Pentax lens selection

Harold66 wrote:

To complete on what I wrote

the Pentax K70 +16-85mm is 1,176 grs . The Olympus Em-5 II with the new Zuiko 4/12-100 is not only 100 grs lighter but is brighter and covers focal length up to 200mm ( in 35mm equivalent) instead of 130mm for the Pentax

They are both weather sealed and both featured high res mode which is very useful for still landscapes shot with a tripod

Harold

Harold,

I don't recall whether Pedro indicated a concern about cost. His K-70 with the 16-85mm lens would cost $1218 from Amazon (unless they have it bundled together some place. I didn't check). The EM1 Mark ii (which is the camera that impresses me) with the 12-100mm lens would cost $3298. If you substitute the EM5 Mk ii the price drops to $2198 at Amazon.

However the EM5 Mark ii doesn't fair all that well in the DPReview (unless compared only to other mirrorless cameras in which case it seems to be average) in regard to Raw; which is what I work with, not JPEGs. But consider the following from that review:

"When it comes to Raw, the E-M5 II appears to give a very similar performance to its predecessor. This means it's still competitive against some Canon APS-C cameras, but lags behind the likes of Sony's a6000 or Nikon's D5500.  [And I checked three reviews comparing the D5500 to the Pentax K-70 and all three rated the K-70 as being better].  And, if you compare the E-M5 II's ISO 6400 results to the ISO 6400 and ISO 12,800 output from those camera, you'll see the difference between them is less than a stop. Around 2/3EV, in all likelihood.

"With Samsung's NX1 representing a significant step forward for its APS-C cameras and significantly outperforming the Olympus, the list of cameras the E-M5 II can measure up to is falling (though the availability of fast lenses for the Olympus can help close that gap again). Overall, then, the E-M5 II is still competitive, but it's no longer punching above its weight as its predecessor did against its APS-C contemporaries."

If any of the above sounds contentious, I didn't mean it to be.  I have myself checked Olympus mirrorless reviews from time to time figuring I'll one day buy something more ambitious than the EPN-2 that I have had for some time.  The PEN F looks interesting to me also, moreso than the EM5 ii.

As to whether we should be discussing these sorts of things here or taking them off-line, I don't have the impression that anyone here cares whether we discuss different brands as long as we do it in a civilized fashion. 

DPReview ended up giving the EM5 Mk ii a Silver award as a result of comparing it to its mirrorless peers.

Lawrence