Went to an EM1x Launch Event

I went to the EM1x Launch Event held at the CameraMall in Ann Arbor last night. Nice event complete with wine and cheese.

They had 6-8 or so bodies out for handling along with four knowledgable people from Olympus to answer questions. They had the cameras mounted with a selection of different lenses including the 12-100/4, 17/1.2, 25/1.2, 45/1.2, a couple with the 60 mm, and maybe a few more. There a short program and a couple of short videos to watch including one from Joe Edelman. Nice but nothing you haven't seen before.

Overall, the body feels great in my rather large hands. It feels pretty light, too. Frankly, I think the ergonomics are improved by a little more spacing on the buttons. The menu system is still a mess (though the feature forward). The dual joysticks are perfectly placed and intuitive. The custom buttons on the front are nicely placed.

I dragged along a bag of older FT lenses to try. The 150/2 is dynamite on the EM1x. It's more comfortable to use on the bigger body, focuses well, and is going to be a very usable match. They really should come out with that lens again with an updated focus motor ... it would be an amazing combo for youth sports, weddings, etc.

My old 7-14/4 seemed to work fine.

I also tried the old FT 50/2 macro. It would still hunt when trying to shoot at scale, and focus bracketing was greyed out on the menu. But that old lens has never worked so well from about 3 feet and out. One of the Olympus guys went out of his way to say the 50/2 is still a good optical performer.

Another gentleman brought along 14-35/2 and the 35-100/2 which also paired nicely with the EM1x. The old FT lenses are not up to the speed of the newer but otherwise have never worked better.

For me, the 60mm macro was a minor revelation. It looks a little silly on the bigger body, but is straightforward to use and is pretty sweet with focus stacking.

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

--
Jeff
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jck_photos/sets/

Great report, thanks! My local event is on the 15th. Really good to hear the 150/2 will focus equal to better (it sounds like at least a bit!) on the new camera, this has got to be a pretty important feature for quite a few potential users! Another user report said performance of the 90-250/2.8 was much improved.

Jan

Thanks for reporting back. Yes, if you've not used the 60mm before you are highly likely to be surprised by it.

And you must be looking very forward to that parcel arriving...

Jeff said:

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

Click to expand...

Olympus-branded dual battery charger? Just curious.

I'll keep an eye out for this deal at my local camera store.

Jeff said:

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

Click to expand...

I have four Pro lenses: 8mm f/1.8, 12-40mm f/2.8, 25mm f/1.2, 40-150mm f/2.8 + TC. It seems the E-M1X will be a great addition to my Pen F. I have considered the 12-100mm f/4 and the two remaining f/1.2 primes. Alas, cash is in short supply. :-(

The more reports I read and view (videos), the more interesting the camera gets. The oft-rumored Pen F II has my attention too.


Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life at 9100 ft

James Pilcher said:

Jeff said:

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

Click to expand...

Olympus-branded dual battery charger? Just curious.

Click to expand...

No, it's a third-party charger with a micro USB port on the charger itself. The CameraMall people were pitching it as an option to charge while on the road using a car USB port. The Olympus people seemed familiar with it, but it definitely wasn't an Olympus branded device.

Day Hiker said:

I'll keep an eye out for this deal at my local camera store.

Click to expand...

They say this directly, but I think the Olympus backpack was from Olympus, and the other bits were offered by the store. I can't swear to that, but it did seem like both sides were kicking in something to sweeten the deal.

Day Hiker said:

Day Hiker said:

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

Click to expand...

I have four Pro lenses: 8mm f/1.8, 12-40mm f/2.8, 25mm f/1.2, 40-150mm f/2.8 + TC. It seems the E-M1X will be a great addition to my Pen F. I have considered the 12-100mm f/4 and the two remaining f/1.2 primes. Alas, cash is in short supply. :-(

The more reports I read and view (videos), the more interesting the camera gets. The oft-rumored Pen F II has my attention too.

Jim Pilcher
Summit County, Colorado, USA
Living above life at 9100 ft

Click to expand...

How much do you use the 25/1.2? Any thoughts about the pros and cons of the 25 vs the 17/1.2?

Jeff said:

I went to the EM1x Launch Event held at the CameraMall in Ann Arbor last night. Nice event complete with wine and cheese.

They had 6-8 or so bodies out for handling along with four knowledgable people from Olympus to answer questions. They had the cameras mounted with a selection of different lenses including the 12-100/4, 17/1.2, 25/1.2, 45/1.2,

Click to expand...

I am surprised (probably because you were indoors) they had all the portrait lenses on the cameras and not the auto, planes and train lenses on. Joe Edeman is I think the only one I heard so far that is going to do a Utuber on the X and these portrait lenses..Can't Wait

Jeff said:

a couple with the 60 mm, and maybe a few more. There a short program and a couple of short videos to watch including one from Joe Edelman. Nice but nothing you haven't seen before.

Overall, the body feels great in my rather large hands. It feels pretty light, too. Frankly, I think the ergonomics are improved by a little more spacing on the buttons. The menu system is still a mess (though the feature forward). The dual joysticks are perfectly placed and intuitive. The custom buttons on the front are nicely placed.

I dragged along a bag of older FT lenses to try. The 150/2 is dynamite on the EM1x. It's more comfortable to use on the bigger body, focuses well, and is going to be a very usable match. They really should come out with that lens again with an updated focus motor ... it would be an amazing combo for youth sports, weddings, etc.

My old 7-14/4 seemed to work fine.

I also tried the old FT 50/2 macro. It would still hunt when trying to shoot at scale, and focus bracketing was greyed out on the menu. But that old lens has never worked so well from about 3 feet and out. One of the Olympus guys went out of his way to say the 50/2 is still a good optical performer.

Another gentleman brought along 14-35/2 and the 35-100/2 which also paired nicely with the EM1x. The old FT lenses are not up to the speed of the newer but otherwise have never worked better

Click to expand...

Did you think or did you happen to ask any of the Olympus team that was there if the X performed any better then the EM1 MII with these 4/3 lenses ?

Jeff said:

For me, the 60mm macro was a minor revelation. It looks a little silly on the bigger body, but is straightforward to use and is pretty sweet with focus stacking.

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

Click to expand...

Thanks much for your very informative report....

Thanks for posting this--I'll piggyback my experience onto this thread instead of starting yet another. Despite my best intentions I failed to take any notes, so everything that follows depends on my really excellent, not so great memory.

The program I attended essentially echoes yours, hosted by a combination of Olympus employees from Japan and Pennsylvania, assisted by Mike's Cameras employees. They were all gracious, helpful and eager to get the gear into our hands. They had shooting stations demonstrating different features and settings for each were incorporated into the four custom modes. Plenty of cameras and lenses to mix and match. Indoors at night, so there were no outdoor shooting opportunities. When I had side conversations, notes were take. Yup, they're listening.

I tried the 1X with the 12-100 and with my 150/2.0.

The camera is smaller than I'd expected. In one hand with the Mkii and grip in the other there's little meaningful difference. The M1X comfort and layout and controls are better, significantly so. Having never complained about the rigidity of the Mkii with HLD9, but the beefy 1X metal chassis is immediately evident, moreso with a big lens like the 150. Hard to overstate how clever and well thought-out the new body is. By the session's end I was able to use most controls by touch.

This was my first encounter with the 12-100. It too is a lot smaller than I'd imagined. The dual IS is phenomenal. 7.5 stops? I won't argue--it's obviously very effective. I now understand why it's such a popular standard zoom. I didn't try the 300 last night; it's my only Oly IS lens.

Some observations from the presentations and trial:

-It was made clear there will be additional subject modes added to the current three; which ones and when are unclear, I think they honestly don't know the sequence in which they'll be completed. Fair enough.

-The car racing mode zeros on the helmet for both open-wheel cars and motorcycles. It recognizes and tracks bicycles, which piqued my interest considerably because we have a pro race locally every year.

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

-HHHR works. At least my chimping showed perfectly sharp images on the back display (I have no image files from the session). One detail I didn't know: the camera evaluates all frames and discards any OOF images from the stack. Mind-boggling.

-In-camera ND is more than a parlor trick and I believe will be a nice feature for land and cityscape shooter.

-I probably could have sold my 150 SHG last night. Folks love the lens, including some Oly employees who had never handled one. Evidently they recently sold one to NASA who wanted one for some project. It felt right at home on the 1X, not unlike an E-5.

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

-Ships worldwide Feb 25.

There's more but that's what I can dredge up after my morning coffee. Truly enjoyed speaking with the various Oly employees and the fact they brought a devlopment engineer for the event shows me a new level of corporate engagement. They know they're in a huge fight for market share, they bring a distinctive strategy to that fight and have a unique path staked out with the m4/3 commitment, with an obvious belief that their path will successfully separate them from the rest of a very crowded pack. I think we're in for a blizzard of initiatives and products between now and 2020.

Cheers,

Rick

Jeff said:

I went to the EM1x Launch Event held at the CameraMall in Ann Arbor last night. Nice event complete with wine and cheese.

They had 6-8 or so bodies out for handling along with four knowledgable people from Olympus to answer questions. They had the cameras mounted with a selection of different lenses including the 12-100/4, 17/1.2, 25/1.2, 45/1.2, a couple with the 60 mm, and maybe a few more. There a short program and a couple of short videos to watch including one from Joe Edelman. Nice but nothing you haven't seen before.

Overall, the body feels great in my rather large hands. It feels pretty light, too. Frankly, I think the ergonomics are improved by a little more spacing on the buttons. The menu system is still a mess (though the feature forward). The dual joysticks are perfectly placed and intuitive. The custom buttons on the front are nicely placed.

I dragged along a bag of older FT lenses to try. The 150/2 is dynamite on the EM1x. It's more comfortable to use on the bigger body, focuses well, and is going to be a very usable match. They really should come out with that lens again with an updated focus motor ... it would be an amazing combo for youth sports, weddings, etc.

My old 7-14/4 seemed to work fine.

I also tried the old FT 50/2 macro. It would still hunt when trying to shoot at scale, and focus bracketing was greyed out on the menu. But that old lens has never worked so well from about 3 feet and out. One of the Olympus guys went out of his way to say the 50/2 is still a good optical performer.

Another gentleman brought along 14-35/2 and the 35-100/2 which also paired nicely with the EM1x. The old FT lenses are not up to the speed of the newer but otherwise have never worked better.

For me, the 60mm macro was a minor revelation. It looks a little silly on the bigger body, but is straightforward to use and is pretty sweet with focus stacking.

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

Click to expand...

The deal I seen at launch event at Ace Photo in Virginia was two years extended warranty and a large Olympus bag. Two year extended warranty can be gotten from Olympus by registering your E-M1X within 45 days of purchase and purchased between January 24 through May 31 2019, which is odd seeing camera is not coming out until February 25.

Jeff said:

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

Click to expand...

Skeeterbytes said:

Thanks for posting this--I'll piggyback my experience onto this thread instead of starting yet another. Despite my best intentions I failed to take any notes, so everything that follows depends on my really excellent, not so great memory.

The program I attended essentially echoes yours, hosted by a combination of Olympus employees from Japan and Pennsylvania, assisted by Mike's Cameras employees. They were all gracious, helpful and eager to get the gear into our hands. They had shooting stations demonstrating different features and settings for each were incorporated into the four custom modes. Plenty of cameras and lenses to mix and match. Indoors at night, so there were no outdoor shooting opportunities. When I had side conversations, notes were take. Yup, they're listening.

I tried the 1X with the 12-100 and with my 150/2.0.

The camera is smaller than I'd expected. In one hand with the Mkii and grip in the other there's little meaningful difference. The M1X comfort and layout and controls are better, significantly so. Having never complained about the rigidity of the Mkii with HLD9, but the beefy 1X metal chassis is immediately evident, moreso with a big lens like the 150. Hard to overstate how clever and well thought-out the new body is. By the session's end I was able to use most controls by touch.

This was my first encounter with the 12-100. It too is a lot smaller than I'd imagined. The dual IS is phenomenal. 7.5 stops? I won't argue--it's obviously very effective. I now understand why it's such a popular standard zoom. I didn't try the 300 last night; it's my only Oly IS lens.

Click to expand...

I did put my 300 on the body. Works just as well as you would expect.

Skeeterbytes said:

Some observations from the presentations and trial:

-It was made clear there will be additional subject modes added to the current three; which ones and when are unclear, I think they honestly don't know the sequence in which they'll be completed. Fair enough.

-The car racing mode zeros on the helmet for both open-wheel cars and motorcycles. It recognizes and tracks bicycles, which piqued my interest considerably because we have a pro race locally every year.

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

-HHHR works. At least my chimping showed perfectly sharp images on the back display (I have no image files from the session). One detail I didn't know: the camera evaluates all frames and discards any OOF images from the stack. Mind-boggling.

-In-camera ND is more than a parlor trick and I believe will be a nice feature for land and cityscape shooter.

-I probably could have sold my 150 SHG last night. Folks love the lens, including some Oly employees who had never handled one. Evidently they recently sold one to NASA who wanted one for some project. It felt right at home on the 1X, not unlike an E-5.

Click to expand...

Haha. I had the same experience. Ending up passing the EM1x/150 around to a few folks who all seemed taken with the combo. With totally silent Pro capture, this should be wicked good setup for larger wildlife shooting.

Skeeterbytes said:

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

-Ships worldwide Feb 25.

There's more but that's what I can dredge up after my morning coffee. Truly enjoyed speaking with the various Oly employees and the fact they brought a devlopment engineer for the event shows me a new level of corporate engagement. They know they're in a huge fight for market share, they bring a distinctive strategy to that fight and have a unique path staked out with the m4/3 commitment, with an obvious belief that their path will successfully separate them from the rest of a very crowded pack. I think we're in for a blizzard of initiatives and products between now and 2020.

Cheers,

Rick

Click to expand...

Totally agreed. The Oly folks were excellent and were listening very carefully. For example, then mentioned that they had been seeing a lot of FT lenses dragged out to these events, and seemed genuinely interested on that was working out for folks.

--
Jeff
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jck_photos/sets/

brianric said:

Jeff said:

I went to the EM1x Launch Event held at the CameraMall in Ann Arbor last night. Nice event complete with wine and cheese.

They had 6-8 or so bodies out for handling along with four knowledgable people from Olympus to answer questions. They had the cameras mounted with a selection of different lenses including the 12-100/4, 17/1.2, 25/1.2, 45/1.2, a couple with the 60 mm, and maybe a few more. There a short program and a couple of short videos to watch including one from Joe Edelman. Nice but nothing you haven't seen before.

Overall, the body feels great in my rather large hands. It feels pretty light, too. Frankly, I think the ergonomics are improved by a little more spacing on the buttons. The menu system is still a mess (though the feature forward). The dual joysticks are perfectly placed and intuitive. The custom buttons on the front are nicely placed.

I dragged along a bag of older FT lenses to try. The 150/2 is dynamite on the EM1x. It's more comfortable to use on the bigger body, focuses well, and is going to be a very usable match. They really should come out with that lens again with an updated focus motor ... it would be an amazing combo for youth sports, weddings, etc.

My old 7-14/4 seemed to work fine.

I also tried the old FT 50/2 macro. It would still hunt when trying to shoot at scale, and focus bracketing was greyed out on the menu. But that old lens has never worked so well from about 3 feet and out. One of the Olympus guys went out of his way to say the 50/2 is still a good optical performer.

Another gentleman brought along 14-35/2 and the 35-100/2 which also paired nicely with the EM1x. The old FT lenses are not up to the speed of the newer but otherwise have never worked better.

For me, the 60mm macro was a minor revelation. It looks a little silly on the bigger body, but is straightforward to use and is pretty sweet with focus stacking.

They did have a deal if you ordered at the show. The deal included two extra batteries (total of four), a dual battery charger, and an additional 2 years of Olympus warranty (total of three years). That sealed the deal for me so I order a copy.

Click to expand...

The deal I seen at launch event at Ace Photo in Virginia was two years extended warranty and a large Olympus bag. Two year extended warranty can be gotten from Olympus by registering your E-M1X within 45 days of purchase and purchased between January 24 through May 31 2019, which is odd seeing camera is not coming out until February 25.

Click to expand...

Yes, that was the same warranty deal that was described to me. So I probably had it wrong ... the extra batteries from the retailer and the backpack/warranty bonus was from Oly.

Here's a link to the Olympus Adventure ...

https://www.getolympus.com/us/en/om...niJHC61aNWI-KHhHbe3XAFsZzJhYHZwkaAp9-EALw_wcB

brianric said:

brianric said:

I'm still wrestling with what lenses to add to the kit. I have the 300/4, 12-40/2.8 pro, and some of the f/1.8 primes. I tried out the 40-150/2.8 pro and the 12-100/4 pro. Either would be a sweet addition. The 12-100 would likely be on the camera 90% of the time, but gives up a stop and a little on the long end.

Right now I'm thinking of adding the 12-100/4 for most shooting, and the 17/1.2 to cover lower light settings.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Jeff
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jck_photos/sets/

Skeeterbytes said:

Thanks for posting this--I'll piggyback my experience onto this thread instead of starting yet another. Despite my best intentions I failed to take any notes, so everything that follows depends on my really excellent, not so great memory.

The program I attended essentially echoes yours, hosted by a combination of Olympus employees from Japan and Pennsylvania, assisted by Mike's Cameras employees. They were all gracious, helpful and eager to get the gear into our hands. They had shooting stations demonstrating different features and settings for each were incorporated into the four custom modes. Plenty of cameras and lenses to mix and match. Indoors at night, so there were no outdoor shooting opportunities. When I had side conversations, notes were take. Yup, they're listening.

I tried the 1X with the 12-100 and with my 150/2.0.

The camera is smaller than I'd expected. In one hand with the Mkii and grip in the other there's little meaningful difference. The M1X comfort and layout and controls are better, significantly so. Having never complained about the rigidity of the Mkii with HLD9, but the beefy 1X metal chassis is immediately evident, moreso with a big lens like the 150. Hard to overstate how clever and well thought-out the new body is. By the session's end I was able to use most controls by touch.

This was my first encounter with the 12-100. It too is a lot smaller than I'd imagined. The dual IS is phenomenal. 7.5 stops? I won't argue--it's obviously very effective. I now understand why it's such a popular standard zoom. I didn't try the 300 last night; it's my only Oly IS lens.

Some observations from the presentations and trial:

-It was made clear there will be additional subject modes added to the current three; which ones and when are unclear, I think they honestly don't know the sequence in which they'll be completed. Fair enough.

-The car racing mode zeros on the helmet for both open-wheel cars and motorcycles. It recognizes and tracks bicycles, which piqued my interest considerably because we have a pro race locally every year.

Click to expand...

I shoot end point at charity bike-a-thons but subject tracking not going to help me as the riders are coming straight on to me, so all I have to do is get the focus point on the rider.

Skeeterbytes said:

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

Click to expand...

That will be game changing. Look at page 148 of owners manual where Olympus discusses C-AF Target Priority and how to set it on the camera.

Skeeterbytes said:

-HHHR works. At least my chimping showed perfectly sharp images on the back display (I have no image files from the session). One detail I didn't know: the camera evaluates all frames and discards any OOF images from the stack. Mind-boggling.

-In-camera ND is more than a parlor trick and I believe will be a nice feature for land and cityscape shooter.

-I probably could have sold my 150 SHG last night. Folks love the lens, including some Oly employees who had never handled one. Evidently they recently sold one to NASA who wanted one for some project. It felt right at home on the 1X, not unlike an E-5.

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

Click to expand...

Will report back after June 9 ACS Philly Bike-a-thon how effective heat management is.

Skeeterbytes said:

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

Click to expand...

I too was impressed with the EVF.

Skeeterbytes said:

-Ships worldwide Feb 25.

There's more but that's what I can dredge up after my morning coffee. Truly enjoyed speaking with the various Oly employees and the fact they brought a devlopment engineer for the event shows me a new level of corporate engagement. They know they're in a huge fight for market share, they bring a distinctive strategy to that fight and have a unique path staked out with the m4/3 commitment, with an obvious belief that their path will successfully separate them from the rest of a very crowded pack. I think we're in for a blizzard of initiatives and products between now and 2020.

Click to expand...

The only disappointment I had was not getting an answer if Olympus will be selling extra battery carriages as an accessory. When replacing batteries on a bike-a-thon I want to slide out old and slide in new fresh batteries as fast as possible without reloading the battery carriage in use.

Skeeterbytes said:

Cheers,

Rick

Click to expand...

Jeff said:

Skeeterbytes said:

Thanks for posting this--I'll piggyback my experience onto this thread instead of starting yet another. Despite my best intentions I failed to take any notes, so everything that follows depends on my really excellent, not so great memory.

The program I attended essentially echoes yours, hosted by a combination of Olympus employees from Japan and Pennsylvania, assisted by Mike's Cameras employees. They were all gracious, helpful and eager to get the gear into our hands. They had shooting stations demonstrating different features and settings for each were incorporated into the four custom modes. Plenty of cameras and lenses to mix and match. Indoors at night, so there were no outdoor shooting opportunities. When I had side conversations, notes were take. Yup, they're listening.

I tried the 1X with the 12-100 and with my 150/2.0.

The camera is smaller than I'd expected. In one hand with the Mkii and grip in the other there's little meaningful difference. The M1X comfort and layout and controls are better, significantly so. Having never complained about the rigidity of the Mkii with HLD9, but the beefy 1X metal chassis is immediately evident, moreso with a big lens like the 150. Hard to overstate how clever and well thought-out the new body is. By the session's end I was able to use most controls by touch.

This was my first encounter with the 12-100. It too is a lot smaller than I'd imagined. The dual IS is phenomenal. 7.5 stops? I won't argue--it's obviously very effective. I now understand why it's such a popular standard zoom. I didn't try the 300 last night; it's my only Oly IS lens.

Click to expand...

I did put my 300 on the body. Works just as well as you would expect.

Jeff said:

Some observations from the presentations and trial:

-It was made clear there will be additional subject modes added to the current three; which ones and when are unclear, I think they honestly don't know the sequence in which they'll be completed. Fair enough.

-The car racing mode zeros on the helmet for both open-wheel cars and motorcycles. It recognizes and tracks bicycles, which piqued my interest considerably because we have a pro race locally every year.

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

-HHHR works. At least my chimping showed perfectly sharp images on the back display (I have no image files from the session). One detail I didn't know: the camera evaluates all frames and discards any OOF images from the stack. Mind-boggling.

-In-camera ND is more than a parlor trick and I believe will be a nice feature for land and cityscape shooter.

-I probably could have sold my 150 SHG last night. Folks love the lens, including some Oly employees who had never handled one. Evidently they recently sold one to NASA who wanted one for some project. It felt right at home on the 1X, not unlike an E-5.

Click to expand...

Haha. I had the same experience. Ending up passing the EM1x/150 around to a few folks who all seemed taken with the combo. With totally silent Pro capture, this should be wicked good setup for larger wildlife shooting.

Jeff said:

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

-Ships worldwide Feb 25.

There's more but that's what I can dredge up after my morning coffee. Truly enjoyed speaking with the various Oly employees and the fact they brought a devlopment engineer for the event shows me a new level of corporate engagement. They know they're in a huge fight for market share, they bring a distinctive strategy to that fight and have a unique path staked out with the m4/3 commitment, with an obvious belief that their path will successfully separate them from the rest of a very crowded pack. I think we're in for a blizzard of initiatives and products between now and 2020.

Cheers,

Rick

Click to expand...

Totally agreed. The Oly folks were excellent and were listening very carefully. For example, then mentioned that they had been seeing a lot of FT lenses dragged out to these events, and seemed genuinely interested on that was working out for folks.

Click to expand...

that (I hope) is good news. I hope it sends a clear message that 'we' still have these lenses and 'we' still have a strong desire to be able to 'most effectively' use them.

I am planning to attend a launch event but it is not until the beginning of march.

As I mainly use m4/3 for BIF/birding now I was planning to bring my most often used lens...4/300.

however for some strange reason I was going to bring along my 2/35-100. Not sure why as I have very rarely used that lens in the past 8 years (since testing my E5 against the EM5...hence relegating the E5 and all other 4/3 gear to pass their time in a camera bag or two).

maybe I have some deep seeded hope that we will some day be able to use these optically superb lenses with a body that is able to focus them really fast and accurately.

brianric said:

I shoot end point at charity bike-a-thons but subject tracking not going to help me as the riders are coming straight on to me, so all I have to do is get the focus point on the rider.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't completely rule out it working with oncoming riders--it at least deserves investigating. Riders will have helmets, for one thing.

brianric said:

brianric said:

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

Click to expand...

That will be game changing. Look at page 148 of owners manual where Olympus discusses C-AF Target Priority and how to set it on the camera.

Click to expand...

I'm really "chuffed" over this feature and what it portends.

brianric said:

brianric said:

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

Click to expand...

Will report back after June 9 ACS Philly Bike-a-thon how effective heat management is.

Click to expand...

I'd welcome it for those 100-degree days at artificial turf fields. Of course the 1X will now inform us exactly how hot it is, we no longer have to guess.

brianric said:

brianric said:

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

Click to expand...

I too was impressed with the EVF.
The only disappointment I had was not getting an answer if Olympus will be selling extra battery carriages as an accessory. When replacing batteries on a bike-a-thon I want to slide out old and slide in new fresh batteries as fast as possible without reloading the battery carriage in use.

Click to expand...

It's just "a part" and I have to believe that they'll ultimately make them available, but perhaps not right away. I honestly prefer my system of hot-swapping the grip battery as soon as the camera switches to the body battery. It's fast, the camera never shuts off and I have no issue toting cells with me. Camera sans grip is a different issue.
Rick

Paul Auclair said:

Jeff said:

Skeeterbytes said:

Thanks for posting this--I'll piggyback my experience onto this thread instead of starting yet another. Despite my best intentions I failed to take any notes, so everything that follows depends on my really excellent, not so great memory.

The program I attended essentially echoes yours, hosted by a combination of Olympus employees from Japan and Pennsylvania, assisted by Mike's Cameras employees. They were all gracious, helpful and eager to get the gear into our hands. They had shooting stations demonstrating different features and settings for each were incorporated into the four custom modes. Plenty of cameras and lenses to mix and match. Indoors at night, so there were no outdoor shooting opportunities. When I had side conversations, notes were take. Yup, they're listening.

I tried the 1X with the 12-100 and with my 150/2.0.

The camera is smaller than I'd expected. In one hand with the Mkii and grip in the other there's little meaningful difference. The M1X comfort and layout and controls are better, significantly so. Having never complained about the rigidity of the Mkii with HLD9, but the beefy 1X metal chassis is immediately evident, moreso with a big lens like the 150. Hard to overstate how clever and well thought-out the new body is. By the session's end I was able to use most controls by touch.

This was my first encounter with the 12-100. It too is a lot smaller than I'd imagined. The dual IS is phenomenal. 7.5 stops? I won't argue--it's obviously very effective. I now understand why it's such a popular standard zoom. I didn't try the 300 last night; it's my only Oly IS lens.

Click to expand...

I did put my 300 on the body. Works just as well as you would expect.

Member said:

Some observations from the presentations and trial:

-It was made clear there will be additional subject modes added to the current three; which ones and when are unclear, I think they honestly don't know the sequence in which they'll be completed. Fair enough.

-The car racing mode zeros on the helmet for both open-wheel cars and motorcycles. It recognizes and tracks bicycles, which piqued my interest considerably because we have a pro race locally every year.

-They included soccer during development and that's my main action subject. Field sports are clearly a priority and I expect further developments in this arena, paired with 150-400 developments. Oly wants to be on the sidelines with everybody else.

-C-AF center point priority I think will be game-changing. It promises to allow high responsiveness (C-AF lock +2) while keeping focus on the target. Currently we have a balancing act between responsiveness and jumping to unwanted targets. I inferred* this feature may down-migrate to the current camera (*standard disclaimer here). Add custom focus point patterns to my list of killer new features.

-HHHR works. At least my chimping showed perfectly sharp images on the back display (I have no image files from the session). One detail I didn't know: the camera evaluates all frames and discards any OOF images from the stack. Mind-boggling.

-In-camera ND is more than a parlor trick and I believe will be a nice feature for land and cityscape shooter.

-I probably could have sold my 150 SHG last night. Folks love the lens, including some Oly employees who had never handled one. Evidently they recently sold one to NASA who wanted one for some project. It felt right at home on the 1X, not unlike an E-5.

Click to expand...

Haha. I had the same experience. Ending up passing the EM1x/150 around to a few folks who all seemed taken with the combo. With totally silent Pro capture, this should be wicked good setup for larger wildlife shooting.

Member said:

-Heat management should accommodate both heavy stills shooting and extended 4k use. I asked this specifically, based on folks' experiences related here re. the M1ii. All that mass and space and the heat pipe should do the job,

-I like the EVF. Between greater magnification and high-frequency progressive scan it's distinctly better than the current camera. I had glasses, not my usual contact lenses, and could still see the entire frame. Getting outdoors and tracking action will be the acid test, I expect it to be good for this.

-Ships worldwide Feb 25.

There's more but that's what I can dredge up after my morning coffee. Truly enjoyed speaking with the various Oly employees and the fact they brought a devlopment engineer for the event shows me a new level of corporate engagement. They know they're in a huge fight for market share, they bring a distinctive strategy to that fight and have a unique path staked out with the m4/3 commitment, with an obvious belief that their path will successfully separate them from the rest of a very crowded pack. I think we're in for a blizzard of initiatives and products between now and 2020.

Cheers,

Rick

Click to expand...

Totally agreed. The Oly folks were excellent and were listening very carefully. For example, then mentioned that they had been seeing a lot of FT lenses dragged out to these events, and seemed genuinely interested on that was working out for folks.

Click to expand...

that (I hope) is good news. I hope it sends a clear message that 'we' still have these lenses and 'we' still have a strong desire to be able to 'most effectively' use them.

I am planning to attend a launch event but it is not until the beginning of march.

As I mainly use m4/3 for BIF/birding now I was planning to bring my most often used lens...4/300.

however for some strange reason I was going to bring along my 2/35-100. Not sure why as I have very rarely used that lens in the past 8 years (since testing my E5 against the EM5...hence relegating the E5 and all other 4/3 gear to pass their time in a camera bag or two).

maybe I have some deep seeded hope that we will some day be able to use these optically superb lenses with a body that is able to focus them really fast and accurately.

Click to expand...

Hope it works out. As I mentioned, there was a fellow at the Ann Arbor event who mounted his 35-100/2 on the X. He seemed pleased, but I didn't have a chance to play with it myself.

If I were in your shoes, I'd definitely want to check it out for myself.

Could you not just use an external USB power bank?

Thanks for the info. Although I'm not really interested in the EM-1X, as an E-M5 user, I appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Two things:

-interesting about the optical performance comment on the 50/2. I got a mint copy a year ago, and find it underwhelming, mainly because of terrible CA - red fringing on high contrast edges, and noticeably lower contrast than my 12-40. I now wonder if mine has a problem. I did try it on the E-M1ii at release and found it focussed fairly well, but use MF on my E-M5s.

-I found it interesting that you compared the 12-100 with the 40-150/2.8, and not the 12-40. I guess that's because you shoot more telephoto than I do. For me, the 12-100 seems like a near perfect combo, giving me wide to reasonable tele. Whenever I mount my 40-150R, I soon find I am limited by one or more of: limited close focus distance, not wide enough, or not long enough... For me, I think a 12-100 for general purpose, and a 75-300 for tele (or 100-400) would be a good fit.

I do hope the E-M5iii is not far off.

i'm guessing these events are all indoors/low light.

I will do the same...in the mean time...you guys with an EM1.2 could you please compare C-AF ('stills' not video) between the 1X and 1.2?

one thing that I often run into with birding/BIF (C-AF) is hitting the AF 'wall' as light fades and having to switch to S-AF.

I am wondering very much if the 1X will C-AF in lower light than the EM1.2.

apparently, compared to the mk2, the 1X's S-AF is 'better' in low light and has better C-AF in video mode but i'm specifically interested in C-AF with stills(burst mode).

I can't put much stock in my A:B between them last night because at no time did I have the same lens on both cameras. Folks there with months of X1 time did not hesitate to say the new camera's C-AF is better. That point at which light dips to where focusing falters exists for every camera and it's going to take hands-on field time to find where these two models separate.

My most dramatic experience was shooting an event with E-5 and E-M5. As evening deepened I found the E-5 quitting and the the little E-M5 happily working to the end. Wasn't designed as an experiment but turned out that way.

Cheers,

Rick

Congratulations on your new purchase! I hope you'll be happy with the gear.

Skeeterbytes said:

I can't put much stock in my A:B between them last night because at no time did I have the same lens on both cameras. Folks there with months of X1 time did not hesitate to say the new camera's C-AF is better.

Click to expand...

Yes.

re: 1X vs 1.2

Robin Wong claimed the S-AF is much better in low light and Matt Granger(iirc) showed video C-AF was better.

i’ve seen no mention specifically re: stills C-AF...only that the deep learning preloaded algorithms make things easier.

add to that Oly states that the AF system is the same between the two.

leaves me wondering.

Skeeterbytes said:

That point at which light dips to where focusing falters exists for every camera

Click to expand...

absolutely.

Skeeterbytes said:

and it's going to take hands-on field time to find where these two models separate.

Click to expand...

using the dimmer switch in my darkened living room I can easily(and repeatedly) find the C-AF wall of my EM1 and EM1.2.

i assume these launch events are mostly indoors. mine is in the evening as well as indoors so I have little doubt that I will be to find a ‘dark’ enough area to find my EM1.2s C-AF wall. At that point I swap lens to EM1X and see what it does C-AF-wise.

I am hoping some others ahead of me might also do the same in order to compare notes.

Skeeterbytes said:

My most dramatic experience was shooting an event with E-5 and E-M5. As evening deepened I found the E-5 quitting and the the little E-M5 happily working to the end. Wasn't designed as an experiment but turned out that way.

Cheers,

Rick

--
Equivalence and diffraction-free since 2009.
You can be too; ask about our 12-step program.

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--
as always,
thank you fellow DPR members for your kind words and encouragement.