Olympus OM-D E-M5

[marctwo]

I've got a Panasonic GF1 at the moment which I like but I think this looks really fantasic. I think the Micro 4/3 format is really starting to take off.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusem5/

[Xaero]

I've been keeping a close eye on this for a while now.

I got a NEX-5n and although I'm getting great results with it, I've not fallen in love with it, which is a bit important with a hobby like photography. The micro 4/3 format seems to have got ahead quickly and there is some gorgeous lenses out.

I'm going to hold back for the reviews first, hopefully it'll be ok at focusing in low light, thats my main concern. But otherwise it ticks a lot of boxes. Hump seems pointless though, I'd rather it have built in flash/GPS/microphone socket so I don't need to connect these things on top, and also use them together. But at least they are all add on options. The NEX GPS add on is laughable and may as well be a separate iPhone app and GPS is important to me as my photography is based around travel mostly.

[RobDickinson]

A friend is buying this asap as he lost his ep1 (was planning to upgrade anyhow).

Looks fantastic for a small camera.

[K12beano]

From that angle, it does look remarkably "classic" - David Bailey was it? One suit pocket takes the body, t'other suit pocket takes the lens? very 60s

[Elderly]

RobDickinson said:

Looks fantastic for a small camera.

It does seem 'deceptively' small : http://camerasize.com/compact/#243,289,ha,f

[NJH]

This for many though is the more relevant comparison, its the E-M5 v the very small dSLR E-620 which as it happens was the thing that lent its guts to the E-P1 and kicked off this whole new camera sector for Olympus;

http://camerasize.com/compare/#212,289

... its the comparison from the top down view which really shows how much of a difference is made by getting shot of the mirror box. Stick a pancake on it like the 20mm f1.7 and it should easily slip into many a coat pocket.

[jimmy156]

I think it looks bloody brilliant, and hopefully will do well for olympus. Not for me though as i'm quite invested in the eos system, and i'm not interested in starting another.

I wonder if they will put an APS-C sensor in something with that for factor, i.e small SLR style, EVF and classic looks. Add some good glass to the system and imagine it would be very popular, especially with people who remember the OM-1 etc.

[RobDickinson]

jimmy156 said:

I wonder if they will put an APS-C sensor in something with that for factor, i.e small SLR style, EVF and classic looks. Add some good glass to the system and imagine it would be very popular, especially with people who remember the OM-1 etc.

You mean the fuji x pro thing?

Canon will do it with the g1x sensor later in the year

[NJH]

They likely won't though as the G1-X is more or less the same size sensor as the multi aspect m4/3rds cameras. The reason they gave for why it has a slightly smaller sensor with that aspect ratio is identical to those given by Olympus with the original 4/3rds and hence m4/3rds i.e. lens size to sensor size ratio.

http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2012/02/canon-g1x-sen...

Far too much is made out of sensor size anyways, Nikon proved this by making a sensor in their 1 line which despite being half the size of m4/3rds performs as well as the older 12Mp m4/3rds sensors.

[jimmy156]

RobDickinson said:

jimmy156 said:

I wonder if they will put an APS-C sensor in something with that for factor, i.e small SLR style, EVF and classic looks. Add some good glass to the system and imagine it would be very popular, especially with people who remember the OM-1 etc.

You mean the fuji x pro thing?

Canon will do it with the g1x sensor later in the year

Except i would say the x1 pro is more of a rangefinder form factor, and its nearly £2k isn't it? I though it also was only available with prime glass? Not very versatile for the enthusiast.

I was thinking priced more in the prosumer SLR range, between a 60d and a 7d maybe.

I would like Canon to do it, if they made it with an EF mount (which they wont) it would be epic.

[Xaero]

Canon seem to be losing the plot a bit. The G1X is incredibly heavy for its size (magnesium alloy being thicker is the only reason I've heard for this). It's also a F2.8 compared to the Fuji F2.0 lens.

If I had a collection of legacy Canon lenses (or any other brand) I'd probably get the NEX-7 and an adaptor to get the most out of them in a compact form. As I only had a couple of lenses myself (now sold), I'm migrating over the the micro 4/3 system providing the E-M5 performs and feels nice enough to me.

[andy_s]

I just got a GF3, I'm a complete imbecile as far as photography goes unfortunately, and it was mostly the fact that it a) had a built in flash and b) the wife liked how it looked that I bought it (OK, I did a bit of research).

Having a great time figuring out what does what though, and it's PaS when you're just snapping

[marctwo]

So does anyone have their E-M5 yet? I've just turned down the offer of a black one as I'm holding out for the silver.

DPReview liked it: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5/

[Nick M]

jimmy156 said:

Except i would say the x1 pro is more of a rangefinder form factor, and its nearly £2k isn't it? I though it also was only available with prime glass? Not very versatile for the enthusiast.

With a lens, yes, it's about £2k.

And size wize, it's equivalent to a light rangefinder such as the Yashica GT type - handled one at the weekend, and it made up my mind to ditch my DSLR kit and go for something I'm more likely to take out and use.

You can get lens adapters for Leica M, Nikon F, M42 and numerous other mounts, so you have access to a host of great lenses (albeit manual focus ones). There are also some X-mount zooms in the pipeline.

As for it 'only' coming with primes, I'd rather have a couple of fast prime lenses than a slower zoom - I can move around and act as a 'human zoom' to some extent, but the bigger aperture opens up a host of options which aren't there with the slower lenses typically found on Micro 4/3 cameras.

[marctwo]

I finally got my E-M5 and it's a steep learning curve! There are a lot of settings on the camera and it takes a while to find a setup that works for you. I am getting there though and I definitely like the colours better than my old GF1, as well as the super fast AF and satisfying shutter sound. It hasn't made me a better photographer yet though

[Xaero]

Had mine about 6 weeks now. Still love it to bits, especially after getting the 25mm Panasonic-Leica lens.

There is a good article on dpreview.com about setting it up: http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9115179666/user-g... Well worth a look.

[binliner]

marctwo said:

So does anyone have their E-M5 yet? I've just turned down the offer of a black one as I'm holding out for the silver.

DPReview liked it: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusem5/

I 'won' a half day shooting experience with one http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/news/532597/what-... in Brighton this Saturday, shame I don't get to keep it but the weekend weather looks good and I've never been to Brighton!

[marctwo]

binliner said:

I 'won' a half day shooting experience with one http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/news/532597/what-... in Brighton this Saturday, shame I don't get to keep it but the weekend weather looks good and I've never been to Brighton!

Nice one! I hope you enjoy it, let us know how you get on. I have my Silver one now and can say that it takes time to learn the camera. It's very customisable and the menus can be rather cryptic at times. Once you get the main settings locked down though it's a really nice camera to use, fast and responsive.

[mids]

Been reading quite a bit about the E-M5 and it's getting tempting to upgrade from my GF1. I like the review comments about it's 5 axis IBIS (I seem to have cr*p technique when it comes to holding the camera steady).

http://admiringlight.com/blog/olympus-om-d-e-m5-re...

The only thing putting me off is I want to see what the GH3 is going to be like when Lumix get round to releasing it (Photokina ?).

I'm also wondering about the UK pricing for the E-M5 at the moment. The US price (B&H) for the GH2 is pretty much identical to the UK but for the EM-5 the UK price is way more (£650 in US, £1k in UK). Feels like we're getting ripped off by Olympus, not that we can do much about it. I was going to ask a friend in Japan what the pricing was like over there.

---

Whilst I'm here, can any E-M5 owners tell me if there's an equivalent feature to this from the GH2 ?

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/...

[sneaky schnell]

I sold most of my Canon kit as I got sick of carrying the bulk around. It is ok if you are using it professionally but not worth it when you just want to walkabout.

I was planning on buying a NEX-7 and while waiting for my local shop to get them in Olympus released this little beauty. Initially I wasn't that interested as I wanted the larger sensor but after reading the reviews, the Olympus has jumped to the front of my list.

It will have to be silver and I will probably get the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 and the Olympus 45mm 1.8 to start. There is a Samyang fisheye which is supposed to be good as well. We'll see.

This is the review which convinced me:
http://robinwong.blogspot.com/2012/03/olympus-om-d...