Olly OM-D E-M10 Good idea?

Gelbvieh wrote:

gary0319 wrote:

Gelbvieh wrote:

I shoot mainly nature and wildlife and love my Canon 5D MkIII and 100-400 MkII but for some time now I have been toying with the idea of a lighter setup as a second camera and one to take with me when tramping and trips into town, etc. The Canon would still be my main wildlife setup but when exploring somewhere new I often don't want to carry that. I have a Canon GX7 but miss the longer reach that I am so used too and I find the IQ of the photos a bit hit and miss (bad photographer).

So I've been contemplating the Olympus E-M10 and pairing it with the Olympus 40-150mm Pro f/2.8 and 1.4x convertor. Now whilst I really would like the 12-40mm Pro f/2.8 I can't justify the cost, I was saving for a 7D MkII, but thought about the Panasonic 14mm f/2.5.

So views. Am I mad? Should I stick with what I have and keep my folding for the 7D MkII or go for a second lighter system? How do these two lenses stack up? Bear in mind that I am used to good quality photos that are tack sharp.

Thanks Gelbvieh

There are 6 of us that are camera "friends" that shoot together. Of the six of us all but one have moved from Canon (7d, 7DII, 5M11) to M43 in the last year,

Now that does tell me something.

We all do primarily nature photography, every thing from dragonflies to safari, and are all pleased with our move(s). Three of us shoot Olympus (E-M10 and E-M5 II) and two shoot Panasonic (GX7). We all went from shooting the Canon 100-400L to using the Panasonic 100-300 OIS on our respective M43 bodies.

How have you found the Panasonic 100-300. Do any of you have the Olympus 40-150 Pro to compare against?

We all use the Panny 100-300, primarily because we all came from the Canon 100-300 and wanted the extra reach. On my 7d the 100-400 was actually 160-640, and the Panny 100-300 is 200-600 equiv. So, pretty close to the Canon.

I went from a Canon 7d/100-400 to an E-M10/100-300 and my image quality improved greatly. Now this is primarily because at 70+ years I was beginning to have problems hand holding the Canon kit weighed as much as a 5 lb bag of potatoes. I've recently moved up to an Olympus E-M5 II and would recommend you take a look at that. The focusing is faster than the E-M10 and more akin to what you are used to with the Canon. You should be able to find a used M5II for about $800.

I wish I could find any second hand E-M10's or E-M5II's here in New Zealand. Due to price and my uncertainty with a second different setup I thought I'd be better with the E-M10 to start with. I can always upgrade the camera in the future especially is focus tracking improves. I thought all I was really losing was the weather sealing, and a little bit in frames per second and the 5 axis stabilization. Anything else?

The M5II includes a First Curtain Shutter delay that eliminates "shutter shock", with between frame focusing even in low speed burst mode (about 5 frames per sec). The E-M10 has this feature, but only in single shot mode.

Also given you have used both how have you found the 5 axis stabilization of the E-M5II over the 3 axis of the E-M1o?

The 3 axis stabilization works very well and I've not seen, in my shooting, where the 5 axis of the M5II is noticeably better. I do however tend to rely on the Panasonic OIS when using the 100-300, even on the M5II.

I've not had much time to try the M5II on bigger critters but here are a few "small" examples from my first outing with it and the 100-300.

Here's one with the E-M10 using the 100-300 and the internal 2x teleconverter (1120mm equiv).

Internal teleconverter???

Olympus includes an in-camera crop that takes the middle of the image, crops it, and then upscales it back to the original image size.  a 2x factor. However, you will get the same results if you just crop after the fact and upscale....still kind of fun.

Your photos speak volumes for your skill as a photographer and the camera and lens package.

Thanks Gelbvieh.