Archive 2020 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

vejshim
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

Hello,

It's my first upload on the entire fred-miranda website.

I used to take pics of urban nightscape or travel photography mostly, but after coming to Michigan, I started birding as a weekend activity for like once or twice a month.

I have a Z7 and 14-30 (landscape) and 200-500 (bird/wildlife) are the most used lenses. While I am totally happy with my 14-30, but for the 200-500 I generally get frustrated when doing BIF or birds far away.

For BIF, one may ask have you considered D500? Yes I have, but it being bulky and heavy, I don't think I would want to use it for travelling or anything else. Even if a APSC Z body with monster AF comes out (not that there's a rumor of it), will I be able to buy it? I don't think so.
I do want to buy the 500mm pf, but it is quite expensive and while it is better than the 200-500 @500mm, I don't think it's so much of an upgrade to justify the >$2000 price difference.

From my last trip with my wife, I decided to buy the Z 24-200 before a future trip, and surfing around the internet, I got to see that the olympus 12-100 is an excellent lens with the same range. I imagined about investing in oly and it looks like it is justifiable at least.
1) A much lighter travelling kit
2) 300mm f4 pro or 100-400mm f5-6.3 should be enough and much lighter (I use 200-500 at least 80% of the time at 500mm with cropping, 19% at 500mm FF, 1% at shorter focal lengths)

But of course, olympus selling its imaging sector to JIP and all that makes it even more complicated.

I was thinking e-m1 mark ii, but it looks like I can make the weight even lighter with the e-m5 mark iii without losing too many features or AF abilities. What would you think? Is this a COVID-GAS or something worth spending time thinking about?

Thank you so much and I hope the rest of your week will go well!

Nov 04, 2020 at 09:19 PM

glassartist
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

There is a lot to unpack here. I'll let others with better experience chime in on the E-M5 vs E-M1 feature comparison as I only ever owned the E-M1 (both I and II). Let me just throw a couple random thoughts around -

The difference in weight between the E-M1 and M5 is about 160g - that's 3 1/2 candy bars.

The E-M1 II is virtually the same weight and close to the same size as the Z7.

The 12-100 is generally considered a slightly better lens (and with synchIS much better stabilization) but the 24-200 is well regarded and the Z7 offers higher resolution and better DR.

E-M1 II vs Z7 PDR

The cost of acquiring an Olympus body, a good general purpose lens like the 12-40 (or a couple of nice primes) and the 300 f4 (and maybe a TC) is now in the range of the 500PF. More reach with the 300 (and especially with a TC on it) but again more resolution with the 500PF on the Z7.

There is a cost to pay for trying to run 2 systems - besides the tendency to duplicate focal lengths - you now have two raw file formats (or two different Jpeg engines) to process and learn to fine tune, along with the constant decision of which one to take. I really enjoyed my EM1-II but ultimately I decided to expand and master one system rather than deal with two. But that Oly 300 f4 is just a heck of a great lens.

Have you considered selling the 200-500 and picking up a 70-300 AF-P (FX version) along with a 500PF?

For BIF I use the D500.

Nov 05, 2020 at 11:03 AM

vejshim
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

@glassartist

Thank you for your insight. I have not reached the point of post-processing two different formats.
I like your analogy with candy bars and my thought process regarding weight stopped before looking up the weight of e-m1m2, which as you mention is pretty much the same with the Z7. I am starting to think that this consideration was actually a COVID-GAS + peak stress from work.

I am still not sure about upgrading to the 500pf (I guess I should go to Nikon forum for this), but as I did start to get into BIF, maybe getting a D500 solely for this use and simply not carrying it for travel is a strategy.

Thanks again for your input.

Nov 05, 2020 at 11:22 AM

Robin Smith
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

The thing to consider is not the body weight as there is a "good" size for a body that is independent of sensor size. This is why bodies are trending towards a certain common size. The main difference is in the weight and bulk of the lenses, where m43 has considerable advantage. You can get a much more versatile set of lenses into a smaller and lighter space with m43 than you can with a FF setup. I can carry lenses from fisheye to 300mm FF equivalent in a small Domke bag, something I would need a large ThinkTank messenger bag for a FF system. However I also agree that having more than one system is a money sink. You usually end up using one much more and there is always the endless decision making about which system to take and why. This is a personal thing, but too much choice can be a drag on creativity.

Nov 05, 2020 at 12:41 PM

lanergan
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

vejshim wrote:
Hello,

It's my first upload on the entire fred-miranda website.

I used to take pics of urban nightscape or travel photography mostly, but after coming to Michigan, I started birding as a weekend activity for like once or twice a month.

I have a Z7 and 14-30 (landscape) and 200-500 (bird/wildlife) are the most used lenses. While I am totally happy with my 14-30, but for the 200-500 I generally get frustrated when doing BIF or birds far away.

For BIF, one may ask have you considered D500? Yes I have, but it being bulky and heavy, I don't think I would want...Show more →

At the moment, at B&H, the Nikon 500PF is only $525 more than the Olympus 300/4 ($3.3K vs. $2.75K). IMO, it's always better to invest in good pro lenses, than to buy cameras or cheaper lenses.

Enjoy shooting

Nov 05, 2020 at 06:13 PM

vejshim
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

@Robin Smith
Thanks for your insight on size and that does make sense.

@lanergan
I am looking into used ones only and that makes a difference of ~$1.3K ($3.15K vs $1.8K in buy and sell here), but yes I do agree, if I will arrive at 500pf some day, the sooner the better.

Thanks all, it all helped me make my decision.

Nov 05, 2020 at 08:06 PM

vsound
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

I also have this inquiry. At what ISO performance for the Olympus cameras does it really impact sharpness and quality?

I would like a super light setup for casual city park photography and well lit restaurant photography

Nov 08, 2020 at 01:14 AM

nma
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

ISO effects dynamic range and noise, meaning DR deceased as ISO increases and noise increases. I can't see why sharpness is affected. On the EM1.2, I get good results at ISO 6400. This is now easily possible with raw, using DXO PL 4 with deep prime noise reduction or Topaz Denoise AI. You should understand that full exposure (highlights at the far right of the histogram. You should also consider that low light photography can be facilitated by IBIS.

The idea of ultralight in the context of low light shooting conflicts somewhat with the need for fast lenses.

Nov 08, 2020 at 09:49 AM

Sootchucker
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

I currently run two systems. One is Nikon and one is Olympus. My Nikon kit consists of the Z7, Z6 & D500 with a range of Nikon Z lenses and the 300mm PF and 200-500 (with 1.4 TCE III converter for both).

My Olympus system is EM1X and EM1 MK III, with most of the Olympus pro lenses including the 40-150 F2.8 and 300 F4 Pro and both teleconverters.

For me, the ISO ceiling on the Olympus as well as the Z7 is 3200-6400. If if down sample the Z7 to Z6 resolution, then about ISO 10,000-12,800 is just doable. I've used the Z6 at 12,800 and even 25,600 successfully, but being FF and "only 24mp", you need to be pretty close to even half fill the frame with wildlife.

One thing I do notice immediately after switching from say the EM1X with the 300mm F4 to, for example, the D500 with the 200-500, (aside form how much smaller and lighter the set up is) is how effective the IBIS and IS is on the former and how I tend to shoot with impunity (shutter speed wise) even hand holding on the Olympus, whereas with the Nikon combo, as good as the VR is, it's no match for Olympus so I have to really watch my shutter speeds, which quite often means I'm not better off shooting with the Nikon in lower light levels. This is because my shutter speed and hence ISO settings need to be higher to avoid camera shake on the Nikon's but in comparison the Olympus cameras can shoot down at crazy low shutter speeds and still get a tack sharp shot (providing the subject isn't moving of course).

I also still believe that no matter how much better C-AF and tracking is on the Nikon's (and TBH something like the D500 is really good), the Olympus system once you get to know it's foibles, is still not bad at all, and in fact I would go so far as saying in single point AF mode (AF-S), the Olympus is actually better (quicker and more accurate) than any Nikon I've ever used. In anything other than dreadful light, the single AF on the Olympus is razor fast.

For high ISO work, video, landscape etc, then my Nikon Z's come into their own. However for general / travel or wildlife photography, the Olympus system not only compares, but in fact has some good advantages (quicker Single AF, better IBIS, smaller lenses, longer reach due to crop factor, fast shooting, better buffers etc.).

Nov 09, 2020 at 04:01 AM

vejshim
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · E-M5 mark3 vs E-M1 mark2 as a second body to a Z7?

@sootchucker wow this is great advice too, something that only a user of both systems can give, and it's very specific! Maybe I should rent it over a weekend and give it a shot at least. I dont do BIF shots a lot after all, so it looks like you have a good persuading point here. Thanks!!

Nov 09, 2020 at 09:12 AM


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