Not my cup of tea

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I bought this camera with the 17mm f1.8 as a kit while traveling through different Asian countries, for this trip, I took with me only an old and "dusty" Ricoh GR (who died a few months later).

The first impressions were good, great image stabilization, fast autofocus, Hi Res mode, weather sealing, and compactness made me believe that this camera would be perfect for me but (SPOILER) soon I find out that I was wrong.

The build quality is not bad, wheels are easy to easy to be accidentally moved, dials are made of plastic and up and down plate in magnesium.
The first thing I did was importing some shots (raw) that I took on the way to my hostel. At first sight, the IQ didn't convince me, in Hi Res mode is a bit better but I shoot 99% handheld and I take my little tripod with me only if I know that I will need it. The images weren't sharp as I expected, maybe the Ricoh GR and other Fujis cameras spoiled me so I thought that maybe I just need to get used to it. I decided to care less about getting sharp images but another thing started bothering me: the Dynamic Range in post production.
When I imported the first shots on Lightroom I didn't find any big issues, those shots were taken in good light conditions, the lights and colors handling wasn't great for me, but I tried to convince myself again that this is a different camera and I need time to learn to use it properly and get used to it.

I then started trying to set up the most comfortable configuration for my shooting style but soon I find out that the Olympus menu is quite complicated and doesn't allow me to fully customize the Fn buttons; for example: in aperture priority, I wanted the ability to change ISO on the front wheel and aperture on the back wheel. but that wasn't possible, on the front wheel I only could keep exposure compensation or white balance. Eventually, I ended up with exposure compensation.
There are other buttons that are impossible to customize, like the one on in the right hand side of the lens which is used for depth of field preview, in alternative I could put the ISO settings there but... no.

Talking about ISO, the performances are pretty bad. Is true that this camera have one of the best stabilization on the market but in some situations is just not enough and images taken with ISO above 1600 shows some less in details looking "waxed". Also shooting at slow shutter speed could be good for stills but for moving people or objects is not good, but I guess that depends on what picture you want to make.

Recovering lights on dark images is terrible, once I started moving the selector on Lightroom I seen heavy purple fringing; with the Ricoh GR I could only see something like that in a dark image at 6400 or 12800 ISO. I'm not comparing the two cameras because it wouldn't be fair, I expected the low light performances wouldn't be the same as the GR but 1600 is kinda too low for me, I like shooting in dark conditions.

The last thing which makes me decide to sell this camera was the 4:3 format sensor, I realized that is not my cup of tea, I prefer much more the 3:2 format, I know I could easily set up this format from the camera settings but I like to use the entire size of the sensor, also, by cropping a 16mpx image I would lose more details and doesn't seems a good idea to me.

In conclusion, I think this camera and other similar are just not for me. Don't get me wrong, this is a great camera but for my shooting taste is better if I look somewhere else to enjoy taking pictures.
 
IMO, review threads that discuss image quality should be ignored if they have no sample images with EXIF data. Just pointless.

Handling? Weight? UI issues? Fit of the camera features to your shooting style? All fine to include in a review without images.

But image quality? Include samples. It is pretty easy to screw up image quality with poor settings. There is also a wide variance on what people consider image quality issues. It is impossible to tell what is going on when a review rates the image quality as poor for a camera that so many people find acceptable.
Unfortunately I don't have time and place to digging through all the pics I took to add some good examples, my bad. But there are plenty of examples online, on dpreview there is a great comparison tool and sample pictures.
How would samples of photos found online help illustrate the problems YOU are having with the camera?

No time to include samples? I'd suggest saving the time on the review also because it is a waste of everyone's time.
 
This is an unnecessarily harsh post. In any case, the OP's mistake was trivial.
Then you shouldn't post your reviews like that. By doing so, you are actually spreading inaccurate information.
You should pass the text to someone more knowledgeable in English or better yet a native speaker, so it can fix those mistakes for you.
I was very careful to avoid being harsh or patronizing. I'm merely trying to let him realize that he should be more careful when posting a review.

Inaccurate information in a regular forum post is a trivial mistake. When you do it on a review it broadens the attention it receives so is more prone to deviate potential buyers from doing an informed decision. As little as one single review could make or not any difference, you should be responsible for what you say in a review, or this will simply turn into a useless reference when searching for gear to buy.

Just recently Amazon started to be quite strict with product reviews, simply because there is so much inaccurate information that you can't no longer trust in the ratings. That is a call of attention that we should be doing the same thing. The more accurate reviews are, the more trustful they become.

But at the end of the day, to err is human, so, to the OP: If you feel I've been harsh, I apologize. But please be more careful.

Thanks.
 
The build quality is not bad, wheels are easy to easy to be accidentally moved, dials are made of plastic and up and down plate in magnesium.
The dial wheels on mine are solid Aluminium
My bad English sometimes creates misunderstanding due to my clumsy way to describe something, Sorry guys.

I was referring at the actual buttons and Dpad on the left of the screen, not at the wheels.
Then you shouldn't post your reviews like that. By doing so, you are actually spreading inaccurate information.
You should pass the text to someone more knowledgeable in English or better yet a native speaker, so it can fix those mistakes for you.
I like to be more forgiving of people here who struggle with English. I understand your concern about spreading inaccurate information, but anyone who takes this one review to make a camera decision, without reading followup comments, is doing himself a disservice anyway. I enjoy everyone’s participation, native English speakers or not. :-)

The review was negative, but the OP made the point more than once that it’s not the camera for him. Never did he say it’s a bad camera. In fact, he said quite the opposite. I enjoy reading all comments. That allows me to form a better-informed opinion.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Life is good in the woods
Well said. I also appreciate that those who don’t have English as their first language do in fact take the trouble to make posts on this forum. Furthermore lengthy and reasoned ones.

We don’t have to agree and all opinions should be interesting ones taken on their merits.
 
One of my slight frustrations with the E-M1 (a great camera) is that using it in conjuction with Panasonic bodies the interface was so different that (in dark theatre) finger memory use was difficult. I consciously had to think “how do I do ...”. Whereas with several different Panasoninc bodies the common interface and reasonably (but not really quite) common control interface made switching between bodies more inuitive.

So I had the bright idea to use the undoubtedly versatile re-allocation of functions of the Olympus system to try and mimic standard Panasonic layout as far as possible. The fact that Olympus has separate “OK”, “INFO”, “MENU”, “DELETE” buttons which set them apart immediately from Panasonic which makes fewer buttons seem to do much the same task by double duty in a seamless manner that is not really noticed in practice. No matter - that is how it is. Harder is the fact that Olympus makes standard what is an option on Panasonic - the use of the arrow keys to move the focus point around the screen. It would certainly ease my use of both brand of cameras if I could at least optionally mimic the “arrow key” allocations of Panasonic bodies. But although I did invetigate this wonderful thought I found that it was impossible. Wide as the allocation of functions are - the re-allocation of the “arrow keys” is quite limited.

I could make my Panasonic arrow keys work more closely to what Olympus-style is but I would lose too much of the other benefits of what the more standard Panasonic interface offers.

I think that this does highlight a divide between product offerings - there is a need to be able to find and invoke camera functions that becomes mentally ingained and well tuned to finger memory. This must mean that those with a strong association with one brand of camera body will always find mixing brand bodies on an outing more stressful when under some pressure. Of course those that can take their time and change camera settings infrequently on location will not normally find this inconvenient at all. I am specifically talking about the semi-pro situation of needing to get good captures under some level of pressure.

The OP is like me - a refugee from Ricoh - cameras of niche uses only but basically the same fixed lens body style religiously made over for ever better interface over a long period. As such the present Ricoh GR is in fact a camera with very good ergonomics and therefore any other camera, no matter what, is going to come under some sort of comparative scrutiny against a standard already well set. But of course Ricoh now have the singular luxury of now only supporting one camera body (don’t laugh too heartily ....).

Of course if you are a continuous and happy Olympus person then the Olympus way of doing things is perfect. Sometimes it is useful to stop and listen to helpful suggestions given with the best of intent by those that have sailed outside the Olympus sea.
 
Of course, it is entirely possible that another camera make/model would suit you better, for your own personal requirements.

But this does not reflect badly on the Olympus EM5 ii, because it is a brilliant camera, one of the best ever built in its class. The build quality of it is superb, the features packed into it are amazing, and its image quality is excellent.

Plus, it has access to one of the best lens eco systems available. Certainly the widest choice of lenses available in mirrorless. The icing on the cake is that the EM5 ii, with the right lenses is highly portable, considering its heavyweight capabilities.

No Micro 43 camera is (or was ever claimed to be) a low-light king...but one only has to check out the the images its sensor produces, to see its IQ capability. National Geographic photographers have used this sensor.

But if it's not for you, "not your cup of tea," as you put it, that's fine. We live in a marketplace full of different camera choices, and you can trade it in for a different model.

I'm sure that the new owner of your EM5 ii will appreciate what a fantastic camera that he/she has, and will produce great images with it.
Indeed is a great camera, I never say it is bad and honestly I don't understand why so many people here say that I think that so to make it clear:

"The Olympus OM-D M5 m2 is a GREAT camera but is not for me"
After looking at your so called "review" and conclusions, I totally agree to your last statement "The Olympus OM-D M5 m2 is a GREAT camera but is not for you"

Indeed, the M5 is a great camera but as every other camera, it needs a photographer behind it and judging from what I saw in your galleries, you are the one who is not made for this camera, but as always, it is easier to blame the tool than questioning ourselves.

Moti
 
One of my slight frustrations with the E-M1 (a great camera) is that using it in conjuction with Panasonic bodies the interface was so different that (in dark theatre) finger memory use was difficult. I consciously had to think “how do I do ...”. Whereas with several different Panasoninc bodies the common interface and reasonably (but not really quite) common control interface made switching between bodies more inuitive.

So I had the bright idea to use the undoubtedly versatile re-allocation of functions of the Olympus system to try and mimic standard Panasonic layout as far as possible. The fact that Olympus has separate “OK”, “INFO”, “MENU”, “DELETE” buttons which set them apart immediately from Panasonic which makes fewer buttons seem to do much the same task by double duty in a seamless manner that is not really noticed in practice. No matter - that is how it is. Harder is the fact that Olympus makes standard what is an option on Panasonic - the use of the arrow keys to move the focus point around the screen. It would certainly ease my use of both brand of cameras if I could at least optionally mimic the “arrow key” allocations of Panasonic bodies. But although I did invetigate this wonderful thought I found that it was impossible. Wide as the allocation of functions are - the re-allocation of the “arrow keys” is quite limited.
I know it is not popular here but I just discovered a way for me to set my EM5.2 to work more like a Panasonic: use the Live Control panel.

Everyone tells you to use the SCP but it is *less * intuitive. To get a setting changed in SCP you need to push OK; then either use the arrow keys to scroll to the desired setting, or tap the appropriate LCD field; push OK; use the arrow keys to change the setting.

OTOH, using Live Control is like the Panasonic QMenu: hit OK, use up & down arrow to select the desired setting, once there, use left & right arrow to set.

Much, much faster. All the SCP settings might not be there but how many times do you need to change the tone curve anyway? You can always switch back to the SCP with just a touch of the INFO key.

See if it helps you any.
 
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IMO, review threads that discuss image quality should be ignored if they have no sample images with EXIF data. Just pointless.

Handling? Weight? UI issues? Fit of the camera features to your shooting style? All fine to include in a review without images.

But image quality? Include samples. It is pretty easy to screw up image quality with poor settings. There is also a wide variance on what people consider image quality issues. It is impossible to tell what is going on when a review rates the image quality as poor for a camera that so many people find acceptable.
Unfortunately I don't have time and place to digging through all the pics I took to add some good examples, my bad. But there are plenty of examples online, on dpreview there is a great comparison tool and sample pictures.
You found plenty of examples online? You used the dpreview comparison tool? You saw the sample pics?

And your conclusion was to buy the camera, write a review and complain about the image quality?
His hole is getting deeper.
 
Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. Indeed, with your comment "I like to shoot in dark conditions" it is possible that m43 wasn't a good fit from the very beginning. Think of m43 as a replacement for film and you'll appreciate and love it; somehow, with the advent of digital, everyone all of a sudden wants to snap a black cat in a blackened room and expect great results.

Don't worry about the replies you'll get here. The fanboys are already lining up to call you 'Troll' and flame you, because you had the nerve to say that their object of worship isn't the finest thing on planet Earth.

If you are going to shoot ISO 6400+ on a regular basis, not even APS+C s really going to be good enough for you. The Ricoh GRII gets away with it due to relatively low pixel density for an APS-C sensor - low modern resolution - allowing large pixels. Still, it's only about 2/3 stop theoretical difference, both m43 and the Ricoh are the same resolution, so you should look into a RX100 for your travels, as your posting history showed interest in.

Best of luck!
em52.......................................................................gr2 iso 3200

let you pick :-)

Don
You can find out yourself on the comparison tool on this website:
Why did you post this comparison? The Em 5.2 image looks better in terms of noise than the Ricoh GR II image and undercuts your argument,
4/3 sensors are smaller than APS-C sensors and considering that the m5-2 and the GR2 have both 16mpx is physically impossible that the Oly produce less noise than the Ricoh because on the Ricoh's sensor the pixels are bigger; So I don't really know why are you saying that, did you made a comparison yourself? I did and I could see the difference.
 
IMO, review threads that discuss image quality should be ignored if they have no sample images with EXIF data. Just pointless.

Handling? Weight? UI issues? Fit of the camera features to your shooting style? All fine to include in a review without images.

But image quality? Include samples. It is pretty easy to screw up image quality with poor settings. There is also a wide variance on what people consider image quality issues. It is impossible to tell what is going on when a review rates the image quality as poor for a camera that so many people find acceptable.
Unfortunately I don't have time and place to digging through all the pics I took to add some good examples, my bad. But there are plenty of examples online, on dpreview there is a great comparison tool and sample pictures.
How would samples of photos found online help illustrate the problems YOU are having with the camera?

No time to include samples? I'd suggest saving the time on the review also because it is a waste of everyone's time.
I believe the images other people used for test the camera and write a review are produced by the same type of camera I used: the OM-D 5 m2.

Those people get paid for writing accurate reviews, I don't so I can not spend hours on writing a detailed review and take sample shots.

You are not forced to read my review, anybody is so don't blame me, you are wasting your time even replying to this post...
 
This is an unnecessarily harsh post. In any case, the OP's mistake was trivial.
Then you shouldn't post your reviews like that. By doing so, you are actually spreading inaccurate information.
You should pass the text to someone more knowledgeable in English or better yet a native speaker, so it can fix those mistakes for you.
I was very careful to avoid being harsh or patronizing. I'm merely trying to let him realize that he should be more careful when posting a review.

Inaccurate information in a regular forum post is a trivial mistake. When you do it on a review it broadens the attention it receives so is more prone to deviate potential buyers from doing an informed decision. As little as one single review could make or not any difference, you should be responsible for what you say in a review, or this will simply turn into a useless reference when searching for gear to buy.

Just recently Amazon started to be quite strict with product reviews, simply because there is so much inaccurate information that you can't no longer trust in the ratings. That is a call of attention that we should be doing the same thing. The more accurate reviews are, the more trustful they become.

But at the end of the day, to err is human, so, to the OP: If you feel I've been harsh, I apologize. But please be more careful.

Thanks.
No offense, I think you are right, I should have passed the document to someone who have better English grammar skills than me.
 
Of course, it is entirely possible that another camera make/model would suit you better, for your own personal requirements.

But this does not reflect badly on the Olympus EM5 ii, because it is a brilliant camera, one of the best ever built in its class. The build quality of it is superb, the features packed into it are amazing, and its image quality is excellent.

Plus, it has access to one of the best lens eco systems available. Certainly the widest choice of lenses available in mirrorless. The icing on the cake is that the EM5 ii, with the right lenses is highly portable, considering its heavyweight capabilities.

No Micro 43 camera is (or was ever claimed to be) a low-light king...but one only has to check out the the images its sensor produces, to see its IQ capability. National Geographic photographers have used this sensor.

But if it's not for you, "not your cup of tea," as you put it, that's fine. We live in a marketplace full of different camera choices, and you can trade it in for a different model.

I'm sure that the new owner of your EM5 ii will appreciate what a fantastic camera that he/she has, and will produce great images with it.
Indeed is a great camera, I never say it is bad and honestly I don't understand why so many people here say that I think that so to make it clear:

"The Olympus OM-D M5 m2 is a GREAT camera but is not for me"
After looking at your so called "review" and conclusions, I totally agree to your last statement "The Olympus OM-D M5 m2 is a GREAT camera but is not for you"

Indeed, the M5 is a great camera but as every other camera, it needs a photographer behind it and judging from what I saw in your galleries, you are the one who is not made for this camera, but as always, it is easier to blame the tool than questioning ourselves.

Moti
Thank you for your compliments.

So you are actually saying that I'm a mediocre photographer because we don't have the same opinion about this camera?

Is nice to see how some people react childishly when you touch their toys.
 
I bought this camera with the 17mm f1.8 as a kit while traveling through different Asian countries, for this trip, I took with me only an old and "dusty" Ricoh GR (who died a few months later).

The first impressions were good, great image stabilization, fast autofocus, Hi Res mode, weather sealing, and compactness made me believe that this camera would be perfect for me but (SPOILER) soon I find out that I was wrong.

The build quality is not bad, wheels are easy to easy to be accidentally moved, dials are
I have this camera I disagree with everything you said
I'm sincerely happy for you.
Hopefully you'll find a camera and tea you'll be happy with but I sincerely doubt it
I don't understand your point. Why do you think I wouldn't find a camera I like better? Because the omd 5.2 is the best camera for everyone ever made under any aspect but I'm too stupid to understand it? Is that what you want me to say?
 
After reading pointless complaints and been offended in different ways, even after specifying several times that it is a great camera but is just not for me (not my cup of tea ), I decided to don't listen to these people anymore, reading and replying to them is such a waste of time, and I don't think I would ever write a review on this platform.

Thanks for the experience.
 
After reading pointless complaints and been offended in different ways, even after specifying several times that it is a great camera but is just not for me (not my cup of tea ), I decided to don't listen to these people anymore, reading and replying to them is such a waste of time, and I don't think I would ever write a review on this platform.

Thanks for the experience.
Mate... you gave it 2.5 stars when average is 4.2... so you can't contradict yourself and look for sympathy by saying it is "a great camera"!

Take it on the chin and learn... I have been more abused for stating less here... you will get used to the regular jerks and the part time intruders, but most have something worthwhile to say.
 
I would never give the DPR Studio Comparison as a reference about Olympus IQ. DPR uses Adobe Camera Raw for converting the Olympus Raw files, which I gave up on long ago due to its poor results with Olympus.orf files.
Interesting warning as I'm looking at getting a Pen-F. I use Adobe dng converter+ACR on my Pana RW2 files. Do you know if there are any problems with that compared with using SilkyPix?
 
After reading pointless complaints and been offended in different ways, even after specifying several times that it is a great camera but is just not for me (not my cup of tea ), I decided to don't listen to these people anymore, reading and replying to them is such a waste of time, and I don't think I would ever write a review on this platform.

Thanks for the experience.
I'm not going to disagree that we get posters who are negative and defensive on this forum.

You might reflect on whether your review was helpful to someone trying to make choices. If you had organised it around the strengths and weaknesses of the camera compared to use cases, then it would have been more useful. Also you might have used specific comparisons to other cameras and lenses to illustrate your point.

It's hardly surprising that an MFT camera starts to have significant noise over ISO 1600, so does a FF one at 6400. Hopefully you knew that it had a 4:3 ratio when you bought it.

Maybe your review was about you calibrating your needs and expectations, rather than the camera itself? In that case a different tone might have caused less hostile reaction. After all, your post is mainly read by people who have MFT cameras, including a large number who have other cameras as well.

The EM5.2 is also not my cup of tea, but an EM1.2 would be. An EM1.3 might be even more so (remember Olympus - base ISO 25 and dual gain at ISO 200).

I didn't find your review offensive - my abilities in any other language than English are worse than yours in English.

Andrew
 
I would never give the DPR Studio Comparison as a reference about Olympus IQ. DPR uses Adobe Camera Raw for converting the Olympus Raw files, which I gave up on long ago due to its poor results with Olympus.orf files.
Interesting warning as I'm looking at getting a Pen-F. I use Adobe dng converter+ACR on my Pana RW2 files. Do you know if there are any problems with that compared with using SilkyPix?
I’ll have to admit that once I experienced the ACR issues with the Olympus Raw, I began using SilkyPix on my LX100 Raw files as well, but haven’t done a real extensive comparison. SilkyPix conversions are much faster than OV3 so it’s pretty easy to add to the workflow without severely impacting processing time.
 
Even more, and quite frankly: people around here are thin skinned and take negative posts and reviews seriously, and worst of all personally.

It's a CAMERA. Get a grip people. The amount of tribalism shown in this board is growing to almost intolerable levels. If someone has a problem with "your" camera then either join in to help figure things out, positive or negative outcome regardless, or if you can't handle a differing viewpoint simply grow a pair and move along to something more suited to your tastes. I'm sorry, but the world doesn't have to universally approve of everything you do and every decision that you've made, especially when it comes to your choices in consumer goods.
Absolutely! A camera is not a religious or a moral choice! It is a tool! People get into this weird head space where they have a hard time separating themselves from their tech choices. So people with other choices, just stay quiet, to avoid controversy.
 
I bought this camera with the 17mm f1.8 as a kit while traveling through different Asian countries, for this trip, I took with me only an old and "dusty" Ricoh GR (who died a few months later).

The first impressions were good, great image stabilization, fast autofocus, Hi Res mode, weather sealing, and compactness made me believe that this camera would be perfect for me but (SPOILER) soon I find out that I was wrong.

The build quality is not bad, wheels are easy to easy to be accidentally moved, dials are
I have this camera I disagree with everything you said
I'm sincerely happy for you.
Hopefully you'll find a camera and tea you'll be happy with but I sincerely doubt it
I don't understand your point. Why do you think I wouldn't find a camera I like better? Because the omd 5.2 is the best camera for everyone ever made under any aspect but I'm too stupid to understand it? Is that what you want me to say?
Yes
 
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