fast_primes

I have the original E-M10 and I have an OM-5 inbound! My questions are as follows:

1. How does the OM-5 + ECG-5 compare to the E-M1 mk III in handling, features, etc?
2. What can I expect in terms of performance and handling of the new OM-5 compared to the E-M10?
3. Lastly, how does the E-M1 mk II (which I was originally considering) fare against the above 1. and 2.?

Thanks for any comments!

FP

 

Has anyone used at least 2 of these lenses and can offer a comparative analysis? The testing site opticalimits.com (formerly photozone.de), rates all three as excellent, with the 45F1.2 in particular, as being the best it's ever tested. Candidly, at being over a grand in cost, the 45 is beyond my budget, but still, it offers superb sharpness AND bokeh!!!

Sheryl,

 

Consider making your existing 35mm prime the heart of your travel system. To that, I would add the new, very light and very inexpensive Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM wide angle zoom. Lastly, I would round it out with the Tamron 60mm F2.0 Macro. These three lenses should suffice to give you a simple, light weight, but high performance travel system. Leave the heavy zooms home.

 

Alex

Thanks Gerry! But it's the built-in pop-up flash I want to use! How do I set it to give "just a hint" of flash, as you put it? Or rather say a quarter of a f-stop to start?

 

Alex

I want to begin using fill flash on my E-M10. Especially using very low levels of flash to generate specular highlights to increase the perception of sharpness--a technique I read about in the Britsh magazine, Practical Photography.

 

First of all which modes use flash? How do I set flash compensation level? I have a great deal of difficulty with the Oympus menu system--so please make your replies comprehensive.

 

Thanks.

<p>Hi Olympus OM-D users,</p>

<p>How do you set up your cameras to shoot political rallies (and stage performances to generalize the question a bit more)? What is your preferred shooting mode? How do you set your focus point?</p>

<p>I shot a Democrat rally here in Philly, and had trouble getting the central figure in focus. Instead I captured too many foreground (back of head and phone camera) shots--with my core subject on the central speaking platform out of focus. I had trouble getting the OM-D EM10 (mk 1) to focus on the distant speakers. </p>

<p>My lens kit was the kit 14-42 lens and the Sigma 60F2.8 prime lens.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>Alex</p>

<p>Photographer David Ruether reviews most Panasonic's micro four-third lenses. Along the way he gets into such things as manufacturing sample variations, a few Olympus lenses, some adapted lenses, a rave for the Sigma 60mm F2.8 DN lens, infra-red usage, fish eye usage and more. Well worth reading. </p>

<p>http://www.david-ruether-photography.com/MFT-Lenses.htm#25mm</p>

<p>For reference sake, I'm cutting and pasting the instructions from the above link:</p>

 

<h1 >Using AF lenses in Manual Focus</h1>

<p></p>

 

 

 

 

For many photographers, tweaking or just using manual focus with AF lenses is a normal thing.

 

 

<p>But, if you don’t set the camera properly, once you manually focus, a 1/2 press on the shutter wipes it all out.<br>

you must do 3 things to set the camera up so your shutter 1/2 press won’t activate AF.</p>

<ol>

<li><strong>Change the “AEL/AFL” to Mode 3</strong> (Menu/Gears/A/AEL/AFL/OK/S-AF/>Mode 3/OK)</li>

<li><strong>Make Fn1 to be your AF Button</strong> (Menu/Gears/B/OK/Button Functions/>/Fn1/>/”AEL/AFL”/OK)</li>

<li><strong>Change the AF Mode to “S-AF+MF”</strong> (Menu/Gears/A/AF Mode/OK/S-AF/>/”S-AF+MF”/OK)</li>

</ol>

<p>This will allow you to manually focus with the wired focus ring, and use the shutter button to take a meter reading and exposure. without the 1/2 press changing the manual focus you set.</p>

 

<p>I found the following reference on how to set an Olympus EM camera to manual.<br>

http://olympusomd.net/e-m5-resources-in-sub-menus/tips-tricks-2/using-af-lenses-in-manual-focus/<br>

I followed the steps outlines and it worked. However, I'm left with two questions:<br>

1--how do I reset the camera (EM10) back to it's default state?</p>

<p> 2--is there a simpler way to switch to manual focus?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

 

<p>Any gotcha's on using a Nikon 85F1.8 G lens on models like the Nikon D5300? How about back-focus or registration issues? Since the D3xxx/D5xxx do not offer autofocus/back-focus(?) adjustment of the D7xxx series, can I be sure Nikon's production tolerances are on the money for shooting the 85 wide open?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p> </p>

I've had the E-M10 camera for a while, but am finally getting around to using it. I've skimmed the pdf manual and found it somewhat disjointed in presentation. So some questions:

 

<ol>

<li>Does iAUTO invoke the IBIS antishake mechanism? If not, why not?</li>

<li>How does iAUTO determine ISO/shutter speed/aperture combinations?</li>

<li>What options can be set that affect iAUTO?</li>

</ol>

<p>Thanks.<br>

Alex</p>

 

 

<p>In the case of the Olympus E-M5 versus the E-M10, it must be pointed out that the newer E-M10 has CA/chromatic aberration correction while the older E-M5 does NOT (see dpreview's review of the E-M10)! Right there, this means the E-M10 will tend to generate cleaner looking jpegs than it's older sibling.</p>

<p>The incamera CA correction was the tie breaker for me in choosing between the E-M5 and E-M10 (both of which are available for $500 with kit lens from B&H). The ONLY superior points for the E-M5 is weather sealing and a slightly better IBIS. Otherwise the newer E-M10 trumps the older E-M5--or so says dpreview.com.</p>

<p>In reading the review of the EM10 by dpreview.com, they state explicitly, that the EM10 does have chromatic aberration correction. Thus it will tend to generate slightly cleaner looking jpegs than the EM5. That capability (which it inherits from the EM1) is the tie-breaker for me. </p>

<p>In their review of the original OM D EM10, dpreview.com considers the later EM10 to have a slight edge in overall performance and features to the original EM5? For those who have handled both, do you agree?</p>

<p>What about the 5 axis image stabilization of the EM5 versus the 3 axis image stabilization of the EM10? Is the 1 stop advantage of the EM5 detectable?</p>

<p>Does the EM10 have built-in correction of chromatic aberration that the EM5 does not?</p>

<p>Other than the wifi of the EM10, which I know about, are there any other points in favor of the EM10?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

 

<p>I initially had a mild qualm about going micro 4/3rds because the 4:3 aspect ration isn't my favorite, but I've just learned that Olympus (and I presume Panny, Fuji and others do also) has the ability to select other aspect ratios:<br>

<br /> http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/ask_oly/crm_e_ask_oly_03_11.asp</p>

<p>So how does this work in practice--particularly the 1:1.5 and 16:9 choices? What does one see in the viewfinder to delineate the selected aspect ratio?<br /> <br /> How does crop factor change?<br /> <br /> How does the available megapixel count change?<br /> <br /> Is there sufficient resolution to generate stills or video to fit a 4K TV display?</p>

<p>I'm now leaning very strongly toward the Olympus M5--thanks to stumbling upon a review of the Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. Lumix G Vario on slrgear.com. It turns in an excellent (if not superb) performance, backed up by user reviews. Thus an extremely simple 12-32mm + 25F1.8 Olympus (or 20F1.7 Panny) + 60F2.8 Sigma 3 lens combo for the M5 suggest itself. </p>

<p>In the case of Fuji XE-1, I had been contemplating the the 16-50mm kit zoom, the 27F2.8 and the 60F2.4 macro but the reports show the zoom poor at it widest setting and possibly uncertain in it's built in antishake as well. Also, the 16-50 isn't particularly compact at all.</p>

<p>And in the case of the Nikon D5300, I had nailed down the new 18-55 VR II zoom (rated excellent at it's 18mm setting by slrgear.com), the 35F1.8 DX G and the 85F1.8 G FX lens as a base system. However, I'm beginning to wonder if such a system is now socially too obtrusive for general use. The 85F1.8G has a 67mm filter thread, although it is fairly light and has reputed SOA performance. I now rarely see anyone with a dslr in either Philly or NYC and wonder if I wouldn't feel severely constrained in walking around with such a system.<br>

<br>

</p>

<p>I've narrowed my choice to one of these 3 cameras. Each one generation old, so less expensive when bought new or used. <br /><br /><br>

Ouestion 1--how significant is the dslr mirror slap from the Nikon (or any) D5300? Back in the day, rangefinders were judged to gain a stop handheld advantage against full frame slr film cameras. Has this changed?<br /><br /><br>

Question 2--does the 4 stop inbody antishake advantage of the Olympus E-M5 overcome the superior size/low-noise capability of the Fuji 16mp Xtrans sensor or the Nikon/Sony 24mp sensor? This is primarily in the street or travel genres with no flash and interiors as well. Particularly with prime lenses--I know Nikon and Fuji put antishake in their zooms. <br /><br /><br>

Thanks.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Regarding the 7100/7200 differences, where can the lower Nikon tier (the D5300 and the new D5500), be expected place in relation to the D7100 and D7200?</p>

<p>Has Sigma mentioned any plans to support the Fuji X and Canon EOS M mounts?</p>

<p>I'm in the market for a photography oriented computer monitor (as in decent specs) to also serve as a TV (HDMI input). Should 4K TVs come under consideration? What about such things as IPS, calibration, gamut, etc.? Budget is $400 max. </p>

<p>Can someone provide an outline of necessary steps to utilize provided vendor profiles (Costco for example) in preparing digital files to be submitted for printing? This would be for non-photoshop techies like myself.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>What do you think of the performance of your sample the 85mm DX VR micro? For me the availability of the DX 85mm micro (along with the 35F1.8 DX) sways me toward the Nikon DX system in the first place (over say Canon or Fuji). </p>

<p>Ian-by "cute" I meant compact and the probable marketing (but not optical design) department pressure to produce such a lens. Would you really mind if your Fuji 18mm was another inch longer and maybe 150 grams heavier? Your two examples are excellent, btw--but what about architecture or landscape subjects?</p>

<p>Lex--thanks for the careful analysis of the Fuji 16-50mm zoom. I now know to skip it.</p>

<p>The 28mm lens was very important to me, back in the day of 35mm. I've had them in Contax G, Canon FD, Olympus and Ricoh. Yet it seems hard to translate that into modern digital APC or micro 4-thirds format. Canon (EOS M), Olympus, Samsung and Zeis are so far no-shows at the moment, in producing full-frame 28mm prime equivalents. That leaves the Fuji 18mm F2.0 and the Panasonic 14mm F2.5. Both are compact and "cute". And there in is maybe the problem. It may not be possible to be petite, fairly fast and outstanding optically (critically sharp to the edges by F5.6/F8.0) at the same time.</p>

<p>The Fuji 18mm F2.0 gets tepid reviews from slrgear.com, photozone.de and in many user reviews. Fuji's own MTF curves seems to invite one to get the 18-55mm or the 16-50mm zooms instead, if one wants sharp 18mm results. In fact, I'd like to ask here--does the Fuji 16-50mm zoom provide their best 18mm?</p>

<p>The Panasonic 14mm F2.5 enjoys a better reputation--as befits a more conservatively designed lens (slower maximum aperture/smaller image circle). But even it seems exceeded by the latest Panny/Olympus zooms. </p>

<p>Obviously, Fuji and Panosonic can design and manufacture outstanding glass--witness the Fuji 14mm F2.8 for example. But my major expectation, years ago when mirrorless first came on the scene, was uniform excellence from the normal on down, due to ditching the mirror. It's a surprise not to get it. </p>

<p>There is still Sony--they have just announced a new 28mm F2.0 full frame lens for the Sony A full fame mirrorless line, with a <em><strong>VERY</strong></em> interesting twist of offering adjunct adpaters to convert the 28mm to either a 21mm full frame lens or a wider still fisheye. Regrettably, no further word on it's expected performance/MTF curves, weight or even filter thread. </p>

 

<p>Hi Tora,</p>

<p>Consider getting the new Canon EF-S 10-18mm STM IS lens--along with new Canon dslr to mount it to. It is reputed to have excellent performance, has a built-in image-stabilizer, weights only 240 grams AND cost ONLY $300!!! No one else, has anything remotely close in terms of cost or weight. For me a perfect 3 lens travel kit would comprise the Canon 10-18, the latest Sigma 30F1.4 DC "A" lens and the Tamron 60mm F2.0 macro. This should fit well within your budget.<br>

Good luck.<br>

Alex</p>

<p> </p>