The Olympus OM-D E-M1

[FracturedRabbit]

I have the EM-1 and 14-40 lens queued up in the shopping cart and waiting to add a tripod but haven't quite pushed that order button yet.

Assuming you mean the 12-40, then just push the button! Great combination, feel made for each other (which they probably were), and the lens is so sharp right to the corners even at F2.8. Plus, the option to pull back on the focus ring to initiate manual focus (with associated focus peaking or zoomed in view, depending on your preference) is very useful. Plus plus, the lens is almost a macro in its ability to get in close.

[Tywais]

I have the EM-1 and 14-40 lens queued up in the shopping cart and waiting to add a tripod but haven't quite pushed that order button yet.

Assuming you mean the 12-40, then just push the button! Great combination, feel made for each other (which they probably were), and the lens is so sharp right to the corners even at F2.8. Plus, the option to pull back on the focus ring to initiate manual focus (with associated focus peaking or zoomed in view, depending on your preference) is very useful. Plus plus, the lens is almost a macro in its ability to get in close.

Sorry for the typo, yes the 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO. Getting fuzzy after spending so many hours looking at reviews and specs of cameras and lenses for the last two days. Yes, the faux macro as one reviewer said. That's 20cm (8inches) minimum focus distance at 24-80 35mm equivalent is attractive. The DXOMarks are at the top of the chart on this lens for Olympus and Panasonic lenses.

[Tywais]

Any Induro on there? Sunshine recommends.

Or Giottos, I found those to be good.

They, B&HPhoto, carry nearly all lines - these are the Induro & Giottos heads and their legs. Will look closer at those but look nice.

[sunshine51]

If you can't do the Induro (read $$$$) Giotto's are good.

Manfrotto's too.

CT214 ain't that much.

You're right MJP...they ain't that much either in CF or aluminum.

However...a good rule of thumb is that your tripod legs & head

should be able to support at least twice the weight as you intend

to place on it. It's not a written is stone rule but one that should

be followed regardless of what load you're gonna place on it.

Other features such as spreaders & such are personal preferences.

As is the $$$$ you have to spend on support. Believe me...you

get what you pay for. I mean...I'd hate to have a $15K body-lens

piece of kit flop to the ground & get busted up because I saved

a couple hundred bucks on support purchase.

Or even a 500 buck combo crash to the ground for the same

reason.

NB...edit to add the last sentence.

Edited November 25, 2013 by sunshine51

[MJP]

If you can't do the Induro (read $$$$) Giotto's are good.

Manfrotto's too.

CT214 ain't that much.

You're right MJP...they ain't that much either in CF or aluminum.

However...a good rule of thumb is that your tripod legs & head

should be able to support at least twice the weight as you intend

to place on it. It's not a written is stone rule but one that should

be followed regardless of what load you're gonna place on it.

Other features such as spreaders & such are personal preferences.

As is the $$$$ you have to spend on support. Believe me...you

get what you pay for. I mean...I'd hate to have a $15K body-lens

piece of kit flop to the ground & get busted up because I saved

a couple hundred bucks on support purchase.

Or even a 500 buck combo crash to the ground for the same

reason.

NB...edit to add the last sentence.

I don't think Tywais kit is that heavy. I'd sooner have a 3 leg section aluminium these days. I got one in Phnom Penh years ago, a Fancier, for about US$90. Looking back, apart from the ball head it's way better than the 3 Legged Awfulness I'm currently not using.

[sunshine51]

If you can't do the Induro (read $$$$) Giotto's are good.

Manfrotto's too.

CT214 ain't that much.

You're right MJP...they ain't that much either in CF or aluminum.

However...a good rule of thumb is that your tripod legs & head

should be able to support at least twice the weight as you intend

to place on it. It's not a written is stone rule but one that should

be followed regardless of what load you're gonna place on it.

Other features such as spreaders & such are personal preferences.

As is the $$$$ you have to spend on support. Believe me...you

get what you pay for. I mean...I'd hate to have a $15K body-lens

piece of kit flop to the ground & get busted up because I saved

a couple hundred bucks on support purchase.

Or even a 500 buck combo crash to the ground for the same

reason.

NB...edit to add the last sentence.

I don't think Tywais kit is that heavy. I'd sooner have a 3 leg section aluminium these days. I got one in Phnom Penh years ago, a Fancier, for about US$90. Looking back, apart from the ball head it's way better than the 3 Legged Awfulness I'm currently not using.

MJP...matey...it's not just about the weight placed upon the support.

It's everything about support. And a bit concerning what one is willing

to carry around. As long as it's stout & the price is right for whatever

one desires to place upon it...then it should be good enough. Just

work out the physics...it's easy!

[MJP]

I was totally fooled by the reviews of the 3 Legged Thing, which is now on its last legs after not a lot of use. This is the trouble with buying stuff like tripods and heads online.

Tywais, if there's a localish camera store (I know they're rare these days) that stocks Giottos, Benro, Manfrotto, Induro etc, go and have a look and more importantly a play around first. It's all very well reading stats online, but nothing compares to handling the things first. You'll know what's good value and what ain't and what would be reasonable to cart about and what won't.

[Tywais]

Just saw some example photos on Flickr of the EM-1 which has convinced me that is the way forward for me now. My jaw dropped when I saw the ISO range of photos he took starting at 100 and up to 25600! In nearly every case 25600 is generally useless except on the big FX cameras but I had to keep going back and forth between the ISO 100 and 25600 and recheck the EXIF data to believe what I was seeing. The detail and lack of noise was remarkable and highly useable at 25600 for at least web posting. You need to look at the 75mm f/1.8 images of the front yard of the house.

Of course actual night shots with lots of black it will probably be less impressive but still ...

This is at 25600 ISO with the Zuiko 75mm f/8.0 1/2000 sec. This is of course compressed and reduced on Flickr.

Sorry, but had to put the link into a code box or else it pops up here as a slide show.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ralfs-foto-bude/sets/72157635464523882/

[FracturedRabbit]

With the E-M5 (and the E-M1 is probably only slightly improved), I found I could shoot comfortably up to 6400 without worrying about noise. What I found most impressive was that the sensor retained the colour information at high ISOs, unlike my previous Canon 1D which where the colours went to crap once the ISO was raised.

This was at ISO 6400 and the colours are pretty much as I remember them.

[Tywais]

With the E-M5 (and the E-M1 is probably only slightly improved), I found I could shoot comfortably up to 6400 without worrying about noise. What I found most impressive was that the sensor retained the colour information at high ISOs, unlike my previous Canon 1D which where the colours went to crap once the ISO was raised.

This was at ISO 6400 and the colours are pretty much as I remember them.

That's quite good and using the 100-300 Lumix lens which I also have. On my GH2 I have the max ISO locked at 1600 because it's nearly useless above that. Even 1600 is a last resort for me. The 100-300 is not a high grade lens but that shot is very nice with very modest noise in the background bokeh.

Olympus will be coming out soon with the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO which makes a very nice range with two lenses. 12-40 f/2.8 & 40-150 f/2.8. If I sell my GH2 not sure what lenses to let go with it if I decide on the 40-150mm addition. I have the following.

Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens

M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 portrait

Lumix 14-140 zoom kit lens

Lumix 100-300mm zoom. That one I'm sure to keep until a PRO version from Olympus comes out.

Been trying to find where to buy 4/3 (not micro 4/3) lenses 2nd hand. Any suggestions?

BTW - I contacted avcamera and the 59900 price was for a used kit model which is sold. Currently at 69,900 Baht which is still considerably cheaper than purchasing from the US.

[FracturedRabbit]

The 20mm F1.7 is a classic, and good to use when the light is low or you just want a light-weight combination.

With the 12-40mm, not sure the 45mm has much of a role any more. I have the 75mm F1.8 and it is so special that I just walk further away to use it! But again, the 45mm is so small and light.

14-140mm could probably go?

The 100-300mm is OK provided you stay away from the extremes of focal length; but even with less reach I expect the 40-150mm will make it pretty much redundant.

I took the following on my most recent trip to Japan, and took the following shots with each lens:

7-14mm - Zero

12-40mm - 1073

25mm F1.4 - 105

75mm F1.8 - 147

Was very reluctant to remove the 12-40mm, it's just so good; and convenient.

eBay for lenses?

[Tywais]

Instead of taking the Sony A7 topic too far off topic will post here. I finally pushed that button and received my EM-1 with 12-40mm lens Friday and very impressed and pleased with it so far. The build of it makes my GH2 feel like a plastic toy camera in comparison. The LCD is excellent, very bright and great colors and fonts. The EVF is remarkable for brightness and even more so the very large field it shows. The WiFi works a treat for remote controlling from my tablet. Ordered it from avcamera at a 5000 baht savings from the prices in Chiang Mai. Thanks for recommending them, great service and response from them.

Now trying to decide to wait for the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO or get the Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 50-200 mm F/2.8-3.5 which is very well rated and still a fast lens. This gives me a very good range with two lenses and could sell my GH2 with 14-140mm f/4 - 5.8 slow lens. Should be able to get the new lens for the price of selling the GH2 set.

Problem is that the 40-150 PRO is delayed now for release in the 2nd half of 2014. Price for the below 50-200 and the new 40-150 will be about the same. Dailycameranews

Just saw a M.ZUIKO PRO 150-350mm or similar super-telephoto lens is on the road map which I would replace my 100-300mm Panasonic with. Cameras can be an expensive hobby.

[Tywais]

This is one of the first shots I took with it. It's around a 75% crop, that is I cropped about 1400 pixels wide of the photo. This also is the 800 pixel wide from flickr so their resizing and re-compression effects the quality as the original is excellent. This is probably the first time I have seen what is referred to as buttery smooth bokeh on any camera I've used.

BTW - that moth is about 1 cm across sitting on an Orchid petal. Thought it was a smudge on the flower until I got close up to it.

[FracturedRabbit]

The 12-40mm can get really close, it's almost a macro. This is cropped; but not by a lot:

SC111205 by pattayadays.com, on Flickr

The 50-200mm is, I think, a Four Thirds lens, not a Micro Four Thirds lens; which means you will need an adapter and focusing will not be as whizzo fast. Optical quality will be excellent though.

[Tywais]

The 50-200mm is, I think, a Four Thirds lens, not a Micro Four Thirds lens; which means you will need an adapter and focusing will not be as whizzo fast. Optical quality will be excellent though.

Thanks for pointing that out. Was planning on the adapter anyway as there are some superb Four Third lenses out there. The phase detect focusing will then be used from what I remember.

I didn't try to see how close I could get but nice to see your photo (and that is a wow factor) and what is possible. I took mine using the manual focus ring as haven't got the hang yet on the focus selection grid for auto focusing.

BTW - did you use a fill flash on that as the lighting and color is fantastic.

[FracturedRabbit]

It was just a sunny day!

It's all personal preference, but I use one of the buttons on the front to bring up the focus grid, and then move around the grid with either the dials or the back pad. I use the other front button to centre the focus point. If you haven't already discovered it, when the grid is active, press the info key and then you can use the rear pad to make the focus points even smaller.

I keep forgetting about the snap-back focus ring on the 12-40mm! I have manual focus assist set to zoom (again personal preference and I don't like the look of focus peaking); and snapping back the ring and having a zoomed in view for focusing is just so elegant. The wasp shot was auto focus though; it was leaping around from place to place so just had to snap it quickly. The detail of the hairs on the body on the original is amazing; fantastic lens (and camera).

[Familyonthemove]

Wow - some really nice macro and wildlife photos appearing in this thread. How about the view of E-M1 (and M5) users on use for portraits?

Also - how do you find the handling with the dual-use controls?

I currently use a Lumix G2 (usually with the Olympus 45mm f1.8 or the Lumix 20mm f1.7) and with it's nice, simple manual controls I find it great to handle as I can adjust all the major controls without having to delve into menu's - so for portrait sessions and sports events the handling is great (but the high ISO IQ could be better and of course I have no image stabilization with these lenses).

[Tywais]

Wow - some really nice macro and wildlife photos appearing in this thread. How about the view of E-M1 (and M5) users on use for portraits?

Also - how do you find the handling with the dual-use controls?

I currently use a Lumix G2 (usually with the Olympus 45mm f1.8 or the Lumix 20mm f1.7) and with it's nice, simple manual controls I find it great to handle as I can adjust all the major controls without having to delve into menu's - so for portrait sessions and sports events the handling is great (but the high ISO IQ could be better and of course I have no image stabilization with these lenses).

Only had it up and running for one day so haven't had a chance with the different types of photos such as portrait.

I was a bit hesitant when hearing about the dual-use controls but after only a short time find them brilliant. The two scroll knobs change function depending on your PASM setting and with a flick of a switch changes them to two different functions. Very fast and efficient as I also got frustrated with having to dig through menus when I needed a function selection.

I have the same two primes you have but haven't tried them yet on it. Having too much fun with the 12-40 at the moment.

[FracturedRabbit]

The 45mm F1.8 is good for portraits, although I prefer the 75mm, especially for more discrete shots on the street.

The dual dials are great, you can set them up for a variety of uses; they are similar in concept to the dial with push function on the Lumix. And with all the other controls available, you rarely have to touch the menus. For me the handling and controls are the most significant upgrade compared to all the other M43 cameras I have owned. I wrote something to compare with the E-M5 which gives an idea of what is available: http://www.microfourthirds.info/2013/10/moving-from-the-e-m5-to-the-e-m1/

[Tywais]

A good blog on Steve Huff's website on OM-D, specifically EM-5 but covers several lenses including the 75mm 1.8 for the M43 which he raves about. Good read in general.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/tag/olympus-om-d/

[FracturedRabbit]

Steve Huff can be a little over-enthusiastic and shouty; and not sure he is much of a photographer; but he is fun to read. I prefer Ming Thein who writes on all manner of photography subjects and takes the most amazing photos. He love the 75mm: http://blog.mingthein.com/2012/07/22/review-the-olympus-zd-751-8-for-micro-four-thirds/

He has just posted the first part of a review of the Zeiss Otus which he rates extremely highly; but compares it favourably to the 75mm:

"In the hands of a master, this lens is a lethal weapon: it is both utterly transparent and emphatically revealing. What the lens lacks in aberrations and flaws manifests as this clarity and transparency that’s very unique because so few other lenses can do this – the only few that instantly come to mind are the Olympus 75/1.8, Contax 2/45 Planar, Nikon PCE 85/2.8 Micro and Nikon 200/2 VR, but even the latter is somewhat overshadowed by its extreme bokeh."

[Genericnic]

Steve Huff can be a little over-enthusiastic and shouty; and not sure he is much of a photographer; but he is fun to read. I prefer Ming Thein who writes on all manner of photography subjects and takes the most amazing photos. He love the 75mm: http://blog.mingthein.com/2012/07/22/review-the-olympus-zd-751-8-for-micro-four-thirds/

He has just posted the first part of a review of the Zeiss Otus which he rates extremely highly; but compares it favourably to the 75mm:

"In the hands of a master, this lens is a lethal weapon: it is both utterly transparent and emphatically revealing. What the lens lacks in aberrations and flaws manifests as this clarity and transparency that’s very unique because so few other lenses can do this – the only few that instantly come to mind are the Olympus 75/1.8, Contax 2/45 Planar, Nikon PCE 85/2.8 Micro and Nikon 200/2 VR, but even the latter is somewhat overshadowed by its extreme bokeh."

If you don't mind a manual focus lens (I'm a dinosaur and love almost anything manual), you might check out the mFT Voigtlander 42.5mm f/0.95. It is probably what will replace my FF Nikon 85mm f/1.4.

David

[fimgirl]

This looks interesting. Worlds fastest lens.

http://www.fujirumors.com/worlds-fastest-lens-for-fuji-x-mount-announced-the-ibelux-f0-85/

[FracturedRabbit]

This looks interesting. Worlds fastest lens.

http://www.fujirumors.com/worlds-fastest-lens-for-fuji-x-mount-announced-the-ibelux-f0-85/

Also being released for Micro Four Thirds.

[Tywais]

Here is an excellent video tutorial on setting up and using the EM-1. I've downloaded it to view off line as it is a 45 minute video. Beats digging through the manual to understand the key features.

[FracturedRabbit]

Only 45 minutes, must be the highlights only...!

[MJP]

Only 45 minutes, must be the highlights only...!

I'd tried to get through the Pentax K-3 review by Ralf, but the old ADHD kicked in early.

[Tywais]

Only 45 minutes, must be the highlights only...!

I know what you mean though I did pick up quite a few good things from it that saved me a lot of time from trial & error or looking through the manual. Incredible feature set and flexibility in this camera. The more I work with it the more in love with it I am. I liked the GH2 but it just can't compare with this one. Just put on my Panasonic 14-140mm zoom to check if I can manual focus with it and if the focus zoom and focus peaking works. It does, very nice feature. I'm either operating in aperture priority or full manual now. Those multi purpose knobs are a huge time saver.

[Genericnic]

Just picked up the FL-600R flash and looking forward to seeing how well the TTL functions work with the E-M1.

David

[Tywais]

Just picked up the FL-600R flash and looking forward to seeing how well the TTL functions work with the E-M1.

Looks quite nice, something I haven't gotten yet. Did you get it in Thailand and, if you don't mind, the price?