ed wood
Member
Hello, this is my first post in this forum. I recently purchased an OMD with 12-50 kit lens + 45mm f1.8. I am using a Nikon D90 since 2008 and before that I had an Oly E-500. I know that there are a lot of Nikon DX users that have already tried or that are thinking of trying the OMD, so let me share my impressions after using the EM-5 for one month.
First of all it is a very handsome camera (I have the silver one), and it feels smaller than I expected. Build quality seems very good but of course only time will tell. The ergonomics are pretty fine and usable, I like the thumb grip very much and now I got used to the "mushy" feel of the buttons. I also realize that some small things were sacrificed in order to retain the "sexyness" of the camera (like the On-Off switch). In the software part of the ergonomics I agree with most users in this forum that things like mysets or bracketing should be more easily accessible, they should be at least included in super control panel. Also I would like a mysetting menu tab where the user can put his most used items for easy access (d90 has this). Let me add my comment to one this forum’s favorite complaints, that I have absolutely no problem using the small af points. I use the fn2 button, I have set the magnification to 14x, one press gives me the small point, ok button or a longer fn2 press gets me back to the default.
Now let's talk about the shooting experience. The shutter feel and sound are of high quality. I really like the EVF, it is customizable, bright and clear, with nice refresh rate and it is far more usable than the D90's OVF in certain situations like indoors. The swivel LCD adds flexibility and the touch shutter release is fantastic for street shooting. But it is the combination of the af speed with the cleverly implemented face detection plus by the incredible IBIS plus the relatively short black out time (with auto review off) that makes the overall experience good enough to make you forget about a DSLR. It's like the progression of electronics has merged with the core of DSLR shooting. The result in my opinion is equally appealing to compact and DSLR shooters, is like the best of the two worlds. Things can only get better in future models when the continuous af will really work. Also HD video is a nice bonus, because you can operate it like a handycam and the IBIS helps things further. I wish the battery life was better but I understand that a full live view small camera has power limitations.
The image quality is really up to aps-c standards, so noise is not an issue for any practical situation. There is also a lot of DR to play with in RAW files. So everything seems on par with D90, maybe a little better. This is excellent because I would sacrifice even 1 EV-stop of performance for the size and IBIS advantage. Of course I like the Olympus colors which I somehow missed when I sold my E-500, they seem nicer for blue skies and skin tones. Also the default ACR profile in Lightroom 4 seems close enough to the EM5's in-camera jpeg so I have a good starting point for editing. I have found that the camera slightly underexposes, the Nikon on the contrary overexposed a bit, this is good for jpegs but exposing the Nikon way can give you better results in RAW.
No let's talk about the lenses. First of all, shame on Olympus for not including the lens hoods, that’s why I bought JJC’s replacements online. My Nikon kit consists of Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-105, 70-300 VR, 35mm 1.8 and 50mm f1.8G. A pretty complete kit for amateur - travel use. Now on my OMD I have tried a friend's Panasonic 14mm in addition to my 45mm and kit lens. First of all the 45 is simply fantastic, super sharp and nice bokeh, the size is ideal and combined with the af qualities of the OMD make a very competent portrait machine, that seems transparent to your models. The 12-50 seems a little worse optically than the Nikon 18-105 but it is much more versatile - wider, weather sealed, macro, internal zoom and great for video. The 14mm seemed ok, but I am going to buy the 17mm as I find it more suitable to my shooting style and I couldn't find something equivalent in the DX Nikon world.
So adding all the above I have decided to sell my Nikon gear. I can have a system of equal image quality which is a lot smaller and lighter and more fun and discreet to shoot with. To complete the transition I need to purchase a wide angle zoom, a telephoto zoom and a wireless flash. There is no reason to keep the Nikon because I rarely shoot sports or other unpredictably moving subjects.
Hope my experience can help others to decide, I can also post some images later...
First of all it is a very handsome camera (I have the silver one), and it feels smaller than I expected. Build quality seems very good but of course only time will tell. The ergonomics are pretty fine and usable, I like the thumb grip very much and now I got used to the "mushy" feel of the buttons. I also realize that some small things were sacrificed in order to retain the "sexyness" of the camera (like the On-Off switch). In the software part of the ergonomics I agree with most users in this forum that things like mysets or bracketing should be more easily accessible, they should be at least included in super control panel. Also I would like a mysetting menu tab where the user can put his most used items for easy access (d90 has this). Let me add my comment to one this forum’s favorite complaints, that I have absolutely no problem using the small af points. I use the fn2 button, I have set the magnification to 14x, one press gives me the small point, ok button or a longer fn2 press gets me back to the default.
Now let's talk about the shooting experience. The shutter feel and sound are of high quality. I really like the EVF, it is customizable, bright and clear, with nice refresh rate and it is far more usable than the D90's OVF in certain situations like indoors. The swivel LCD adds flexibility and the touch shutter release is fantastic for street shooting. But it is the combination of the af speed with the cleverly implemented face detection plus by the incredible IBIS plus the relatively short black out time (with auto review off) that makes the overall experience good enough to make you forget about a DSLR. It's like the progression of electronics has merged with the core of DSLR shooting. The result in my opinion is equally appealing to compact and DSLR shooters, is like the best of the two worlds. Things can only get better in future models when the continuous af will really work. Also HD video is a nice bonus, because you can operate it like a handycam and the IBIS helps things further. I wish the battery life was better but I understand that a full live view small camera has power limitations.
The image quality is really up to aps-c standards, so noise is not an issue for any practical situation. There is also a lot of DR to play with in RAW files. So everything seems on par with D90, maybe a little better. This is excellent because I would sacrifice even 1 EV-stop of performance for the size and IBIS advantage. Of course I like the Olympus colors which I somehow missed when I sold my E-500, they seem nicer for blue skies and skin tones. Also the default ACR profile in Lightroom 4 seems close enough to the EM5's in-camera jpeg so I have a good starting point for editing. I have found that the camera slightly underexposes, the Nikon on the contrary overexposed a bit, this is good for jpegs but exposing the Nikon way can give you better results in RAW.
No let's talk about the lenses. First of all, shame on Olympus for not including the lens hoods, that’s why I bought JJC’s replacements online. My Nikon kit consists of Tokina 11-16, Nikon 18-105, 70-300 VR, 35mm 1.8 and 50mm f1.8G. A pretty complete kit for amateur - travel use. Now on my OMD I have tried a friend's Panasonic 14mm in addition to my 45mm and kit lens. First of all the 45 is simply fantastic, super sharp and nice bokeh, the size is ideal and combined with the af qualities of the OMD make a very competent portrait machine, that seems transparent to your models. The 12-50 seems a little worse optically than the Nikon 18-105 but it is much more versatile - wider, weather sealed, macro, internal zoom and great for video. The 14mm seemed ok, but I am going to buy the 17mm as I find it more suitable to my shooting style and I couldn't find something equivalent in the DX Nikon world.
So adding all the above I have decided to sell my Nikon gear. I can have a system of equal image quality which is a lot smaller and lighter and more fun and discreet to shoot with. To complete the transition I need to purchase a wide angle zoom, a telephoto zoom and a wireless flash. There is no reason to keep the Nikon because I rarely shoot sports or other unpredictably moving subjects.
Hope my experience can help others to decide, I can also post some images later...
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