Another convert to m43

Guy Parsons wrote:

alexisgreat wrote:

Thanks Guy, from what I've read the camera applies some noise reduction even when the camera is set to NF Off.

Step 1 is that the Exmor sensor does some noise reduction on the sensor before the raw file is made.

Step 2 is that the Oly image chip (or firmware) does some more noise reduction and sharpening to the jpeg file even if all is off or minimised. Oly Viewer 3 does that same noise reduction and sharpening even when none is requested.

Other raw converters do as requested and do not add sharpening and noise reduction when you tell them not to.

Regards..... Guy

Here is the comparison E-PL5 vs E-PL7

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-e-pl7/olympus-e-pl7-image-quality.htm

Detail comparison. We also like to take a look at high-contrast detail, as results often differ from what we see in the tables above. Here, the E-PL7 continues the Olympus tradition of producing great results with high-contrast detail as ISO rises, as did the E-PL5. As you can see, contrast and detail remains very good at ISO 3200, and even ISO 6400 only shows a slight drop in detail and saturation. Excellent results, though perhaps not quite as good as the E-PL5's.

E-PL5 noise reduction comparison

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-epl5/olympus-epl5HI_ISO_NR.HTM

E-PL5 Imatest

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-epl5/olympus-epl5A5.HTM

Compared to the Olympus E-M5 which uses the identical sensor as far as we know, the E-PL5 scored pretty much the same at all quality levels, though total dynamic range is actually a full stop better at 12.4 vs 11.4 f-stops, likely due to tweaked processing. Note though that this measurement has a margin of error of about 1/3 f-stop, so differences of less than 0.33 can be ignored.

Raw. The graph at right is from the same Stouffer 4110 stepchart image captured as a raw (.ORF) file, processed with Adobe Camera Raw using the Auto setting, then manually tweaked from there. As can be seen, the score at the highest quality level increased from 8.81 to 9.44 f-stops, while total dynamic range increased less than 1/3 f-stop from 12.4 to 12.6. Again, these results are much better than average for a Micro Four Thirds sensor, slightly better than the E-M5, and almost as good as the best APS-C sensors.

http://www.photoreview.comau/reviews/advanced-compact-cameras/interchangeable-lens/olympus-pen-lite-e-pl5

E-PL7 Imatest

http://www.optyczne.pl/286.7-Test_aparatu-Olympus_E-PL7_Szumy_i_jako%C5%9B%C4%87_obrazu_w_RAW.html

E-M10 Imatest

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-e-m10/olympus-e-m10A5.HTM

Here, we compare the Olympus E-M10's dynamic range to similarly priced cameras, the Canon T5i/700D DSLR and the Sony A5000 CSC. (Ideally we should be comparing to the Sony A6000 since it's closer in price, but that camera hasn't been tested as of this writing.) As you can see from the above graph (click for a larger image), the E-M10's dynamic range compares nicely with the Sony A5000 except at base ISO, where the Sony has about a 3/4 stop advantage (13.01 vs 12.29 EV). Compared to the Canon T5i, the Olympus E-M10 enjoys almost a 2 stop advantage (1.87) at base ISO, and continues to outperform the T5i up to about ISO 1,600, above which all three cameras perform essentially the same.