So Olympus has introduced the HLD-6 Battery Holder; however, I am confused with this piece, or shall I say two pieces, because they sell it as a two unit item. Does anyone know if Olympus is just selling the large grip and bottom plate without the battery pack? I think that would be great for those who don't necessary want the added bulk of the BP itself. Also, why can't any of these battery pack grips include an extra card slot for SD/CF etc.?
Jonas B wrote:
I agree (of course). That's why it sometimes is puzzling reading folks finding a DOF advantage with µ4/3 over FF. There surely is a weight, size, and sometimes price, advantage to µ4/3 in certain situations but there is never a DOF advantage.
I agree but I look at it in a different way. I would say that in this situation we don't get any advantage out of the FF sensor since we have to end up jacking up the ISO on the FF sensor and bring its IQ down to the same level as the smaller sensor. So the smaller format camera does not have an advantage but it is 'as good' as the big guy but is smaller and costs much less. And that can make it the better choice.
Of course in situations where such DOF concerns are not there, or in cases where you actually need the thin DOF, the FF sensor is supreme.
wjmeyer wrote:
So Olympus has introduced the HLD-6 Battery Holder; however, I am confused with this piece, or shall I say two pieces, because they sell it as a two unit item. Does anyone know if Olympus is just selling the large grip and bottom plate without the battery pack? I think that would be great for those who don't necessary want the added bulk of the BP itself. Also, why can't any of these battery pack grips include an extra card slot for SD/CF etc.?
At least it appears they have a place to put the rubber cover so you don't lose it. Minor touches like that are much appreciated.
Jonas B wrote:
I agree (of course). That's why it sometimes is puzzling reading folks finding a DOF advantage with µ4/3 over FF. There surely is a weight, size, and sometimes price, advantage to µ4/3 in certain situations but there is never a DOF advantage.
And yes, I have pre-ordered the new Olympus and I use an old G1 at the moment having my Nex stuff up for sell.
Oh! I almost missed this comment. What is the reason, if I may ask?
curious80 wrote:
I agree but I look at it in a different way. I would say that in this situation we don't get any advantage out of the FF sensor since we have to end up jacking up the ISO on the FF sensor and bring its IQ down to the same level as the smaller sensor. So the smaller format camera does not have an advantage but it is 'as good' as the big guy but is smaller and costs much less. And that can make it the better choice.
Of course in situations where such DOF concerns are not there, or in cases where you actually need the thin DOF, the FF sensor is supreme....Show more →
There was a verrrryyyyy long running thread on Pentaxforums.com about this, and it basically came to the same conclusion, that if one discounts using faster lenses on FF (with no smaller format equivalent) then full frame doesn't have any real "advantage" over smaller formats like APS-C and 4/3.
pingflood wrote:
At least it appears they have a place to put the rubber cover so you don't lose it. Minor touches like that are much appreciated.
Oh good to know, Nikon had that on their MB-D10, loved it so I didn't lose those darn things. I don't know but $300 seems like an awful lot for a battery hold/grip combo, I wonder how quickly the price will come down, like the 12mm f/2 which seems to be dropping in price rather frequently.
Yeah, 300 bucks is crazy, especially since Olympus UK is offering a free grip for those who preorder. If the price looks to stay around that level I might just cancel my Swedish preorder and get it from a UK supplier just for the free grip...
edit: on a side note, I want to thank everyone on this thread for all the interesting reading. Even if it isn't all about the E-M5 it's nice to learn a few things as well as see people being able to disagree on the internet WITHOUT resorting to nasty personal attacks.
That is indeed a nice deal in the UK, of course it may be a lot more expensive over there but no less than what you can probably get it for in Sweden. I imagine prices will fall on all these items within 6 months or so of availability... that is the pirce we must pay for early adopters
I have not yet, saw Jessops has it but not sure if they ship international. However if the grip thing turns out to be UK-only (and I checked with the Swedish Olympus rep, who confirmed they currently do not have anything like it in the works) I might be willing to wait a little longer to get the camera from a UK dealer. The grip would be really nice to have, but there is no way I am forking out 300 euros for it (which is where I'd expect it to land based on US pricing).
For now, I have the first preorder with a big electronics retailer who will get some of the first shipment of E-M5s to Sweden (helps that I work for them ).
carstenw wrote:
Well, that's just like the old OM system. It was quite robust, but not tank-like as the Nikons of the time were. There was lots of plastic bits inside the body and lenses to help make it that light. Lots of pros used them for the size, of course, and the same presumably happens with the MFT system.
I don't know if that's what it comes down to and expect we will see a professionally designated OM-D in the future (I think Olympus will eventually abandon the traditional four-thirds system in favor of MFT). I guess Olympus must have some sort of professional care/ support and some were asking if the E-M5 would fall under that, similar to the E-5. Both are splash resistant which might have been some of the cause for thinking the E-M5 might be more robust overall. With the Olympus comments, now I'm wondering how well made/ durable the E-M5 actually is.
carstenw wrote: "Oh! I almost missed this comment. What is the reason, if I may ask?"
Of course, I'm a man of few secrets.
While I liked the image quality from the Nex cameras I frankly never owned any other camera constantly getting in my way as they (Nex-5 and Nex-5N) do.
I bought the Panasonic DG 25/1.4 and while loosing nearly one stop compared to the 35Lux on the Nex it is so much more fun using the old G1 with the 25/1.4 that the it doesn't matter in the end. It's after all over a year since I printed anything bigger than A3+. The 25/1.4 has other qualities and I think micro 4/3 has reached the point of IQ where I don't really need anything more.
Then the new Olympus camera was announced and the weather sealing was the last push needed.
(Now of course nobody seem to be interested in the ZM 35/2 or the CV 35/1.2. I may move the ad to the RF Forum.)
carstenw wrote:
I don't even know what that sentence is trying to say. Could you rewrite it in English, please?
Haha, ask bifurcator, it's his quote. But I assumed it means that you have an advantage of the perceived "fast" f2 aperture on a 4/3 sensor, overlooking the fact that you only need a "slow" f4 lens on ff to achieve the same shutter speed (given a certain amount of noise).
I.e, do you [still] believe that you would be better of hand holding a 75/2 lens on 4/3 than 150/4 on ff in terms of shutter speeds? (of course excluding all other factors as size, weight and IS).
pingflood wrote:
For now, I have the first preorder with a big electronics retailer who will get some of the first shipment of E-M5s to Sweden (helps that I work for them ).
wjmeyer wrote:
Let's not forget that many "pros" also used consumer grade (or what the manufacturer considered consumer grade) bodies for years. The Canon EOS A2 was used quite frequently among the wedding crowd for years, the Canon 20D was used by a lot of wedding photogs as well. I suppose it depends on the definition of "pro", in my understanding a pro grade body is one which can withstand a lot of use and possible battering, plasticky bodies which had good sensors inside ended up being used by a lot of pros who did not require a robustly built body because they rarely abused their equipment. THere are of course other factors such as how good the AF engine is, the fps and so forth and now with digital it is also about MP, DR, HISO and so forth......Show more →
All that's true. In this context, I'm just curious about the actual build quality and how it relates to reliability (this seems to be what the Olympus rep was referring to). Does Olympus, for instance, list shutter life expectancy for the E-M5? The "Pro" E-5 shutter is rated at 150,000. Maybe the E-M5 is 50,000? I don't know but it's just something I'm curious about.
