Olympus OM-D EM-5 vs Sony Nex 7 for athletics photography!

Please help cant decide!
Its also for holiday use,
Athletics, track side and field,
Budget of £2000 MAX!

Which one please?
Thank you!

I'm biased towards the Olympus (or even Panny GH2 perhaps) as a current E-P3 owner. Mainly because there are many more "native" AF lenses available for M43 than Sony can offer,unless you want to fiddle with manual focus and adapters.

Also, unlike Sony again, there are some nice faster lenses available (eg Zuiko 45mm f1.8, Leica 25mm f1.4) or about to be launched ( Panny f2.8 zooms and Oly 75mm f1.8) for inside shooting.

If you read the E-M5 review on this site, you'll find that the E-M5 basically matches the NEX-7 on most aspects on AF speed, fps and ISO performances. It also offers the battery grip that allows for better handling with longer zooms.

Even better, try to get a hold of both cameras in case you find one fits your hands ( or eye in the case of the EVF positions) better. You gotta be comfortable with your choice at the end of the day!

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Shoot the Light fantastic

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http://www.fotop.net/DonaldChin

Why would you want a DSLR with a body alone (780 g) that weighs more than an mirrorless equivalent with a tele-zoom ( 400g body + 190 g lens)?

Especially if you're not a pro ...





--
Shoot the Light fantastic

--
http://www.fotop.net/DonaldChin

Having shot sports (soccer/football/baseball/volleyball/basketball/softball/wrestling) with several Canon cameras (XT - 7D) and having spent a weekend shooting baseball using the E-M5 with the Olympus 75-300 I would not pick either of the cameras you're asking about over a DSLR.

I LOVE my E-M5 for everything except for sports and birds in flight. If you do go with the E-M5 my recommendation, confirmed from Olympus support, is to shoot in C-AF mode at 4 FPS. 9FPS will not work because focus is locked on the first shot and the camera will not refocus until the shutter is half pressed again.

If shooting sports is an occasional thing that you're doing for fun then by all means get the E-M5 but if it's something you'd want to do seriously don't get the E-M5.

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You never fail you only produce results; learn from them --
anonymous.

Thanks for your reply,
Would you still not recommend the Olympus with the 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 ?

I really want to get good shots so if you think something like a canon 600d with canon 70-200mm f4 would get those shots ill go with that!

Danc760 said:

Would you still not recommend the Olympus with the 50-200mm f2.8-3.5 ?

Click to expand...

I don't have any experience with that lens but I believe the weak link in the equation is the focusing system of the E-M5. It just isn't, IMO, up to the task for fast paced action shots.

Danc760 said:

I really want to get good shots so if you think something like a canon 600d with canon 70-200mm f4 would get those shots ill go with that!

Click to expand...

Yes or get a used 7D if you can find one at a good price. The 600d would work but just be careful with trying to take too many shots at once and filling up the buffer. It will slow down your shooting while it clears.

Good luck with which ever setup you decide to go with.

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You never fail you only produce results; learn from them --
anonymous.

I'd recommend you have a look at this thread
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=41620334

tracking grayhounds head on at up to 50 kph

as many people with E-M5's dont know how to optimise the C_Af mode Don's pieces are well worth reading..

Frankly I'm happy with my E-P3 for soccer, but then I use S-AF

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Shoot the Light fantastic