New E-M5 III kit

I bought the E-M5 III with the 12-45/4 and with a fast prime it's still only 2 lbs and makes for an outstanding travel kit. Sometimes I bring the 35-100/2.8 Lumix along (adds another pound). It's a very compact and flexible setup with great IBIS, WR, etc. Perfect for humid and wet Southeast Asia trips, espec within countries where space and weight are at a premium on those flights.

I do notice the slightly worse low light performance compared to the 12-40/2.8, hence the need for a fast prime when taking the 12-45. Lumix 15/1.7 or 25/1.4 does the trick. In any case it's a heck of a lot of camera in a small lightweight package.

James Stirling wrote:

VinceC wrote:

And I’ve been in exile in England for 62 years, my wife is a Geordie (sort of English) and my kids and grandkids think they are English.

it doesn’t stop me enjoying my 5iii, a lovely, friendly, highly capable, wee camera. The only thing I don’t trust about it is the tripod bush with a larger lens.

You can take the Scotsman out of Scotland but you can't take the Scotland out of the Scotsman

And you can't pry the bottle of Scotch from my hands

Bassam Guy wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

VinceC wrote:

And I’ve been in exile in England for 62 years, my wife is a Geordie (sort of English) and my kids and grandkids think they are English.

it doesn’t stop me enjoying my 5iii, a lovely, friendly, highly capable, wee camera. The only thing I don’t trust about it is the tripod bush with a larger lens.

You can take the Scotsman out of Scotland but you can't take the Scotland out of the Scotsman

And you can't pry the bottle of Scotch from my hands

I hope that’s single malt.

Good to hear you’ve joined the 5iii club.

I've currently got mine with me on a few days’ hiking break with friends in the Cotswolds, and for this it’s absolutely ideal.

I sling it on a PD Leash to PD anchors on the strap lugs, most of the time with it wearing the 12-45, and that sits very well with my compact Mindshift Ultralight 16 backpack with my new 40-150 f4 in the zipped side compartment. I suspect the Leash would also work well with your 12-40 (just don’t use it with a Capture Clip!).

I use the 40-150 f2.8 a lot for sports and wildlife with my larger Oly bodies, and I love it, but I find it way too big and heavy for the 5iii. I recommend actually trying that for an hour or two before you bought one. I do have fairly small hands, though, so it might work better for you.
One of the 14-140/150 zooms is indeed a good physical match with the 5iii, but personally I miss the 12-14mm range a huge amount.

If I’m going anywhere where there’s an opportunity for street photography I’ll add the PL 15, which I’m sure you’ll find another great companion for the 5iii.

If I'm going to do more serious street with the 17 f1.2 with the 5iii for more than an hour or two, I find the lack of a deep grip gets very uncomfortable. Adding one of these helps a lot (and they’re well made and fit very securely and well): https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088WWGQHD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just use the baseplate and grip: amazing value.

Have fun.

I should add, as some others have said, that the EM5 iii isn't the best choice for the longest lenses, like the 40-150mm f2.8 and the Panasonic 100-400mm. The lack of a right side grip in that case makes it less comfortable.

James Stirling wrote:

A_Mist wrote:

I have OM-1 which I usually use with awesome 12-100/4 lens. Also Canon R6 with big and bulky L-lenses. Both of these have their uses.

But, very often I find myself using EM5iii with tiny PRO lenses like 12-45/4 and 20/1.4. Brilliant camera and unbeatable size/feature/quality-ratio. Combined with these two small lenses, it can handle practically any general photography need, as well as travel. Put in that small FL-LM3 flash and you have a winner.

That flash was a bonus when I opened the box as I had forgotten all about it . I appreciate that either in built or such a small clip on flash may not be able to light up a cavern, but I do find them very useful on occassion

It’s a real shame that other manufacturers (and OMS anymore) don’t add similar flash. Why on earth those small flashes that come with cameras have usually no swivel head and thus practically unusable.

FL-LM3 is actually brilliant. It is so small it fits in every pocket. It takes power from camera itself which is really convenient. It it weather sealed. It is relatively powerful to give that necessary extra light in many shooting situations - eventhough obviously the amount of light is limited. And most importantly, it has a swivel head. That makes it very useful since it can be bounced from the wall or some other reflector.

Raist3d wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

Raist3d wrote:

- rear rubber didn't peel off

- was TILT LCD (this one sort of becomes my deal breaker for regular street use)

I am in the FAS gang

Wait, what???!! War!

It is a bit of hot topic , though obviously we FAS guys are right

- ISO could auto-roll to 25600 and not cap at 6400 (this one is a 2nd but minor deal breaker)

stop taking photos in caves

No. :-). I like my black kitties in coal mines at midnight

I like that first shot of the two guys, a lot of street photos have the subject staring or growling at the cameras

Mine the shutter has become a bit odd so if I try to hold at half shutter/prefocussed sometimes it fires shots. I may have to send to repair.

But as I was going to "buy more stuff" I found myself liking it more and more.

If you never experienced tripod high res for macros and other still work, give it a try.

Yep , that was one of the features I wanted to try out

Did you try it? What you think?

I am demolishing an old brick out building to make way for a new garden room. So my day consist of get up, get out the sledgehammer and batter away all day in the rain. Come in at night and collapse in bed  My wife is a slave driver. Hopefully come the weekend I will have some freetime

Andersonm wrote:

I should add, as some others have said, that the EM5 iii isn't the best choice for the longest lenses, like the 40-150mm f2.8 and the Panasonic 100-400mm. The lack of a right side grip in that case makes it less comfortable.

Yep I will be looking at the various add on grips. The more I think about it perhaps the 40-150mm F/4 is the way to go

A_Mist wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

A_Mist wrote:

I have OM-1 which I usually use with awesome 12-100/4 lens. Also Canon R6 with big and bulky L-lenses. Both of these have their uses.

But, very often I find myself using EM5iii with tiny PRO lenses like 12-45/4 and 20/1.4. Brilliant camera and unbeatable size/feature/quality-ratio. Combined with these two small lenses, it can handle practically any general photography need, as well as travel. Put in that small FL-LM3 flash and you have a winner.

That flash was a bonus when I opened the box as I had forgotten all about it . I appreciate that either in built or such a small clip on flash may not be able to light up a cavern, but I do find them very useful on occassion

It’s a real shame that other manufacturers (and OMS anymore) don’t add similar flash. Why on earth those small flashes that come with cameras have usually no swivel head and thus practically unusable.

FL-LM3 is actually brilliant. It is so small it fits in every pocket. It takes power from camera itself which is really convenient. It it weather sealed. It is relatively powerful to give that necessary extra light in many shooting situations - eventhough obviously the amount of light is limited. And most importantly, it has a swivel head. That makes it very useful since it can be bounced from the wall or some other reflector.

Even my old D810 has a built-in flash , it can be used as a trigger as well . Being powered by the body makes the FL-LM3 even more handy, though it is so small I doubt you could have made space for batteries

Michael Meissner wrote:

If you plan to use the larger lenses (Olympus 12-200mm, etc.) you might want to get a grip for the camera. I find the Olympus ECG-5 grip to be rather expensive, for what it is. I got a third party grip from ebay or Amazon that I like with my E-m5 mark III. Before I got the grip, I had gotten one of the third party leather 1/2 cases that improved the handling of the camera.

I will be looking into grips for just that reason Micheal

I used the Olympus 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3 and Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 lenses as my main lenses. Without the grip, I found the 12-200mm to be a little top heaving for hand held shooting. I had used the Olympus 14-150mm f/4-5.6 mark II as my general travel lens before that, and it balances nicely on the E-m5 mark III without the grip (IMHO). I have tried the Olympus 12-100mm f/4, and I found that it didn't balance well. I have not tried the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8, but I would imagine it too would not balance well.

All of the lenses (12-40mm f/2.8, 12-100mm f/4, 14-150mm f/4-5.6 mark II, 12-200mm f/3.5-6.3, and 40-150mm f/2.8) are splash resistant. I haven't done much wet shooting since getting the E-m5 mark III or 12-200mm due to Covid and other health issues. But I can state that the 12-40mm and 14-150mm mark II lenses certainly hold their own in shooting in rainy conditions (note the original 14-150mm mark I lens was not splash resistant).

Covid has caused all kinds of issues,

In terms of stabilization, I was at a renaissance faire near Atlanta Georgia and I did a video recording hand held, and I was impressed with how stable it was, considering it was spur of the moment, and I didn't use a tripod or monopod:

• Cast in Bronze Carol of the Bells video

For video I find that IBIS is invaluable your footage does look like it was on support

mtnroads wrote:

I bought the E-M5 III with the 12-45/4 and with a fast prime it's still only 2 lbs and makes for an outstanding travel kit. Sometimes I bring the 35-100/2.8 Lumix along (adds another pound). It's a very compact and flexible setup with great IBIS, WR, etc. Perfect for humid and wet Southeast Asia trips, espec within countries where space and weight are at a premium on those flights.

I do notice the slightly worse low light performance compared to the 12-40/2.8, hence the need for a fast prime when taking the 12-45. Lumix 15/1.7 or 25/1.4 does the trick. In any case it's a heck of a lot of camera in a small lightweight package.

I did a lot of humming and hawing between the 12-40 and 12-45mm . As I also shoot FF even the 12-40mm fits into my light enough category. They have packed an awful lot of features into such a compact body, I am even considering reading the manual 

drmarkf wrote:

Good to hear you’ve joined the 5iii club.

I've currently got mine with me on a few days’ hiking break with friends in the Cotswolds, and for this it’s absolutely ideal.

I sling it on a PD Leash to PD anchors on the strap lugs, most of the time with it wearing the 12-45, and that sits very well with my compact Mindshift Ultralight 16 backpack with my new 40-150 f4 in the zipped side compartment. I suspect the Leash would also work well with your 12-40 (just don’t use it with a Capture Clip!).

I use the 40-150 f2.8 a lot for sports and wildlife with my larger Oly bodies, and I love it, but I find it way too big and heavy for the 5iii. I recommend actually trying that for an hour or two before you bought one. I do have fairly small hands, though, so it might work better for you.
One of the 14-140/150 zooms is indeed a good physical match with the 5iii, but personally I miss the 12-14mm range a huge amount.

Yep , I like the wide end as well

If I’m going anywhere where there’s an opportunity for street photography I’ll add the PL 15, which I’m sure you’ll find another great companion for the 5iii.

If I'm going to do more serious street with the 17 f1.2 with the 5iii for more than an hour or two, I find the lack of a deep grip gets very uncomfortable. Adding one of these helps a lot (and they’re well made and fit very securely and well): https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088WWGQHD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just use the baseplate and grip: amazing value.

Have fun.

Yep , I think the consensus about adding a grip is solid advice

Tom Caldwell wrote:

I don't know the 40-150/4.0 but I have had the 40-150/2.8 for some time and I regard it as one of my most exceptional performing M4/3 lenses.

Just watch out for the trick but sometimes 'dicky' lens hood. The only issue about a second hand '2.8' might be how hard a life the hood has had. Although some have had it 'explode' despite excellent care.

The F/2.8 lens is a very good performer and in the rare event I would want a bit longer it can take TC's which I believe the F/4 can't. On the other hand the F/4 is smaller an lighter

Touch wood, my hood is still in one piece

Tom. Of all the things I have broken over the years I have not yet managed to do a  lens hood . Though I have seen the reports over the years

But I like fast internal zoom and focus lenses and I will also always prefer my 35-100/2.8 lens over the folding slower version of some reasonable reputation even on my GM camera bodies.

I sometimes forget I have the 35-100mm F/2.8 it is literally years since I last used it

Bassam Guy wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

VinceC wrote:

And I’ve been in exile in England for 62 years, my wife is a Geordie (sort of English) and my kids and grandkids think they are English.

it doesn’t stop me enjoying my 5iii, a lovely, friendly, highly capable, wee camera. The only thing I don’t trust about it is the tripod bush with a larger lens.

You can take the Scotsman out of Scotland but you can't take the Scotland out of the Scotsman

And you can't pry the bottle of Scotch from my hands

It is a shameful confession I know, but I am a life long teetotaller 

Raist3d wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

Raist3d wrote:

James Stirling wrote:

Raist3d wrote:

- rear rubber didn't peel off

- was TILT LCD (this one sort of becomes my deal breaker for regular street use)

I am in the FAS gang

Wait, what???!! War!

It is a bit of hot topic , though obviously we FAS guys are right

Rightly wrong :-). To be honest I get the Em5.3 having a FAS. The PenF different story.

- ISO could auto-roll to 25600 and not cap at 6400 (this one is a 2nd but minor deal breaker)

stop taking photos in caves

No. :-). I like my black kitties in coal mines at midnight

I like that first shot of the two guys, a lot of street photos have the subject staring or growling at the cameras

Mine the shutter has become a bit odd so if I try to hold at half shutter/prefocussed sometimes it fires shots. I may have to send to repair.

But as I was going to "buy more stuff" I found myself liking it more and more.

If you never experienced tripod high res for macros and other still work, give it a try.

Yep , that was one of the features I wanted to try out

Did you try it? What you think?

I am demolishing an old brick out building to make way for a new garden room. So my day consist of get up, get out the sledgehammer and batter away all day in the rain. Come in at night and collapse in bed My wife is a slave driver. Hopefully come the weekend I will have some freetime

Well think about it- instead of photographing the traditional brick wall you can photograph a demolishing brick walls.

Do you know I think I missed my vocation in life demolition is great fun. No measuring, no fine work no thinking about just hit it with a bloody big hammer  As a bonus I am hiring a mini digger to load the rubble on a skip  as due to being surrounded by trees there is no easy access to the garden

James Stirling wrote:

Do you know I think I missed my vocation in life demolition is great fun. No measuring, no fine work no thinking about just hit it with a bloody big hammer As a bonus I am hiring a mini digger to load the rubble on a skip as due to being surrounded by trees there is no easy access to the garden

nice to see you hard at work on the forums lol, as you can see i am currently mowing the lawn