Olympus OM-D E-M5 review - official thread

[gchamp727]

When the time comes that you do a full review of the new OM-D .. could you please look at any focus assist features that it may have. I like to use legacy, manual focus lenses on my Micro 4/3s body (currently a G1). I hope they have built in some kind of clever feature to assist with manual focus.
The reviews on youtube seldom go into any depth with minor features.

[Maestro]

I think it's already been established that the E-M5 does not have focus peaking, but does (still) have MF Assist (magnified view).

Mark

[bikerag]

Focus PEaking - Yeah I looked for that in the user manual and couldnt find it. Besides having the best image quality it would be great if one MFG just put all the bells and whistles in a camera.

Just to name a few
- built in time lapse any canon with CHDK
- ND filters built in. (canon s100)
- Focus bracketing (canon s100)
- Focus peaking (sony cams)
- 720p 120fps video for slow motion
- more rapid fire options, usually you only get super fast 10fps or slow 1fps, nothing in between.

Anyone else agree??

[michael1]

The new OM-D is official! I actually got a pre-production E-M5 to play with (no battery) before the announcement so my article includes a hands-on video of the new camera. It's got a new 16-megapixel sensor, built-in EVF and it's dust-proof and weather-proof just like the E-5 DSLR.

I think this camera looks really good. I like the updated controls and I love that they've improved the continuous auto focus and burst rate.

What do you guys think?

[Hans]

http://www.digifotofreak.nl/index.php?o ... 5&Itemid=1

A short review about the picture quality, it's very positive. For English, please use some translation site.

[Bob Andersson]

Hi folks,

I've been trawling for recent reviews/blogs about the E-M5 and here are a few of the results in no particular order:

• Olympus OM-D E-M5 Hands-on Video Review - our price partner site DigitalRev
  
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 video review - What Digital Camera
• First Look: Olympus OM-D E-M5 - Pocket-lint
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 - Oh My Darling - Singapore Hardware Zone
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Street Shooting and Final Words - Robin Wong
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 Field Test - Gakuranman
• Very 1st look video at the Olympus OM-D E-M5 - Steve Huff. Video illustrates the IS noise, size comparison with the X-Pro1 and annoying NEX-7 video AF!
• Olympus OM-D review - Tech Radar

The last review is a pretty detailed affair and I found the Noise and dynamic range results particularly interesting. The JPEG signal to noise ratio graph sees the E-M5 lagging but the RAW (converted to TIFF) results are a different matter altogether with the E-M5 outperforming the Fujifilm X Pro 1, Sony NEX-7, Panasonic GX1 and Olympus E-P3. RAW dynamic range is similarly impressive when compared with the same group of cameras. Quite why the E-M5 is outperforming the Lumix GX1 on both S/N and DR escapes me as I had sort of got the impression that the two sensors were related. I might be able to rationalise it if the E-M5 images were softer but I'm not aware that that is the case. Any thoughts?

Bob.

[Maestro]

My guess--and that's all it is; I have no facts to back it up--is that the sensor in the E-M5 is either a new Olympus design or a (previous) Panasonic design that has been tweaked/modified/enhanced by Olympus, while still being manufactured by Panasonic.

Or it could be that Olympus is willing to push the sensor's performance limits farther in their firmware than Panasonic is. (The GH2 hack shows how much more that camera is capable of than the stock firmware allows it to do.)

Maybe we'll find out for sure when someone tears down an E-M5 - Mark

[Leo]

While not 100% analytical proof, there is talk already that the Sensor IS most likely an Olympus sensor.

I can only provide a blog - while not Proof, there is a move of belief that the original "ha ha its a pana sensor" teasing may actually be incorrect.

http://www.fourthirds-user.com/forum/blog.php?b=532

[Bob Andersson]

Hi Leo,

Great catch. If true and those DR and S/N figures in the Tech Radar review are correct then Olympus arguably have the best CSC on the market.

Bob.

[Bob Andersson]

Hi folks,

Steve Huff has penned more thoughts about the E-M5 which you can read here. He refers to the Tech Radar review mentioned above and also says:

I have been shooting with the OM-D E-M5 for a few days now and absolutely love it. Without a doubt it is my top mirrorless choice right now. Above the Fuji, Sony and others.

For more read OM-D E-M5 greater Dynamic Range than the X-Pro 1? Plus 1st quick snaps.. I'm looking forward to his review which should provide a balance to the more tech based reviews we'll no doubt see from other sites.

Bob.

[Bob Andersson]

Hi folks,

More reviews and samples:

• Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Introduction - The start of a rolling review from someone who, like myself, has decided to step away from Canon and for much the same reasons!
• Ephotozine Olympus OM-D E-M5 Sample Photos - High-Res JPEG samples both at high ISO and ISO 200 WB
• DPR Standard studio scene comparison - Part of a more extensive preview but interesting to directly compare RAW and JPEG from the E-M5 side by side

Those last two links show, to my mind, that Olympus is working some good magic with the JPEGs. With the DPR site I not only set up a side by side E-M5 JPEG and RAW comparison at ISO 3200 but, just for fun, I also set up RAWs for the Canon 7D and the 5D Mark II. Naturally enough the 5D2 is in a different league but it's heartening to see the E-M5 holding it's own against the 7D. OK, it's 16MP and a x2 crop compared to 18MP and a x1.6 crop so not exactly apples with apples but close enough. That said, for me at least, these extreme ISO pixel peeping exercises aren't indicative of real world performance as I very rarely get even as high as ISO 1600 and usually manage at base ISO.

Update: Another rolling review (up to part 8 at the moment with comparisons with the X-Pro1) can be found starting at OLYMPUS OM-D EM-5 Review - Part 1. For some bizarre reason parts 2, 3 etc are accessed by clicking the left arrow at the top left of the page but don't let that put you off. Written in a very approachable conversational style and the author is at pains to place his opinions in context rather than as bald statements of fact. Worth a read, IMHO.

Bob.

[Bob Andersson]

Hi folks,

Another great result measuring the dynamic range available from the E-M5 RAW files can be seen here. The author is keen to point out that this result can't be compared with other results from other testers but does assert that he is seeing an improvement in his real world shooting.

Returning to the TechRadar test I mentioned a few posts back, the absolute numbers can't reflect the DR of an individual pixel as the E-M5 has a 12 bit A/D converter which can't give a 13 EV dynamic range. Rather puzzling.

In trying to figure how that might be possible I created a new thread Impossible dynamic range measurements!. It's speculation on my part but if I'm on the right track then any test which relies on sensor data being converted to TIFF before the dynamic range measurement software can be deployed is extremely suspect. One can only fairly make comparisons of the dynamic range a sensor can deliver if the same RAW converter software is used and one can assume that said software uses the same algorithm to extrapolate dynamic range from unsaturated adjacent pixels of a different colour/quantum efficiency.

I can't see that assurance from the TechRadar test so, personally, I now consider it meaningless. But it does seem that Olympus has a better sensor in the E-M5 than the E-P3 as Pekka Potka used the same software for both cameras so Olympus have stepped up their game.

Bob.

[Thomas]

Hmm, is the "resolution" of the processing engine (i.e. 12bit per pixel) indeed reflected 1:1 in the maximally capturable DR?
Methinks this was debated elsewhere and was found not to be true.
Unfortunately I don't remember the reasoning

[Bob Andersson]

Hi Thomas,

popo thought the same in the other thread where the conversation continues. I'm always keen to learn.

But I will stick to my guns with my assertion that trying to measure dynamic range when using different RAW converters is fraught with danger unless you can be certain that the software is all using exactly the same algorithm and somehow I doubt that very much. If different RAW converters used the same algorithm there'd be no visible difference in the output and we know that isn't the case by looking at comparative RAW converter software reviews.

Bob.

[Bob Andersson]

Hi folks,

One guy's fairly detailed take on how to set up the E-M5 can be found here. I've no idea how much or how little of that setup I'll end up using until the camera arrives but I thought I'd share...

Bob.