Shooting sports: PEN E-PM2 vs EM5ii/EM1

Nicholas Johnson wrote:

I'm fairly happy with my $100 refurb EPM2 but after buying those beautiful Oly primes I am seeing general softness even with good technique and shutter speeds twice the rule. I'm thinking shutter shock and I'd like a body that has been engineered with no shock in mind.

I also have the opportunity to shoot my kids sports (soccer, baseball, tennis) or people getting dragged behind a boat. Soccer is incredibly tough as the subject distance is changing and the whole scene is chaotic. Here the C-AF on the EPM2 is so wrong. Just always. Hunting, breathing, sharp background or sharp foreground but the subject in the middle is a disaster.

Just use the C-AF plus and press the shutter in one go. With a little practice, this gives you three FPS and each pic is perfectly in focus, due to the camer's great AF speed. Shot running dogs with the even older E-PL3, this way, and it worked fine.

The question becomes is there anything in the EM5 (original since people have experience, or the II) that makes it better at C-AF than the cheapest m43 with the same sensor. My understanding is that the EM1's PDAF only works on legacy 43 lenses and since I have no desire to buy any its not really on my radar.

The C-AF of the E-M5 works reasonably but it takes a lot of practice to achieve a semi pleasing keeper rate. And to date, nobody knows if the MKII will do better, in this area. So I'd rather opt for the E-M1 that C-AFs in fine style with both FT and µFT lenses. And will do even better from Tuesday, with the new 9FPS firmware 3.0.

In case you couldn't tell I'm in the market for a new body. The EM5ii is at the top of my list for sharp stills and super stabilized video. I just wish I could do C-AF with my current lenses (40-150/5.6R) and not either give up or buy into another system.

The 40-150R is a fast fociusing lens and if the light is right, it will give you great results with the E-M1. If video also is on your agenda, I'd recommend the GH4. It has a C-AF for dummies (even with the m.Zuzikos but is even faster with Lumix lenses such as the 45-175 that provide the cam with DFD data) and as one can read everywhere (got the cam but don't do video) it's the king of the hill, in the video area.