Well I succumbed when B&H had the 14-42 kit in stock for an hour or so today. Should show up tomorrow. My main reason for this camera is a good sensor with IBIS behind it for indoor prime shooting in low light. I think for my landscapes I'll still be using my GH2.
I like that you can assign another function to the video rec button!
Some first impressions:
I got the E-M5 today and I plan to use it about every day for some time trying to learn how it works and how to set it up to my liking.
My first impressions are mixed.
The camera is like a freak'n hummingbird - it hums, if not loud so easy to hear, and without a grip it will fly out of your hand unless you maintain a certain pressure between your thumb and fingers. Bad. I would describe the humming as a sound very similar to some external 2.5" hard drives.
I am a viewfinder guy and when reviewing an image in the viewfinder I notice I have to turn off the automatic switching between the LCD and the EVF and then after having taken the shot I need to press PLAY (will show the image on the LCD), wait a second or two and then press the EVF button. If I press the two buttons without pause between them the camera locks up for about five or six seconds and then I can start over. Bad.
The menu is good old Oly school meaning it will take days to figure out what a decent basic setup should look like. Not good but also not very bad. What's not so fun is that there is no printed manual in the box. You have to go back to the computer from time to time to check things out.
Images look fine, as expected. OK, I guess I've better add a "good" here.
The tripod mount is not aligned with the lens' optical axis. Wtf? (Well, I knew that from checking reviews, but wtf?) The piece of rubber protecting the bottom contacts (for the grip) is a joke. How long will it sit there unless you cover it with a QR plate? There is no IR remote. Bad, bad and bad.
It's cool being able to focus manually in enlarged view with the IBIS working. Good.
Olympus Sweden doesn't offer any grip (not for free, not for money), nor any extra batteries. Will be solved by time but right now it is... not good.
AF seem to work fine with the Panasonic 25/1.4. There is an aperture dance. I don't know why but it comes and goes. When aiming the camera towards certain flickering lights the aperture will open and close several times a second. Good and Very Bad, respectively.
The camera software doesn't feel 100% stable. I'm positive I had to tell it twice about my preferred way to handle the focusing ring when focusing manually. The aperture dance. The look up problem described above. (This is with FW 1.1)
aleksanderpolo wrote:
Does turning on the live view boost eliminate the aperture dance?
No, I don't think so. It's strange but I don't get the aperture dance all the time. I have tried getting it by pointing the camera towards strong light sources back and forth, towards tube light and towards a TV and then back to normal. I don't see a pattern yet. LV boost or not doesn't seem to have an impact but I can't say anything for sure yet.
aleksander, my only micro 4/3 camera until today has been the old Panasonic G1. I got some aperture dancing then as well but not very much.
Some early reports has learned us there is no aperture dance with the E-M5 and the Panasonic 25/1.4. Now I "know" that isn't the case. Maybe the problem isn't as pronounced as it is with earlier Olympus micro cameras. I don't know.
What I have observed now is that the aperture steps around if you are indoors and happen to aim the camera towards a window (daytime of course) or towards a bright light source. Unfortunately it does this one step at a time; click-click-click-click and then back again. That's new to me. Some flickering light causes the aperture to switch back and forth all the time but not always. I'll have to look further into this.
The aperture dance and the 5-6 seconds lock up phenomena make me a bit worried. But, it's only the first day and I'll learn more later.
Checking further the aperture dance takes place with the Olympus lenses as well (12/2 and 45/1.8). I guess that's as expected. The aperture blades in the Zuiko lenses moves without, or very nearly without, a sound though.
This new Oly E-M5 really interests me, I've 3 old Oly MF primes and 1 MF zoom (in my ladies om-1/om-2 bag) and a few dozen Canon FD lenses; a 200mm f4 FDn Macro in particular...I'm wondering if the Novoflex 4/3 adapter(s) will work on it?
An interesting 1st look at the kit...is the sound from the camera perhaps the 5 point IBIS? http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/
stuuke wrote:
I know that the EM-5 probably won't match the XPro in high iso performance but have there been any comparisons to the X100? If it can match the X100 then I think that it will be a great all around camera for me.
I will hope to have my 14-42 Kit one which I ordered today on Monday and as I have (and love) the X100 I'll be sure to let you know
kwalsh wrote:
Well I succumbed when B&H had the 14-42 kit in stock for an hour or so today. Should show up tomorrow. My main reason for this camera is a good sensor with IBIS behind it for indoor prime shooting in low light. I think for my landscapes I'll still be using my GH2.
Ken
I succumbed too, though I've been using the X-Pro 1 for landscapes as of late and have been very happy with it.
aleksanderpolo wrote:
Why can't Fuji or Oly just play with the electronic gain instead of playing with the aperture blade This is maddening
They do gain up, or at least the Fuji does (my EM-5 should be here Monday)
The reason the blades have to close down is that too much light otherwise comes into the sensor.
If you made the base level of gain so low that you could walk around with a very fast lens wide open on a sunny day the level of boost needed to even be able to see anything in halfway dim lighting would make for a rather grainy mess (far worse than the grainy mess EVF's already have)
My EP3 with25mm f1.4 showed the same behavior but its honestly not an issue unless you try to force it to happen.
Indoor in lower light, it stays wide open, outdoors in bright light, it stays closed down.
Sure you can point it at the sun, point it to the shade, back to the sun etc and make it open and close but realistically who does that ?
Its the same as the IBIS hum issue. If your in a silent room with the camera to your ear, yes you can notice it, but who really shoots in a library with the camera held to their ear ?
Take it out on the street and you'll never notice any noise.
Its just like how I throw a fit about hating mushrooms and yet when I don't realize a dish has them in it, eat the meal and enjoy it just fine
forestmage wrote:
I succumbed too, though I've been using the X-Pro 1 for landscapes as of late and have been very happy with it.
I had to pull the trigger on that deal too. Having the G1, GH1, and EP3 before I just had to see what the latest m4/3 camera can do these days, and darn if I can't resist pulling out the CC when I see such an in demand item showing "in stock" lol
Jonas B wrote:
The camera is like a freak'n hummingbird - it hums, if not loud so easy to hear, and without a grip it will fly out of your hand unless you maintain a certain pressure between your thumb and fingers. Bad. I would describe the humming as a sound very similar to some external 2.5" hard drives.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, over-sensitive, or if you're serious so I'll just ask.
The think the need for a grip or not depends largely on what your used to.
If your used to DSLR's with big grips, then it would feel a bit different, but if your coming from a rangefinder style body, or really any non-DSLR, then holding a camera by keeping a pressure between your thumb and fingers is second nature
Jonas B wrote:
The camera is like a freak'n hummingbird - it hums, if not loud so easy to hear, and without a grip it will fly out of your hand unless you maintain a certain pressure between your thumb and fingers. Bad. I would describe the humming as a sound very similar to some external 2.5" hard drives.
Mine is coming tomorrow. I really hope I don't find it needs a grip, since that would make the camera significantly larger and more expensive. The whole "X-Pro1 is too expensive and too big" line of argument goes out the window if the $300 E-M5 grip is a necessity. I'm thinking it'll be fine though, as I had no trouble with the E-P3.
At the very least, I hope a 3rd party will copy the $300 grip and sell it for $59 or so, just like so many brands do for the DSLR grips
I really have zero interest in the battery style vertical grip on a m4/3 camera and find it rather annoying that if I did want the little forward grip/shutter part, I'd have to buy the whole thing at $300
I wrote:: The camera is like a freak'n hummingbird - it hums, if not loud so easy to hear, and without a grip it will fly out of your hand unless you maintain a certain pressure between your thumb and fingers. Bad. I would describe the humming as a sound very similar to some external 2.5" hard drives. Bifurcator wrote: I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, over-sensitive, or if you're serious so I'll just ask.
Really?
Of course I'm serious, but I suppose one can be so and over-sensitive at the same time. The last 8 (?) years I have used DSLR or similar cameras, all with some kind of grip. The E-M5 also has a kind of grip but the supports for the index finger and the thumb aren't aligned, the body material could have been of some more non-slippery material. Or they can make it as it is in turn making some wanting to buy the USD 300 grip. As it is now I have the feeling all the time I'm about to drop the camera. Back in the film days I experimented with different grip solutions on my rangefinder cameras, I added the small extra thing Olympus provided for my OM-4. So, for me the E-M5 without the grip is not ergonomic and I can only hope the grip won't add other problems with reaching buttons or something else.
millsart wrote: The think the need for a grip or not depends largely on what your used to.
If your used to DSLR's with big grips, then it would feel a bit different, but if your coming from a rangefinder style body, or really any non-DSLR, then holding a camera by keeping a pressure between your thumb and fingers is second nature
You are probably right.
itai195 wrote: Mine is coming tomorrow. I really hope I don't find it needs a grip, since that would make the camera significantly larger and more expensive. The whole "X-Pro1 is too expensive and too big" line of argument goes out the window if the $300 E-M5 grip is a necessity. I'm thinking it'll be fine though, as I had no trouble with the E-P3.
millsart may be right and if you had no problems with the E-P3, then maybe... I hope you find the E-M5 comfortable to carry.
Jonas B wrote: I wrote:: Bifurcator wrote:
Of course I'm serious, but I suppose one can be so and over-sensitive at the same time. The last 8 (?) years I have used DSLR or similar cameras, all with some kind of grip. The E-M5 also has a kind of grip but the supports for the index finger and the thumb aren't aligned, the body material could have been of some more non-slippery material. Or they can make it as it is in turn making some wanting to buy the USD 300 grip. As it is now I have the feeling all the time I'm about to drop the camera. Back in the film days I experimented with different grip solutions on my rangefinder cameras, I added the small extra thing Olympus provided for my OM-4. So, for me the E-M5 without the grip is not ergonomic and I can only hope the grip won't add other problems with reaching buttons or something else. ...Show more →
Oh, I see what you're saying. I thought you meant something else. Like the noise and vibrations from that made it wanna just jump right out of your hands - a joke I made 8 or 10 days ago here. So I thought you were capping on that or something. I get it now tho. And yup, it's built like an OM... no grip! But not to worry unless you're even more of a butter-fingers than me, I shot an OM-1 OM-2 set almost everyday for two years as part of my job and never dropped it.
This is maddening 