ptomsu
Workshop Member
I agree to all, except should be the same sensor as the OM-1 or OM-3
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The OM-3, rebirth of a legend
- Thread starter Jorgen Udvang
- Start date
ptomsu
Workshop Member
I am pretty sure that the price of the OM-3 will come down to $1700.- after a few months anyway.
Just waned to relay I held one and tried it for a tiny bit of time. Looking into renting one. Some thoughts:
It had the 12-45 F4 Pro lens that they are selling as its kit lens (in USA at least).
- IBIS -tried 5 stops of IBIS to shoot at 45mm 1/1.6 (0.625 secs) and couldn't have a sharp shot. I always wondered about the claims for "look ma, holding it for 2, 4, 6, 8! seconds!"
But tried at the wide and then I was able to do so (then wide is easier, it's a 24 equivalent).
Anyway, it's good IBIS, don't get me wrong. But all these "seconds hand holding legends" - sure, allright/whatever
.
- A key part for me- the OM-3 isn't really a compact camera yet... it doesn't look / feel "big." I was surprised a bit by this. It didn't seem to be "horrible" by not being as compact as say a PenF. I think with the body cap it would fit in my jacket pocket. A bit "brick" in width but to me (speaking for myself) it's important that it can do that much.
- Did a quick HHHR shot- takes the same as OM-1 to resolve- about 6 seconds (this is like 2.5x-3.x the speed of the OM-5 resolve).
- The camera looks nicer than I expected. I always thought the OM-3 looks fine on the front but less fine on the back. While in person that was still a bit true, it's not as bad as it would seem in the photos of it. Probably because normally you are seeing it a bit of the angle of the top with the dials.
- Still slightly concern on the rear thumb rest because it looks exactly like the EM5.3/OM-5/PenF thumb rest fake leather that will expand at some point with use and fall off.
One more thing that I was pleasantly surprised: when you look at the photo on the LCD and switch to the EVF, the EVF still shows the photo you were looking at at the magnification it was instead of switching to a live view.
I have wanted this behavior since forever, maybe the OM-1 already had it but before that no other Olympus camera I can remember did this- always switching to the live view. Finally, whether default or an option, the OM-3 is doing it.
It had the 12-45 F4 Pro lens that they are selling as its kit lens (in USA at least).
- IBIS -tried 5 stops of IBIS to shoot at 45mm 1/1.6 (0.625 secs) and couldn't have a sharp shot. I always wondered about the claims for "look ma, holding it for 2, 4, 6, 8! seconds!"
But tried at the wide and then I was able to do so (then wide is easier, it's a 24 equivalent).
Anyway, it's good IBIS, don't get me wrong. But all these "seconds hand holding legends" - sure, allright/whatever
.- A key part for me- the OM-3 isn't really a compact camera yet... it doesn't look / feel "big." I was surprised a bit by this. It didn't seem to be "horrible" by not being as compact as say a PenF. I think with the body cap it would fit in my jacket pocket. A bit "brick" in width but to me (speaking for myself) it's important that it can do that much.
- Did a quick HHHR shot- takes the same as OM-1 to resolve- about 6 seconds (this is like 2.5x-3.x the speed of the OM-5 resolve).
- The camera looks nicer than I expected. I always thought the OM-3 looks fine on the front but less fine on the back. While in person that was still a bit true, it's not as bad as it would seem in the photos of it. Probably because normally you are seeing it a bit of the angle of the top with the dials.
- Still slightly concern on the rear thumb rest because it looks exactly like the EM5.3/OM-5/PenF thumb rest fake leather that will expand at some point with use and fall off.
One more thing that I was pleasantly surprised: when you look at the photo on the LCD and switch to the EVF, the EVF still shows the photo you were looking at at the magnification it was instead of switching to a live view.
I have wanted this behavior since forever, maybe the OM-1 already had it but before that no other Olympus camera I can remember did this- always switching to the live view. Finally, whether default or an option, the OM-3 is doing it.
Picked up a rental for 4 days starting today, been playing with it a bit and going over the shots right now.
Some thoughts
- Camera doesn't feel build-wise as solid as say an EM5 Mark 2, Probably because the rear is hollow and plastic, but doesn't feel bad per se.
- Camera is as heavy as the EM5.2 pretty much
- Shutter button location I thought may bother me due to the "long" of the camera and where the dial is, but it's fine.
- Body again, is not what I would call compact but doesn't feel "big"
Color and B/W
This camera has virtually identical color and B&W profiles to the PenF, and seems to respond with the richness and WB this entails (this is a really good thing, I never complained about the PenF color but the opposite)
General tonality compared to something like Fuji
- Fuji seems to do better tonality (makes sense, being 14-bit raws). But I would be happy with PenF class responses, and this should do a bit better than that.
Still a bit early, need to see more
VS Fuji 26MP sensor cameras- really close in several situations from what I am seeing in some ways, the DR is still on the Fuji side but other than that seems to put quite a fight
VS Fuji 40MP sensor cameras- the 40MP's are one step ahead (as one may expect from the ASPC theoretical, people also need to resize down to 20MP to do a valid comparison at high iso).
'Fantastic' claimed Stacked Sensor "wow" Camera (OM-1) high iso performance
Too early to say, waiting for the night but on a quick first pass looks like the JPEG engine is indeed improved here.
Update: jpegs are improved over PenF what seems to be like one stop better. Need to test some more though.
Image general "roughness" on good light seems similar to PenF class/m43rds class.
Jacket Pocket Test
- Passes side jacket pocket of storing with body cap (lens out)
- Passes inner chest jacket pocket test of storing with body cap (lens out)
These two points would be for me an immediate deal breaker if it failed that much due to size.
Small bonus- the camera is flatter than the OM-5 (no grip), so it makes it somewhat easier to slide into the pockets and it fits in whole, though you can tell it's a bit wide. But it's not a unilateral win for the OM-5 for being smaller in this test. The PenF though, does this better- but anyhow, OM-3 passes this test.
- IBIS with 25mm F1.8 - I found myself having to be very careful to get IBIS at 5 stops with the 25mm. This is actually a pretty good performance (0.64 seconds) but not the "legends" I have seen some people claim of 3-8 seconds hand holding. Usually the focal length in those claims are not revealed but must be at the wide since a per Canon chart that's the best case for IBIS plus at wide you are def. getting into longer shutter territory with same amount of stops.
On a hasty pass I would rank this 0.5-1 stop better than a Fuji X-T50. One point people miss is the X-T50 has to do the IBIS with a 40MP sensor so a tiny bit of a miss will be more critical. I found some shots if you resize them down to m43rds 20MP pass as a m43rds successful IBIS shot.
- EVF - EVF is pretty much the same one of PenF and OM-5/EM5.3, but running with high refresh option (PenF could do that too but not the EM5.3/OM-5).
Regular refresh = 60Hz. HighRefresh at least on PenF is 120Hz, so that's what it's probably here too.
The EVF resolution is OK. It works but yeah, at $2,000 USD one expects the 3.6MP class EVF.
- Test: Focus the Lumix 20mm F1.7 reliably on a single press (this means full press shutter to AF/take shot). I have found on all the Olympus/ OM-5 bodies I have tried that to get reliable AF you have to half press first, wait for lens to AF, and then finish the shot by the full press.
No other lens does this to me, and anyone defending that you should always half press first (as happened in dpreview) is just trying to come with a coping excuse- the camera shouldn't do this. Lumix bodies don't have this issue. apparently from previous conversation- the EM1 Mark 1 doesn't have this issue either.
Failed the test unfortunately. I was hoping this generation of OM System AF would pass this test but it doesn't. This also means any of the OM-1's don't either. I wonder what it would take to do what it takes/talk to Panasonic to fix this. This is one of the small "m43rds standard" not so standard behavior (the other being the Lumix apertures not recognized by Olympus bodies), and that to use some high FPS on OM-1/OM-3/Em1.3 and focus stacking- you may need some specific Olympus Pro lenses and can't use Lumix lenses for it, nor any general Olympus / OM Systems lens.
More a bit later.
Some thoughts
- Camera doesn't feel build-wise as solid as say an EM5 Mark 2, Probably because the rear is hollow and plastic, but doesn't feel bad per se.
- Camera is as heavy as the EM5.2 pretty much
- Shutter button location I thought may bother me due to the "long" of the camera and where the dial is, but it's fine.
- Body again, is not what I would call compact but doesn't feel "big"
Color and B/W
This camera has virtually identical color and B&W profiles to the PenF, and seems to respond with the richness and WB this entails (this is a really good thing, I never complained about the PenF color but the opposite)
General tonality compared to something like Fuji
- Fuji seems to do better tonality (makes sense, being 14-bit raws). But I would be happy with PenF class responses, and this should do a bit better than that.
Still a bit early, need to see more
VS Fuji 26MP sensor cameras- really close in several situations from what I am seeing in some ways, the DR is still on the Fuji side but other than that seems to put quite a fight
VS Fuji 40MP sensor cameras- the 40MP's are one step ahead (as one may expect from the ASPC theoretical, people also need to resize down to 20MP to do a valid comparison at high iso).
'Fantastic' claimed Stacked Sensor "wow" Camera (OM-1) high iso performance
Too early to say, waiting for the night but on a quick first pass looks like the JPEG engine is indeed improved here.
Update: jpegs are improved over PenF what seems to be like one stop better. Need to test some more though.
Image general "roughness" on good light seems similar to PenF class/m43rds class.
Jacket Pocket Test
- Passes side jacket pocket of storing with body cap (lens out)
- Passes inner chest jacket pocket test of storing with body cap (lens out)
These two points would be for me an immediate deal breaker if it failed that much due to size.
Small bonus- the camera is flatter than the OM-5 (no grip), so it makes it somewhat easier to slide into the pockets and it fits in whole, though you can tell it's a bit wide. But it's not a unilateral win for the OM-5 for being smaller in this test. The PenF though, does this better- but anyhow, OM-3 passes this test.
- IBIS with 25mm F1.8 - I found myself having to be very careful to get IBIS at 5 stops with the 25mm. This is actually a pretty good performance (0.64 seconds) but not the "legends" I have seen some people claim of 3-8 seconds hand holding. Usually the focal length in those claims are not revealed but must be at the wide since a per Canon chart that's the best case for IBIS plus at wide you are def. getting into longer shutter territory with same amount of stops.
On a hasty pass I would rank this 0.5-1 stop better than a Fuji X-T50. One point people miss is the X-T50 has to do the IBIS with a 40MP sensor so a tiny bit of a miss will be more critical. I found some shots if you resize them down to m43rds 20MP pass as a m43rds successful IBIS shot.
- EVF - EVF is pretty much the same one of PenF and OM-5/EM5.3, but running with high refresh option (PenF could do that too but not the EM5.3/OM-5).
Regular refresh = 60Hz. HighRefresh at least on PenF is 120Hz, so that's what it's probably here too.
The EVF resolution is OK. It works but yeah, at $2,000 USD one expects the 3.6MP class EVF.
- Test: Focus the Lumix 20mm F1.7 reliably on a single press (this means full press shutter to AF/take shot). I have found on all the Olympus/ OM-5 bodies I have tried that to get reliable AF you have to half press first, wait for lens to AF, and then finish the shot by the full press.
No other lens does this to me, and anyone defending that you should always half press first (as happened in dpreview) is just trying to come with a coping excuse- the camera shouldn't do this. Lumix bodies don't have this issue. apparently from previous conversation- the EM1 Mark 1 doesn't have this issue either.
Failed the test unfortunately. I was hoping this generation of OM System AF would pass this test but it doesn't. This also means any of the OM-1's don't either. I wonder what it would take to do what it takes/talk to Panasonic to fix this. This is one of the small "m43rds standard" not so standard behavior (the other being the Lumix apertures not recognized by Olympus bodies), and that to use some high FPS on OM-1/OM-3/Em1.3 and focus stacking- you may need some specific Olympus Pro lenses and can't use Lumix lenses for it, nor any general Olympus / OM Systems lens.
More a bit later.
2nd Update: 4/3rds lenses on the OM-3
Good news for people who have 4/3rds lenses, I tried the F2.0 mm 50mm macro prime from 4/3rds era and it focuses it quite quite well. Better than I had seen the EM5.3 do this so that's great news for anyone that wants to use 4/3rds digital lenses on the OM-1/OM-3 bodies (those who have OM-1's and 4/3rd lenses already knew).
Good news for people who have 4/3rds lenses, I tried the F2.0 mm 50mm macro prime from 4/3rds era and it focuses it quite quite well. Better than I had seen the EM5.3 do this so that's great news for anyone that wants to use 4/3rds digital lenses on the OM-1/OM-3 bodies (those who have OM-1's and 4/3rd lenses already knew).
3rd Update: On high ISO and also HHHR
I think the benefit of HHHR is more than just 2 stops theoretical if you are going to share in resized down medium to 2000x pixels on the long edge, or even 4000x or full 20MP down from 50MP. It maybe 2.25-2.75 stops better because of the resampling.
4th update- going about at night
General JPEG engine comments
- Quite good JPEG engine noise control. I can see why they upped the limit to ISO 25600 for regular shooting. The JPEG engine does a great job at suppressing chroma noise, keep the color up (along with the modest benefit this sensor brings over say the OM5's), maybe losing detail a bit but in an homogenous way that converts to some digital grain in a pleasing way while still keeping overall tone, generally speaking.
I am quite frankly pleasantly surprised here for those who want to convert in-camera to JPEGS and share in the field, or have a JPEG workflow
HHHR-low light in the situations it can work is outstanding. I saw a color shot in quite low light ISO 25600 and I was pleasantly surprised.
A photography domain case for this camera
- if you are photographing still landscapes
- if you are doing one-off portraits (this means you shoot and the next shot is at 12-15 seconds, not continuously posing/shooting like a modeling session)
- If you are doing static product shots
I think HHHR works wonders on these cases. Same applies for OM-1. OM-5 takes a bit long to do this but it also works with a longer cadence (1 shot every 25-30 seconds)
Recommendation on how to think about HHHR
A big issue of HHHR is that it doesn't work in all situations- it can have issues with movement, may create some weird artifacts. I also find distracting to have your camera in these special modes... but what I found is conceptually what I would recommend this this:
- Think of you caring two cameras in one-
1) One is for general photography. This is your general non HHHR m43rds camera
2) The other picture it as a "large view heavy camera that will be annoying to use in general, and has a narrow domain of operation." But where it can work it works GREAT.
Mentally when you get an idea to photograph something picture what kind of "camera" you need best for that job and switch gears as you switch your camera to think of it that way - "limited in the domains I can use it but in the ones it works, it works great."
I find speaking for myself if I don't make this sort of mental separation, it's distracting to focus on doing the photography.
Raw conversion using OM Workspace
- Using OM Systems Workspace AI noise reduction works pretty well overall, and avoids some of the AI "painted artifacts" one often can see with Dxo Prime if one is not careful and over noise reduces. This is not easy to get right and I feel OM Systems while perhaps not the "bestest" noise reduction with the AI, it's still pretty good at striking a balance between helping while keeping results look "natural."
AF at night
- Face detect is a bit unreliable at some mid to further distances, camera fails to detect/track it. I do feel some of this happens in daylight also.
- I am finding the AF a bit confusing with face detect if you have a somewhat small points for selection (small area, tiny square, cross square area options) because it looks like you have to point to someone's face and that will start tracking it but if it loses it, normally it tends to track/detect in the area you hae selected in general? So basically it seems while the big area square can detect a face and start tracking it, when you have a small area square you have to point to the face first. At least seemed that way but I am not even quite sure that's how it works.
- I feel it def. improved over say the OM5/EM5.3 class camera
- Using the smaller square can present some challenges at times in lower light- this probably combines with the so called "low contrast issue" a bit
- There's some aspects that require a bit more use to get a better feel for how well it's performing. Overall I would rank it as reasonable though I did get some misses
- I honestly don't understand the whole "oh Fuji is so behind in AF vs m43rds"- I think the issue is Fuji had some issues through 3-4 firmware updates for AF in video mainly, and while they deserve all the flak they got for doing such regression in a newer firmware update, well that's fixed. I wouldn't put Fuji's AF at the rank of current "Canikony" but I am not seeing the big advantage of the OM-3 here over current Fuji so far. But I would have to really use the OM-3 more to gain more confidence where this all lands.
Going to check some images now to see I post something.
Handling comments
The camera ergonomics after some use started to get annoying. That color/B&W knob in front gets in the way of some fingers and while initially trying to hold with one hand can help with support, that dented metal wheel starts to hurt a bit on my right hand-angular finger.
Because the camera is "wide" it starts to also feel a bit unbalanced. I was using the Olympus 25mm F1.8 small prime (original, not new weather sealed one).
Banding in e-shutter in mixed light with fast shutter
The stacked sensor refresh seems to help here and I tried to push into fast shutters to get banding but couldn't see any obvious case. I think I saw one case where there was some very very mild banding but hard to see.
Trivia
- A guy that stopped next to me with some photography enthusiasm said "wow, that's a nice looking DSLR.. old school right? " And I was like "well, it's actually a new digital camera, but it was made to look like that. Looks like they accomplished that goal "
I think the benefit of HHHR is more than just 2 stops theoretical if you are going to share in resized down medium to 2000x pixels on the long edge, or even 4000x or full 20MP down from 50MP. It maybe 2.25-2.75 stops better because of the resampling.
4th update- going about at night
General JPEG engine comments
- Quite good JPEG engine noise control. I can see why they upped the limit to ISO 25600 for regular shooting. The JPEG engine does a great job at suppressing chroma noise, keep the color up (along with the modest benefit this sensor brings over say the OM5's), maybe losing detail a bit but in an homogenous way that converts to some digital grain in a pleasing way while still keeping overall tone, generally speaking.
I am quite frankly pleasantly surprised here for those who want to convert in-camera to JPEGS and share in the field, or have a JPEG workflow
HHHR-low light in the situations it can work is outstanding. I saw a color shot in quite low light ISO 25600 and I was pleasantly surprised.
A photography domain case for this camera
- if you are photographing still landscapes
- if you are doing one-off portraits (this means you shoot and the next shot is at 12-15 seconds, not continuously posing/shooting like a modeling session)
- If you are doing static product shots
I think HHHR works wonders on these cases. Same applies for OM-1. OM-5 takes a bit long to do this but it also works with a longer cadence (1 shot every 25-30 seconds)
Recommendation on how to think about HHHR
A big issue of HHHR is that it doesn't work in all situations- it can have issues with movement, may create some weird artifacts. I also find distracting to have your camera in these special modes... but what I found is conceptually what I would recommend this this:
- Think of you caring two cameras in one-
1) One is for general photography. This is your general non HHHR m43rds camera
2) The other picture it as a "large view heavy camera that will be annoying to use in general, and has a narrow domain of operation." But where it can work it works GREAT.
Mentally when you get an idea to photograph something picture what kind of "camera" you need best for that job and switch gears as you switch your camera to think of it that way - "limited in the domains I can use it but in the ones it works, it works great."
I find speaking for myself if I don't make this sort of mental separation, it's distracting to focus on doing the photography.
Raw conversion using OM Workspace
- Using OM Systems Workspace AI noise reduction works pretty well overall, and avoids some of the AI "painted artifacts" one often can see with Dxo Prime if one is not careful and over noise reduces. This is not easy to get right and I feel OM Systems while perhaps not the "bestest" noise reduction with the AI, it's still pretty good at striking a balance between helping while keeping results look "natural."
AF at night
- Face detect is a bit unreliable at some mid to further distances, camera fails to detect/track it. I do feel some of this happens in daylight also.
- I am finding the AF a bit confusing with face detect if you have a somewhat small points for selection (small area, tiny square, cross square area options) because it looks like you have to point to someone's face and that will start tracking it but if it loses it, normally it tends to track/detect in the area you hae selected in general? So basically it seems while the big area square can detect a face and start tracking it, when you have a small area square you have to point to the face first. At least seemed that way but I am not even quite sure that's how it works.
- I feel it def. improved over say the OM5/EM5.3 class camera
- Using the smaller square can present some challenges at times in lower light- this probably combines with the so called "low contrast issue" a bit
- There's some aspects that require a bit more use to get a better feel for how well it's performing. Overall I would rank it as reasonable though I did get some misses
- I honestly don't understand the whole "oh Fuji is so behind in AF vs m43rds"- I think the issue is Fuji had some issues through 3-4 firmware updates for AF in video mainly, and while they deserve all the flak they got for doing such regression in a newer firmware update, well that's fixed. I wouldn't put Fuji's AF at the rank of current "Canikony" but I am not seeing the big advantage of the OM-3 here over current Fuji so far. But I would have to really use the OM-3 more to gain more confidence where this all lands.
Going to check some images now to see I post something.
Handling comments
The camera ergonomics after some use started to get annoying. That color/B&W knob in front gets in the way of some fingers and while initially trying to hold with one hand can help with support, that dented metal wheel starts to hurt a bit on my right hand-angular finger.
Because the camera is "wide" it starts to also feel a bit unbalanced. I was using the Olympus 25mm F1.8 small prime (original, not new weather sealed one).
Banding in e-shutter in mixed light with fast shutter
The stacked sensor refresh seems to help here and I tried to push into fast shutters to get banding but couldn't see any obvious case. I think I saw one case where there was some very very mild banding but hard to see.
Trivia
- A guy that stopped next to me with some photography enthusiasm said "wow, that's a nice looking DSLR.. old school right? " And I was like "well, it's actually a new digital camera, but it was made to look like that. Looks like they accomplished that goal
"
ptomsu
Workshop Member
Feels kind of the same to me as well
biglouis
Well-known member
The only thing that would hold me back is that the BF is a 24mpx camera and so is my Ricoh GRIII. Albeit that one is FF and the other APS-C. But I am not sure in day to day use I'd actually notice much difference.Feels kind of the same to me as well
But anyway, this is an OM-3 thread so we should leave it there.
As for the OM-3, if I wanted a 'retro' type camera I would just go back to Fuji. The only Olympus body I could see upgrading to is the OM-1 MkII and only then when the s/h prices drop through the floor.
It does to me also to an extent. After I admired what seems to be a proposal to make a user interface different and to put simplicity and ease, my deal breaker is lack of a full or ECS mechanical shutter. That would have made me really consider it.
But for low light work or panning around, I don't think the Sigma BF is a match. A real pity because they got so many things right it seems for their concept. That sensor has a slow refresh. If at least it was a fast refresh one or part-stacked I think I could deal. Ah well.
But for low light work or panning around, I don't think the Sigma BF is a match. A real pity because they got so many things right it seems for their concept. That sensor has a slow refresh. If at least it was a fast refresh one or part-stacked I think I could deal. Ah well.
5h Update IBIS: Lumix 15mm F1.7 prime lens use
Finally, I was able to reproduce with some consistency hand holding with this lens in very low light with 2 seconds, 4 seconds and one shot as far as 8 seconds (but the consistent shooting I pushed was about 4 seconds).
This is indeed that legendary IBIS some reviews are talking about, but to note: this is a wide angle lens. Still quite something.
Like everything instead of reading the paper spec performance wise and then going by that making camera purchase tool decisions the first question you should ask yourself (imho) is how much and where exactly in your photography would you benefit from IBIS and to what kind of level of IBIS that is. I have found some people thikn they need it but they are shooting 1/125-1/1000 shutter speeds with a focal equivalent. in FF of 50 or 70. You don't need IBIS there.
And cameras that can do 3-4 stops of IBIS already expanded the envelope quite a bit for you, particularly if larger sensors it means they need IBIS less than the m43rds ones.
Basically look at your photography, what you are doing and then apply the need with constraints per your real world needs, not what seems "bestest" by itself because it's a whole set of trade offs either way.
One more consideration for IBIS- manual focusing lenses is nicier in general as the image you are looking at while doing so is steadier. So if you do a lot of manual focusing/use manual focusing lenses a lot, that's one thing to consider.
Finally, I was able to reproduce with some consistency hand holding with this lens in very low light with 2 seconds, 4 seconds and one shot as far as 8 seconds (but the consistent shooting I pushed was about 4 seconds).
This is indeed that legendary IBIS some reviews are talking about, but to note: this is a wide angle lens. Still quite something.
Like everything instead of reading the paper spec performance wise and then going by that making camera purchase tool decisions the first question you should ask yourself (imho) is how much and where exactly in your photography would you benefit from IBIS and to what kind of level of IBIS that is. I have found some people thikn they need it but they are shooting 1/125-1/1000 shutter speeds with a focal equivalent. in FF of 50 or 70. You don't need IBIS there.
And cameras that can do 3-4 stops of IBIS already expanded the envelope quite a bit for you, particularly if larger sensors it means they need IBIS less than the m43rds ones.
Basically look at your photography, what you are doing and then apply the need with constraints per your real world needs, not what seems "bestest" by itself because it's a whole set of trade offs either way.
One more consideration for IBIS- manual focusing lenses is nicier in general as the image you are looking at while doing so is steadier. So if you do a lot of manual focusing/use manual focusing lenses a lot, that's one thing to consider.
6th Update - My rental has ended today morning
So I returned the camera back. I have 1 week to decide if I want to buy, using 1/2 the money I spent on the rental as discount on this particular store.
What do I think? When it comes to image quality and it's options, I wouldn't be yearning for a Fuji even if they still have their advantages here and there, but the OM-3 JPEG and OM Systems with the AI workflow I found pretty decent. And shots that can benefit from HHHR in 14-bits do lookgreat excellent.
But at $2k, FAS LCD and the size/wide ergonomics... that does give me pause. Size - it's a bit big much for me. That wide body with the knob, started to really bug me when I walked around at night. If this was a PenF2- same specs, maybe lose 1 stop IBIS, but the rest the same, I would have paid the $2k for it. Or an EM5.2 body.
Well, that says something I think doesn't it. Any of the fans thinking what do I know- well I sure do belong to one of this camera main target markets. They pretty much fixed near all my complaints and problems I had with the PenF, but now we got the bigger size and other ergonomics on longer use.
The main reason I looked at one still - is to use the 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8- both of these lenses "kept me away from Fuji" for a long time until Fuji did other things of interest (that would be the X-T50 and in particular the X-M5). I also wanted to see where OM Systems m43rds state of the art was in AF.
I think the OM-3 will sell some within the m43rds crowd. I am not convinced it will bring new customers in statistically significant numbers numbers at $2k USD. It will sell great the first two months and drop after, and many of the fans will call it a great success (just like happened to EM1X), but not really (though I sure expect it to do better than the EM1X).
That price sure makes a lot of people comparison shop. Everyone saying "but the Nikon ZF, Fuji X-T5 don't have computational photography" needs to again-remember- at least some of that computational photography are workarounds to catch up- like the hand held high res. And the other cameras may not have that computational photography but they do have higher resolution, better image quality out of the box. And other things like dual card slots.
It's not that simple.
I do think that while I do like the online marketing of OM Systems, they need to have a "mini booth" kit of sorts at camera stores where they show PRINTED work done with the camera. And by that I mean printed out of camera color and B&W profiles directly from the camera, no alterations.
And point that out.
Do the same with Live GN ND and have some regular printed shot in HHHR next to a 100% crop of it.
Show some "on the field" JPEG workflows somehow online and in printed brochure.
The camera sure looks good when you look at it in person.
I find that Olympus generally went for "Kodak color" (that means stronger deep reds/yellows) over Fuji's Blue/Greens and I found out traditionally with film that was also the expectations per brand. Though the current JPEG engine of the Fuji's is pretty customizable too. But I gotta say I love that out of the box no fuss color profiles of the OM-3/Pen-F, and I think many will find these colors pretty good too- so they need to really highlight this somehow.
Also I want to see what happens to the OM-5 line now. My view is that either that gets axed or it gets the USBC EU mandatory update- but ideally should also get some new things like AI AF, AI noise reduction JPEGS, faster HHHR resolve. We'll see.
So I returned the camera back. I have 1 week to decide if I want to buy, using 1/2 the money I spent on the rental as discount on this particular store.
What do I think? When it comes to image quality and it's options, I wouldn't be yearning for a Fuji even if they still have their advantages here and there, but the OM-3 JPEG and OM Systems with the AI workflow I found pretty decent. And shots that can benefit from HHHR in 14-bits do look
But at $2k, FAS LCD and the size/wide ergonomics... that does give me pause. Size - it's a bit big much for me. That wide body with the knob, started to really bug me when I walked around at night. If this was a PenF2- same specs, maybe lose 1 stop IBIS, but the rest the same, I would have paid the $2k for it. Or an EM5.2 body.
Well, that says something I think doesn't it. Any of the fans thinking what do I know- well I sure do belong to one of this camera main target markets. They pretty much fixed near all my complaints and problems I had with the PenF, but now we got the bigger size and other ergonomics on longer use.
The main reason I looked at one still - is to use the 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8- both of these lenses "kept me away from Fuji" for a long time until Fuji did other things of interest (that would be the X-T50 and in particular the X-M5). I also wanted to see where OM Systems m43rds state of the art was in AF.
I think the OM-3 will sell some within the m43rds crowd. I am not convinced it will bring new customers in statistically significant numbers numbers at $2k USD. It will sell great the first two months and drop after, and many of the fans will call it a great success (just like happened to EM1X), but not really (though I sure expect it to do better than the EM1X).
That price sure makes a lot of people comparison shop. Everyone saying "but the Nikon ZF, Fuji X-T5 don't have computational photography" needs to again-remember- at least some of that computational photography are workarounds to catch up- like the hand held high res. And the other cameras may not have that computational photography but they do have higher resolution, better image quality out of the box. And other things like dual card slots.
It's not that simple.
I do think that while I do like the online marketing of OM Systems, they need to have a "mini booth" kit of sorts at camera stores where they show PRINTED work done with the camera. And by that I mean printed out of camera color and B&W profiles directly from the camera, no alterations.
And point that out.
Do the same with Live GN ND and have some regular printed shot in HHHR next to a 100% crop of it.
Show some "on the field" JPEG workflows somehow online and in printed brochure.
The camera sure looks good when you look at it in person.
I find that Olympus generally went for "Kodak color" (that means stronger deep reds/yellows) over Fuji's Blue/Greens and I found out traditionally with film that was also the expectations per brand. Though the current JPEG engine of the Fuji's is pretty customizable too. But I gotta say I love that out of the box no fuss color profiles of the OM-3/Pen-F, and I think many will find these colors pretty good too- so they need to really highlight this somehow.
Also I want to see what happens to the OM-5 line now. My view is that either that gets axed or it gets the USBC EU mandatory update- but ideally should also get some new things like AI AF, AI noise reduction JPEGS, faster HHHR resolve. We'll see.