Looking for a small pocketable m4/3 solution...

...for all these moments that would like to have a small camera with me (in my bag, car almost everywhere). I was thinking of the following:

1) used Oly EPM1

2) used Oly EPM2 (rather expensive)

3) used Panny GM1 (best but even more expensive)

4) used Sony RX 100 (even more expensive!!)

The EPM1 can be found in ebay rather cheap, but is it worth it? I will complement it at the beginning with the 20mm/1.7 and later either with the Oly 17/2.5 or the Pany 14/2.5

Hi,

I realise the Panasonic LF1 is not a m4/3 camera, but it it will fit comfortably in the smallest of pockets, e.g. a shirt breast pocket and it does have a sensor larger than the typical compact camera, a decent 28-200 equivalent lens and, importantly for me, full APSM controls. It does have its shortcomings, but one of them is not 'the camera that was too big to take with me'. At present it can be bought new for £199. I have one and do not regret buying it as an alternative to my G6 and GX7. An added bonus is that I can have it with me without my wife knowing when she says 'I hope you're not going to be taking pictures all the time!' as we are ready to go out for the day!

The GM1 is more compact than the E-PM1 and is most likely going to give you more pleasing image quality. Pair it with the Panasonic 14mm or the kit 12-32mm and you with have great capabilities in a tiny package. Pair it with one of the body cap lens and you will have the most pocketable m4/3 solution available.

Yeah, you can get the E-PM1 cheaper, but it depends on what you want out of it. I think you would have a hard time being unhappy with the GM1 solution.

I bought a GM1 on ebay($290) as a 2nd/backup m43 body (to my EM10).  It's paired to my 3 pancake lenses - 9mmBCL, 14mmf2.5, 17mmf2.8.  IMO, not exactly pocketable (even with 9mmBCL) but in a small camera bag, it's very portable and lightweight.

I think its not a bad idea to have a look at the 1/1.7 or 2/3 sensors like the LF1 or XQ1. It certainly is more affordable vs the GM1...

If size is a priority, I would definitely look into buying GM1/GM5/GF7 (more expensive) or the older but really cheap GF3/GF5 and GF6

I just bought a GF6 (selfie screen, Wireless Flash control) and is very please with it.  The IQ is lightyear from GF2/GF3 that I had years ago, and the support for external wireless flash sync makes the lack of hotshoe liveable.  I also much prefer Panasonic 3:2 screen ratio that result in much bigger image than I do with Olympus EM1/2's 16:9 ratio.

Lastly, remember that Amazon is selling the Olympus E-PL6 for just $299!

I just bought an immaculate E-PM1 body on ebay to take on holiday. I teamed it with the Panasonic 12-32mm lens, which wasn't quite "pocketable" but wasn't too bulky either. I've got to say I was incredibly impressed- its low-light performance knocked spots off my G3, to the point that I never used the flash, even in low-lit bars at night time.

Just before I bought mine, another I was watching on ebay went for £50 including kit lens. At this kind of money I certainly wouldn't right it off as a contender.

robsta wrote:

I just bought an immaculate E-PM1 body on ebay to take on holiday. I teamed it with the Panasonic 12-32mm lens, which wasn't quite "pocketable" but wasn't too bulky either. I've got to say I was incredibly impressed- its low-light performance knocked spots off my G3, to the point that I never used the flash, even in low-lit bars at night time.

Just before I bought mine, another I was watching on ebay went for £50 including kit lens. At this kind of money I certainly wouldn't right it off as a contender.

Never owned either...but doesn't the E-PM1 have the same 12mp sensor as the first gen m43 cameras? And doesn't the G3 have the (then new) 16mp sensor that came with the GX1? If that is the case, I'm pretty sure the G3 would have better IQ than the E-PM1...at least in RAW. I know Oly had better jpeg engine then so I would guess jpeg wise the Oly would win but RAW wise, I would think the G3 would win...

You're right about the sensors, but as regards to RAW I couldn't comment (I'm not into post-processing so only use JPEGS). But purely in terms of low-light performance the Oly took shots I would never have got with the G3. I don't know if the Oly's IBIS is better than the Panasonic's OIS or what, but it just totally out-classed it in low-light situations.

The best small (pocketable) camera that I have the RX100m1... I bought it for $400 about three years ago. About three months I told my sister about it and she bought a RX100m1 new for $349 and no tax....  Sure the mk2,3,4 have slightly better specification but you cannot beat the price/performance of the RX100/m1...  The best camera in the world is the one in your hand when you need it.

GaryG

I have to agree- I paid £75 for my E-PM1 body, with a 493 shot-count and two spare batteries. How much more would I have had to spend to get a significantly better body?

On Amazon UK the E-MP1 kit is half the price of the E-PM2- is the latter twice as good?

Yannis1976 wrote:

...for all these moments that would like to have a small camera with me (in my bag, car almost everywhere). I was thinking of the following:

1) used Oly EPM1

2) used Oly EPM2 (rather expensive)

3) used Panny GM1 (best but even more expensive)

4) used Sony RX 100 (even more expensive!!)

The EPM1 can be found in ebay rather cheap, but is it worth it? I will complement it at the beginning with the 20mm/1.7 and later either with the Oly 17/2.5 or the Pany 14/2.5

Then just get the RX100. It's tiny, has a really fast lens, and would have better high-iso compared to E-PM1. Well, at least, my RX100 MKII had much, much better high-ISO compared to my ancient GF1...which should be the same sensor as the E-PM1.

In general, the lens on the RX100 would be faster than all kit lenses on M43 and have more tele except the M43 super zooms...which aren't really kit lenses (and they are expensive).

If pocketability is of great importance..then RX100...no question asked.

If you want to have more then one lens, then RX100 is out obviously.

As someone already mentioned, I would also look into the Panasonic GF3, GF5, GF6, GF7. Albeit, only the GF6/7 have the 16mp sensor so IQ wise those two would be equal to the GX1.

Although the E-PM2 has a 16MP sensor, if I'm not mistaken, that's the same 16mp sony sensors that are in the Oly E-M5's so should be slightly better than the GX1, albeit, I doubt you would see too much difference.

So...unless you can find the E-PM1 for a song... I would look into the other models.

IQ wise, E-PM1 = GF3 = GF5

while GX1 = GF6 = GF7 = E-PM2 (roughly)

I would put the high-ISO capability of the RX100 to be somewhere comparable to the 16MP sensored cameras, albeit, if you have the right lens, all the M43 cameras can produce better images. But if only using kit lenses...

mh2000 wrote:

Back in the day when the G3 was heavily discounted/discontinued, I looked into this and the consensus was that IQ was still very comparable (first gen 16MP sensor) -- noise might have been a little worse, but came with a little higher resolution for cropping. So people may argue, but it didn't seem like a compelling difference back then. The newer 16MP sensors are better now. Still, when I compared the new16MP sensor images to my E-P1, it didn't make a *huge* difference either... though I think the low light capability is better now.

Don't recall that at all, lol. Then again, never looked into the G3 so probably didn't notice. I do remember when the GX1 came, it was (extremely briefly) thought to be the best m43 camera (excluding the GH line?) at the time, and I'm pretty sure that was the first time M43 had 16mp sensor? Still, the major boast in sensor IQ came with the E-M5's 16mp sensor which came out...like a month or three after?

Anyhow, yeah, in general, I do agree with what you say.

This might sound like an out-dated suggestion, but I owned a Panasonic LX3 (that I should never have sold) that was the best pocket camera I've ever owned. Zoom was severely lacking, but for what it was it took an excellent photo.