E5 has landed in Juneau

Appropriately enough, the UPS man delivered my new E5 in the middle of a howling rainstorm....

Since I had a 520 battery around I gave it a whirl, of course.

I'm mostly a 620 user, an have never touched an E3 or E30, so I was happy to pick up the E5 and have it feel not as heavy as I thought it might, and very comfortable. To me with the new screen it seems like the 620's big brother. However, the light feeling was gone with it on my neck--definitely somewhat more heavy just hanging.

The first thing I did after making a few preferred setting adjustments was try live view. Face detection with my 12-60 now works just fine in cdaf, so self-portraits are very easy. That was my first shot, and I won't make you look at my mug, but it came out nice enough (need to shave though).

Live view is definitely better than the 620, which was already better than the previous cameras. The "click" is pretty much one noise now, very quick. There is some kind of mirror movement I think but it all happens fast. I can see using live view a lot more now for hand-held landscapes.

Still getting used to the buttons, which are quite different. Seems a little slower for me at this point when making changes, but I'll get used to it.

Shot a bunch of the usual around the house shots in jpeg and raw. Wish that Lightroom would import the raws. I'll have to use Viewer for importing them as Lightroom won't do it.

IS seems much better than the 620, as E3 user likely know. I took some 200mm shots at quite low shutter speeds that came out sharp.

Here's the traditional new camera cat shot for you guys, iso 1600, 12mm, live view, 1/13, NF low, natural, adobe rgb, contrast adjusted in Lightroom...



Hopefully the weather breaks at bit and I can take it out soon. This camera is a little more weather proof than I am at this point.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Tks John

Looking forward to your impressions as you get more used to it ,,,,, Gar

Congrats John: Make Magic !

Vjim

jkrumm said:

Appropriately enough, the UPS man delivered my new E5 in the middle of a howling rainstorm....

Since I had a 520 battery around I gave it a whirl, of course.

Click to expand...

Sounds exciting

Member said:

I'm mostly a 620 user, an have never touched an E3 or E30, so I was happy to pick up the E5 and have it feel not as heavy as I thought it might, and very comfortable. To me with the new screen it seems like the 620's big brother. However, the light feeling was gone with it on my neck--definitely somewhat more heavy just hanging.

Click to expand...

I never hang my camera around my neck. Always on my shoulder with the lens pointed inwards, so that it in effect points backwards and the grip is ready to grab. Much more convenient and less strain. My camera bag with spare lenses hangs over my other (left) shoulder, strap crossed over my chest : I can let the camera on the right shoulder, rest on the bag if a big lens is attached.

You should definitely consider replacing the Oly neck strap by one more comfortable, like the broader shoulder strap by Op-Tech : it is broader, softer and has a bit of a bouncy feel. That is definitely an accessory that you will not regret, if you take your heavier camera frequently on long hikes like you do.

Member said:

The first thing I did after making a few preferred setting adjustments was try live view. Face detection with my 12-60 now works just fine in cdaf, so self-portraits are very easy. That was my first shot, and I won't make you look at my mug, but it came out nice enough (need to shave though).

Click to expand...

I will probably just import my E-3 settings to E-5 when I get mine (not yet ordered, because I am considering timing for getting it : this or next (fiscal) year.

Member said:

Live view is definitely better than the 620, which was already better than the previous cameras. The "click" is pretty much one noise now, very quick. There is some kind of mirror movement I think but it all happens fast. I can see using live view a lot more now for hand-held landscapes.

Click to expand...

I seldom use LV.

Member said:

Still getting used to the buttons, which are quite different. Seems a little slower for me at this point when making changes, but I'll get used to it.

Shot a bunch of the usual around the house shots in jpeg and raw. Wish that Lightroom would import the raws. I'll have to use Viewer for importing them as Lightroom won't do it.

Click to expand...

I hope that Lightroom will be updated to support E-5 ORFs by the time I get mine. I would not look forward to using Oly software (but the post factum application of filters might make me change my mind).

Member said:

IS seems much better than the 620, as E3 user likely know. I took some 200mm shots at quite low shutter speeds that came out sharp.

Click to expand...

IS on the E-3 works well. I agree.

Member said:

Here's the traditional new camera cat shot for you guys, iso 1600, 12mm, live view, 1/13, NF low, natural, adobe rgb, contrast adjusted in Lightroom...

Click to expand...

Your ISO 1600 looks at least as good as my ISO 800. Good.

Member said:

Hopefully the weather breaks at bit and I can take it out soon. This camera is a little more weather proof than I am at this point.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Click to expand...

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Roel Hendrickx

lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com

my E-3 user field report from Tunisian Sahara: http://www.biofos.com/ukpsg/roel.html

John, that looks pretty darn good for ISO 1600, and the colours are very rich. Looking forward to what you come up with once you take your new toy outside!

Cheers
Christa
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ch_cnb/

Glad to hear your impressions never having had and E-3 myself either. My E-1 is probably less of a difference in weight then E-620. I think the LCD screen is going to be a revelation on the E-5.

I think this camera is going to be great for your landscapes and other shots. I'll look forward to them.

Have fun!

Cheers,
Seth

--
What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?

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wallygoots.smugmug.com
wallygoots.blogspot.com

That cat is born for Halloween
E-5 will be coming to my place soon hopefully
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Cheers,
Marin

Exciting, John! I can't wait to see the images you make...hurry up!
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Justin
E-1 + 14-54 + 9-18
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinger

You'll pick things up in no time. That's an excellent shot.

Roel, I'll definitely get another strap. I have an Optek for the 620 but it's getting quite worn so I thought I'd try something new.

About iso, they've changed some of the notifications on the screen when you select different iso. For iso 100-160 it now says "low noise priority." For iso 200 it says "recommended iso." Between iso 200 and 2500 it just says "iso." And for beyond iso 2500 is says "iso extension."

This goes along with my sense that iso 100 is now quite clean (again), better than my 620, and probably worth using still in situations where you don't need maximum DR (like perhaps when I'm already using a grad filter). Yet to test that.

On the white balance front, looks pretty good but a little different in the kitchen with the CF bulbs and mixed under counter florescent. The 620 still manages to make my white cabinets look white, despite the mixed lighting, but right under the lights (under the cabinets) it looks greenish. So far the E5 actually corrects for the mixed lighting well, making it look quite white under the cabinets, but a wide angle shot makes the overall look of the kitchen slightly yellow, or warm. It's very easy to make a custom white balance with the buttons, so I think I'll tend to do that indoors at night. After a shot at a white piece of paper, things look perfect.

Just shooting around a dim house, locks on pretty easily with both the 12-60 and 50mm f2. No big surprises, but I found the focus confirmation beep so loud I had to turn it off. It's just a little too annoying to me.

John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Congratulations!

I know I would be very excited to get an E-5.

I'm one of those who also would use the video feature as well (just recently I had to pack in small shoulder back the E- with 14/54 AND a bulky little (old) video camera). Because i most often photograph my family, it would be great to also capture some minute-long video clips that I would gladly look at later in time.
Sometimes I have to decide: turn on the SLR, or the video camera?

But enought about video.

Let us know when you get a nice keeper that you will end printing BIG. Am curious to know what the prints look like, in particular the detail.

One thing that almost conerned me is how almost-too-sharp the E-5 photos are. And I don't know if that's because people are acustomed to sharpen photos taken by olympus other than E-5, or if it just so sharp by default for E-5.

I'm guesing you're not getting much daylight anymore outdoors, but hopefully you'll get the chance.

Thanks for posting your initial thoughs.

Best with the E5. Can you shoot Russia from there?

I've got a few shots of Marin in Croatia that I took from my balcony. Russia is too close unless I put the macro lens on.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

LOL looking forward to seeing more E5 images from you. I handled the camera at the PhotoPlus Expo here in NYC. Might upgrade from my E3

John,

Oly has added a new corol mode called "i-Enhance". According to a German test shooter (preproduction E-5) who was instructed by an Olympus representavive, this mode is especially usefull in mixed lighting conditions and shall work pretty well. Perhaps you give this one a try in the mentioned environment?

Cheers
Andre

well, must be color mode

I compared the 620 directly with Kitchen shots and was more impressed with the E5 white balance. Though slightly warm, it doesn't have the tendency to over-do the magenta/brown side of things. My fake wood floor looks like the fake color it is.

Seems like natural -1 sat is a pretty good setting, and I don't seem to need any sharpening beyond -2 in jpeg mode.

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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Dropped off my car at Costco for snow tires and walked 3 miles in the rain to my wife's work to get her car. Thought it would be nice to try out the E5 in the rain. Unfortunately it was a hard, blowing, face-stinging rain at times. I managed to get a few tossers on my way, then got too cold and put the camera in the pack and kept my head down.... Nice to not worry about the camera... I kind of like the Gentle Sepia filter. Art filter can be spun over to in the photo settings (vivid, natural, etc.).

Not much to add to what's already be said an seen about image quality, except that to me the shots have a nice fine line look to them. Maybe the weather will clear enough to try some landscapes in a few days (this is storm season for us).

5


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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

100 iso tiff made in Viewer, then heavy shadow lifting in Lightroom using the grad tool... Gives me an idea how it will handle landcapes (the depth of field is somewhat shallow, mostly near the car). This is x3 size from smugmug...



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John Krumm
Juneau, AK

Your post about the e-5 saying that iso 100 - to 160 really interests me. I felt that on my e-510 iso 100 was much cleaner than iso 200, but on my e-30 there does not seem much difference from 100 to 400 iso, and I believe that the native iso of the e-30 is iso 200, which therefore gives you more DR.. so I shoot on 200.

but if the e-5 gives much cleaner shots on iso 100- 160, that would be great.. as sometimes it is good to have a really clean image. I find sometimes, I run noise software on iso 200 shots on my e-30.. it all depends on the type of shot.. but sometimes the noise is more noticeable than other times...

anyway.. this sounds like a good thing for the e-5?