Macx: E-M5 has with legacy glass is the in-body image stabilisation

Miki Nemeth wrote:

Macx wrote:

For me, one of the major advantages my E-M5 has with legacy glass is the in-body image stabilisation (IBIS). It works, and it works well, even if you have to manually dial in the focal length. It lacks focus peaking, so I rely on a magnified view to nail focus, but the way I have set up the camera, this is just a button press away and since the magnified view is set up to be stabilised it works well enough for me.

Hi Macx, I remember your excellent and meaningful comments about equivalence, and I am so happy that you replied to my question. I started a different thread specific to this subject: manual focusing mechanical MF lenses on Olympus 5-axis IBIS cameras(E-M1, E-M5, PEN P5). I used focus-peaking with great effect on my Sony A7 (now owned by the daughter). It works more-or-less OK on my current Fujifilm X-A1. The X-A1 has no EVF and its LCD's refresh rate is terribly slow with or without focus-peaking. I've learned some comments on this forum that the focus-peaking on both the E-M1 and P5 are not really excellent ( http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54229148 ). Most reviewer are very disappointed. Focus peaking does not even available in movie mode. The P5 reviewer wrote that the refresh rate of the LCD gets unusably slow when focus peaking was enabled.

Hi Miki,

I don't have any experience using the focus peaking on the M1 or P5, so I can't tell you much. I believe that the "fast" frame rate is unavailable when using focus peaking, but I can't say how much slower it feels when it is actually on. A minor problem is that because manual focus lenses don't communicate electronically with the camera, you have to turn on focus peaking yourself. It can be done with a single button press so it's not a huge deal, but even so. This isn't a problem with the electronic lenses, since they can talk to the camera and turn it on automatically when you use the focus ring on the lens. But as they are of course also auto-focus, focus peaking is less useful.

For my own situation, I would only be using manual focus to focus on a stationary target and as such, a bit slower frame rate in the viewfinder wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. I presume that people having issues with the slower frame rate are simply not turning it off when they aren't using it.

It's true that focus peaking is unavailable while recording video, but you can of course use it to establish focus before starting the recording.

I would say though, that the viewfinder is fairly sharp and clear and while nailing focus precisely is essential for photos, for video work there is a bit more leeway, in my experience. The lack of resolution and the movement and the fact that people won't always see it as magnified as they would a photo makes things a bit easier. It's entirely possible that you'll be able to focus well enough just using the viewfinder without focus peaking.

(1) Can you use magnified view during video recording on these IBIS cameras?

No. During video what you see in the viewfinder is pretty much what you get on the file.

I've learned that in the initial version the E-M5 didn't support image stabilization for non native lenses, but a later firmware update made this possible.

Actually, I think it always did, it was just the Olympus press release that was worded in a way that made people think it only worked on Olympus lenses.

(2) Do you think Olympus is going to implement better focus peaking in forthcoming firmware updates for its IBIS cameras including peaking during video recording?

I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe for the M1, but almost certainly not for the M5

After I saw Jeff Harris f0.95 Voigtlander lens collection, I was wondering what focusing techniques Olympus IBIS camera owners use with them especially on video?

Well, for pro work people often work with fixed distances and if they need to change focus during a recording they pre-focus so they know exactly how much they need to turn the focus dial in order to go from one focus point to the other. If you use a sturdy tripod and something like a focus lever it makes things a lot easier:

Example of a camera with a focus lever strapped on.

It's hard to do it both fast and precisely: For cinema work, you will have one or two persons who does nothing but calculate and operate the focus of the camera, often using gears and racks and pliers.

Now, while I think the IBIS is awesome for hand held video work using legacy lenses, as things are right now, my recommendation for serious video work would be to get a Panasonic GH3 or GH4.

The Panasonic cameras will give you focus peaking and cleaner video files, but perhaps even more important is that they allow more frame rates than the Olympus cameras. When you're shooting in Europe, the option to shoot in 25/50 fps instead of 30/60 can eliminate flickering from electrical lights. That isn't an option at the moment on the Olympus cameras. You might be able to work around it, but it's a clear disadvantage compared to Panasonic's offerings.

There are rumours of a firmware upgrade for the E-M1 soon, and I suspect it will allow you to change your video to 25/50 and probably also cleaner video. While I hope something similar will happen for the E-M5 but I honestly doubt it.

Best wishes,

Macx