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kwa_photo

kwa_photo

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I was a long time Oly 4/3 and m43 shooter (Oly & Pan). Think E-1, E-3, GF1, GH1, etc. I am considering coming back for the portability and feature set of the E-M1 and smaller lenses. Can anyone here share their experience switching to (or back to) m43 from Fuji (or other APS-C) and/or FF? Thanks!
 
I still have APS-C & FF Nikon gear and will sometimes use them in the same gig with m43.

AF is the big difference but that's DSLR VS mirrorless so that might not apply to you as much.

Otherwise off the top of my head it would be the basic stuff.

Image quality obviously is a bit better on the larger formats though I've rarely had issues with m43.

The m43 lenses are more likely to be sharp wide open on average, and the larger depth of field you get at a given aperture means less stopping down

And then size/weight is really going to depend on the kinds of lenses you want because Fuji does have some great smaller ones in their system.

But if you have any specific questions ask away and I'll see if I can answer them.

Edit: and Olympus is right up there with my Fuji S5 Pro for the best look straight out of camera or anything I've used.
 
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I use a Sony A7Riv and OMDS OM1. It depends which bodies and lenses you use. I don’t think you can generalise based only on sensor size, apart from the basic physics.

MFT and FE have similarly large lens catalogues with different emphasis on optimisation. From each you can make kits that are very different from other kits with the same mount.

Modern lens designs are very different even from five years ago. Again, you see lenses from the same mount with very different characteristics.

Andrew

--
Infinite are the arguments of mages. Truth is a jewel with many facets. Ursula K LeGuin
Please feel free to edit any images that I post
 
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kwa_photo said:
I was a long time Oly 4/3 and m43 shooter (Oly & Pan). Think E-1, E-3, GF1, GH1, etc. I am considering coming back for the portability and feature set of the E-M1 and smaller lenses. Can anyone here share their experience switching to (or back to) m43 from Fuji (or other APS-C) and/or FF? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I switched years ago from an APSC Nikon D200 to an Olympus E-PM1 (tiny body) as a test to see if the IQ was acceptable. It was. I upgraded to a better body and eventually gave my Nikon kit to a friend for his daughter (who proceeded to lose it all in Italy).

Not much else to say. No emotional trauma and no regrets. Is that what you were after for "experience switching"?

BTW: The E-M1 is an old model and somewhat outdated. Consider a newer model.
 
I switched back to Olympus from FF Panasonic. I keep on with Leica M but found the Panasonic L mount cameras did not suit me. I have used some Fuji cameras in the past but moved on.
 
Switched back to OM-1 from Canon R5. Zero regrets, camera is everything I expected.
 
I used to shoot Canon APS-C and then 135 format DSLRs back in the day before graduating to m4/3. For my use-case, the smaller/lighter kit allows me more freedom to carry my gear, especially for long distance hiking and cycle touring trips. The main drawbacks (slower DFD focus on my Panasonic bodies, fewer options for clean low-light shooting, ultra-shallow depth of field) don't concern me. The image quality I can get out of my GH5 is certainly better than my old Canon 20D/30D models and I sold art pieces with that back in the day.

The change in size/weight from APS-C to m4/3 is small enough that I personally wouldn't take the financial hit of selling a Fuji setup to re-buy m4/3, but you're not me so who knows.
 
Bassam Guy said:
kwa_photo said:
I was a long time Oly 4/3 and m43 shooter (Oly & Pan). Think E-1, E-3, GF1, GH1, etc. I am considering coming back for the portability and feature set of the E-M1 and smaller lenses. Can anyone here share their experience switching to (or back to) m43 from Fuji (or other APS-C) and/or FF? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I switched years ago from an APSC Nikon D200 to an Olympus E-PM1 (tiny body) as a test to see if the IQ was acceptable. It was. I upgraded to a better body and eventually gave my Nikon kit to a friend for his daughter (who proceeded to lose it all in Italy).

Not much else to say. No emotional trauma and no regrets. Is that what you were after for "experience switching"?

BTW: The E-M1 is an old model and somewhat outdated. Consider a newer model.
Click to expand...
LOL, ya, OM-1....still stuck in the past I guess with the name :-)
 
Was heavy into Fuji for awhile but then switched to m43. For some time was running two systems with nikon z7 and assorted lenses but sold all of it a year ago. M43 just suits all my needs: weather sealing for adventures/ trekking, live ND, live composite, hand held high res when I need it, awesome ibis which also helps with handheld run and gun video - no gimbal needed (ibis on the fuji and nikon were awful in this regard, at least back then), ergos - em1 just feels perfect in my hands. Also the lens selection: 12-100 is a big reason..I don't believe fuji has anything similar (haven't kept up lately tho). I had the nikon 24-200 but just did not like the lens. Also have the 10-25 which is amazing. I have the f1.2 lenses for when I want subject separation/creamy bokeh for portraits or family. I was comparing the nikon z7 with the em1mark3 on camerasize and they seemed very similar but in real life I found the rm1 to be noticeably more compact in my hands..even with the 12-100 I don't find it cumbersome to lug around. When I need to be as light and compact as possible use my ep7 with 20mmf1.4 and 12-45mm f4 as a versatile travel kit.

You mentioned compactness of lenses so perhaps you are considering the Oly 1.8s but i don't have much experience with those. I personally found the 20 f1.4 and f4 lenses to be a good compromise but this just goes to show the versatility of m43. You can build your kit any which way depending on what you are after.
 
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I am a dual system user Fuji being the secondary system and mFT the primary.

In short: Fuji has the edge in image quality fir OOC jpegs especially. MFT has largely workable raw file which help filling the gap

Nothing compares to mFT on terms of lens lineup, in the mirrorrless universe.

I don't mention portability and such weight/size advantages because I am no wildlife photographer and don't have a thing for long focals. I have the g(9 and the m1X which are both larger or at least equally big in respect to my Fujifilm bodies, with the x-s10 being smaller than some mFT bodies..
 
I was into Fuji quite deep with X-T20, X-H1 and later X-S10 and was seriously considering the X-H2s as replacement of all above. I never gave huge attention about M43 until some friend (he earns money using canon) told about how great this system is. Renting a E-M1 III with two lenses for a weekend were opening my eyes. The 300mm F4 was simply stunning and I realized how bad actually my 2 copies of the XF100-400 were and how many times i came back home with not even one usable photo because of ibis issues, softness, lack of AF, etc. With Fuji I was then using adapters and a 150-600 FF Tele but its been a monster with moderate AF and IQ. I have also rented the old version of the 12-40 F2,8 and its been great as well. Comparing photos from this weekend lastly made me to sell my complete Fuji set including approx. 15 lenses and invested blindy (pre order) into 2x OM-1, one as the kit variant with the new 12-40mm f2,8 which I can highly recommend. Since there photography makes more fun again to me. It is the ease of the software actually which makes this happen. Everything works splendid, the mobile app, life ND, Highres, life composite, etc. I first thought these modes are empty marketing highlights but no, they work very well - every time. The biggest improvement for me coming from Fuji is the way better software and AF, the ease of switching shooting styles on the fly meaning long exposure, life ND, Astro, life composite, macro (the 60mm is cheap, light and fits in every jacket) and all combined with the incredible Ibis. No need for a tripod.

The only regret is why I did not consider M43 earlier, especially when I remember about how many times I came back with zero usable photo with Fuji when i went out for wildlife.

To be fair, Fuji deliveres in street, people, landscape, but for me had huge lacks in the other parts. The Oly does the above well and the other exceptional good. The IQ differences are minimal and the ISO capaility of the OM-1 is better than with the Fuji models I had.

Anyway, I suggest you to rent the gear you consider and get your impressions first hand.

Attention: since I have not touched a Fuji for more then a year I cannot say how things were improved in their latest equipment.
 
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smeesl said:
Was heavy into Fuji for awhile but then switched to m43. For some time was running two systems with nikon z7 and assorted lenses but sold all of it a year ago. M43 just suits all my needs: weather sealing for adventures/ trekking, live ND, live composite, hand held high res when I need it, awesome ibis which also helps with handheld run and gun video - no gimbal needed (ibis on the fuji and nikon were awful in this regard, at least back then), ergos - em1 just feels perfect in my hands. Also the lens selection: 12-100 is a big reason..I don't believe fuji has anything similar (haven't kept up lately tho). I had the nikon 24-200 but just did not like the lens. Also have the 10-25 which is amazing. I have the f1.2 lenses for when I want subject separation/creamy bokeh for portraits or family. I was comparing the nikon z7 with the em1mark3 on camerasize and they seemed very similar but in real life I found the rm1 to be noticeably more compact in my hands..even with the 12-100 I don't find it cumbersome to lug around. When I need to be as light and compact as possible use my ep7 with 20mmf1.4 and 12-45mm f4 as a versatile travel kit.

You mentioned compactness of lenses so perhaps you are considering the Oly 1.8s but i don't have much experience with those. I personally found the 20 f1.4 and f4 lenses to be a good compromise but this just goes to show the versatility of m43. You can build your kit any which way depending on what you are after.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I still have the Old 17 f/1.8 sitting around
 
I'm running both Fuji and M43 and even though I recently acquired OM5, I find myself grabbing the Fuji gears more often these days when I go out.

I used to complain about the lack of lens selection in the XF mount compared to M43, for example, I couldn't find a replacement for PL1260 in the XF lens (and yes I really dislike XF1680). However, with Tamron and Sigma joining the XF, the situation changed quickly during the past two years. I think you could give Fuji's recently released product a try before totally abandoning your Fuji collection. For example, with X-S20 and some small F2 primes plus Sigma 18-50, Tamran 11-20, and Fuji 70-300, I think you couldn't gain many advantages regards portability if you switch to OM1 to cover the same range. The feature set wise, yes, OM1 still has some unbeatable functionalities that could not be found in Fuji, if you want so badly one or two among them, just grab OM1 without any hesitation, however, if those are just 'good to have' for you, IMHO you could think twice.
 
I have switched from Fuji FX (and was playing with / considering FF) ... no regret :) excellent lenses (size and optical quality), gems like Olympus 12-100, Pana 9mm f1.7 or 60mm macro ... etc.

Noise is no problem at all in real life, if 20Mpix is not enough you still can get 50Mpix hand-held or 80Mpix on the tripod.

Bokeh - I have no issue with Olympus 45mm 1.8 or 75mm 1.8 at all, it produces perfect bokeh for me
 
Switched from Nikon (long-time user, last on D850/Z7/Z7II) and Canon (R5) to OM-1 plus several lenses.

Image quality: Quite pleased with the colors and overall 'feel' of the images. Better than R5, almost as good as the Nikons. Make no mistake, noise is at least a potential issue, as the MFT sensor expectably produces much more of it. To me, this is only an issue if I shoot a scene combining bright lights with deep shadows but for some reason have to use high ISOs. That's where dynamic range becomes an issue. This is a rare situation, though. I often shoot birds, where high ISOs are commonly needed in the rainforest or so, but the dynamic range required there allows for high ISOs without a problem. Removing the resulting noise in post in a non-issue when using DxO, for example.

AF performance: The OM-1 is easily better than Z7II, though not as good as the R5, as it is harder to "keep on the bird" than the Canon in some situations.

Features: The computational stuff makes my MFT gear more valuable. It is hard to understand why other brands haven't started doing something similar long ago.

Lenses: Very impressed with the MFT lenses I own, which are as good as the Nikon Z ones, and that's quite a statement. The Oly 150-400 is a real game changer: nobody else makes a lens that's even close in combining highest performance with a TC in a tele zoom lens.

Overall, I could not point to one single aspect that could justify switching from FF to MFT. When I look at the overall system, however, it is a switch I am still very happy with. I now travel with a relatively lightweight and small system whose capabilities are close in some areas, and exceed in others, those of the FF gear I used before. There are some drawbacks, but none of them are significant enough for me to look back.
 
Last edited:
kwa_photo said:
I was a long time Oly 4/3 and m43 shooter (Oly & Pan). Think E-1, E-3, GF1, GH1, etc. I am considering coming back for the portability and feature set of the E-M1 and smaller lenses. Can anyone here share their experience switching to (or back to) m43 from Fuji (or other APS-C) and/or FF? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Switched from m43 to fuji some years ago then partially back to Olympus and finally back to fuji. Both fuji and Olympus are great systems, personally I prefer the Fuji dials interface. What are you shooting? Generally I would say Olympus om1 has the edge in BiF and macro whereas Fuji is better in everything else (not huge differences however).
 
mathazr said:
I was into Fuji quite deep with X-T20, X-H1 and later X-S10 and was seriously considering the X-H2s as replacement of all above. I never gave huge attention about M43 until some friend (he earns money using canon) told about how great this system is. Renting a E-M1 III with two lenses for a weekend were opening my eyes. The 300mm F4 was simply stunning and I realized how bad actually my 2 copies of the XF100-400 were and how many times i came back home with not even one usable photo because of ibis issues, softness, lack of AF, etc. With Fuji I was then using adapters and a 150-600 FF Tele but its been a monster with moderate AF and IQ. I have also rented the old version of the 12-40 F2,8 and its been great as well. Comparing photos from this weekend lastly made me to sell my complete Fuji set including approx. 15 lenses and invested blindy (pre order) into 2x OM-1, one as the kit variant with the new 12-40mm f2,8 which I can highly recommend. Since there photography makes more fun again to me. It is the ease of the software actually which makes this happen. Everything works splendid, the mobile app, life ND, Highres, life composite, etc. I first thought these modes are empty marketing highlights but no, they work very well - every time. The biggest improvement for me coming from Fuji is the way better software and AF, the ease of switching shooting styles on the fly meaning long exposure, life ND, Astro, life composite, macro (the 60mm is cheap, light and fits in every jacket) and all combined with the incredible Ibis. No need for a tripod.

The only regret is why I did not consider M43 earlier, especially when I remember about how many times I came back with zero usable photo with Fuji when i went out for wildlife.

To be fair, Fuji deliveres in street, people, landscape, but for me had huge lacks in the other parts. The Oly does the above well and the other exceptional good. The IQ differences are minimal and the ISO capaility of the OM-1 is better than with the Fuji models I had.

Anyway, I suggest you to rent the gear you consider and get your impressions first hand.

Attention: since I have not touched a Fuji for more then a year I cannot say how things were improved in their latest equipment.
Click to expand...
Having used both systems extensively, I think you are bit unfair to Fuji. They are both great exceeding in different fields of photography. Personally I find Olympus better in wildlife with the OM1 and the fantastic 300/f4 and at macro with the tiny 60/2.8. But Fuji is also great especially for street, portraits, landscape and no slouch for the rest. Especially with the newer bodies (XT4 and beyond) they have improved a lot in CAF and ibis. Finally re the added features of Olympus they are nice to have but not deal breaking for me. In camera stacking creates artifacts and so far haven’t found a use for hhhr. Live nd and Astro af are nice but not used very often as well.
 
I was a Fuji user since 2016 and switched to the OM-1 in January of this year.

I wrote a pretty extensive post about it a while ago and don't want to re-write it. You can read it here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66811570

I don't have anything to add to that post really. I'm still really enjoying the OM-1.

These days I mostly shoot birds and my dog. I've got the Oly 25mm F/1.8 and the Oly 100-400 lenses and they are both excellent.

You might also find this whole thread to be worth reading: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66411180 as it details my comparison between the OM-1 and X-H2s when I rented both cameras last summer.

Spoiler Alert: I came to the conclusion that the decision came down to things like weight, lens selection, button placement, body shape, software UI, etc. because both systems are hugely capable.

Hope that helps.
 
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