"All In" No Going Back Now

I have made the complete switch from a Nikon DSLR

to a OMD EM-5 system

As soon as I saw the OMD system and the great reviews it was getting I was on a mission to change.

I had a OM1 many years ago, say about 1978 and it brought back so many good memories.

The Nikon system was sitting more and more when I traveled as I started to carry a Lumix GF3 I had picked up. The portability and the great low light capabilities had me leaving the big heavy DSLR at home.

So heres what I traded in

1. Nikon D300
2. Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF
3. Nikon 35mm 1.8 AFS
4. Nikon 300mm AFS 4.0
5. Sigma 10-20
6. Nikon SB 600 Flash
7. Nikon MD-10 Grip
8. Nikon 1.7 TC
9. Bunch of Filters

And here's what I have now

So I will let you all guess the cost of this change, But all I can say is my love for this hobby has been revived and the money part is what it is.

PS: a Lumix 7-14 is the next lense on my list to make up for the loss of the Sigma 10-20

Welcome to the wonderful world of micro four thirds. Please hold on to the safety rail and enjoy your ride.

Nice collection there.  Hv fun with your gear. Size and portability with its image IQ are the same reasons I bought it

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reygon
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Take nothing but photos... Kill nothing but time... Leave nothing but footprints...

i may be heading your direction....also from the dark side.

just picked up EM5 + 75mm and 45mm.

have a 20/1.7 panny and G3

interested in recommendations for "next" lens acquisition

can't decide between 25/1.4 and WA for next purchase.

should i wait for schneiders?

should i go for voigtlander(s)?

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http://mlmusto.zenfolio.com/

Why ditch your DSLRs before you find out how you get on with the OMD?

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Rens
There are optimists and there are realists

14/2.5 Panasonics are nearly free on ebay, and it's a really good 28mm equivalent lens. It's also the most compact real lens on the m43 mount and its autofocus is very good. It surprised me how closely it will focus, making it much more versatile than I would have guessed. Super value.

will definitely check that out.

i am having to adjust to the min focus distance on the 75 so close focus is a definite plus.

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http://mlmusto.zenfolio.com/

Your choices of the m4/3 lenses are very good indeed. Ready for fun.

Jakop

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The saxophone is a very interesting machine, but I'm more interested in music.
Steve Lacy quotes

I have just done the same.  First sold of a Canon 60d, lenses and flashes that weren't getting used much to fund the EM5.  Still had a 7d, lenses and flash to work with.

Decided I preferred to carry the little camera and image quality was great so have sold off the remainder of my Canon gear.

This camera is not for everyone but it suits me.

Still sorting out my lenses.

Interested in your thoughts on the 100-300.

Cheers

The 25mm produces very good results, I like it. But it is a somewhat cumbersome lens, especially when you add the big rectangular hood which you can't reverse for transport. It is also a little redundant with your 20mm a remarkably sharp, yet fast and tiny lens.

The 17mm F1.8 Olympus is not as sharp as the 20mm or the 25mm, but a beautifully built lens, able to zone focus and fast to AF. But like the 25mm it may be a little to redundant with your 20mm.

Unless you don't shoot much at the wide angle end, I'd rather go for a wide angle : 14mm pancake is a cheap pancake lens, but very good, save for the fact it has quite a bit of distorsion left even after the auto correction. I used it for group shots and the people near the edge got nasty deformations. The 12mm Olympus is a wonderfully built lens and light and sharp. It allows zone focusing, but it is expensive. You could also get one of the wide zooms : 7-14mm Pany is very sharp, but slower F4and expensive. The Olympus 9-18mm would allow more versatility. But if your next lens will be a wide angle lens, then I'd wait to see the reviews of the announced Schneider-Kreuznach 14mm. It will be very expensive, but hopefully have great IQ !

The Voigtländer are manual lenses only, no AF and very big compared to other MFT lenses. They are the fastest lenses available for MFT (F0.95), but with such shallow DOF I'd prefer them to have AF. I do also find them too big and heavy for the mft philosophy. Plus they are expensive. But they have some strong supporters especially among videographers like appreciate the fast aperture and the manual focusing.

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rrr_hhh

I bought a GF1, in 2010, to use as a secondary portable camera. Since then I have been selling Nikon lenses and buying m4/3 gear... including the E-M5. The portability of m4/3 just works better for me now that I have small children.

So what is the net cost of your move so far?

I have a Nikon D200 with the following:

• Tokina 12-24mm f/4... looking to replace with Oly 9-18mm... which I hope will be as sharp. The Tokina is awesome, but it's built big and heavy.
• 10.5mm fisheye - replaced with Rokinon 7.5mm fisheye. I actually made money on this change, and I like the Rokinon just as much... even more since it's smaller
• 17-55mm f/2.8 - Probably will just sell. I shoot more with primes these days. This was convenient when I shot more events.
• 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/1.8 - I sold both of these since the 20mm f/1.7 and 45mm f/1.8 occupy the same niche. I actually liked the 50mm f/1.8 more as a portrait lens on m4/3 than on APS-C (where it was a bit short). 
• Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro - Keeping this one. It's a great macro on either camera, and very light.
• 80-200mm f/2.8 - (sigh) Here is the problem. I love this lens, and I don't want to be without a fast telephoto zoom. I could only sell it for about $600 or so, which doesn't even get me close to the cost of the 35-100mm f/2.8. Maybe if I sell the lot of my Nikon gear (D200, flashguns and all) I can afford the m4/3 gear I want.
• AF-S 300mm f/4. Another lens I hate to part with. It's just stellar. While I've seen some impressive results from the Oly 75-300mm and Panasonic 100-300mm, they just aren't quite in the same league. But the E-M5 is a much better camera at high ISO (often necessary for birding around here) than my D200. So I wonder if I will actually miss the 300mm? It's just not something I carry as much these days. I would be curious to know your thoughts having owned both the 300mm f/4 and the 100-300mm. I occasionally go out on bird photography treks, where the 300mm f/4 does really with with or without a TC. Oly or Panasonic should make a 150mm or 200mm f/4 prime. That would be awesome, but probably at least $1,500.
• SB-600 and SB-800. At least the E-M5 can control flashes remotely like the D200, but it would cost me significantly to sell the Nikon flashguns and buy m4/3 equivalents. 
• Filters, but I have already purchased smaller versions of my polarizer and ND filter for m4/3.

If I sell it all I can probably get the m4/3 kit I want for just under $2,000 additional out of pocket cash. But if I'm willing to make some compromises and rethink my kit a little, maybe buy some stuff used, I could probably do it for under $1,000. Or I could buy a used D300s or D7000 to use with the excellent Nikon glass I already own. But most of the time it would just sit on the shelf since the m4/3 gear is so much easier to carry when you have small children. I'm not sure I really need to have two camera systems these days, and if I chose one it will be m4/3. If I get back into event photography as a side-gig I can use both systems together (since I sold my backup DSLR body). That'll pay for more gear, right? Ah... who am I kidding? I have a toddler and and infant at home, and not the time for moonlighting that I used to have. Better to simplify and reduce the amount of stuff.

Sean

Just wondering what makes you say that the Oly 17 1.8 isn't as sharp as the Pany 20mm. How did you come to this conclusion?

Nice trade.

Are  you shooting professionally with your new OMD and what kind of photographs do you take?

Are  you also keeping the Panny and  will you be carrying all when you're on assignment?

Regards.

Welcome aboard!  I did this last year.  I am still a happy shooter.  One lens I really liked was the Panasonic 12-35 2.8.  I rented it but it was a bit out of my price range last year.  However, I found a really nice Oly 14-54mm II lens and MMF-2 adapter on ebay for about a 1/4 of the price of the panny.  The Oly 12-54 II supports CDAF. Auto focus is a bit slower but very acceptable and accurate.  The sharpness is outstanding and really brings out the image quality that the OM-D is capable of achieving.  This has become my go to lens for most shooting.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the ride.  You have a great system that won't disappoint you.

I'm just a hobbiest. Its been my hobby since high school 1975.

I have shot everything from weddings, birding, sports, travel, family.

I was that sports Dad that had the good camera and took great pictures of your son or daughter and gave then to you for free, Or that Uncle that took great candids at family events and sent then to you. Or the guy you travel with that takes great pictures so you don't have to.

Anyways, I'm really enjoying this new format. There is definitely some shortcoming to this system but none that cant be worked around or out.

The Panny 100-300 I just bought on impulse when my local shop all of a sudden had a used one in the display case. I don't think it will every match the Nikon 300 AFS F4 but it will do.

Here are a couple of shots I snapped this morning of some finch outside our Family room window. The birds where about 4 to 5 feet away shot through dirty glass and wood shutters.Not great but pretty good.

Sean,

While an OMD is in my very near future, I can offer you a direct comparison to it's sensor (in an E-PL5) to a D200 with OK glass (certainly nowhere near good or great) by way of a Nikon 18-200 VR/ED Series I which is all the Nikon gear I have left....see that clue

Since getting my E-PL2, the Nikon gear got used less and less.  After getting the E-PL5, it's not getting used at all.  I took some direct comparison pics between the two that I'll gladly email you if you'd like.

I sold my 5d2 stuff and got the omd em5, and couldn't be happier.

For less than half the price of the Canon I get good ISO, much more portability, enough resolution for fairly large prints and a wide range of glass:

17/2.8, 17/1.8, 9-18, 40-150, 75/1.8, 75-300, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 45 macro, 12-50

I can carry everything in a small bag and the results a fabulous.

br

Marcus

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Best Regards
Marcus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcusaxlund/

I am sure everything will be fine, but its always a good move not to sell the old stuff until your 100% sure you like the new. If the new items have a return policy you would still have a camera system. Not saying this is the case and I switched from Nikon too and used the new stuff for a week or so just to be sure.  The trade in value of the Nikon stuff did not change at the time.

Just use all the lenses inside the return period in case you need to swap a lens or two.  I would get the 25 1.4 and skip the 14 2.5 & 20 1.7, but thats just my method. You have that covered in your 12-50 zoom lens.

As long as you don't expect any m43 telephoto to match the Nikon AF-S 300 f4 you should be OK.  Professional grade telephotos really are a huge weakness of m43.  Expect tons of choices in variable aperture telephoto zooms.

You had some very nice gear but aside from the 300 f4 and Sigma, nothing too expensive or irreplaceable. Still, personally I think you made a questionable move since Nikon has been hitting it's stride in recent years and are now at the very top of the DSLR, but I totally get the need to go light.   In my experience, it's always better make such moves WITHOUT making such a big sacrifice but it is what it is.

Good luck and hope you make many, many great images.