simon_hickie1

<p>I've just put the last of my Nikon gear on the auction site. I've been driving an OMD EM5 for about four months and find it a joy to use with one exception - battery life. Image quality is much better than my old D300, especially at higher ISO settings (less noise, more 'real' detail). The lenses are light and of excellent quality. Here in the UK, a number of professional wedding and portrait photographers are using the OMD as their tool of choice.<br>

One big benefit to me is the EVF on the OMD. In low light it works amazingly well. Moreover, you can set it up to get real time 'blinkies' for under/over exposure before taking the image and then simply use one's thumb for quickly dialling in some exposure compensation.</p>

<p>The OM-D EVF is excellent. A great feature is realtime shadow & highlight information before shooting. The saturation and refresh times are better than the G3. As a result of my OM-D tests, the D300 and my remaining Nikon gear are about to go on the auction site.</p>

<p>I did a quick and dirty comparison of my OMD and Nikon D300, particularly with respect to high ISO. The Olympus won easily. At ISO 3200 it was as good if not better than the D300 at ISO 1600. But the striking thing was the level of detail retained - the OMD walked all over the D300 at all ISO settings (D300 with Tamron 90mm macro @ f8, tripod, RAW high ISO NR off; OMD 45mm f1.8 @ f5.6 IS off, NR off; processed in DxO Pro 8 with relevant lens plugins). So I'd agree - stick with the small form factor!</p>

<p>I decided to hang on to my 14-140mm lens for use on the OMD EM5 just in case DxO released an optics module for it. Well now they have. I've only briefly looked at a few shots but the results seem most promising. CA is lo longer an issue. Distortion, particularly at wide focal lengths is largely sorted. Sharpness and contrast are significantly better. Therefore, as a walkabout combination, the OMD EM5 + 14-140mm makes for a pretty impressive combination. Yes, the Olympus equivalent lens is lighter, but with a Panasonic GH1 as backup the Pany lens makes more sense for me.<br>

I'll try to post some examples later.</p>

<p>I have the OMD with Panasonic 14-45mm (excellent sharpness), Panasonic 20mm f1.7, Olympus 45mm f1.8 and Panasonic 14-140mm lenses. Of these, I'm likely to be selling the 14-140mm and acquiring the Olympus 40-150mm. Your shooting requirements are similar to mine. You really need faster lenses if you want nice out of focus elements. Events will also benefit from faster lenses. I also have the FL-50 flash with a 'tupperware' attachment for flash.</p>

<p>On the focusing front, the usual rule of thumb is to focus on a point about one third into the image. In this case, focusing on the middle row of eyes would be about right - and at f11 (a smaller aperture (e.g. f16) running the risk of softening due to diffraction).</p>

<p>I use an OM-D with the Panasonic 14-45mm. It's light and relatively compact. I have the Pany 14-140mm but tend to leave that on the GH1. The 14-150mm makes a lot of sense and I'm thinking of getting one to cater for the longer end. Does your wife intend to use flash much?</p>

<p>Mike, I have the same issue with both D5100 and D300. Mihai's suggestion might be the key, especially as the focus switch is so easy to knock on the D300.</p>

<p>I'd love to keep both systems Bruce, but cannot afford it. Your setup would be ideal for my purposes, but for 99.9% of my needs, the OMD is ideal.</p>

<p>Well, the reception is over. I confess: I bottled out and used the Nikon D300/SB800 for the mostpart. The main reasons were that the venue had very little opportunity for bounced flash with dark ceilings and fairly dark walls. In addition, I have yet to get a flash cord to get the FL-50 off camera and a lightsphere type attachment that fits the flash. Given that I like to use a flash bracket to keep the flash above the lens in portrait mode, it meant the OM-D was generally no-go.</p>

<p>My other observation was that when I did do a few test shots with the OM-D, face detection did not work terribly well. I preferred using the direction arrows to position the AF point. I'm yet to upload the images but may post if I find a decent one.</p>

 

<p>70mm is fraction short for headshots - 85mm better. The 5d is pretty long in the tooth and is going to be outperformed by more modern sensors. If you are up for a system change, the Nikon D7000 or Pentax K5 take a lot of beating in the high ISO and dynamic range performance stakes. An idea on budget would be useful.</p>

<p>Yes, the dogs are going to get lost in the background - it's not an exposure issue as such. In the snow today, my OMD needed +1 ev and that was underexposing a little - +1.3 would have been better.</p>

<p>Being a bear of very brain, I have of course just realised that with the flash in bounce mode pointing away from the subject, the preflash is unlikely to cause subjects to blink. For posed images, the preflash delay should not be an issue (I hope).</p>

<p>Yes Bruce I agree - speed of shooting plus focus accuracy are key here. After all, in the old days we managed well enough with choosing the right film for the right time. I too have the video button set for ISO. ISO 400 to 800 should nail most things - certainly for this evening reception with lowish ceilings and smallish groups, and the 20mm at around f2.8 to f4.</p>

<p>Ah brand loyalty - a dangerous thing! I've just bailed out of Nikon and into m4/3 after 15 years of shooting Nikon film and DSLRs. You have to ask yourself what your current camera does not do and what the 7D / 60D would do or do better. Don't be deceived by the megapixel myth, but do think about high ISO performance (if you need it) and dynamic range. </p>

<p>Europe in the summer may or may not be dry. Is weather sealing important to you? For vacationing, lightness may be an issue. And how about lenses. Would the money be better spent on lenses? The T1i seems perfectly capable (for a Canon (;-)) so it seems to me that lenses might be the first thing to think about.</p>

<p>A further test reveals that auto ISO does not work in any mode when the flash is in simple AUTO mode rather than TTL mode. That's unfortunate. So it's a case of either working with the shutter delay and blinking subjects or doing without auto ISO - a pity as the auto ISO seems to work so well in terms of keeping it as low a possible.</p>

<p>Bruce, I've found a similar delay problem. I think it's the preflash sequence that causes it as there's no preflash in auto (as opposed to TTL) mode. The SB800 setup is interesting. I'll try it straight away! The FL-50 does have a 'normal' auto mode though. </p>

<p>If you are taking the time to meter manually, then it's worth using spot metering. Use a mid-tone of average reflectance in the same light as your subject.</p>

<p>I used to use a flash bracket with the D300/SB800 combo - it made for even heavier hand holding but put the flash in the right place. These days I tend to adopt the Neil van Niekerk approach and bounce off walls or walls + ceilings with the Demb type diffuser angled slightly backwards (if I can get it to point in the right direction relative to the flash head). The FL50 seems to have enough welly to cope with this. Having said that, I have still to get a cable for off camera flash. I could use the little one as a commander but need to shield it somehow.</p>

<p>The shot below (casual snap with some OOF stuff bottom left) had the flash bounced off wall and ceiling behind & to the left of me with no fill. The result works quite well with a hint of modelling on the face and no harsh shadows as well as some highlights in the eyes. Auto WB used, converted in DxO. 14-45mm lens at 45mm & f5.6 I think.<br>

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<p>I've had a couple of weeks with the OMD now, having come from a Nikon D300 / D5100 background. I'm shooting a wedding reception for my daughter's best friend at the weekend so have added a FL-50 flash to the kit - currently OMD, 20mm panasonic, 14-45mm panasonic & 14-140mm panasonic with a 45mm Olympus on the way. I still have the D300 as backup(!) in case it all goes horribly wrong.</p>

<p>I have found DxO to give the best RAW conversion so far. DxO does not currently support the 14-140mm for auto correction hence the addition of the 14-45mm for the wide end where the distortion & CA correction are really needed.</p>

<p>I use an op/tech strap with the sling attachment so the camera strap is slung over one shoulder with the camera ready to slide up quickly for shooting. The system seems to work very well so far.</p>

<p>The FL-50 seems excellent. I tend to shoot with TTL flash bouncing wherever possible and using a Demb type diffuser for fill if needed. With the camera set in manual with auto ISO I've found that the flash tends to up the power to maximum before raising the ISO, unlike my Nikons which are too quick to raise ISO settings. About +1 EV is needed on the flashgun to get the right exposure (on my SB800, it was about + 2/3 EV). With the camera in A or P mode, the camera seems more ready to raise ISO than in Manual (before you ask, I have set up auto ISO to work in M mode and it does raise ISO with flash if needed). Auto WB, however, does seem more susceptible to bounced flash bounce surface colour than my D300/SB800.</p>

<p>For flash based event photography, the OMD + FL-50 or similar presents a compelling option for somebody like me with a very dodgy back and arms like pipe cleaners. The D300 + SB800 + appropriate lens was just too much to manage for a several hour event.</p>

<p>Benjamin, I see you are another OM-D owner. How have you found it? I love mine!</p>

<p>Francisco, your comments echo the very same reasons why I've ditched Nikon in favour of an Olympus OM-D setup. An OM-D plus Panasonic 14-45mm weighs in 620g. It's also small, magnesium alloy shelled with some weather sealing. A 20mm f1.7 prime weighs 110g and the 14mm f2.5 is 55g. A 45mm f1.8 is 116g, the Panasonic 12-35mm - 305g, the Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8 - 360g.</p>

<p>I suspect the DX format is destined to be increasingly caught in the middle between ever improving smaller sensor cameras and full frame ones.</p>

 

<p>I've had about 10 days with the camera now. Front Dial - aperture / shutter speed (aperture front in M). Rear Dial - exposure compensation. Fn1 - AF lock. Rec - ISO. Fn2 MF / AF switch. Rear direction arrows - focusing point. I also have auto ISO on (max 2000), gradation auto, highlight/shadows on - then use exposure compensation if needed. I normally use A for outdoors and M indoors with flash (to allow shutter dragging etc.) I alternate between centre focus & recompose and shifting focus point - usually the latter if shooting people/pets. I find that using the arrow buttons for anything other than focusing usually means accidentally setting something by mistake.</p>

<p>Olympus offer the 45mm f1.8 and 75mm f1.8 lenses for m4/3. These are telephoto lenses, the former being the 'ideal' portrait length at 90mm equivalent in 35mm format terms. There's also a 35-100mm f2.8 zoom - also telephoto.</p>

<p>These announcements tend to vindicate my recent decision to bail out of Nikon altogether and go down the M4/3 route. My recently acquired Olympus OM-D E-M5 has proven to be a more than adequate replacement for my D300 and D5100 in terms of image quality. The OM-D with Panasonic 14-45mm or 20mm lenses makes for an astonishingly light but capable walkabout combination. I considered the CX line, but decided that M4/3 was as small as I wanted to go whilst still maintaining a semblance of depth of field control using fast primes. Moreover, in-body image stabilisation allows both native primes and legacy lenses (with adapters) to benefit, unlike the CX range.</p>