SonyArtisan wrote:
Initial impressions are good. Build quality seems great, love the size and feel of the lenses. I used the camera for about an hour in shade and direct sunlight. Here are my thoughts so far:
Pros:
- Touchscreen is a great addition (never used one on a camera other than the 70D). Touch to focus is useful
Touchscreen on the Panasonics is even better BTW. Truly great interface for it on them.
- Shutter seems snappy. I was a bit worried after hearing lots of complaints but I've also only used it at high shutter speeds so far
Shutter speed in AF-S is great. If you use AF-C you will notice that it can't do what the A6000 does. However, in low light the AF-S will be better on the M43 than any of the Sonys (and the Panasonic AF-S is pretty amazing in low light, better than the Oly, too)
- Lenses are superb for the money, size and weight. I'm seriously blown away pixel peeping in LR considering this is a 16mp M43 sensor with an AA filter. Side-by-side with the Sony Zeiss 55mm mounted on an A7II the Olympus 45mm holds its own very well and even appears sharper to me wide open. The 14-42mm is very respectable, better at 14-25mm but usable at 42mm as well. The 40-150mm seems almost as good or better than my Canon 55-250mm STM that I have been using on the A6000 and A6300. This is easily the thing I'm most excited about and the reason I jumped into this system. I already feel like I want a better body/sensor so I can take further advantage of this glass. The new Panasonic GX85 is intriguing with its 16mp sensor with no AA filter.
The M43 glass is one of the main reasons that I am torn between coming back to it totally from my foray in the the A7 ecosystem. That 40-150mm is actually pretty legendary around here; it's a great lens, price not withstanding.
When I tried an A6000, briefly, I was so disappointed in the glass after coming from M43 at the time. I gave up on it after a few tries.
- Colors looked natural out of camera and I actually preferred the rendering of greens and skin tones over the Sony which looked too yellow.
Sony greens are one of the things that bug me the most about the A7. Oly colors are legendary, BTW. If you get a Panasonic, they tend towards a cooler rendering overall than the Olys, just be aware of that. I prefer the Panasonic colors, personally, but lots of people absolutely love the Oly processing engine.
Cons:
- The interface is terrible. That's saying a lot coming from Sony. Perhaps I just need more time with it. Hard to complain at this price though and it's also a very old model
Oly UI is awful. One tip, enable the Super Control Panel, and also set up the FN buttons for direct access to your most used functions.
Use Guy Parsons' Oly guide to get the most out of setting up the camera; it's at:
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/olyepl1/50-epl5-comments.html
- The handling of the camera is awful as expected due to the lack of buttons/dials and lack of a grip (haven't tried the included grip)
I used a half case on my EPM2, worked great for improving the handling.
- The LCD resolution is pretty low but usable. I don't think I'll be buying another camera without a viewfinder but can't fault the camera as I knew that going in. Very hard to view the LCD on a sunny day like today
You should be able to buy an add-on EVF; if you can find the VF-4 on sale, get it, you will love it. The VF-2 is ok, but doesn't have a lock, and the VF-3 is dreadful, don't get it.
- The fully tilting screen for selfies is not as useful as I thought it would be for random snaps with the girlfriend. It doesn't tilt enough to be at an effective viewing angle and is partially blocked off buy the hotshoe. It appears they completely redesigned this on the EPL7
- The DOF control compared to FF and APS-C is poor as expected. This could be a deal breaker for me in some instances (portraits) because I'm one of those photographers that likes abusing shallow DOF and subject isolation. Luckily the 45mm f1.8 offers pretty great bokeh with the subject close enough (portraits). I also may consider the Panasonic 42.5mm f1.2 down the road if M43 becomes my main kit.
It is definitely harder to get good DOF effects on M43. However, you may want to experiment with different focal lengths and distances to approximate what you are used to, but arriving at it in a different way.
- Dynamic range is lacking when compared side-by-side to the A7II, especially when recovering shadows. However, it is still quite good for most situations.
I have the A7 and also M43 (and had used M43 as my only gear for about 4 years before getting the FF). The FF DR is a joy to work with, due to the considerable info in the files. However, you just have to accommodate that if you know you are in a high DR situation by doing things like exposure bracketing and merging in PP. More work, yeah, but not impossible.
- Haven't tested low light performance but I think I have an idea of what it would be like. I'm hoping a newer Olympus or Panasonic body with 4-5 stop IBIS would compensate for this in situations without moving subjects.
Low light performance can be surprising...sometimes good, sometimes very not good. It's not in the same league as the A7II, but who expects it to be?
Based on my impression today I think I will be sticking with the Micro 4/3 system in some regard for the foreseeable future. These lenses are just too good to sell. On the other hand, the body is not quite as usable as I had hoped. The lack of an EVF makes it difficult to use in direct sunlight (more-so than expected) among other issues like the lack of controls, etc. that others warned me about in this thread. The dynamic range and 4:3 aspect ratio may be undesirable for landscapes but only time will tell.
I actually love the 4:3 aspect ratio, even for landscapes. However that's a personal choice, and I understand if you have difficulty adjusting to it, as I have had to the 3:2 ratio in FF.
Overall, I do not regret the purchase and am most impressed by the lenses. I'm even considering the tiny Panasonic GM5 which is now at a great price. I believe this is the smallest capable m43 camera with an EVF on the market. I ran across it after seeing that Chris Niccolls (host of the camera store TV in Canada) uses one as his main travel camera. But I think ideally I want something with more functionality (IBIS, more controls, etc) while still maintaining a small size.
If you want IBIS, the GM5 can't help you, but for everything else, it is just a fabulous camera. AND it has an EVF (small, but functional). I love mine, use it far more than the A7 at this point.
Right now I'm most interested in the GX85, EM5ii, and EM1. I will likely pick something up in the $500-800 range soon and then see what the EM1 replacement looks like in a few months.
If you want IBIS, and can live with the GX85's EVF, then that is the one to get in that price range. (Much better UI than the Oly if you are coming from Sony's UI, especially). If you can live without the IBIS, just get the GM5, it is a pretty amazing camera, and the 12-32mm kit lens it comes with is really terrific (much better than the Oly kit 14-42mm).
One other thing: The drawback to M43 is the sensor technology, especially if you are coming from the A7 series. You can't get around that, yet.
Right now, there are only two M43 cameras that do not use a version of the 16 MP sensor that is in from the same generation as that in the EPL6 (IIRC, I think that one may be made by Sony, and the other current 16 MP ones are by Panasonic, but effectively there is no difference in performance between them). The Pen-F and the Panasonic GX8 (not the GX85) are the ones that use the 20MP Sony sensor, and it has some advantages and disadvantages to the 16MP, so it's not a slam dunk upgrade at this point in time.
I think the M43 format is due for a major sensor tech update at some point, but who knows when that will occur. Until then, you get pretty similar output with any of the 16MP versions of the format.
Anyway, enjoy your M43. You will find you will take it with you a LOT.....
-J
