-5. It's not a deal breaker, just a minor inconvenience. I would imagine it would be a nightmare when wearing thick gloves!
The next buttons I would pick fault with on the E-M5 are the directional buttons. Again, for me personally their positioning is fine. However, they're a bit spongy. A bit soft. Rather than 'clicky' buttons they seem too soft under the finger to me. I'm being very pedantic here and I'll be honest the only reason I realised I was harbouring a little frustration with these buttons was after using an E-M1 for a short while on a photo shoot. Which I'll talk about shortly. I'm sometimes not sure if I've pressed it as I don't get a reassuring click when I press it. Again, I'm being very, very picky here.
The mode dial does not feature a dial lock, meaning it's easily knocked from Manual to Bulb or something different. This has been a frustration for me. The E-M1 fixes this. The E-M5 should have it too. Lets lock that mode dial into Manual mode!
The Battery Life
A problem not just with the EM-5, but with mirrorless cameras from other brands too. The battery life is like that of an iPhone: if you don't use it it's not awful. However, like me if you're out all day making photographs you're going to need some spare batteries. A few weeks back I was in London for the day only for the camera to flash the horrid 'Camera Low On Battery' warning sign after about 450 frames. (again, pretty much not looking at the screen). Having used DSLR's for so long the low battery indicator is something I've only really ever seen a handful of times in the past few years! However, because mirrorless cameras have the EVF you need to remember that it is effectively a tiny LCD screen, so with a DSLR you're looking through a mirror, which requires no power. This is not the case with the E-M5 and other mirrorless cameras.
One of the things I've done to preserve battery even more is to have the EVF auto-switch off and the live-view LCD off at all times, meaning my LCD doesn't display anything at all unless I press play, an option button or go into a menu. The EVF is also switched off until the moment I bring the camera up to my eye. The EVF is responsive enough so that by the time it's up at my eye it's on and showing me the screen (I love that about the E-M5). The idea with all of this is that unless I have the camera up to my face to make a photograph it's not doing anything.
In summary the battery life is just not good enough yet. Again, Olympus batteries are expensive, but unlike with the lens hood and the eyecup I have gone elsewhere in the market to source my spares. With the Olympus official battery being in the region of £50 and other brands being £10 it made sense to me to go for something else, particularly seeing how often I would need to change batteries.
I would reiterate though that other manufacturers mirrorless offerings are also failing on this as well. DSLR's solved their battery issues a long time ago: I can make 1,500 shots on my Canon before needing to change batteries.
Also, the more you use the camera the better you'll get at preserving battery: you'll spend less time in the menus and reviewing photographs and more time shooting.
The Electronic Viewfinder
The EVF is wonderful. There is no doubt. It's refresh rate is sublime so you simply do not get any of that lag that you had with some of the earlier mirrorless cameras from other manufacturers. What I particularly love about the viewfinder is the information overlay you can have - the live histogram, live shadow and highlight clipping and more. And of course the what you see is what you get feel. It just makes sense. Going back to a DSLR pentaprism viewfinder now feels odd to me! But, again, having seen the viewfinder in the X-T1 from Fuji and the Olympus EM-1 I am left with EVFE - Electronic View Finder Envy! I do love the EVF on the EM-5, it's excellent, but compared to the E-M1 I feel very much like that's how it should be. It's perhaps a little unfair of me to say that I prefer the EVF of another camera and mention that in this review, but the reason I have to mention this is because the EVF in the E-M5 just isn't quite as good as those others. That doesn't mean it's bad, in fact it's excellent. But this is reason I am going against what I said in my initial review of the E-M5 and will be upgrading to the E-M1 in a few weeks time from now. (Again, we'll come to the E-M1 in the summary)
The In-Body 5-axis Stabilisation
The stabilisation in the Olympus was what sealed the deal for me. It pushed me from 'Mmmmm' to 'Oh Wow'. Nothing has changed. The stabilisation in this camera is immense. You may have heard others mentioning the stabilisation before, but you have to feel it and see it to believe it.
DSLR manufacturers have in the past tried to implement in-body stabilisation, but without any great degree of success. Olympus have however worked their magic and put together a stabilisation system that doesn't just work, I'd say it's as effective as the IS in my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS USM II (£1,600 worth of lens!).
But the benefits of in-body stabilisation don't stop there. Of course, having this feature built into the body, rather than into the lens, means that the lenses themselves need only contain glass and any focussing motors. Which means they can be tiny (really tiny!) light weight and left to do just one job: let light through the glass with as little distortion and refraction as possible. Olympus lenses win here time and time again. Thanks largely in part to the stabilisation. I can't fault Olympus at all when it comes to lenses for the O-MD's. Wonderful.
Lack of Focus Peaking
Again, another feature that I wish the E-M5 had is focus peaking. It may seem odd to some to need focus peaking with auto focussing lenses (that also happen to focus rocket-fast!) But, there are so many incredible lenses available for Micro Four Thirds and not all of them from Panasonic or Olympus. You can also use a wonderful series of mounts and adaptors, but as is often the case with these things you can often lose the auto focus feature. With a DSLR and someone not so seasoned in auto focussing this may be an issue, but if there was focus peaking on the EM-5 you would be able to attach a stellar piece of glass and use manual focus to ensure perfect, tac-sharp crispness.
I spent some time with Neil Buchan-Grant in early June and Neil uses a selection of older lenses (including some amazing Leica lenses) that do not feature auto focus. With focus peaking on his E-M1 that just isn't an issue though. In fact, it revolutionises manual focus entirely! It's a shame it doesn't feature on the E-M5.
I'm very hopeful it will be delivered in a Firmware update.
Focus Tracking
Focus tracking is average at best, but fine in good light. As I mentioned in my initial review the E-M5 contains only contrast detect, not phase detect, meaning it looks for the contrast in a scene. Maybe I'm asking for too much from this little camera, but I would love it if the focus tracking were just that little bit better, whether that means the inclusion of phase detect I don't know, but it would certainly go someway to plugging that now awkward gap between the E-M10 and E-M5. The E-M10 seems a capable camera, featuring many things the E-M5 does not, almost diminishing the value of the E-M5 somewhat. Then again, the E-M5 features some things that a photographer such as myself is more concerned about (weather resistance, 5 axis stabilisation). The 3 models of camera do sit nicely in a podium formation (1st: E-M1. 2nd E-M5 and 3rd: EM-10) but there are some blurring of the lines between the three cameras.
Enough of the negatives
Okay, so I've been pretty harsh on Olympus and the E-M5 so far, but don't get me wrong I still adore this camera. It's still my go to camera for most of what I shoot. That's probably why I've been so critical of it. I want it to be better.
As you may have realised I haven't really said much about the ability of the camera to make photographs in terms of the quality it's capable of producing, but that's mainly because I can't fault it. Sure, the ISO is fine up to 3200 and beyond that it's a bit of a stretch in low light conditions, but really, the files I am getting out of my E-M5 are wonderful. It's often why I prefer to pick it up instead of the Canon. When it comes to post-processing at the end of a shoot I enjoy looking at the Olympus files much more!
Let's talk about the technical side of things in more detail:
White Balance
With my Canon DSLR it was pretty decent at picking the correct white balance if set to auto. It's something I did occasionally. However, if I was shooting a wedding or a portrait the AWB on the Canon 7D would sometimes be a little off the mark and choose a balance that would make the scene either rather blue or a little too warm. Whilst this isn't really a massive issue as it can 'Just be fixed in Photoshop' as people like to say; it all adds time to the post processing work flow. With the E-M5 I've only had it off of Auto White Balance a a couple of times. It really does nail white balance 99% of the time. I don't know what voodoo Olympus have done here, but it works better than any other system I've used. If you're thinking of picking up an E-M5 rest assured white balance issues are basically a thing of the past.
Tolerant Files
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't know what it is about the files that come out of the Olympus Cameras, but they're superb! I've found that they can really take a beating in Lightroom. Not that I over-process (I don't think) but the files don't suffer from halo's, they can take the highlights being reduced dramatically and the shadows being given a little boost without much or any damage to the pixels at all. It seems to me that Olympus truly have found a balance between the quality of the pixels and the number of pixels with their MFT sensors.
Sharp As Hell
One thing I've also realised with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is that I'm able to produce photographs sharper than I ever have from a DSLR. I know this is as much to do with the lenses, but with the 45mm and the 17mm (both f/1.8) they're incredibly sharp
Responsiveness
Again, something I was a bit concerned about when people started talking seriously about mirrorless cameras for the first time a couple of years back was how that you were forced to slow down with your shooting. With some of the Fuji's in particular. With the Olympus it's not a problem. The dials all spin and rotate to infinity (they'll keep spinning and spinning) and the auto focus is incredible. I don't feel limited, restricted or let down by how fast this camera responds at all. Now, that said slowing down can be a valuable reminder of what you're doing, but for me I'm more concerned about missing a shot.
The only negative to speak of here is that I have found if you're going from one extreme to the other, such as reducing shutter speed from 1/2000th to 1/80th (perhaps you've gone from outside to inside); rapidly rolling the dials is perfectly possible, but the on-screen reading of shutter speed is a step behind it seems. This sounds odd, so I'll try to explain: with a Canon DSLR you can spin the wheels and dials in any direction to change the settings: aperture, ISO & shutter etc. The moment that wheel or dial rotates and clicks into the next position the corresponding setting in the Viewfinder has changed - further more no matter how fast you change settings you can see them changing instantly.
With the Olympus, if you scroll quickly you'll find that you can go from 1/2000th to 1/500th and not see the shutter speeds in between as the camera doesn't seem to update as quickly.
This is a minor thing, but I would just like these settings to change a bit more promptly, in-time with the clicks of the dials I'm spinning. This is me being hyper critical.
Build Quality
Something I was really impressed with first time round when I first wrote a review of this camera was the build quality. Part of me worries a little that something may eventually start to wear or tear, but so far, after heavy use in different conditions I can honestly say it is still built incredibly well.
If you've read my first review, or even part of it, you'll notice that the first thing I mentioned was the build quality and that was because I was so impressed with it. Olympus have done a marvellous job of making the E-M5 feel solid and well built.
Even today, after extensive use the camera doesn't feel like something is about to fall off and non of the colour is wearing from any part of the camera. To give you an idea of the use I'm getting from the E-M5: I take it everywhere with me: every day to work in my bag everywhere at weekends in the camera bag or in the kids changing bag, 2 trips to Boston and back, and a number of times on the beach - sometimes hot, sometimes cold, wet and windy.
The build quality scores a full 10 out of 10. Well done Olymus.
Black and Whites
One thing I'd like to give a special mention to is the black and white photographs I'm producing with the E-M5. I've already spoken about how tolerant the files are in post processing, but the files go to a whole new level in black and white. This somewhat is a repeat of the comment about the tolerance of the files, but I find the range between the blacks and the whites to be greater than what I have been used to with the Canon DSLR's. LightRoom in particular really allows me to push and pull the files to the extremes of the blacks and whites without the subtle shades and tones in between suffering. 'Silky' is probably the most appropriate word that comes to mind to describe the black and whites you can produce from the E-M5.
Low Light Focussing
This has been an absolutely amazing surprise for me. Since owning the E-M5 I've had it with me at each and every wedding I've photographed. At first I would only pick it up for the odd shot here and there, but as I realised more and more just how capable a camera it was, it started filling in for the Canon at certain parts of the day. For example I find it far better for the preparation shots: it's quieter, less intimidating and fast auto focus isn't always required. Further more, balancing the internal ambient room lighting with bright and natural window light is all done as it happens through the Electronic Viewfinder. I find I have a higher keeper rate but more importantly I am am able to achieve the look I want quicker. However, I wouldn't say at the moment that it is a contender for the church, owing to the fact I may have to stand far back, shoot in awkward and changing light conditions: the constant aperture tele focal lenses (constant f/2.8 for example) just aren't here yet. Long story short the E-M5 and Canon DSLR formed a wonderful tag team. One of the things it excels at and beats the Canon DSLR at is achieving focus in low and awkward light conditions, specifically during the first dance; if the couple have booked a DJ with strobes and coloured lights, or the venue is very poorly lit, I found that the E-M5 was somehow able to achieve focus more promptly than the Canon. I used the 17mm and the 45mm f/1.8 primes, so there was no hunting back and forth at all, unlike with the Canon.
Again, the prep shots in the morning in good light - that was something I truly expected the E-M5 to excel at. I knew what it was all about in those conditions, but to find it actually solved a long-standing problem (for me anyway) with focussing when the guests were throwing their shapes was a real bonus.
Street Photography
Finally, I can't review the E-M5 without talking about it as a street photography camera, after all that's what i do mostly. Again it scores full marks here. It's not intimidating, it's not obvious and I don't look like a photographer. So, when it comes to making street portraits I genuinely believe there are shots and situations I can capture that perhaps I wouldn't if I were carrying a DSLR around with me.
Having said that, Mirrorless cameras like this haven't always been the order of the day among street photographers. It's not to suggest that a DSLR is not capable of street photography, because clearly it is. It's all about preference really.
Secondly though, the practical element is of course the size and weight. I'm still carrying around a big bag (the Think Tank Retrospective 30) filled with all sort of stuff, but really the E-M5 and Lenses take up hardly any of that space.
Summary
I'm still loving the E-M5. As I said at the top of this blog I love it more now I've had it for some time. I've become very used to it. It's so customisable that it really isn't much different from what I was used to with Canon DSLR's in terms of button and dial layout etc. Sure, it has it's limitations: It's not amazing at tracking moving subjects, but is an improvement on a DSLR when used in low and challenging light conditions because it achieves focus faster and more accurately.
One of the biggest advantages though that the E-M5 and the Olympus range of cameras has though is two-fold: the in-body image stabilisation is simply amazing. It means that any lens you mount to the E-M5 is stabilised, which is a feature not to be overlooked.
In addition, because of the stabilisation being built into the body of the camera it removes the need to have all those motors and complex bearings inside the lenses themselves, meaning they truly can be tiny. So when people talk about moving over to Mirrorless, or picking up a mirrorless as their travel and lightweight option, really Olympus is the brand to go for on that front. There are other Mirrorless cameras available of course from the likes of Fuji, Sony and Panasonic, but the lenses for those cameras are huge, (comparatively) so it really does undermine the idea that they are tiny little cameras. The Olympus wins on size for sure.
I hear it so often that the Olympus is a 'Solid Little Camera'. Whilst that is 100% true, that phrase makes you think it's not a serious camera, because it's 'Little'. Well, I'll tell you right now that the Olympus is most definitely serious. It isn't small, it's tidy, neat and compact. The technology of this camera and it's ability to make amazing still photographs totally defies it's size.
For now, I still have my Canon DSLR and as Tony Northrup has recently talked about, the only reason I can't really drop it at the moment is because of my beloved 70-200mm f/2.8 II IS USM. But that's more about the lens than the camera body. The DSLR still wins for action and wildlife or subjects of a fast moving nature. But, Olympus have (at the time of writing this) just released the long-awaited 40-150 f/2.8 (effectively an 80-300mm). If that's as good as it's supposed to be then an E-M1 and one of those bad boys may well be on the Christmas list as a replacement for the DSLR. I have written to Olympus and asked for that combination of camera and lens on loan. We'll see what happens.
The only question then would be "What to do with all these CF cards?"