Another question on M4/3 Oly colors

Hi there,

I have been using the Olympus XZ-1 for a few years now and I love the colors of jpegs it produces. I have a very good DSLR but I keep coming back to XZ-1 because of the colors and nice jpegs.

And recently I'm thinking about buying either the Olympus E-PL7 or E-PL6. there is about 25% price difference where I live so this would be important ( if they would have similar jpegs I'd probably get the PL-6) Could anyone tell me how the jpeg output looks in these two cameras? There is a different image processor but are the colors generally similar? And how would they compare to the XZ1 small CCD sensor?

thanks,

Maciek

The colour will be less saturated but not that much. EPL7 is a good upgrade.

If your choice is a PL7 or a PL6, you should keep in mind that the shutter shock issue is addressed in the PL7 with the 0 second anti-shock setting, which I don't think is available in the PL6.  The PL7 also has WIFI and a much higher resolution screen.  I don't really care about image transfer via WIFI, but I do like being able to use my cell phone as a remote control for the camera and being able to pick a focus point on my phone screen.  The PL7 also has focus peaking.

MaciekPruski wrote:

Hi there,

I have been using the Olympus XZ-1 for a few years now and I love the colors of jpegs it produces. I have a very good DSLR but I keep coming back to XZ-1 because of the colors and nice jpegs.

And recently I'm thinking about buying either the Olympus E-PL7 or E-PL6. there is about 25% price difference where I live so this would be important ( if they would have similar jpegs I'd probably get the PL-6) Could anyone tell me how the jpeg output looks in these two cameras? There is a different image processor but are the colors generally similar? And how would they compare to the XZ1 small CCD sensor?

thanks,

Maciek

Hi Maciek,

if you are after the best Oly colors, then I suggest you to try an older m43 model like the E-P1, E-P2, E-P3, or E-PL1/2, E-PM1. To my expereince, this 12MP sensor and processing engine (including, but not only jpeg at the end) produces better colors and nicer overall IQ near base ISO (100-400) than the new ones. I had an OM-D, which has similar sensor that the new E-PLs, and I obviously prefer the IQ from my E-P1 to it.

Usability is an other question. While E-P1 is not bad after a firmware upgrade, it can't come close to the new series in some regards like AF speed.

Since a used old model costs close to nothing, you may buy both, and decide it for yourself, which colours do you prefer.

Guy made some great points.  The IBIS improvement and Live Composite were worth the additional cost to buy the PL7 for me.

MaciekPruski wrote:

Hi there,

I have been using the Olympus XZ-1 for a few years now and I love the colors of jpegs it produces. I have a very good DSLR but I keep coming back to XZ-1 because of the colors and nice jpegs.

And recently I'm thinking about buying either the Olympus E-PL7 or E-PL6. there is about 25% price difference where I live so this would be important ( if they would have similar jpegs I'd probably get the PL-6) Could anyone tell me how the jpeg output looks in these two cameras? There is a different image processor but are the colors generally similar? And how would they compare to the XZ1 small CCD sensor?

thanks,

Maciek

I have the XZ-1 and I have the E-M1. (Same Sensor as E-PL7)
Trust me you won't be disappointed about the colors.

E-M1

XZ-1

That is very interesting, exactly the kind of answer I was loking for. For the type of photographs I do no fast af or great high iso is needed. But the jpeg inage quality and colors are extremely important. Could you post some examples?

Hmmm... i know this is very subjective but i much prefer the colors from xz1 from the two images you posted.

Do you have more examples?

MaciekPruski wrote:

Hmmm... i know this is very subjective but i much prefer the colors from xz1 from the two images you posted.

Do you have more examples?

Guy Parsons wrote:

What kind of screen are you using to look at images?

My feeling is that the default jpeg Olympus images are made to pop on the common awful TN type panels in most notebooks and desktops.

Use a calibrated IPS type screen and suddenly it's a new world of colour and saturation.

As for 12MP to 16MP differences, none seen by me that are of importance except for the way better high ISO and better dynamic range and noise performance at base ISO of the 16MP sensor. Colours and saturation are all adjustable to taste with any camera, particularly if you use the raw files and a good raw conversion program, like Capture One or DxO.

Regards..... Guy

Guy, that is an excellent point that many people forget about. A few years ago I replaced a basic Dell TN panel with a HP Pro monitor that had IPS  glass and I definitely noticed a difference. Since then I took that IPS monitor to my office and now I am viewing images at home on my 5k 27" iMac which is also wonderful!

MaciekPruski wrote:

Hi there,

I have been using the Olympus XZ-1 for a few years now and I love the colors of jpegs it produces. I have a very good DSLR but I keep coming back to XZ-1 because of the colors and nice jpegs.

And recently I'm thinking about buying either the Olympus E-PL7 or E-PL6. there is about 25% price difference where I live so this would be important ( if they would have similar jpegs I'd probably get the PL-6) Could anyone tell me how the jpeg output looks in these two cameras? There is a different image processor but are the colors generally similar? And how would they compare to the XZ1 small CCD sensor?

thanks,

Maciek

I'd say go for E-PL6 as the 7 AFAIK only offers a wifi capability, the same sensor and image processing. Unless wifi is important to you.

I've had E-1,E-300, E-P3,E-PL6 and E-M5 and Olympus colours are very consistent - (very good) . Out of the all my cameras the E-1 photos stand out as a bit different (but in a nice way).