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Olympus E-PM2 Actual ISO vs IS0 set in camera?

Started Aug 17, 2014 | Discussions thread
Anders W
Anders W Forum Pro • Posts: 22,144
Re: Olympus E-PM2 Actual ISO vs IS0 set in camera? -my TEST

Leo wrote:

Hi Anders,

I finale got it :-). Thank you for the help and patience.

Sounds good. What you should find, if you test right, is that the GX1 and the E-PM2 will behave in pretty much the same way as far as metering and the overall brightness of OOC jpegs (or default LR converstion) is concerned. However, if you start checking what goes on under the hood, in the RAW file (and the easiest and most precise way to do so is by means of RawDigger), you will find that the GX1 will start clipping the highlights nearly one stop before the E-PM2 does. This is the real implication of the difference in DxO "measured ISO".

The E-PM2 sensor is significantly better than that of the GX1, particularly for demanding (high DR) scenes at base ISO. But you will underexploit its capacity unless you give it as much exposure as it can take (which will be nearly one stop more than the GX1 can manage with both cameras at their base ISO). To get the exposure right, see the practical advice I already provided in that regard earlier on. When properly exposed from a RAW-shooters point of view, the E-PM2 images will sometimes look too bright when you review them in camera. But as long as the highlights are not clipped in the RAW file, you can just pull the exposure back in the RAW converter and enjoy an even more noise-free image than the one you'd otherwise get.

 Anders W's gear list:Anders W's gear list
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Olympus PEN-F Olympus E-M1 II Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14mm F4 ASPH +20 more
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