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Hi Uwe, I have both cameras and some variety of glass. Can you be more specific about what you characterize as "good" glass? For example,Who compared GH2 to OMD with good glass? Your take?
Well,OK Uwe, it was definitely sunny this weekend in NY. However, your criteria for shooting in open sunlight at harsh contrast results in such poor photos that I refuse to post any here, except in B+W. There are no aberration issues, but such harsh sun just destroys any notion of color "quality". The colors just get washed out in such bright sun. Of course, I knew this was going to happen, but I did not realize how much I would hate the results. In these shooting conditions, one does not really want high contrast lenses, which just crushes the shadow detail due to the high contrast of the light. You will actually get much better images with lower contrast lenses (assuming you want to retain as much dynamic range as possible).
I shot the EM5 and the GH2 side by side. Here are my conclusions:
1. Both cameras deliver the same image quality for photos at lower iso. If you are looking for improvements in dynamic range or noise or detail rendering, I was unable to see any difference between images at low iso from either camera. At high iso, there is some minor improvement with the EM5, but not enough to make a difference, at least for me. If you are really pushing large print sizes at high iso, then maybe you would be able to squeeze an extra inch or so in print size, but frankly I do not see a major difference, and after applying noise reduction correction in software, the results will be the same.
2. The GH2 does have a disturbingly longer lag time between shots compared to the EM5. This was using a Panasonic X 45-175 zoom with Power O.I.S. I think the delay had to do with the lens-camera interaction for the P.O.I.S. on the GH2, whereas the IBIS on the EM5 handles things differently and the response time was faster.
3. Originally, I bought the EM5 in hopes that its IBIS would make my non-stabilized lenses (including some of my favorite Leica lenses) work at slower shutter speeds. I was surprised at how little difference it made for still photos. For example, I am able to hand hold a Leica 90mm lens at 1/15 on the GH2 with sharp results, since the vibration on the GH2 is incredibly low. On the EM5 with IBIS, I was able to shoot 1/13 with admittedly more detail capture, but it is not that big a difference and you would have to pixel peep to see it.
4. So, at the end of the day, for still photos, I see no reason to "upgrade" a GH2 for the EM5. IMO, the big advantage of the EM5 is its IBIS system when shooting video. You can shoot hand held video with the EM5 with nice smooth motion using non-stabilized lenses (even Leica R and M glass). To me, this is the one feature that really separates the EM5 from the GH2. Of course, for absolute highest video quality, the GH2 is still better when used on a tripod (or slider) due to its much higher bitrate capability. The GH2 is capable of bitrates as high as 175Mbps, whereas the EM5 tops out at only 20Mbps. Admittedly, not everything requires such high bitrates, but when it comes to fine detail, bitrate always wins.
OK, when push comes to shove and I could only choose one of these cameras ….. I would choose the GH2, simply because of its outstanding video quality. If I did not care about video, then I would of course take the EM5 because it allows me to capture the highest amount of detail with third-party and non-stabilized lenses at lower shutter speeds with its IBIS.
Here are a couple of sample shots taken hand-held in ridiculously harsh sunlight from each camera. The same lens was used, the Panasonic X 45-175 Power O.I.S. zoom extended all the way at 175mm.