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Archive 2013 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

carstenw
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p.2 #1 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

I would say that only the last point is an exclusive for the E-M5. The grip also somehow, although the shape is better one the E-P5, so it would be needed less.

May 12, 2013 at 06:11 AM

bobbytan
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p.2 #2 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Yup ... a deal breaker as far as I am concerned.

aleksanderpolo wrote:
By the way on X-E1: $1000 body with no IBIS? Boo~~~

May 12, 2013 at 07:44 AM

Jman13
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p.2 #3 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Qwerty64 wrote:
Holy cow, $999 for a body without a viewfinder!! So glad I made the move to the Fuji X-E1, that's a body worth its price.
.

I own the OM-D and the X-E1..and the E-P5 is an OM-D without a viewfinder. I love the X-E1...great controls and outstanding image quality, but the OM-D (and by extension the E-P5) is the overall better camera. Better built, more responsive, much faster AF that doesn't hunt in low light, 7 shot bracketing, touch focus, tilt screen, and of course 4 stop IBIS that truly works.

May 12, 2013 at 08:34 AM

Valentin
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p.2 #4 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Is the OM-D better image quality than the X-E1.

May 12, 2013 at 12:13 PM

curious80
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p.2 #5 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Weather sealing is attractive, though of course most of the lenses don't have weather sealing so its utility is limited at this point.

On the other hand E-P5 has 1/8000s which is very useful specially given the ISO200 base iso.

The major negative point is of course the price which is very high and follows the typical olympus tradition with E-Px series.

May 12, 2013 at 12:23 PM

mawz
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p.2 #6 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Valentin wrote:
Is the OM-D better image quality than the X-E1.

At low ISO, IMHO yes. At high ISO, IMHO no.

The OM-D does not have the RAW conversion challenges of the X-Trans which lead to either artifacting or watercolouring depending on the subject and the RAW converter. It also appears to have marginally better DR and better colour accuracy. However it also lacks the exemplary high ISO performance that X-Trans delivers (both due to the X-Trans's inherent advantages due to the CFA pattern and due to the better per-pixel noise of the larger sensor sites of the X-Trans sensor).

Both are excellent sensors and apart from some certain situations both cameras deliver exemplary IQ. At this point we're splitting hairs overall for IQ issues outside of certain situations.

May 12, 2013 at 12:56 PM

mawz
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p.2 #7 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

curious80 wrote:
I have not so far seen a satisfactory shoe mount flash solution for these bodies anyway. Even the smallest bounce and swivel flashes tend to be too big for these small bodies. I tried one for a while and the balance was ridiculous. If I have to use an external shoe mount flash, I would rather bring out my DSLR or at least go for something like a Panasonic GH2 style body.

As for grips - well I want to make the package smaller not bigger, so no vertical grip for me thanks

The grip solves the flash handling problem you note above. The E-M5+grip handles just fine with an FL-600R, but you can take the grip off when you don't want it, something you can't do with the GH2, which handles no better than the E-M5 with the front grip (and arguably worse, the E-M5 and E-P5 are dual-wheel cameras, the GH2 is not). A FL-50R is still too much flash, but the same goes for the GH2, you really need a GH3 to handle well with the E-system flashes and of course you lose a lot of the capability of the flash system the moment you go to a Panasonic body, which lacks the wireless capabilities of the E-M5 or E-P5 when combined with R-designated Oly flashes (both of these bodies can wirelessly command with their included or built-in mini-flashes). One nice aspect of the grip design of the E-M5 is you can chose one of 3 configurations, no grip for minimal size, front grip only for good handling without a significant size change or the full vertical grip for portrait shooting, and better long lens/big flash handling. It's very flexible and due to the design, far easier to switch configurations than most DSLR grips with the battery-compartment inserts.

Weather sealing is attractive, though of course most of the lenses don't have weather sealing so its utility is limited at this point.

On the other hand E-P5 has 1/8000s which is very useful specially given the ISO200 base iso.

The major negative point is of course the price which is very high and follows the typical olympus tradition with E-Px series.

E-P5 has both 1/8000s and ISO 100 (although that's a low-ISO extension a la ISO 50 on most FF bodies, so you pay a small DR cost to get it).

I don't consider the price to be high for the capability. It's quite clearly a E-M5 without a viewfinder for essentially the cost of an E-M5 less the cost of a VF-2 (which is identical to the E-M5 viewfinder, the improved VF-4 is more costly). There's a couple other tradeoffs (no weather sealing, vertical grip or dedicated card slot door) in exchange for some improvements (shutter & ISO range, focus peaking, Wifi tethering).

May 12, 2013 at 01:06 PM

millsart
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p.2 #8 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Savas K wrote:
This allows you do a lot more with the EM-5 under more conditions: Shoot in inclement weather. Add a horizontal and vertical grip that positions additional controls. Use long lenses capably vis-�-vis the grip. Use EVF and shoe mount flash at once.

I find that unless I'm actually on a paid assignment (and as such using weather sealed DSLR's) I really have no interest in shooting in inclement weather. I mean, yeah, its a nice feature to have (though I did hate the spongy feel to my EM-5 buttons) but I never once took that camera in the rain, because while the camera is up to, the photographer wasn't lol

Same goes for the grip and long lenses, it was a nice option to have, and I bought one when I had the EM-5, but, it all and all makes the camera just a bit too big for casual carry, same goes for the likes of longer glass. 100-300 is a "small" lens as far as lenses go, but its hardly something that is for casual walk around shooting. Again, if I want to be shooting long lenses, such as at a football game, then I'll prefer a DSLR and long glass like a Nikon 200-400 f4. Better AF, better high ISO, better subject isolation etc.

If your needs for a casual type camera are simply being able to put a small prime on and carry maybe a second in your pocket, something like a 12/2 and 45/1.8 combo, there just is no real need for vertical grip, or weather sealing etc.

Maybe as an only camera solution the EP-5 would come up short, but for us "well to do social shooters" which frankly I think most members of this forum are, EP-5 seems to present some cool feature in a reasonably priced and quite stylist package.

For me, its mainly about getting the great IBIS, so I can take some handheld cityscapes at night, using the 12/2 wide open and moderate ISO's. Not having to deal with tripods etc when out for a walk is pretty awesome IMHO, and being able to shoot at 1/10th a second or so handheld and get sharp results is a gamechanger as far as IS is concerned.

Bit of a premium price for sure, and it would be "better" at $799, but, while far from wealthy, I'm at least well enough off that spending a few hundred extra dollars on a camera purchase, which I try to limit to a few times a year (try, being key word) isn't going to make or break me in the long run.

As such, I'm on the preorder list

May 12, 2013 at 01:15 PM

Jman13
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p.2 #9 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Valentin wrote:
Is the OM-D better image quality than the X-E1.

Depends. As mentioned, at high ISO, the X-E1 is at least a full stop better, perhaps even more at the highest ISOs. At lower ISOs, it's a tradeoff on what you value. The OM-D has a little higher per-pixel resolution...images are a little sharper are slightly more detailed (with a good lens, both produce tons of detail). The X-E1 files are noticeably cleaner at low ISOs. The OM-D is very much like a lot of the Canon APS-C cameras in that there's a fine grained noise even at base ISO, especially in skies. It doesn't show up in print, but you can see it at 100%. The X-E1 files are really clean, though.

In the dynamic range department, I think they're about equal, but maybe with a slight edge to the Fuji (which contradicts another poster's observations). It's hard to measure because Fuji and Olympus have calibrated their RAW saturation points differently, such that there is more highlight headroom in the Olympus RAW files, but there's less shadow detail when pushed. The OM-D can recover blown highlights better, and can be pushed a fair bit in the shadows. The X-E1 doesn't have a whole lot to pull back from (maybe 1 stop...the OM-D can do close to 2) in the highlights when blown, but the X-E1 can push the shadows until the beg for mercy and still get detail. I can do a good 4+ stop push on an X-E1 file and get some usable detail. It's very noisy, but still usable.

Example...here's a butterfly shot. I had been using flash, with the shutter speed dial set at 1/125 sec. I turned off the flash, and thought I turned the dial back to A to put it in aperture priority. However, I stopped a click short, at 1/4000s. Proper exposure here was around 1/200s, so this was underexposed by about 4.5 stops. And here's the kicker...this was at ISO 800. Pull this thing from the depths at ISO 200, and you can really dig out shadow detail.

Here's the image upon import into Lightroom:
http://www.jordansteele.com/2013/butterfly_underexposed.jpg

And here it is after a +4.5 exposure adjustment in Lightroom, plus some noise reduction.
http://www.jordansteele.com/2013/butterfly_corrected.jpg

May 12, 2013 at 06:14 PM

curious80
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p.2 #10 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

mawz wrote:
The grip solves the flash handling problem you note above. The E-M5+grip handles just fine with an FL-600R, but you can take the grip off when you don't want it, something you can't do with the GH2, which handles no better than the E-M5 with the front grip (and arguably worse, the E-M5 and E-P5 are dual-wheel cameras, the GH2 is not). A FL-50R is still too much flash, but the same goes for the GH2, you really need a GH3 to handle well with the E-system flashes and of course you lose a lot of the capability of the...Show more →

For someone like me, who still has a DSLR system and uses the mirrorless strictly for the times when a compact setup is desired, there is not much attarction of having the E-M5 play the "big body" role. I could certainly see that for someone exclusively using a mirrorless system these are important considerations. For me, however, using the DSLR is more convenient when we get into this territory. To me the popup flash in E-P5 is more interesting than the hot-shoe flash capability, assuming that it has the same "bounce" capability which is becoming common these days.

E-P5 has both 1/8000s and ISO 100 (although that's a low-ISO extension a la ISO 50 on most FF bodies, so you pay a small DR cost to get it).

I know it has the ISO-100 as an extension but I meant native ISO not the software extension.

I don't consider the price to be high for the capability. It's quite clearly a E-M5 without a viewfinder for essentially the cost of an E-M5 less the cost of a VF-2 (which is identical to the E-M5 viewfinder, the improved VF-4 is more costly). There's a couple other tradeoffs (no weather sealing, vertical grip or dedicated card slot door) in exchange for some improvements (shutter & ISO range, focus peaking, Wifi tethering).

It has actually the same price as E-M5. Both are $999 body only. And the E-M5 includes the EVF as well as weather sealed body. E-P5 sits between E-M5 and E-PL5 and in my opinion should be priced accordingly as well.

May 12, 2013 at 07:24 PM

Valentin
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p.2 #11 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

I have the E-PL5 and I'm wondering if the P5 is the same as OM-D and P5 in terms of image quality. If image quality is much better then I may consider an upgrade.

May 14, 2013 at 07:05 PM

kwalsh
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p.2 #12 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Image quality of RAWs from the E-M5, E-PM2, E-PL5 and E-P5 will all be almost identical. They are all using the exact same Sony sensor.

As to in camera JPEGs certainly there may be differences or improvements but I've never seen a new JPEG engine make IQ "much better" with the same sensor.

Unless there is some very important new feature you really like on the E-P5 I'd stick with your already excellent E-PL5.

May 14, 2013 at 08:00 PM

Valentin
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p.2 #13 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

kwalsh wrote:
Image quality of RAWs from the E-M5, E-PM2, E-PL5 and E-P5 will all be almost identical. They are all using the exact same Sony sensor.

As to in camera JPEGs certainly there may be differences or improvements but I've never seen a new JPEG engine make IQ "much better" with the same sensor.

Unless there is some very important new feature you really like on the E-P5 I'd stick with your already excellent E-PL5.

Thanks!

May 14, 2013 at 08:12 PM

deadwolfbones
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p.2 #14 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Some SOOC JPEGs from the E-P5 + various Oly/Pana lenses:

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/news/sample-gallery-olympus-pen-e-p5

Jun 21, 2013 at 09:33 AM

deadwolfbones
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p.2 #15 · Official: 16MP Olympus PEN E-P5 Wi-Fi announced!

Our review is up over at DCI:

http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/olympus-pen-e-p5-digital-camera-review

tl;dr version: We love the camera, but we'd still pick the OM-D every time.

Jun 25, 2013 at 07:58 PM

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