@Bif: Heh. I see. No, I don't worry, it will be in my bag or in my hand ready for use. Maybe it's more of a problem for a dedicated street shooter holding the camera in his/her hand all day long.
More on Aperture dance:
This morning, while my breakfast egg was boiling I walked around in my apartment aiming the E-M5 with the Panasonic micro 4/3 25/1.4 mounted towards anything remotely interesting incl the outside world (which made the meter say 1/4000 at f/1.4 and the highlight blinkies go wild). The aperture stayed put.
Then I provoked the setup aiming it straight into a desk lamp and the aperture dance started. After that the aperture kept moving when the light changed. Standing in the middle of a room turning 360 degrees made the camera sound like a machine gun, OK, a bit lower but you understand.
So, I turned the camera off and started over. The aperture kept still again.
A few comments on Flash use:
I mounted an old Nikon SB-28 to the E-M5 and fired away a couple of images at 1/125 second. No surprises, everything worked fine.
Next step was to remove the flash and instead mount a Cactus V4 remote radio trigger to the camera. No surprises, everything worked just fine. I then checked the JPGs (max size at lowest compression) in ACR at 50 and 100% size looking for any traces of radio interference patterns. Everything looked fine. After having experienced problems with this with the Panasonic G1 this is good news to me.
Some early reports says the E-M5 focuses fast but not always correct. I thought I would give it a first try by setting up a simple test the camera should pass:
Tripod, high contrast target, distance was 3m, 2 sec "anti shock" delay, camera set to AF and between every image I held my hand in front of the lens letting the AF go wherever it wanted while half pressing the shutter release for a second or so. I took a manually focused reference image, then I fired away 20 shots in S-AF mode as described above and finally another MF reference.
With the Panasonic micro 25/1.4 (wide open of course) all 20 images came out as sharp as one can ask for.
With the Zuiko 45/1.8 (again wide open) 4 images were very sharp, 11 were close to very sharp and can be said to have passed this simple test, 2 images were a completely blur which one would have re-focused at first sight in the viewfinder, and 3 were somewhat defocused and that to a degree hard to see in the viewfinder but not usable end result. I think the camera gave me green light for every image.
I'll have to look closer at this as I after the test was completed noticed a menu setting called "Rls Priority S" was set to ON meaning the camera shutter can be released also if the image is not focused. But, the AF had stopped working for every image and I believe the green light in the upper right corner of the EVF was lit for each image. Oh well, a "first check" it was and there was some difference in the results for these two lenses.
Jonas B wrote:
@Bif: Heh. I see. No, I don't worry, it will be in my bag or in my hand ready for use. Maybe it's more of a problem for a dedicated street shooter holding the camera in his/her hand all day long.
Yes, you are a smart-ass. A cut one though. (I know about hand straps. They are not for me. I clearly would have preferred a small but more secure grip.)
How about the optional battery grip? I suppose we could look at it as if that were part of the cost of the camera from the first. That's kinda how I'm looking at it. I won't buy the body without that grip - that's what makes it in my opinion. If they weren't offering that grip I wouldn't be considering the camera. Truth.
BYW, I'd like to thank you for all these nice juicy write-ups! Thanks!
Bifurcator wrote:
How about the optional battery grip? I suppose we could look at it as if that were part of the cost of the camera from the first. That's kinda how I'm looking at it. I won't buy the body without that grip - that's what makes it in my opinion. If they weren't offering that grip I wouldn't be considering the camera. Truth.
Same here. I have an E-PL2, but it's just a bit too small in my hands. So if I get the OM-D, it'll definitely include the grip.
See, my real problem here is people actually getting the camera. It's kicking my gear lust into overdrive. See, the problem is, I already have to pretty highly performing m4/3 cameras. And heck, even the image samples are showing very similar high ISO performance of this camera compared to my GX1. Trying to think of what the E-M5 offers over my GH2 and GX1, and I get: Awesome IBIS, sweet looking body, and faster FPS (which really is a non-issue)....and MAYBE much better DR at low ISOs (though I need to see a lot more on this). But still...I want.
Jman13 wrote:
See, my real problem here is people actually getting the camera. It's kicking my gear lust into overdrive. See, the problem is, I already have to pretty highly performing m4/3 cameras. And heck, even the image samples are showing very similar high ISO performance of this camera compared to my GX1. Trying to think of what the E-M5 offers over my GH2 and GX1, and I get: Awesome IBIS, sweet looking body, and faster FPS (which really is a non-issue)....and MAYBE much better DR at low ISOs (though I need to see a lot more on this). But still...I want.
Awesome IBIS, - probably.
sweet looking body, - absolutely!
and faster FPS - Me likey me likey! Me shoot the birdie!
MAYBE much better DR at low ISOs - If you mean in RAW then highly doubtful; µ4/3 == µ4/3 EOF
And I'll add the other one I see people claiming:
Much improved ISO performance, - In RAW, highly doubtful; µ4/3 == µ4/3 EOF
But I understand the gear lust thing. It takes me at moments too - usually while reading reviews or looking at pics of it. The cure is to go outside and play with a lens I dunno very well yet or something like that. I guess the OM-D will be a slight upgrade over my GH1 but not huge. And maybe no advantage at all over a GH2 - other than styling and being from a company I (used to) respect.
Certainly an interesting camera. As I am still in recovery mode from buying the G3 I am buffered by lack of funds from temptation to buy. And that is a good thing! The IBIS appears to be a promising and very interesting cutting edge design, but it also seems to me to be very complex. I'll happily wait for it to prove it's capabilty - and it's durability - in extended real world use before I am able to buy one.
aleksanderpolo wrote:
Even with the $300 grip it would still be $400 cheaper than XP1 though
Yep. The E-M5 is a great camera and is supported by a great system. The only question is about the IQ difference. As I see it, this is the major playing card of the XP1.
Also, remember that the big thing with m4/3 is not just the camera bodies. My GH2 isn't a whole lot smaller than something like a DRebel (though it's much smaller than the larger APS-C bodies, like the 60D, D7000 or 7D), but the lenses are SO much smaller. Heck, my 12/2, 25/1.4, 45/1.8 three lens set weighs in at a total of 446g, or slightly less than one pound, and they take up very little space.
Compare that to a 3 lens APS-C set with similar FOV and aperture range....you're looking at a 15mm lens on the wide end, which frankly isn't available in a prime, so you're talking about a 14/2.8 or something like a Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 to get similar aperture performance. That's 560g alone taking the lighter of the two lenses. Then add a 30/1.4 and a 50/1.8. The 50/1.8 is similar in FOV and aperture, and is really light too, but it's nowhere near as good optically, but even so, let's take it, and this brings the total for the APS-C lens kit to 1120g, or well more than double the weight. Heck, the 30mm is nearly as much as the three lens kit for m4/3, and that's a pretty compact lens.
The weight advantage is there even with the heavier lenses. The Panny 7-14 isn't a small lens compared to the rest of the m4/3 system, but it weighs 300g and is 3.3" long and 2.7" wide. The equivalent zoom range is available on APS-C with the Sigma 8-16mm, (though that's a full stop slower as well)...and it is 3" wide and 4" long and weighs 555g. Again, nearly double the weight, and larger for a slower lens with the same range.
My OM-D just arrived and man is it really small but feels quite nice in the hand. I dig it. Am about to head out to do some shooting with it. Here is a pic I snapped with the Lumix 14mm lens mounted, a nice combo!
Nobody makes a 14-28mm equivalent lens that performs as well as the Panasonic without going to the massive monster Nikon. That is probably my primary attraction to MFT right now.
Well, yall know me by now... I wouldn't give a flying frisket if it were 2 feet long or 2 inches long (and my GF says the same thing too ). I just like nice IQ and an interesting drawing style. I certainly wouldn't notice 4/500kg here and there! And if I ever did I'd start wondering about my mental health.
