E-M5 or GH3? You tell me

texinwien wrote:

Now that we're starting to get some comparable studio test shots taken with the GH3, it's interesting to have a close look at the output from Panasonic's flagship m43 model in comparison with output from the E-M5, Olympus' flagship model.

Several posters on this board have expressed their preferences for the image quality output by one or the other camera, often citing things like, and I paraphrase, 'very subtle differences', 'smoother / more gradual tonal gradation' and 'more of a 3-d feel'.

You'll see I'm trying to be neutral here. I'm not identifying any specific posters, and I'm also not saying which cameras I have seen the above, paraphrased statements applied to.

Without further adieu, here are two images from image-resource.com - one from their review of the E-M5, the other from their preview of the GH3. Have a look at both, and see whether you can tell which is which, and whether you find that one, in your subjective opinion, looks better than the other (in terms of 'pure' image quality, alone).

Note: In order to keep this interesting, I'd ask you to state your opinions in reply bodies, and not in the subject line (so as to not influence the opinions of other viewers). Also, I'd ask you to respond with an opinion before reading anyone else's response, again, to remove unnecessary bias from this exercise :-)

Full Size Version of image #1

Full Size Version of image #2

Some info about how I prepared these images:

I took two RAW files, one taken with the E-M5 and one with the GH3, both of the same studio scene and taken with the exact same lens, exposure, f-number and ISO settings.

I converted both files to DNG using the Adobe DNG Converter.

I opened both files in RawTherapee 4.0.8.10 and made the following changes:

1. I set the Postprocessing Profiles of both files to 'neutral-UnchangedTransforms'
   
2. I set the Color Management Input Profile of both to 'none'
3. I equalized the white balance settings in both images
4. I then adjusted Exposure Compensation on the E-M5 file by plus 0.58 EV
5. I cropped both images so they would have the exact same dimensions

I made changes #s one through three in order to get as close to the actual RAW data as I knew how, discarding any instructions from the camera to the RAW processor regarding levels adjustments, color and white balance settings.

I made change #4 in order to (as closely as quickly possible) match up the brightness of both images, since change #1 made the E-M5 image darker than the GH3 image.
I saved both files as 100 quality JPEGs from RawTherapee and uploaded them to my gallery.
My opinions will follow in a reply to this post.
Have fun!
--tex