When you have GAS and no money...

phaet2112 wrote:

Hey Klarno-

I had a GAS related quandry- you have the 14-54 mkII and the mZuiko 14-42 IIR- is it worth spending the extra money to get the EM1 if you have the 14-54 mkI for use as PDAF as compared to the images you get with the 14-42 IIR? Basically is the 14-54 worth paying a lot extra for the EM1 over the EM10 in order to preserve its compatibility? Or is the mZ 14-42 IIR "good enough" considering the EM10 with 14-42 and 40-150 can be had for $600, while the EM1 with mmf adapter would be >$1000?

I'd say a better reason isn't to use the one lens alone (close to $1600 from mainline photo retailers is a lot of cash to put behind a lens that goes for about $200 used), but it's to open yourself up to the market of really, really good Olympus 4/3 HG and SHG glass, some of which is getting quite inexpensive on the used market (saw a 50mm f/2.0 for $200, the 50-200 is always a favorite and the 7-14 f/4 is one of the best values out there right now).

(I also have an old 40-150 mkI 3.5-4.5 which probably isn't as sharp as the mZuiko 40-150, but still makes nice images on my e520)? Thinking of the contrast, quality, etc.

I don't put that much stock in quibbling over lens resolution differences. Things like that are never gonna make or break your photos. But the 14-54 is over a stop faster than the 14-42 at the long end, and it has a longer end to boot. The 14-42 IIR is really, really good, especially as kit lenses go, but sometimes it's just not fast enough.

There are no camera stores near me which have EM1s in stock for me to see myself in looking to upgrade from my e520. Especially as you listed the e520 as a previous stock for yourself.

For low light and for lifting shadows, any current MFT camera is at least four stops better than the E-520. The E-520 I found had issues with banding in low light/high ISO that just isn't an issue at the same level with newer MFT cameras, and I find banding and pattern noise much more problematic than poisson noise. Most will have mostly similar AF performance, but only the E-M1 is especially well-geared for use with Four Thirds lenses, and is one of the two best cameras for overall AF performance in the system.