Thoughts and observations on M

Najinsky wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Najinsky wrote:

Looking at the DPR review negatives, very few are that important to me.

.......

• Unsophisticated sharpening and noise reduction smudge away JPEG detail
• High ISO performance behind competition in terms of both noise (Raw) and noise reduction (JPEG)
• Raw dynamic range lower than peers

But still well ahead of Nikon 1 and M43 and still highly usable in a wide range of lighting scenarios.

The m4/3 cameras are far closer to Canon than you may realize. Just based on sensor area, there is actually only 2/3 of a stop difference between Canon's APS-C and m4/3, but people always round this number to a full stop for simplicity. Add in that most current m4/3 sensors are now made by Sony and the gap shrinks further.

I understand what you say, but in the same way you say people round 2/3 to a full stop, many people also choose to treat the entire M43 system as though it were a single camera.

If that were truly the case, I might indeed have no interest in M. But that is not the case, and as it really stands, despite having several M43 cameras and a great collections of lenses for them, in fact I still do have an interest in M.

The best M43 sensors are shared only by the Pen-f and GX8, the Pen-f costs around $1200 while the GX8 is around $800, they are both only 20mp and no better in DR than other M43 sensors. They are both noticeably larger and heavier than the 24mp M3, the Pen-f has no sort of grip at all so is near useless for longer lenses, while the Gx8 is the size and weight of a dslr.

The best AF system is on the EM-1, but this is also the camera with the lowest DR of current M43 cameras, it's 3 years old, 16mp, and again is bigger, heavier and more expensive than the M3.

M43 is a system, I sold my Canon 5d2 and lenses based on the strength of that system in the desire to shrink my camera kit. Unfortunately while the lens side has flourished, the (lack of) bodies have become increasingly disappointing. If you want the better sensors, better focusing and better features, you have to go for the larger, heavier, most expensive bodies.

To me, it seems increasingly likely that a truly full featured small compact camera is going to have to come from outside the M43 camp.

Sony have already demonstrated they can be successful putting their best quality sensors in high end small cameras, whether Olympus/Panasonic can't or won't do this I don't know, all I know is currently they don't do this.

May be you should look at Panasonic GX 80/85 and read some reviews of that camera and its sensor.

If you don´t care about:

Fastest auto focusing (it isn´t in Olympus E-M1 I own both cameras)

In body 5 axes stabilization combined with in lens stabilization in most Panasonic lenses working in both in stills and video

A lot of fast high quality prime lenses and zooms

Easy ability to change size of focus point

you of course don´t need to.

The GX 80/85 has many other features missing in the EOS-M3, but I admit it is a little bigger than the EOS-m3.
I also own the EOS-M bought on fire sale, and I find it to be a very nice small camera, but it - and the system - now lacks to many impotent features.
Erik