unhappymeal
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Well, after much griping that Panasonic and Olympus haven't given us a proper small body, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and pick-up an OM-5 kit. A local wholesaler had one on open box for 1200 € with a 14-day guarantee, so I figured, why not? Maybe this would (finally) dethrone my GM5 bodies. As much as I love those tiny bodies, the slow flash sync speed limits their usefulness to me. Initial impressions after a two hour stroll with the OM-5, 12-45mm f/4 Pro, PL 25mm f/1.4 and Olympus 60mm f/2.8.
Build Quality and Handling
As what would come to a surprise to no one, it's an E-M5 III with OM System branding. Same polycarbonate shell. Same basic dial and button placement. Same lack of joystick. It balances well enough with these small lenses. I mounted the PL 200mm f/2.8 for giggles and it handles about as well as you'd expect. You are very much holding the lens and not the body at that point.
The three metal dials on the top right feel great, as one would expect from an Olympus body. The rest is 'meh'. It doesn't feel as hollow as something like the Nikon Zfc or Olympus E-P7, but E-M1 III, G9 or GM5 this is not. I don't feel like it is built to the standard of a 1300 € price point (body only), especially when that buys you something with the rock solid build like the S5, Z5, or the E-M1 III. For a few hundred € more, you can get a completely monocoque aluminum Sony A7C that weighs nearly the same as the OM-5. Yes, I know OM System claims an IP53 weather resistance rating. Wake me when they decide to warranty environmental damage.
Image Quality
Same as we've had for the last 8 years since the introduction of the GX8. Yeah, you can squeeze more out with LiveND or HHHR/Pixel Shift, but the applications are limited there. I also couldn't get the processing or the HHHR files to my liking in DxO. The files look too soft, but from what I recall, they need special sharpening treatment in software outside of Olympus Workspace. I'm sure people who have spent more time with this feature can extract more. I think if you use a lot of pixel shift, this is a legitimate replacement for full frame landscape or architecture, assuming motion or false colour doesn't screw up your shot.
Without the computational image stacking, you still shoot this much like the GM5: expose for highlights, raise shadows in post and apply some NR. Or exposure bracket and stack manually.
As for the 12-45 f/4 Pro, it's a good lens. Sharpness at f/4 across the frame doesn't look any better than the 12-35 f/2.8 when stopped down. It's magic trick, as others have pointed out, is its light weight combined with sharpness wide open and semi-macro capability. It didn't blow me away like it did for other people here, but then again, I was never really wowed by the 12-100. I think my Nikkor Z 24-70 f/4 S is a better standard zoom than both lenses and the Panasonic-Leica or Olympus Pro primes have much nicer rendering.
As I suspected, I find the f/4 aperture far too limiting for a general purpose zoom on m4/3 given the asking price. You hit ISO 6400 with a quickness indoors with > 1/125s shutter speed and you don't get a whole lot of separation unless you exploit the minimum focusing distance.
Autofocus
Again, as a surprise to no one, pretty much the same as the E-M1 III. It's perfectly serviceable for tracking moderate movement. You still have to shoot it like a DSLR (5 point area and keep the area on your target), unlike more modern systems. I did try some BiF with it and the PL 200mm f/2.8. but I ended up tossing the photos as most of them were pretty soft. I don't blame the camera per se. It's been a while since I shot wildlife, so I'm rusty with my technique.
The 12-45 f/4 would also hunt quite a bit indoors at closer focusing distances.
Odds and Ends
m4/3 needs to get on the battery upgrade bandwagon. Sony has had a commanding lead here for a while and now Fujifilm is catching up. My battery was 3/4 charged when I left the house. It's about 5 C here right now and it was dead within a few hours, even manually turning the camera off when not in use.
Micro-USB in 2023 is every bit as irritating as I thought it would be. The OM-5 is the only device in my household that is not USB-C other than my eBook reader and GM5 bodies. I can forgive my eBook reader for that because it goes over a month on a single charge. The GM5's I can look the other way because they are comparably ancient and I have almost a dozen batteries and three chargers.
Conclusion
If this review sounds 'meh' it's because I feel like that about the camera. I came away reminded why I got rid of the E-M1 III so quickly. It just feels like very tiny, iterative steps for a modern asking price. The stills autofocus is better than the E-M5 III, but not significantly so. It certainly doesn't feel like the Fuji jump between 3rd, 4th and 5th gen or the Sony or Canon generational jumps.
The IBIS is industry leading, as one might expect, but it was already amazing on the previous generation bodies. The computational features have potential, but come with giant asterixes: it's slow to deploy, prone to artifacts/false colour, and requires extra work in post processing. OM System needs to get their butt in gear and match Panasonic's pixel shift with motion compensation with a quickness.
Build quality is and ergonomics are...okay for the price point. It certainly doesn't have that special feeling or confidence in-hand like the E-M5 II, Pen-F or E-M1 series. It's certainly compact, but not so svelte that I feel like it makes a huge difference in my bag next to something like the E-M1 series, G9 or Z6.
The sun is going down, so I'll take it out soon with the PL 25mm f/1.4 and Olympus 17mm f/1.2 Pro to see how it does at night compared to the Z6 and A7R III. The feeling I get though is that this is going back and the GM5 will be the last m4/3 body I own.
A few shots. All processed in DxO with mostly lens profiles applied or shadows brought up a bit.
View attachment c915eab1fc384f4596708a61b5da11d6.jpg
m4/3 with HHHR can deliver for architecture. Don't let the full frame people say otherwise.
View attachment ac1b6f1abc694dac8717c904dcaf41e6.jpg
The close focusing on the 12-45 f/4 Pro is nice. Very nice bokeh too.
View attachment 6041f64112dc4bfa93fdfbbf462bf140.jpg
Nice, smooth tonal transitions.
View attachment 49faed5d996e48f0bfc50f1619593ed4.jpg
I will never get tired of the PL 25mm f/1.4
Shadows raised by two stops here after exposing to preserve the highlights.
Build Quality and Handling
As what would come to a surprise to no one, it's an E-M5 III with OM System branding. Same polycarbonate shell. Same basic dial and button placement. Same lack of joystick. It balances well enough with these small lenses. I mounted the PL 200mm f/2.8 for giggles and it handles about as well as you'd expect. You are very much holding the lens and not the body at that point.
The three metal dials on the top right feel great, as one would expect from an Olympus body. The rest is 'meh'. It doesn't feel as hollow as something like the Nikon Zfc or Olympus E-P7, but E-M1 III, G9 or GM5 this is not. I don't feel like it is built to the standard of a 1300 € price point (body only), especially when that buys you something with the rock solid build like the S5, Z5, or the E-M1 III. For a few hundred € more, you can get a completely monocoque aluminum Sony A7C that weighs nearly the same as the OM-5. Yes, I know OM System claims an IP53 weather resistance rating. Wake me when they decide to warranty environmental damage.
Image Quality
Same as we've had for the last 8 years since the introduction of the GX8. Yeah, you can squeeze more out with LiveND or HHHR/Pixel Shift, but the applications are limited there. I also couldn't get the processing or the HHHR files to my liking in DxO. The files look too soft, but from what I recall, they need special sharpening treatment in software outside of Olympus Workspace. I'm sure people who have spent more time with this feature can extract more. I think if you use a lot of pixel shift, this is a legitimate replacement for full frame landscape or architecture, assuming motion or false colour doesn't screw up your shot.
Without the computational image stacking, you still shoot this much like the GM5: expose for highlights, raise shadows in post and apply some NR. Or exposure bracket and stack manually.
As for the 12-45 f/4 Pro, it's a good lens. Sharpness at f/4 across the frame doesn't look any better than the 12-35 f/2.8 when stopped down. It's magic trick, as others have pointed out, is its light weight combined with sharpness wide open and semi-macro capability. It didn't blow me away like it did for other people here, but then again, I was never really wowed by the 12-100. I think my Nikkor Z 24-70 f/4 S is a better standard zoom than both lenses and the Panasonic-Leica or Olympus Pro primes have much nicer rendering.
As I suspected, I find the f/4 aperture far too limiting for a general purpose zoom on m4/3 given the asking price. You hit ISO 6400 with a quickness indoors with > 1/125s shutter speed and you don't get a whole lot of separation unless you exploit the minimum focusing distance.
Autofocus
Again, as a surprise to no one, pretty much the same as the E-M1 III. It's perfectly serviceable for tracking moderate movement. You still have to shoot it like a DSLR (5 point area and keep the area on your target), unlike more modern systems. I did try some BiF with it and the PL 200mm f/2.8. but I ended up tossing the photos as most of them were pretty soft. I don't blame the camera per se. It's been a while since I shot wildlife, so I'm rusty with my technique.
The 12-45 f/4 would also hunt quite a bit indoors at closer focusing distances.
Odds and Ends
m4/3 needs to get on the battery upgrade bandwagon. Sony has had a commanding lead here for a while and now Fujifilm is catching up. My battery was 3/4 charged when I left the house. It's about 5 C here right now and it was dead within a few hours, even manually turning the camera off when not in use.
Micro-USB in 2023 is every bit as irritating as I thought it would be. The OM-5 is the only device in my household that is not USB-C other than my eBook reader and GM5 bodies. I can forgive my eBook reader for that because it goes over a month on a single charge. The GM5's I can look the other way because they are comparably ancient and I have almost a dozen batteries and three chargers.
Conclusion
If this review sounds 'meh' it's because I feel like that about the camera. I came away reminded why I got rid of the E-M1 III so quickly. It just feels like very tiny, iterative steps for a modern asking price. The stills autofocus is better than the E-M5 III, but not significantly so. It certainly doesn't feel like the Fuji jump between 3rd, 4th and 5th gen or the Sony or Canon generational jumps.
The IBIS is industry leading, as one might expect, but it was already amazing on the previous generation bodies. The computational features have potential, but come with giant asterixes: it's slow to deploy, prone to artifacts/false colour, and requires extra work in post processing. OM System needs to get their butt in gear and match Panasonic's pixel shift with motion compensation with a quickness.
Build quality is and ergonomics are...okay for the price point. It certainly doesn't have that special feeling or confidence in-hand like the E-M5 II, Pen-F or E-M1 series. It's certainly compact, but not so svelte that I feel like it makes a huge difference in my bag next to something like the E-M1 series, G9 or Z6.
The sun is going down, so I'll take it out soon with the PL 25mm f/1.4 and Olympus 17mm f/1.2 Pro to see how it does at night compared to the Z6 and A7R III. The feeling I get though is that this is going back and the GM5 will be the last m4/3 body I own.
A few shots. All processed in DxO with mostly lens profiles applied or shadows brought up a bit.
View attachment c915eab1fc384f4596708a61b5da11d6.jpg
m4/3 with HHHR can deliver for architecture. Don't let the full frame people say otherwise.
View attachment ac1b6f1abc694dac8717c904dcaf41e6.jpg
The close focusing on the 12-45 f/4 Pro is nice. Very nice bokeh too.
View attachment 6041f64112dc4bfa93fdfbbf462bf140.jpg
Nice, smooth tonal transitions.
View attachment 49faed5d996e48f0bfc50f1619593ed4.jpg
I will never get tired of the PL 25mm f/1.4
Shadows raised by two stops here after exposing to preserve the highlights.
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. The OM-5 went back today. It just left me scratching my head. Image quality wasn't noticeably better than the GM5 and autofocus wasn't so amazing that it felt like a big step up from the G9. I think the next upgrade for me would be an OM-1, but I have a Nikon Z6 and Sony A7R III if I want to go that big and I don't really shoot birds anymore.
