Home from Bermuda and I brought the E-M5II with me!

65 Comments

1. Awesome! Thank you for the info!

2. do a real this real world AF test

   find somebody on bike ….even 3 year kid ….and then once he pedal towards you normal speed ….catch him going

   my EM10 is hopeless with this job

   • You’ll probably need a dslr for that. Or maybe em1 will be ok.

3. The first 4 of the 8 composite 40MP
   Shifts the pixels halfway to get almost full colour info per pixel
   This is almost Foveon without Foveons drawbacks.

   Hence the EM5ii shows pixel level clarity better than Nikon D800e
   As well as nicer gradation, subtleties :
   due to no 2/3 Bayer calculating from 1/3 info.
   EM5ii will also be above Canons 50MP 5DS for the same reasons.
   Although the Canon 50MP will have more detail.

   If Olympus release firmware that uses only the first 4 from 8 composite
   We will get even nearer to Foveon (without Foveons drawbacks)
   Although we will loose resolution.

4. Steve, thanks for reviewing these cameras. It’s always a great read, and you always have great insights.

   I’m a bit bummed by the misleading A7 vs. E-M5ii comparison pic you posted here though. You have some sort of grip attached to the A7 which makes it look giant compared to the Olympus. Then you continue to affirm this delusion in text, by writing that the E-M5ii is half the size of the A7. Why are you misleading the readers?

   I’ve been using Olympus M43 and the A7 side by side for a year now, and the size difference between the E-M5 body and the A7 is negligible at best. I’m really not sure why you are trying to convey a different story.

   • Wasn’t a comparison at all. When I do the review there WILL be a comparison photo..but that was not one..

5. Steve, as E-M1 has PDAF ability when tracking moving objects, is there much difference with E-M5II without PDAF, particularly with difficult objects like over-energized kids…. Dolphins are easier, I have photographed both!

   Best regards,

   Matti

6. Thanks Steve, I was referring to the new 14-150ii. I have the 25 1.4 Panasonic and 75-300ii. Was hoping the 14-150ii was improved. May pick up the 12-40 Pro instead.

7. STEVE!!!! STEVE!!!!
   Two quick questions.
   a) How does the EVF compare to previous OMD models? Comparable to the E-M1?
   b) When using Live Time, doesn’t pressing the shutter button to end the exposure affect the image? I haven’t seen anyone using an electronic cable release, so i guess it’s fine, but I would think the image would be blurred. I know there is a delay when initiating the exposure.
   THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
   Paul

8. How is the new kit lens? Was considering it for weather resistant travel set.

   • There actually is no kit lens for the E-M5II. It will not be made available with any lens, only body only. If you are referring to the updated 14-150 – all they added was weather sealing. From what I have seen it is sharp and gives you 28-300mm. It will not be nearly as good as the 12-40 or a prime but is still quite nice.

9. Steve
   Can the em5 ii fits in a pocket just like the Sony RX100 iii?

   • NOOOOooooOOooooo. Its an interchangeable lens nearly pro camera. Not a small sensor pocket camera. Even without a lens attached it would never fit in a pocket.

10. sorry for my ignorance but how many bits are raws in the em5ii and em1?

11. I ordered this camera.
    I feel more confident purchasing this after seeing your reviews Steve.
    This will be my first 4/3 camera and the silent shutter and flip out screen sold me.

    • Good choice, I am sure you will LOVE it. For fun rent a couple of the great lenses (40-150, Nocticron, even the Voigtlander 17 or 25)

12. How come you always get schmoozed to do reviews now?

    • Lol, there is always one. I do not get “stemmed” to do reviews. These are “press trips” that happen once every 1 1/2 years or so. I have been on two in the past two years yet I have written 20 reviews in the last year. These trips have been going on since the 80’s and all of those other popular web sites you read for reviews? They were there as well (DPreview, Engadget, Slash Gear, Phoblographer, Imaging Resource, Steves Digicams, etc) . It’s part of the business. I would be a FOOL to pass up testing a hot new camera when offered, as this is my JOB. No schmoozing, just fun trips with fun photo opps to test cameras. But I am sure you did not read the ABOUT ME page as this is talked about there and has been for years.

      • LOL, gotcha. I think that you like Oly, Sony and of course Leica. I have not seen you let anyone with a Canon Rebel or Nikon 3300 into your world.

        • Into my world? I have great friends who shoot Canon and Nikon, but this is my blog and I write about what I like and what I feel others would like. 70% of my readers shoot mirrorless. 25% shoot Leica. The rest, no idea. I am not a fan of ANY DSLR. If I were a sports pro then yes, but thats about it. Just do not see the need to lug large fat bodies around with even larger lenses when there are other (better) options that are much smaller.

        • you mean like Steve’s Nikon D3100 review here?
          http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/10/26/nikon-d3100-real-world-camera-review/

          or his Canon 6D review here?
          http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2013/09/11/review-the-canon-6d-with-sigma-35-1-4-art-and-canon-85-1-2l/

          The beauty of Steve’s site is that he lets folks say what they like, whether it conflicts with his views or not. Please do your homework before you start judging.

          Steve, to be honest, I’m not sure why you engage these folks who try to bait you.

          On another note- I have tried and tried APS-C and smaller sensors, but when it comes to the stuff I shoot (Portraits and landscapes), I always have to go back to full frame. Loving my Nikon Df… thanks for your review of that too!!! But it is rad to see your enthusiasm for so many different brands and cameras.

          http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2013/12/20/the-nikon-df-camera-review-by-steve-huff/

        • Steve reviewed the Nikon DF.

      • Steve, when you go on one of these “Press Trips,” let your readers know what the sponsor paid for – airfare, hotel, food, gifts, etc. No need to mention $ amounts, since you may not know. That way there is no speculation.

        • ALL popular US camera sites go, and I have had my disclaimer up for years in the About me page for everyone to read. No big deal. All european sites go to the Olympus Europe press trips, this time it is in Prague. I was invited but passed due to other obligations. It is part of this business. Just as a journalist travels for the story, us camera reviewers travel to the press events. It helps me, it helps you and helps everyone involved. It has zero bearing on the review. I have loved Olympus cameras since the E-1 4/3 camera. If there is a model I am “blah” on, I do not write about it, and there have been a few.

13. Steve, if I understand what this camera is going to do, you havae taken a camera with 1/2 the sensor area of Fx and with composite you are making the sensor twice as big (in area) by stitching. The only things I have seen that do this before are specialized rigs that take multiple shots attached to land cameras.

    But this is still fairly small. Intriguing. And (when my TLR jammed) over the summer I started using an OM-10, I really liked it…

    But I want to see the next set of reviews. Functionally, it would be more like 3K — 1.K for the camera, and 2 K for the two Voightlander primes I’d want to do that kind of work. Plus a good travel tripod. Not as cheap as analog, but a lot cheaper than a Pentax 645

14. There’s no end to the quest for better image quality and more solphisticated features. The way out for less well heeled Third World photographers like myself is to get a great contemporary camera / lens system and master it. I’m trying to do just that with my E-PL5 and Lumix GX1, and so far my results are very encouraging. The secret to terrific IQ is, of course, in the lenses, so I’m focusing on getting the ones available in India and which are economically priced, e.g., the 14 and 20 from Panasonic and the 45mm from Olympus. That said, the much overlooked 14-42mm Olympus kit lens has given me some pictures with amazing IQ, way way beyond my expectations. In the final analysis, good photography boils down to better envisioning, better technique and better post processing. I think there are many photographers around who feel that a ‘better’ camera will yield better photographic results… 😉
    Still, it’s great to read of Steve’s adventures with the latest and greatest !

15. Does the sensor in the mk2 have the low pass filter like the mk1, or no low pass filter like the em1? I like to shoot astrophotography and have had long exposure issues with my em1. As well, there are several websites that have documented how the em5 mk1 handles noise better for long exposures compared to the em1, and this will make a difference when I trade in my em1 for the mk1 or mk2, or a ff. Thank you!

    • Steve, any help here?

      • The E-M5MKII has no AA filter. Just like the E-M1. But the long exposure capability is phenomenal. I did 40 minutes and no noise.

16. Does it make the same ‘whirring’ sound as the E-M5?

    • The E-M1 does as well but I have not heard it in the 2…

17. Steve,

    Thanks. This is great! Does the new EM5 MK2 has the sweep Panorama mode or we still have to stitch in post processing?

    Thanks and look forward to your full review!

    • It has pano mode..

18. It’s about half the size of my beloved Sony A7s,”

    That caught my eye and I wondered… how can it be half the size? But it isn’t, quite and according to an easy to find comparison site…

    Olympus is…
    3.2mm narrower.
    9.4mm shorter.
    10mm thinner.
    7g heavier.

    Sorry for taking you literally for a moment 😀

    • In terms of volume, half may not be much of an overstatement.

19. I want to Olympus to have gorgeous rich files too. Maybe some sort of 32/16 bit in camera thingy happening so we can have those long mid tones like film has.

20. Any reservations about IQ, Steve, especially after shooting with the A7 series for so many months? LOVE this camera but worried I’m going to miss a larger sensor.

    • Not yet but give me some time. All you lose is some shallow DOF and higher ISO (like 12,800) performance. Check my Nocticron review for some high ISO E-M1 samples even at 10k, the E-M5Ii has the same IQ. All you gain in the EM1 is the pro body.

      • A nice pre full review article, Steve.

        The e-m1 also has no anti-aliasing filter, but the difference, if any, seem to be negligible, honestly. I wished the absence of the low pass filter on the e-m1 would have made a more difference from the “standard” sensor on the e-m5 mk21 and e-m10.

        Perhaps a more significant difference and exclusivity may be that the e-m1 has phase detect auto focus. It does work with m43 lenses (not just the older four thirds lenses) if you use c-af, does not work with s-af.

        With the soon to be released firmware update 3.0 for the e-m1 this month, c-af performance and accuracy is said.to be improved. Hope it really makes a significant difference to c-after tracking accuracy and hit rate. It is also suppose to up the c_af up to 9-10 fps, as opposed to the 5-6 fps currently.

        Hopefully, a few other updates/upgrades will make its way into the 3.0 update. Would it really be that hard or impossible to add more fps options for video such as 24 and 60 fps? Perhaps also add a high res shooting mode. Sure, I know the new e-m5 mk2 has new hardware with voice coil motor for the 5 axis ibis improvement which also allows for the way high res shooting works, however, the e-m1 still does have a very good ibis system and would it be that hard to utilize it to offer high res shooting function? I think the fact that the sensor in the e-m1 also has that ability to hyper vibrate and self clean which should make it possible to micro shift the sensor to make/simulate high res shooting.

        High res shooting does seem to work, though very limited applications for static only shooting situations on tripod. It would make a great feature for high quality product photography as well as photography of art and architecture. Anyways, would n nice if the above.mention updates could find its way to the e-m1… It’s the flagship, so it should have nearly all the features of it’s siblings, wherever possible. I was glad that live composite made its way into the e-m1 from the e-m10.

        Looking forward to your full e-m5 mk2 review, Steve. Thanks!

21. Steve, one question, make or break with any camera I use: Is there an easily thumb accessible button I can use for AF-ON so I can focus with a rear button while in continuous focus mode and then trip the shutter with my index finger? I started shooting this way with my contax G2 and it’s really hard for me to want to use a camera any other way now!

    This camera is making it really tough for me to decide whether to go Sony FF or n4/3 (already have a few bucks in m4/3 lenses but the FF files my friend gets from his A7 are killer).

    Thanks!

22. Steve,

    Thank you for the great coverage of the omd em5 ii. Very interested in it.

    Any improvement in the basic image quality compared to the original? Less noise, better dynamic range? Or is it exactly the same sensor output and processing?

    I have seen some images from the older model that looked great, but I still tend to compare to bigger sensor cameras even tho I shouldn’t, and get discouraged.

    • It has the same exact IQ as the E-M1

23. Steve, what are your thoughts on the balance between high ISO capability and superior IS? Specifically, if you have Camera A with a superior in-camera IS but an ISO that is only usable to, say, 3200 and Camera B with great high ISO (say, 25,000 usable) but no IS (or mediocre IS), how do you see them comparing for low-light photography? It would seem that a great IS would allow a much lower (hand held) shutter speed and thus you wouldn’t have to crank the ISO as much. To be even more specific, how do you see the EM-5II (with IS) comparing to the A-7s (no IS?) for real-world handheld low-light performance (ignoring for a moment any other FF benefits)?

    • A lot depends on what you photograph. If you want to take sharp photos of humans the IS will only assist you to a certain point as people tend to move……if the Sony A7sII comes out with good IS then it is superior (in total. IS on Sony seems to be worse than Olympus) but also bigger and much more expensive. I find a dx sensor to be a perfect comprise between the 2…..maybe Olympus can make one like the above but with dx (some will say that is Fuji). But in general, we so spoiled now and can amazing cameras……

24. Still looking forward to see the promised “high resolution” comparisons.

    In the film days, it was known that 35mm products could easily out-resolve most medium format products. Yet for tonality, dynamic range, enlargeability, there was no substitute for square inches. Really anxious to see how this magic overlay approach works in practice, both tripod and hand-held, across a wide variety of subjects.

    Otherwise, this just seems to be a follow-on product with minor feature changes, with minimal inducement for current EM-5 owners to upgrade.

    • As stated you can not use 40MP high res handheld. I will show comparisons as soon as I get the RAW plug in to process them. As for the EM5II, it is a HUGE upgrade to the MKI. The new 5 Axis alone is worth it as are many other features. MUCH improved video, MUCH improved 5 Axis, Better controls layout, nicer design, faster AF, and quite a bit more. It’s like an all new camera IMO as it can do so much more than the MK I.

    • Film had the same density / resolution regardless of format but you could “spread” the subject out across more of it with medium format to get more detail. Medium format was equal or greater in almost all ways except for size and cost. As far as the image stacking, 1/2 pixel sensor movement 40m images… I believe Olympus has stated that this was purely targeted toward still photography needs and maybe the occasional landscape if there was no movement. Any other use is for fun and experiment.

    • To be sure, I understand the resolution overlay procedure is targetted for tripod use of immobile subjects. I want to see what happens when the limits are pushed. In other words, what happens when you try to use it hand-held anyway, since… why wouldn’t you? How far can you push that limit?

      Also to be sure, there are many minor feature improvements. The questions are still two: First, will anyone actually be able to discern real-world final output of this vs the existing 3-year old model (since they really couldn’t between any of the prior OM-D models).

      Secondly, you can now sell your used EM-5 for say $360 on eBay, less 12% fees, net $320. The new model EM-5II is almost 4x as expensive. So the question is not are these features desirable, since of course they are, the question for the existing EM-5 owner is are those features and the final image product worth a 4x haircut?

      • DPReview published a shot that should answer your question in part. A tripod shot with a person in it. I think it takes a second for the eight photos.

25. Steve, I agree with you this looks phenomenal, and in many ways better than the E-M1. I just wondered if you could let us know whether the custom Fn buttons can be set up to replicate the E-M1 buttons in terms of Drive, Metering Mode, AF Mode, etc.? Not sure if these functions were available to be placed on these buttons.

    Thanks for the great reviews.

26. Will the Tough 860 shoot RAW?

27. Steve,
    what would be the advantage of the 40 Megapixel High Res mode compared to stitching, where you can get even much higher resolution with static objects (landscapes) and any desired angle of view?
    thanks

    • Stitching manually? That takes all kinds of work. This is as easy as pressing the shutter. If you want more than 40MP, then stitch. 🙂

      • not only pressing the shutter, you need a tripod too.
        I do most of my landscapes stitched and the majority hand held. That could be even more flexible than with the OM-D and you decide during the shooting, what you want to have on the final picture.
        Stitching with a normal program is no task at all (I use the free ICE from MS on my Windows most of the time).
        If you did not try it, try it. It is fun and easy 🙂

        • Well, with this you have both options. Let the camera do the magic (which is much different and detailed than stitching) or take several shots and you do the work. You get both here.

    • Stitching is a great thing and the stitching part itself can be handled very nice and fully automatic with some software like photoshop. The limitation is getting the shots right. The closer objects in the frame, the more precise the alignment of the camera has to be. Else the perspective will be distorted and the pictures can impossibly be stitched without showing more or less severe artefacts. Therefor you need a nodal point adapter for landscape shots with close objects, product shots, etc. And that’s where the E-M5II’s multishot feature comes into play – you don’t have to fiddle around with those problems and just shoot.

      Don’t get me wrong. I like stitching very much and do it a lot. But only for panorama-shots, else it’s unusable or needs a whole lot of more work and additional equipment than a multishot feature. In the end both have their uses.

28. Steve is the color the same as the Em1? or improved.

    • Same as the E-M1.

29. I’m gonna get this!
    since the pro zoom kit is out of budget, is the kit zoom worth having or should I go body only?
    great site btw

    Ps, you should put a link up to Amazon UK to make a few bucks out of us UK viewers

    • Thanks, I have had a UK amazon link up for 3 years now 😉 Its on the sidebar as well as the shop and support page.

      • Haha I see it now, there’s too many distracting photos on this site lol. As per my initial question, is the 12-50 any good? I already have 17 25 and 45 primes, an all in one would be handy at times, but not if the iq isn’t there….

        • Steve reviewed the original 12-50 at some point in the past, I’m sure you’ll easily find his review. But I’d also like to add my two pence (wanted to write two cents, but you’re British :).

          I bought an E-M5 about two years ago and could only get it with the kit lens. It’s pretty sharp as far as kit zooms go. I use it very rarely for the occasional macro shot (it took me a while to figure out how to put it into macro mode) and for the even rarer times when I need a wide angle perspective. 17 1.8 is my everyday lens, I’d actually prefer the 20 1.7, but the AF can’t keep up with a 2 and a half year old toddler. As for the kit lens, well I’d easily live without it as well.

          • Thanks for that, I chose the 17 over the 20 for the exact same reason 🙂
            I think I’ll get the 12-50 just for the weather sealed aspect. Looking at used prices I won’t lose much if I move it on after 6 months.

      • Steve, you should also post an Amazon.ca link.

        • I do, has been here for years.

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