Disappointments and surprises of Olympus and MFT

Hi everyone. I'm writing here because I find myself in a conundrum regarding my E-M1, and would like some input from other shooters. I've a fair bit of experience with cameras and photo equipment, but the E-M1 is my first "pro-level" camera. As such, I was expecting great things out of it, some of which it accomplished, and some others that it didn't. I love the build, the size, the control placement and versatility, the IBIS, and the picture quality in general. The EVF is fantastic. The WiFi sucks, and I'm kinda disappointed with it, as it is a feature I use. The JPEGs are terrible, to my taste (I really dislike the vaunted "Olympus color"), but the RAWs turn out pretty well, so I can't complain too much. But more importantly, its rear dial is failing, and getting worse by the day, and repairing it isn't an option (long story). Now, with all the other horror stories about strap lugs failing and EVFs getting blotched, I'm quite unsure whether to keep the camera or not. I really don't think I'll find a body that I'll like better on any system or platform, but I'm not willing to purchase another E-M1 to see if I luck out with it.

Another big disappointment were the lenses. I invested a bit on a range of lenses for different purposes and needs. My two Panasonic lenses are terrific; the 12-32mm is stunningly good, small and light, and between it and my Olympus 12-60mm SWD there isn't a big difference (well, yes, in size!). I am kind of disappointed on the SWD, as I expected better performance out of a lens so large and heavy, and I know I have a good copy. It flares quite a bit, and I won't attach a lens hood to it for fear of having the front element pop off at some point. My copy of the Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 is simply outstanding - resolution, color and contrast are sublime, it works excellently in low light, and focuses very fast and accurately. For $99, it's a lens that is light years ahead of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8.

On the other hand, my Olympus 14-140mm mk. I is poor. From 14 to 50mm it works fine, and I tested it against an Olympus 14-42mm R and a Panasonic 14-42mm mk. I to show that it worked within spec. At the long end, however, it's a disaster. It focuses unreliably, and is soft. I wouldn't care much about this if it weren't for the fact that I bought other lenses to cover the long end, where I personally do much of my photography, in the form of the Olympus 70-300mm FT and the 75-300mm MSC II. I plan to do a comparative review of these two lenses shortly, but my executive summary is this: the old 70-300mm is a very good lens optically, with 0.5x maximum magnification (1:1 repro on 35mm terms) that left me very impressed, but with the most vile focus drive ever spit upon photographers in history. I'm not joking - it's a POS in AF AND MF, since it's focus by wire, and works in an imprecise, slow, and noisy manner. On the other hand, the new 75-300mm MSC is very quick in operation, has a reasonable build quality, but is softer at the long end, doesn't compare in maximum magnification, and has a noticeably slower aperture. That Olympus replaced one terrible lens with another, and both being weak at opposite things, I cannot for the life of me fathom.

So, not to bore people anymore, my questions are two:

1) I want a fast-ish tele lens that isn't in the two current options (Panasonic 35-100mm and Olympus 40-150mm PRO), since they're too short, and I don't want to budget the TC as well for the Oly. I can't afford the 300mm f/4, and the Panasonic 100-400mm leaves me in almost the same situation aperture-wise. Has anyone had good experiences with the Canon 70-200mm f/4L and some smart adapter? Or maybe the 300mm f/4L IS, or the 200mm f/2.8L II? As long as any of those can AF faster than the Olympus 70-300mm I'll be happy.

2) Will the Panasonic 14-140mm II be a big difference over my Olympus 14-150mm? I really want a decent travel zoom. The Tamron 14-150mm also comes to mind.

Thanks a lot to those who read this wall of text.

Have you considered the FT 50-200SWD?

200mm at f/3.5

It sharpens up a bit if stopped down but isn't too bad wide open - see above.

Andrew

Camera bodies come and go. You become accustomed to whatever one you're shooting with at the time. The one thing you can't change is the lens system. It sounds to me like the m4/3 lens system just doesn't have the lenses you wish it did.

I've never had the world's greatest luck with adapted lenses. YMMV, but if I really had my heart set on a Canon 70-200 f4.0, I'd be looking around for a Canon body to mate it to. Just take into consideration the difference in crop factor between APS-C and m4/3, and you should be fine.

After using the 12-60 for some time, I did finally break down and buy the 12-40. It's very nice, but I've never been able to let go of the 12-60. I probably still shoot it almost as much as the 12-40. It seems like every time I mount it, it's just hard to take it off again.  The front element seems pretty robust to me. I've never hesitated to use the lens hood with it.

Just a couple of observations ...

-  If the rear dial is beginning to fail and you're unwilling to fix it, then it seems to me that your options are entirely wide open regarding both a new body and new lenses.  If as you say you do most of your shooting at the long end, then perhaps there's a better combination for you?  Although I'm uncertain that you'd find anything competitive to what you might pay just for the Leica 100-400mm when you're talking both a body and lenses.

-  As lenses go, you've got an "interesting" collection.  Again, if you're shooting mostly at the long end, that's where you should go for the quality.  If I were you I'd probably pony up for the 100-400mm, although I've also seen some nice results from other posters using the older Panny 100-300.  And I might suggest that you unload the other lenses and consider the Panny 12-35/2.8 and 35-100/2.8 zooms, which seem to have both been reduced to under $800 lately.  Great versatility, small and sharp.  And they have no problem supporting their lens hoods.    This of course assumes that you're going to keep the EM1.

- As far as bad JPEG colors go, you might take a look at your settings.  I personally found that "vivid" was way too much (may not be labeled the same on the EM1).  Just my opinion.

Kharan wrote:

Hi everyone. I'm writing here because I find myself in a conundrum regarding my E-M1, and would like some input from other shooters. I've a fair bit of experience with cameras and photo equipment, but the E-M1 is my first "pro-level" camera. As such, I was expecting great things out of it, some of which it accomplished, and some others that it didn't. I love the build, the size, the control placement and versatility, the IBIS, and the picture quality in general. The EVF is fantastic. The WiFi sucks, and I'm kinda disappointed with it, as it is a feature I use. The JPEGs are terrible, to my taste (I really dislike the vaunted "Olympus color"), but the RAWs turn out pretty well, so I can't complain too much. But more importantly, its rear dial is failing, and getting worse by the day, and repairing it isn't an option (long story). Now, with all the other horror stories about strap lugs failing and EVFs getting blotched, I'm quite unsure whether to keep the camera or not. I really don't think I'll find a body that I'll like better on any system or platform, but I'm not willing to purchase another E-M1 to see if I luck out with it.

Another big disappointment were the lenses. I invested a bit on a range of lenses for different purposes and needs. My two Panasonic lenses are terrific; the 12-32mm is stunningly good, small and light, and between it and my Olympus 12-60mm SWD there isn't a big difference (well, yes, in size!). I am kind of disappointed on the SWD, as I expected better performance out of a lens so large and heavy, and I know I have a good copy. It flares quite a bit, and I won't attach a lens hood to it for fear of having the front element pop off at some point. My copy of the Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 is simply outstanding - resolution, color and contrast are sublime, it works excellently in low light, and focuses very fast and accurately. For $99, it's a lens that is light years ahead of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8.

On the other hand, my Olympus 14-140mm mk. I is poor. From 14 to 50mm it works fine, and I tested it against an Olympus 14-42mm R and a Panasonic 14-42mm mk. I to show that it worked within spec. At the long end, however, it's a disaster. It focuses unreliably, and is soft. I wouldn't care much about this if it weren't for the fact that I bought other lenses to cover the long end, where I personally do much of my photography, in the form of the Olympus 70-300mm FT and the 75-300mm MSC II. I plan to do a comparative review of these two lenses shortly, but my executive summary is this: the old 70-300mm is a very good lens optically, with 0.5x maximum magnification (1:1 repro on 35mm terms) that left me very impressed, but with the most vile focus drive ever spit upon photographers in history. I'm not joking - it's a POS in AF AND MF, since it's focus by wire, and works in an imprecise, slow, and noisy manner. On the other hand, the new 75-300mm MSC is very quick in operation, has a reasonable build quality, but is softer at the long end, doesn't compare in maximum magnification, and has a noticeably slower aperture. That Olympus replaced one terrible lens with another, and both being weak at opposite things, I cannot for the life of me fathom.

So, not to bore people anymore, my questions are two:

1) I want a fast-ish tele lens that isn't in the two current options (Panasonic 35-100mm and Olympus 40-150mm PRO), since they're too short, and I don't want to budget the TC as well for the Oly. I can't afford the 300mm f/4, and the Panasonic 100-400mm leaves me in almost the same situation aperture-wise. Has anyone had good experiences with the Canon 70-200mm f/4L and some smart adapter? Or maybe the 300mm f/4L IS, or the 200mm f/2.8L II? As long as any of those can AF faster than the Olympus 70-300mm I'll be happy.

I used the old Oly 4/3 70-300, and I know the AF is a bit clunky.  If you're looking for a relatively bright zoom in the 70-200mm range, I would consider the 50-200 SWD.  The only problem there is that you're going back to another SWD lens that's in a similar style as the 12-60, though I have gotten the feeling that plenty of people here do fine with the 50-200 on an E-M1.  If nothing else, it's a lens that can be had relatively cheaply used, and won't require any new adapters from what you already own.

I ended up getting the 40-150 Pro, even though I also wanted something longer.  But it has been a very useful lens for me, with quick focusing and plenty of IQ  But it sounds like it only makes sense to own for you if you have the TC.  I will say that if you only need to get out to around 200, it offers plenty of IQ for cropping, and worked as a nice holdover for me until I could finally get a native 300mm prime.  But the TC is one of the things that makes it.  I can to portraits or fairly lowlight at 40mm and 2.8, or shoot all the way to 210mm at a reasonable F4.

I've never tried adapted glass, but I doubt any adapted glass at this point is going to be a big upgrade as far as AF from the 4/3 70-300, which at least usually got to a focus point on the E-M1, if awkwardly at times, though I agree, that lens was horrible to use MF with.

2) Will the Panasonic 14-140mm II be a big difference over my Olympus 14-150mm? I really want a decent travel zoom. The Tamron 14-150mm also comes to mind.

Reviews differ, but I don't think either of those superzooms is leagues better than the other.  The old 4/3 Panasonic superzoom seems to be the most loved, but hard to find.  I can't say I have much experience there.

Thanks a lot to those who read this wall of text.

Personally, if you can't deal with the idiosyncrasies of  dealing with non-native glass, I would say you'll do better to either bite the bullet with a 12-40 and 40-150 F2.8 combo, and just focus on what you can do with that setup, or just go to another system that makes the lenses you want so much.

My E-M1 has 138,280 shutter activations.  The rear dial started acting up after about 40,000 shutter activations, I did the quick spin fix and had to repeat it about every 15,000 shutter activations until it reached about 100,000 and since then it has worked perfectly - maybe the rear dial just needs to be "broken in".

I used only FTs lenses with the camera until I purchased the 300mm f4 (12-60 and 50-200 SWD) and my lugs haven't loosened or fallen off.  If you are worried about the lens hood on the 12-60, then put a little graphite on the inner groove of the hood.  It will then easily attach and come off.  Use the hood on the lens and you will not have a flare problem.

The only thing that has failed on my E-M1 is the rubber covering (it is loose) and I plan on having it repaired before my extended warranty expires - I have been waiting for one of those reported failures, so I can fix both at the same time, but it is starting to look like that will be the only problem in three years of hard use.

tt321 wrote:

If the camera seems to start failing, why buy more lenses for it?

It's a very good question but I think the failure is constrained to just one dial, and when I think of the pain of selling the body... Well, I'd like to make sure I've explored all possibilities.

Lee Beasley wrote:

Camera bodies come and go. You become accustomed to whatever one you're shooting with at the time. The one thing you can't change is the lens system. It sounds to me like the m4/3 lens system just doesn't have the lenses you wish it did.

I've never had the world's greatest luck with adapted lenses. YMMV, but if I really had my heart set on a Canon 70-200 f4.0, I'd be looking around for a Canon body to mate it to. Just take into consideration the difference in crop factor between APS-C and m4/3, and you should be fine.

After using the 12-60 for some time, I did finally break down and buy the 12-40. It's very nice, but I've never been able to let go of the 12-60. I probably still shoot it almost as much as the 12-40. It seems like every time I mount it, it's just hard to take it off again. The front element seems pretty robust to me. I've never hesitated to use the lens hood with it.

This is very interesting, as it's what I fear - that the 12-40mm will not offer much over the 12-60mm SWD except for compactness, constant aperture and the added FW 4.0 features. I know, that's not a short list, but considering the price difference, it wouldn't be justified for me. Thanks for the input.

Kharan wrote:

Hi everyone. I'm writing here because I find myself in a conundrum regarding my E-M1, and would like some input from other shooters. I've a fair bit of experience with cameras and photo equipment, but the E-M1 is my first "pro-level" camera. As such, I was expecting great things out of it, some of which it accomplished, and some others that it didn't. I love the build, the size, the control placement and versatility, the IBIS, and the picture quality in general. The EVF is fantastic. The WiFi sucks, and I'm kinda disappointed with it, as it is a feature I use. The JPEGs are terrible, to my taste (I really dislike the vaunted "Olympus color"), but the RAWs turn out pretty well, so I can't complain too much. But more importantly, its rear dial is failing, and getting worse by the day, and repairing it isn't an option (long story). Now, with all the other horror stories about strap lugs failing and EVFs getting blotched, I'm quite unsure whether to keep the camera or not. I really don't think I'll find a body that I'll like better on any system or platform, but I'm not willing to purchase another E-M1 to see if I luck out with it.

EVF getting blotched has been reported a while back, and only affected those with very high magnification on the dioptric adjustment, although there is no certainty that is a real problem. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Strap lugs are of concern, but I use them only when wearing the camera around my neck with the 12-40mm alone, no flash nor grip. The moment I'm shooting an event, where I grip the camera and put in the heavy flash in top of it, I hang the camera out of the tripod mount. Good think I use the Peak Design anchor system, that allows me to hook the camera up to multiple places, and not relegated to the strap lugs. I strongly suggest you do some research on alternative strap systems. I can recommend Peak Design with my eyes closed.

And as for the rear dial, mine is acting up a bit too, but a few quick spins with the camera off, make it work with no issues. As others have mentioned, it might need to be broken in.

Another big disappointment were the lenses. I invested a bit on a range of lenses for different purposes and needs. My two Panasonic lenses are terrific; the 12-32mm is stunningly good, small and light, and between it and my Olympus 12-60mm SWD there isn't a big difference (well, yes, in size!). I am kind of disappointed on the SWD, as I expected better performance out of a lens so large and heavy, and I know I have a good copy. It flares quite a bit, and I won't attach a lens hood to it for fear of having the front element pop off at some point. My copy of the Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 is simply outstanding - resolution, color and contrast are sublime, it works excellently in low light, and focuses very fast and accurately. For $99, it's a lens that is light years ahead of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8.

I would sell the 12-60 and 12-32 and get an Olympus 12-40mm f:2.8 PRO. Is an outstanding lens. Period. In fact, once you start using it daily, you might find you reach out for your primes less and less.

On the other hand, my Olympus 14-140mm mk. I is poor. From 14 to 50mm it works fine, and I tested it against an Olympus 14-42mm R and a Panasonic 14-42mm mk. I to show that it worked within spec. At the long end, however, it's a disaster. It focuses unreliably, and is soft. I wouldn't care much about this if it weren't for the fact that I bought other lenses to cover the long end, where I personally do much of my photography, in the form of the Olympus 70-300mm FT and the 75-300mm MSC II. I plan to do a comparative review of these two lenses shortly, but my executive summary is this: the old 70-300mm is a very good lens optically, with 0.5x maximum magnification (1:1 repro on 35mm terms) that left me very impressed, but with the most vile focus drive ever spit upon photographers in history. I'm not joking - it's a POS in AF AND MF, since it's focus by wire, and works in an imprecise, slow, and noisy manner. On the other hand, the new 75-300mm MSC is very quick in operation, has a reasonable build quality, but is softer at the long end, doesn't compare in maximum magnification, and has a noticeably slower aperture. That Olympus replaced one terrible lens with another, and both being weak at opposite things, I cannot for the life of me fathom.

So, not to bore people anymore, my questions are two:

1) I want a fast-ish tele lens that isn't in the two current options (Panasonic 35-100mm and Olympus 40-150mm PRO), since they're too short, and I don't want to budget the TC as well for the Oly. I can't afford the 300mm f/4, and the Panasonic 100-400mm leaves me in almost the same situation aperture-wise. Has anyone had good experiences with the Canon 70-200mm f/4L and some smart adapter? Or maybe the 300mm f/4L IS, or the 200mm f/2.8L II? As long as any of those can AF faster than the Olympus 70-300mm I'll be happy.

Can't say about the Canon's. I used to have a 70-200 f:4 L a few years back (When I was using Canon DSLRs), and it was sublime, but I wouldn't trade an adapted lens for a native one. The Panny 35-100mm is simply put the best lens I own. The Oly PRO 40-150 might have been a better choice for me, but I can't stand the size and weight. And would have screwed up my camera bag organization completely.

2) Will the Panasonic 14-140mm II be a big difference over my Olympus 14-150mm? I really want a decent travel zoom. The Tamron 14-150mm also comes to mind.

Thanks a lot to those who read this wall of text.

-- hide signature --

"Chase the light around the world
I want to look at life
In the available light" - Rush, 'Available Light'

Dash29 wrote:

Sounds to me you need to:-

1. Check menu option G - Keep Warm Colour, is turned off

2. If No.1 fails your expectations - Trade in all your Olympus gear...THE LOT!

3. Evaluate what focal lengths you mainly shoot

4. Purchase a Panasonic GH4 - the GX's have crap Evf's

5. Carefully consider a Panasonic 14-140 Mk2

6. Stop chasing gear and pixels

All of it is very good advice! I will start with the menu option, and see how it goes down from there. Thanks.

Rich K wrote:

Just a couple of observations ...

- If the rear dial is beginning to fail and you're unwilling to fix it, then it seems to me that your options are entirely wide open regarding both a new body and new lenses. If as you say you do most of your shooting at the long end, then perhaps there's a better combination for you? Although I'm uncertain that you'd find anything competitive to what you might pay just for the Leica 100-400mm when you're talking both a body and lenses.

- As lenses go, you've got an "interesting" collection. Again, if you're shooting mostly at the long end, that's where you should go for the quality. If I were you I'd probably pony up for the 100-400mm, although I've also seen some nice results from other posters using the older Panny 100-300. And I might suggest that you unload the other lenses and consider the Panny 12-35/2.8 and 35-100/2.8 zooms, which seem to have both been reduced to under $800 lately. Great versatility, small and sharp. And they have no problem supporting their lens hoods. This of course assumes that you're going to keep the EM1.

- As far as bad JPEG colors go, you might take a look at your settings. I personally found that "vivid" was way too much (may not be labeled the same on the EM1). Just my opinion.

1) My options are wide open, except that in my country only Sony has competitive pricing. There's also Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Fuji, but all of them are very overpriced. Also, the selection of gear is miserable in most cases. I had high hopes for Samsung, which sold very well here, but they're pretty much dead now. So, at this point, I'm thinking it's either my second return to Sony, or I stick with the E-M1.

2) My lens collection is certainly weird, caused mainly by two things: there's a small used market for micro four thirds here, but I've found good bargains by searching; also, I bought the E-M1 expressly to use older FT gear, since most of it is well built and optically corrected. In theory, that would leave me the possibility to use both tiny lenses for MFT as well as better (and cheaper) pieces from the old catalog. I also have to have some very small lenses as I bought my wife an E-P3, with the idea that we could share lenses (she's not dedicated enough to carry the Olympus 12-40mm or something like that, the Panasonic serves her fine). This makes me reluctant to change systems again.

3) I will check the JPEG settings, it seems like something critical to do.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

ahaslett wrote:

Have you considered the FT 50-200SWD?

200mm at f/3.5

It sharpens up a bit if stopped down but isn't too bad wide open - see above.

Andrew

I have. Many, many times. Can you tell me a bit about its AF performance? Is it really as quick as the 12-60mm SWD? The SWD version, of course. Can it track as well/badly as the native lenses (I personally think the E-M1's tracking is fine, it competes well with entry-level Canons and better than Pentaxes)? I just hate that the E-system TCs have become so bloody expensive. Have you used it adapted with a 1.4x TC?

I've also thought about getting a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8, which would really solve most of my problems, but they're very rare.

Thanks a lot!

Dash29 wrote:

Sounds to me you need to:-

1. Check menu option G - Keep Warm Colour, is turned off

2. If No.1 fails your expectations - Trade in all your Olympus gear...THE LOT!

3. Evaluate what focal lengths you mainly shoot

4. Purchase a Panasonic GH4 - the GX's have crap Evf's

5. Carefully consider a Panasonic 14-140 Mk2

6. Stop chasing gear and pixels

I lost a GX7 that had a fine EVF, and I have used a GX8 at a camera store and its EVF is one of the best I have seen.

Kharan wrote:

ahaslett wrote:

Have you considered the FT 50-200SWD?

It sharpens up a bit if stopped down but isn't too bad wide open - see above.

Andrew

I have. Many, many times. Can you tell me a bit about its AF performance? Is it really as quick as the 12-60mm SWD? The SWD version, of course. Can it track as well/badly as the native lenses (I personally think the E-M1's tracking is fine, it competes well with entry-level Canons and better than Pentaxes)? I just hate that the E-system TCs have become so bloody expensive. Have you used it adapted with a 1.4x TC?

I've also thought about getting a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8, which would really solve most of my problems, but they're very rare.

Thanks a lot!

I have the older 50-200 non SWD, and it's AF performance is splendid on the E-M1. Continous AF tracking works well too and I get at least 80% success in focus shots when taking action type shots. I also have the 1.4x TC, but find for the majority of my purposes, I never really need to use as the tele reach is already very good.

Ahh - hadn't noticed you're in Peru.  Beautiful country; I spent a month there last year.  Too bad the selection is limited - although we actually have the same problem except in the largest cities in the US.  Thankfully, there's Amazon and Ebay.

Good luck!