E-M1 vs. A7II Thoughts

olyflyer wrote:

bluevellet wrote:

olyflyer wrote:

Thanks for taking the time to type all this. Not that I am interested in Sony, at least not for now, but I am considering on buying an Oly again. OK, I was not considering this camera but the E-M5 II so it isn't really the same, but my worries are the image sensor and the IBIS noise. The sensor is the same in both cameras and I think the IBIS is also the same, maybe with some improvements in the way it is handled in the E-M5 II. Never the less, what puts me off is the DR and ISO noise, even at ISO200. I can't understand how Oly still not managed to improve that, and I am actually not comparing with my D800, but with the age old Nikon V1. Your point about the aspect ratio is something I almost forgot about. OK, the image can be cropped to 3:2 but that costs quite some pixels, so it is indeed a negative point.

In other words, the more I look at the camera or read about similar cameras the more certain I am about waiting some more... at least until Photokina.

Em1 has a Panny sensor, em5II has a Sony one.

How do you know that? E-M1, E-M10 E-M5 II all have the exact same pixel count and the same TruePIC VII processor. I'd expect at least some differences if it would be a Sony vs. Panny.

Well, we know it cannot be the same sensor since only the E-M1 has PDAF detection on the sensor.  Also, the ones with the assumed/suspected Sony sensor are the ones which may occasionally exhibit banding with the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 in certain circumstances, aren't they, whereas I haven't heard that accusation levelled at the E-M1's (Panasonic?) sensor.  I've heard it said in many different places that the E-M1 uses a Panasonic sensor versus Sony in the others; none were official statements so are not guaranteed to be 100% reliable, but the E-M1 does tend to exhibit different image characteristics to the others - and operational ones too - for example, with silent shutter, it clearly scans slower than the "Sony" sensor models that can do it, and imposes a 1/8 slow speed limit (no limit for the others) and a 3200 ISO ceiling (again, no limit on the others).

The former has the old 5-axis IBIS, the latter has the newer one that is pne stop better

Yes, I know what the reviewers (or Oly) say but "newer one" can also mean some firmware improvements, no major difference. What I dislike is the noise from the IBIS. It is really disturbing in a quiet environment.

I think if it was really only firmware, the E-M1 would have benefitted from the same abilities and improvements in its concurrent firmware updates.  Plus it was stated somewhere by Olympus (IIRC) that the extra MECHANICAL accuracy and control required of the IBIS system to achieve the fractions-of-a-pixel realignments of the HR mode only found in the E-M5 II and Pen-F so far, was what made their IBIS even more effective, as a side-effect.

Regarding the sound, are you sure you're not referring to the ramped-up half-press sound that it makes on full activation?  That can be obtrusive (only in quiet environments) - it's easy to overlook the normal background hiss in anything other than total silence.  The ramp-up can be disabled if required, anyway.  Interestingly, the GX80/85's similar IBIS system, which only ever emanates a single-level hiss, does so at a level about half-way between the two Olympus hiss levels, based on my examples.  In any case, these hissing noises seem to be currently unavoidable with the magnetic levitation technology used.