It's Here! Olympus OM-D In Da House!

I got a package from Olympus today - the OM-D. I even got a battery and charger this time! :)

I've also got a Nikon D4 and Canon EOS 5D Mark III in house for review right now. But I have to say - the OM-D is more exciting for me than either of those two cameras. Don't get me wrong - both of those cameras kick a whole lot of ass. But they're predictable in their ass-kicking qualities. The OM-D, on the other hand, is something completely new. It's barely larger than the E-P3 but with performance a lot like the pro sports cameras. I've been playing with it outside for a few minutes and I'm already impressed. The 9 FPS burst is crazy fast and even the continuous AF seems to work pretty well. And then there's the OLED display. It's been a while since I used the E-P3 and I forgot how good it is - the best display I can recall ever using - that's how good it is.

Can't wait to get out on the trail and really push this camera!

For those who don't know about the Olympus OM-D E-M5, here's the intro article and video I published when it was first announced:

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Intro >>

More to come - first up will be studio tests!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

I got a package from Olympus today - the OM-D. I even got a battery and charger this time! :)

I've also got a Nikon D4 and Canon EOS 5D Mark III in house for review right now. But I have to say - the OM-D is more exciting for me than either of those two cameras. Don't get me wrong - both of those cameras kick a whole lot of ass. But they're predictable in their ass-kicking qualities. The OM-D, on the other hand, is something completely new. It's barely larger than the E-P3 but with performance a lot like the pro sports cameras. I've been playing with it outside for a few minutes and I'm already impressed. The 9 FPS burst is crazy fast and even the continuous AF seems to work pretty well. And then there's the OLED display. It's been a while since I used the E-P3 and I forgot how good it is - the best display I can recall ever using - that's how good it is.

Can't wait to get out on the trail and really push this camera!

More to come - first up will be studio tests!

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I just checked out your original video after reading this post. Wish I hadn't! :thumbsup: It really is much more than an upgrade to the E-P3. Wow! When you got the original camera (without the battery) I purposely did not watch it as I do not "need" a new camera since I've had my E-P3 for less than a year - and it fits my needs. AND I did not want to even think about a new camera. Now I will have to either stay away from this thread and not view the images......or pray for the courage to resist! :rolleyes:

Seriously John, it does look like it's a winner to say the least. And I do look forward to seeing the images it can produce. So thanks! :thumbsup:

Liz

Just move right along, Liz. Avert your eyes. Nothing happening here... :p

And you got the new lens, too.
I decided to go for the cheaper option with a camera bag of lenses just to use what I have.
Not sure that will prove to be the best idea - I might be kicking myself if that lent is far better than the 14-42 kit lens that came with the E-P1.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

Just move right along, Liz. Avert your eyes. Nothing happening here... :p

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Easier said than done now that you've begun the process! :D

I'll be away for the weekend with my E-P3 - maybe I'll forget about the EM5. :idea:

Have a good weekend - and enjoy the process!

Liz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SmartWombat

And you got the new lens, too.
I decided to go for the cheaper option with a camera bag of lenses just to use what I have.
Not sure that will prove to be the best idea - I might be kicking myself if that lent is far better than the 14-42 kit lens that came with the E-P1.

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I have no real opinion about the new lens yet, Paul. The power zoom feature is pretty sweet if you're shooting video, though. And you can switch in and out of power zoom, something I didn't realize when the lens was first announced. For what it's worth, the lens Micro Four Thirds lens I recommend to everyone is the Olympus 14-150mm. That's the lens I've used the most on the Pen cameras. It's a good lens and it's just soooo versatile.

The camera showed up yesterday and I got right to work. I shot some stuff around the house yesterday evening and then took a quick little hike up in the foothills this morning for some outdoor stuff. First impressions of the image quality are very good. I don't feel like I'm in a position to make any comparisons yet but the high ISO looks great! The color definitely looks like Olympus to me - it's got that weird red crossover thing their cameras have had for years in outdoor photos. I've been able to work around it but it does frustrate me a bit. I should try a custom white balance outdoors sometime and see if it's better.

To start, here are a few high ISO indoor photos. All three of these were shot at ISO 12,800, using the camera's auto ISO feature. Yeah, they're grainy. But I think they look good - especially considering they camera from a Micro Four Thirds camera. I never thought I'd see good ISO 12,800 from one of these cameras.

Here are a couple more low light, high ISO Olympus E-M5 sample photos. The photo of Jenni was taken at ISO 5000 and the skull (it's becoming one of my favorite test subjects) was taken at ISO 8000. Both have had some post-processing. Same goes for the ISO 12,800 images. No noise reduction has been used on any of these photos, though.

Here are a few ISO 200 sample photos. As usual, these have been adjusted for color and contrast in Lightroom and Photoshop. No noise reduction or selective adjustment has been used, though.

I have a new 9-18mm lens sitting and lonely awaited my E-M5. Looking good John.

Maybe the site will let me post photos some day. :-)

And it does!

My first week with the E-M5