OMD gold award at dpreview

[soboyle]

How is start up time of OMD?
A frustration of the Fuji X100 is the slow start up and response. any comments comparing AF and start up speed between these 2 cameras? IQ similar?

[kweide]

What a real surprise to me, how close it is to the Nikon D800 !!!

[kit laughlin]

Hello Boyso,

Yes, I had a closer look at the Oly one, and it's a beautiful (and clever) device, so will probably get that.

Good morning Annna T; thank you for those links—I have owned hundreds of cameras literally, film and digital, but the OM-D is the toughest to set up for me, so far.

I wlll go through both of these links, and post back. Thanks!

[jonoslack]

Originally Posted by kweide

What a real surprise to me, how close it is to the Nikon D800 !!!

I'm confused

[Terry]

Originally Posted by soboyle

How is start up time of OMD?
A frustration of the Fuji X100 is the slow start up and response. any comments comparing AF and start up speed between these 2 cameras? IQ similar?

The Fuji start up is only slow under one instance. That is when files from your operating system end up on you SD card. This happens with Apple computers depending on how you download the files. To solve it you can write protect the card when you copy the files to your computer or reformat the card after each download. It can take like15 seconds to have a functioning camera if you don't do this.

[Terry]

Originally Posted by kit laughlin

Good morning Annna T; thank you for those links—I have owned hundreds of cameras literally, film and digital, but the OM-D is the toughest to set up for me, so far.

+1

[smartwombat]

Originally Posted by bradhusick

The review says the focus tracking on the OM-D is very disappointing. Too bad - I thought I could use it for fast moving sports. I have written a review of the NEX-7 with the phase adapter as a sports camera that will appear soon on stevehuffphoto.com.

I spent the weekend at Laguna Seca shooting with the OM-D and the GH-1 as backup for when the battery went flat.

Initially I was disappointed with the continuous AF on the OM-D and also the blanking on the EVF. Then I went back to the GH-1 and saw how comparatively bad that was.

CAF-TR is a pretty awful mode to use if you believe the manual. Half-pressing the shutter and waiting for it to lock on the subject, while panning a moving race car, just does not work.
I simply panned with the car and fully pressed the shutter, no half measures, and with release priority Off (default is On, change that!) it locks in about 1/4 second and takes the 1st shot. Then there is an annoying 1/2 second delay before it goes into burst mode and almost reaches the requested 4fps.

Same applies to CAF mode without tracking, try to pan with a car and even with the huge AF area I could pan all the way from the top of the corkscrew to the bottom and there would be no AF lock to then shoot a burst.
Just mash the shutter and trust the electronics and it worked much better.

Trying to use CAF-TR for a bird in flight was useless.
First I had the bird in my sights, then the tracking engaged with a half-press and the square with ticks jumped around like a flea anywhere except where the bird was. Finally the AF kicked in and drove the lens so far out of focus the bird vanished and I could no longer pan with it.

In CAF mode it was little better, once the AF hunted far enough to blur the bird into the blue sky so it could not be tracked, then there was no way to fully press the shutter to get the picture.

My best attempt was to half-press and get an AF lock on distant trees, then look up to the vulture, track it and full-press the shutter and wait until it got AF lock and shot.

This is going to require a lot of work to get the right technique, because it's not working following the manual.


Oh and even with release priority set to Off, the camera will still shoot an out of focus image. Really far out of focus.

Overall though, it was manageable and I got saleable images out of the weekend.

I can't wait until I recover the strength in my hand and can use my Canon 1D cameras though. They're what I really need for motorsport

[Jorgen Udvang]

Thank you for a very useful writeup, Racingwombat. That means I'll keep my Nikons for motor racing (and I'll need another dry cabinet ).

[boyzo]

Originally Posted by Godfrey

Had some time to play with the E-M5 this past Sunday at the store.

- Nice feel, tight and solid.
- It's small!
- Lots of controls*in a cramped space, but what you need to work with*all the time is easy to deal with.
- Good viewfinder, good LCD.
- Don't like the 12-50 zoom, but the 45/1.8 is delightful.

All in all, a fine piece from Olympus, as I always expect. I wish it were 20% larger overall, though.

(And I'm happy with my current equipment ... not looking to buy anything photographic. I've been putting money into shaping up die Gelbe Gefahr instead... ;-)

From the Old fart a judgement on the new OM-D . we are blessed ;-)

[boyzo]

Originally Posted by kit laughlin

Hello Boyso,

Yes, I had a closer look at the Oly one, and it's a beautiful (and clever) device, so will probably get that.

Good morning Annna T; thank you for those links—I have owned hundreds of cameras literally, film and digital, but the OM-D is the toughest to set up for me, so far.

I wlll go through both of these links, and post back. Thanks!

go here
suggested settings for the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera [Gary Ayton's photography wiki]

[paparazzi666]

[QUOTE=Vivek;412919]Hi Jono,

No, I do not have the C-V 25/0.95. I am mighty interested in the 17/0.95.

There is a rumored upcoming 35/0.95 from China (see: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/sony/3...35-0-95-a.html).

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cor blimey.... I love the 35mm focal length (meaning 70mm) for m43. I am pining for my 75mm Summilux of old, mounted on my m6. Today the 35mm f1.2 Voight is an absolute cracker but it doesn't focus close enough. From the sample pics it looks sharp or at least at the center. And the bokeh looks bokehlicious as they say. Cor will someone start a thread on this so we can track this thing? I am not an expert at forums. Right now I am using a made in China c-mount 35mm f1.7 lens. It is fun but can be reasonable sharp. You can see it here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paparaz...in/photostream

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by boyzo

From the Old fart a judgement on the new OM-D . we are blessed ;-)

Gettin' old aint for sissies, kiddo. ];-)

G

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by paparazzi666

Cor blimey.... I love the 35mm focal length (meaning 70mm) for m43. I am pining for my 75mm Summilux of old, mounted on my m6. Today the 35mm f1.2 Voight is an absolute cracker but it doesn't focus close enough. From the sample pics it looks sharp or at least at the center. And the bokeh looks bokehlicious as they say. ...

My lingering bits of FourThirds gear include the E-1 and both a Zuiko Digital 35mm f/3.5 Macro and an adapted Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8. They're what I use most on that camera now, 35-40 mm just works so beautifully on it.

It's surprising to me that Olympus hasn't offered a 35mm f/2 or f/1.4 for the M.Zuiko line yet. 45 is nice but a little long.

[paparazzi666]

Originally Posted by Godfrey

My lingering bits of FourThirds gear include the E-1 and both a Zuiko Digital 35mm f/3.5 Macro and an adapted Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.8. They're what I use most on that camera now, 35-40 mm just works so beautifully on it.

It's surprising to me that Olympus hasn't offered a 35mm f/2 or f/1.4 for the M.Zuiko line yet. 45 is nice but a little long.

-------------------------
Hi Godfrey, I have the Hexanon too. It's so cheap and very good. But it's not like a 0.95. I love my 25mm 0.95. To me it's a cracker for such a high speed lens. I know some people who have that mounted permanently on their m43 camera... like this lady..
hello hyperfocusing! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I have a set on Flickr with the 25mm Nokton here...
Flickr: Please wait...

The other option is the 40/1.4 of the old Olympus PenF or the 42/1.2 PenF, but these lenses are now way way too expensive on ebay, and just a bit too long, with a stronger tele compression effect. I find the 70mm full frame tele gives a more normal perspective, it can even look like a 50mm, just tighter and fatter bokeh. I really am interested in this China lens. Hope it's affordable.

[Godfrey]

Originally Posted by paparazzi666

Hi Godfrey, I have the Hexanon too. It's so cheap and very good. But it's not like a 0.95. I love my 25mm 0.95.
...
The other option is the 40/1.4 of the old Olympus PenF or the 42/1.2 PenF, but these lenses are now way way too expensive on ebay, and just a bit too long, with a stronger tele compression effect. I find the 70mm full frame tele gives a more normal perspective, it can even look like a 50mm, just tighter and fatter bokeh.

I had the Pen F 40/1.4 at the same time as I had the Hexanon AR 40/1.8. The two lenses are nearly identical twins with regard to rendering qualities ... I sold the Oly lens because I could use the Konica on both FourThirds SLR and Micro-FourThirds where the Oly was only usable with the mFT mount. I wish Olympus had made a fast 35 to 40mm lens for FourThirds SLR, just like I wanted a fast 17 to 19mm lens as well. But they didn't, and I doubt they ever will. The Summilux 25/1.4 ASPH (FT SLR) is very nice. The wonderful 14-35/2 is just too big, heavy and expensive.

I don't know how a 70mm lens can produce a look that's shorter than a 40mm lens..? doesn't make sense. The Olympus Pen 70mm f/2 produces a beautiful look, however, with a bit of compression and a very nice feel. Used that one quite a lot with the G1.

Given Micro-FourThirds and a choice between the Summilux 25/1.4 and Voigtländer 25/0.95, it's a bit of a toss up. Both are excellent lenses, I've seen a lot of work with both of them. Now that Voigtländer has made a 17mm f/0.95 as well, I'd probably buy both Voigtländers and stick with the Konica 40 and Pen F 70 mm if I were buiding up a Micro-FourThirds kit again. That way the camera works the same way with my entire lens kit, rather than one way with the normal and a different way with the other lenses. Makes for fewer mistakes.

Fun stuff. I enjoyed my Olympus and Panasonic FourThirds and Micro-FourThirds gear, and I still enjoy the E-1, although I use it rather infrequently at the moment. Too many other things are keeping me busy.

[Hosermage]

As if we need any more convincing... Full review: The Olympus OM-D E-M5 (from Ming Thein, who also reviewed the Monochrom)

[retow]

Originally Posted by Hosermage

As if we need any more convincing... Full review: The Olympus OM-D E-M5 (from Ming Thein, who also reviewed the Monochrom)

Oh boy, that was a not a smart read for me because he is one of the few reviewers I pay attention to. I guess I just decided to get back into mft. Thanks for the link anyway

[ptomsu]

Originally Posted by retow

Oh boy, that was a not a smart read for me because he is one of the few reviewers I pay attention to. I guess I just decided to get back into mft. Thanks for the link anyway

Do not worry, happened to me same way without that review.

And this time I am really convinced of m43 and especially of the OMD!