Olympus E-M5 off to Mexico

[ASA400]

Full review at dp review: Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[terson]

Anyone heard as to what's happening down in Mexico?
They seem to be taking their time down there, must be good diving?
Bruce

 

[RetroBlader]

Anyone heard as to what's happening down in Mexico?
They seem to be taking their time down there, must be good diving?

Not sure if you are referring to the lack of update on the OM-D E-M5 or the lack of updates in general.

We are not going to hear much about the UW prowess of the OM-D E-M5 for a few months still, since no UW housing exists for it yet. (The Olympus PT-EP08 has been announced, and there are some rumoured 3rd-party housings, but nothing is on the market yet.)


As for updates not related to the E-M5, he did bring quite a few Panasonic m4/3 cameras down with Nauticam housings, so I'm sure he's having a blast. However, since this thread is directed at the E-M5 only, perhaps he posted about them elsewhere?

 

[terson]

Hi Retro,
Phil started the thread with the info that he was taking the EM-5 to Mexico to use as a top-side camera and was to report on his own findings upon his return?
He made no mention of any underwater tests as previously stated the housings would not be ready. . .
I haven't seen any other reports released anywhere either? I noticed that Keri Wilk had posted some short stories from his time down in Mexico and he is notoriously slow on his computer updates. . .
Bruce

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

My trip took me to Belize after teaching in Cozumel and I have just returned to Mexico and internet service. As I said at the start of the thread I was using the E-M5 for top-side travel photography and an NEX-7 for the underwater work.

I return back to the US soon and will post images later. I am loving the E-M5 and have shot a lot of stuff with the ART filters.

While I was gone I now see that DPReview has released its test results and the camera got very high marks as expected.

I will comment more when I get back to Florida.

Also just released is the new UWPMAG.com, Underwater Photography magazine with my article on using the NEX-7 EVF with the Nauticam optical viewfinder. I hope this will also be an option for the E-M5.
My article on diving in Spain is also included.

Phil Rudin

 

[RetroBlader]

He made no mention of any underwater tests as previously stated the housings would not be ready. . .

Maybe he's actually testing the prototype but under NDA....




As for user report on the E-M5, you can find tons of them in land photography forums. I even saw a few in the Canon-specific POTN forums.

Of course, I expect Phil will be among the first to comment on the use of E-M5 underwater.....

 

[terson]

Maybe he's actually testing the prototype but under NDA....




As for user report on the E-M5, you can find tons of them in land photography forums. I even saw a few in the Canon-specific POTN forums.

Of course, I expect Phil will be among the first to comment on the use of E-M5 underwater.....

I'm hoping that your 'wink' is accurate and that we will soon find out for sure. . .
I'm also expecting that when Phil 'reviews' the EM5 that he will have been looking at its suitability as an u/w unit and not so much as its terra-firma use?
I'm fully aware of all the reviews available on-line, but Phil is the first to be looking at it from 'our' angle. . . hopefully
Bruce

 

[derway]

Hey Phil. Are you back? I'm dying for an omd em5 now. What are you finding out for us?

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Originally Posted by PHIL RUDIN
The E-M5 is at or above the quality level of the Sony NEX-7 so to compare to E-PL is unrealistic in my view, apples to oranges.



The quality of the E-M5 is not equal to the APS sensor in the NEX7. Where does this info come from?

The 16MP 4/3 sensor is closer to the 12MP 4/3 sensor than it is the 24MP APS-C sized sensor, which has 33% more pixels and is 25% larger. I'm not a huge pixel peeper, but this OLY worship is not justified. Panasonic had the 16MP sensor out two years ago, in fact the OLY sensor is made by Panasonic. Oly is behind, not in front of the curve. The EM5 is a good camera, but hardly class leading or revolutionary.

The good news is that there are many excellent choices out in the compact arena.



Let me first address this post from RonFrank which is very misleading. First I never said a thing about the sensor in the NEX-7 or the E-M5. What I said is that the E-M5 is equal to or above the NEX-7 in quality, perhaps I sould have said as a TOTAL SYSTEM for underwater use. I own the NEX-7 with a Nauticam housing and I have shot over 4000 underwater images with the camera to date. I can assure you that by far the best quality images from the camera have come from the Sony/Ziess 24mm F/1.8 lens. This is a lens that no one has ever even ask me about before because it would not be considered suited to U/W photography by most. While I agree that larger sensors give slightly better image quality when all things are equal and that the NEX-7 is capable of better image quality than the E-M5 more at higher ISO settings than lower the fact remains that Sony has few quality lenses for the NEX-systems. In fact the only steller lens is the Ziess 24mm. I can illustrate this for you in the attached link, Sony NEX Lens Tests If you look at the left side of the page you will see several of the E-mount lenses used for U/W photos tested on the NEX-5 (14MP) look on the right side and the same lenses are tested on the 24MP NEX-7 body, the result is that the lenses go from average to worse on the NEX-7. Look at the link for M43 lenses from Olympus and Panasonic shot using the same testing process and you will see much better results, Micro Four Thirds Lens Tests so the question becomes are you looking to buy a great sensor or a great system. This question has already been answered by DPReview who has given the E-M5 system its highest rating, gold and has commented that this is the best M43 camera yet and a contenred for best mirrowless camera of all.

Don't get me wrong, Sony has some nice lenses FOR THEIR COST like the 30mm macro. But for underwater photography and that is what these threads are about, hands down Olympus/Panasonic has by far the better lens set. So the question becomes are you wanting to buy a sensor or a system. I don't think it is "OLY worship" to want a somplete system which can be expanded as your skills improve. At this time O/P have the following lens set which is outstanding for U/W use, all the lenses are high quality AF lenses designed for M43 without need for adapters gears or other equipment. Domes are already in the market for all the released lenses, these include the 8mm fisheye, 7-14mm zoom, 9-18mm zoom, 12mm W/A, 45mm macro and the 60mm macro coming later this year. A complete list of all 43 and M43 lenses can be found at this here in PDF form, http://www.four-thirds.org/en/common/pdf/2012LensCatalog_en.pdf

Again I am happy with my NEX-7 but will be going very slow when it comes to lens investments. I would say that ifyou never intend to go beyond the kit lens for U/W use that the NEX-7 is overkill and that you may be more well served with the NEX-5n which will not show the flaws in the less expensive lenses as much.

Originally Posted by PHIL RUDIN
The lens however has power zoom and power manual focus which means a port with a way to control one or both would need to be made because it only AF's from the body, no in-body zoom.



You may need a standard 14-42 zoom. With the footprint of the power zoom being small there may be vignetting using the standard port. The standard zoom is cheap, likely cheaper than a port. I am not sure they make a power zoom port? Maybe a dealer can answer this question. The standard 14-42 works as does the 9-18 with the included port, nice!

Regarding this comment, again you get what you pay for. The Panasonic power zoom is a much better lens in regard to image quality than either of the "KIT" 14-42 lenses and while the 9-18 will work in the stock flat port it is not "nice" in fact it is quite bad as you zoom towards the 9mm end of the lens. Again you get what you pay for which is why the ZEN underwater ports have sold so well.


Regarding my use of the E-M5 as a travel photo while in Mexico/Belize I was quite impressed with the results on my small laptop. I can't get the software update to download to my desk top and will be upgrading to Lightroom four soon which should have the patch installed. I realy like the vertical hand grip which allowed me a better grip in the hot weather, it does not add much to the overall size of the camera. I left the battery part of the grip at home because I could find a spare battery for the camera. They still don't seem to be in stock at this time. I own the 12mm and used the barrowed Pany 14-42 power zoom which is a much better lens than the kit 14-42 but will require a new port design to be used under water. I also made use of the art filters for blan subjects and found then quite fun to use.

Plenty of reviews have been done on the camera and I have little to add other than to say the camera lives up to the hype. Shot on the fast moving boat and got the camera wet with no ill results. IS also worked well on the moving boat.

PHIL RUDIN

 

[AndyT]

Thanks for a very informative post Phil. I am now most certainly in the market for an E-M5.
I certainly hope that places like B&H get enough stock in soon, my shopping cart is full !!

I am going to go with the 12-50 kit plus the Panasonic 14-42 (for hiking and rock scrambling, should make for a nice compact setup that I can carry on a waist belt).
I will see about housing the camera later this year, perhaps paired with two Inon S-2000 strobes. It would make for a great macro setup, which given the diving conditions where I live is ideal for me.