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OM-D is Camera of the Year 2012 on DPR

jonoslack

Active member
Question:
What's the typical cycle for Olympus for the next model to be released!
So, when will the E-M6 show up? Any guesses?
top of the range?
E1 - 2003
E3 - 2008
E5 - 2010
OMD - 2012


You guess . . . although, the feeling is that this isn't the professional level camera, and that there will be a bigger and tougher camera which'll take 4/3 lenses, maybe at the end of this year?
I'd suggest E-M7 myself (but only for symmetrical reasons).
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
top of the range?
E1 - 2003
E3 - 2008
E5 - 2010
OMD - 2012
I'm pretty sure the E-3 was out in late 2007, not 2008. I first held one at an NPPA workshop held at San Jose State College that September.

E-M5 Camera of the Year? Dunno. It seems nice although it didn't tickle my Buy It button.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I'm pretty sure the E-3 was out in late 2007, not 2008. I first held one at an NPPA workshop held at San Jose State College that September.
Hi Godfrey - I bow to your knowledge - I just looked for the review dates on dpreview, .

all the best
 

Tim

Active member
introducing some OM nostalghia.
My hand goes up here. :eek: I used an OM4 system on/off (trying other systems) for over a decade. I bought my OM4 new in 1984 and still have it. A small part of my reasoning to try the OM-D was to see if the handling worked for me as it did long ago and I think its quite familiar. Although the OM4 has a film tab window where the LCD is on the D. :eek:

I might keep the OM-D for the next 28 years like the OM4. :thumbup:
 

David Schneider

New member
If that were the case then the best selling camera would have one, and the OMD is surely not that.
I very much understand. My point is the designation is meaningless. Of all the new model cameras in 2012 I would take a Hasselblad H5D, but that camera isn't going to win a poll of users because there aren't enough users. Not saying anything negative about the Oly, just the banal designation.
 

Diane B

New member
:) I've had mine for 8 months so far, but I like it more now than I did when I got it . . . and that isn't very common.
I definitely like mine better now than in the Spring. I can see me shooting with it for a number of years because the niggles I have about it wouldn't propel me to buy an upgrade. Haven't been this happy with a camera for a long time.

Diane
 

bradhusick

Active member
1. Image quality is great - close enough to DSLR to replace it
2. Size is much smaller than DSLR plus lenses are MUCH smaller
3. Shoots up to 9 frames per second
4. Offers many controls for customization
5. Weather sealed
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Brian, Jorgen, and Jono,

Many thanks.

Well, although Brian and Jorgen have described it so well, I'll bite too. Several things come to mind.

1. third party lenses
For many people the point of mirrorless (at least partly) is to be able to use legacy and third party lenses. The OMD really nailed this with the Image stabilisation working so well on a half press of the shutter - meaning that one can easily manually focus a 300mm lens from the Olympus glory days (or leica or whoever). You can't do this as well with any other mirrorless camera.

2. Sensor Quality
µ43 has been plagued with the mediocre Panasonic sensors - the Sony unit in the OMD has transcended the problem, producing fantastic image quality, even at high ISO. If it has an AA filter it's very light, and the images are sharp and sparkly

3. Auto Focus
It's incredibly fast - the continuous is not good, but the one shot AF is just incredible - I've used it for surfing shots with a 600mm equivalent lens and nailed pretty much every shot. The touch focus/shoot together with this incredible focusing speed is really good for both tripod mounted macro shooting, and unobtrusive street shooting.

4. Body, ergonomics and size
It's a camera - and it feels like one. Sure there's infinite depths of menus if you want them. But it works extremely well as a PASM camera, without ever going in to the menus - it handles really well, added to which it's small and easy to carry - if you want it bigger then put on the grip . . .yes - it's part of a system

As for the poll in dpreview - there sure were a lot of people who voted - nobody would suggest that the OMD is the best selling camera of the lot, so it's not just people supporting the camera they bought. If it were just going to be fanboys boosting their own purchasing decisions then the OMD is not the winner you'd expect (and the D800 certainly not the runner up). I tend to trust thousands of users more than a reviewer!

From a personal point of view, and having watched the poll develop (and thus seeing the also rans and their votes) I would have said that it was a pretty good summary of the year's releases (close runners included the Fuji cameras etc.) It's a pity they don't seem to publish the whole list.

all the best
All other features being at least up to par (with the exception of focus peaking), the IBIS functionality seems to be the major attraction for me to use the OM-D with my Leica lenses, especially the longer ones.

Of course, it would be unavoidable to add a few AF lenses and may be older OM Zuiko lenses.
I currently have mainly Leica/Leitz lenses from 16 to 560 mm and use them on an M9, D800E, NEX-5N, and NEX-7.
Which m43 or 43 lenses would you recommend and why? Advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

top of the range?
E1 - 2003
E3 - 2008
E5 - 2010
OMD - 2012


You guess . . . although, the feeling is that this isn't the professional level camera, and that there will be a bigger and tougher camera which'll take 4/3 lenses, maybe at the end of this year?
I'd suggest E-M7 myself (but only for symmetrical reasons).
Interesting guess, consistent with 43rumors, quote:

"Olympus MFT cameras:

I expect a new kind of PEN camera to be announced soon (late January-early February). Same E-M5 sensor and likely with integrated EVF. On the OMD front there will be a new camera in Store by the second half of the year. And it may be a hybrid MFT and FT camera capable of fully support both lens systems. That may will be the hottest new Olympus camera coming in 2013."

Sounds tempting to wait for.

Well, I am getting right now at modest cost the E-P2 to stick a toe in the IBIS water, as well as trying out the VF-2, that should also work on the Leica M240 and compare it with the NEXs' EVF.
So, I wonder how the IBIS functionality in the E-P2 compares to the one in the OM-D? Thanks.

With best regards, K-H.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Quick answers with regards to lenses.

Primes:
Zuiko 12mm f/2.0
PanaLeica 25mm f/1.4
Zuiko 45mm f/1.8
Zuiko 75mm f/1.8

Zooms:
Pana 7-14mm f/4.0
Pana 12-35mm f/2.8
Pana 35-100mm f/2.8

None of these are cheap, except the 45mm, but all of them are optically top class. If you can live with manual focus, the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 is mostly better than the PanaLeica 25mm. There will apparently be a 42.5mm f/1.2 and a 150mm f/2.8 available from Panasonic later this year.

Oh... and both of the macros are good, the PanaLeica 45mm and the Zuiko 60mm.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Well, I am getting right now at modest cost the E-P2 to stick a toe in the IBIS water, as well as trying out the VF-2, that should also work on the Leica M240 and compare it with the NEXs' EVF.
So, I wonder how the IBIS functionality in the E-P2 compares to the one in the OM-D? Thanks.

With best regards, K-H.
HI There
Well - it doesn't compare - the OMD is in a completely different category. The sensor doesn't compare either - it was always the achilles heel of the Olympus µ43 cameras.
It's rather like buying a Nikon D90 to check and see whether you want a D800.
As for comparing the VH2 on the E-P2 with the EVF on the OMD, it doesn't compare - of course, it's the same unit, but the refresh rate on the OMD makes it completely different in real use.
The E-P2 is an okay camera, but it's no way to decide whether you want to drop NEX - in fact, I dropped µ43 for NEX selling my EP2 and came back with the OMD.
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Jorgen,

Many thanks. Excellent.
I like a combination of new and older lenses, both seem to have their own charms
So, please let me ask, how do you assess the OM Zuiko 300mm f/4.5? Thanks.

With best regards, K-H.
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
HI There
Well - it doesn't compare - the OMD is in a completely different category. The sensor doesn't compare either - it was always the achilles heel of the Olympus µ43 cameras.
It's rather like buying a Nikon D90 to check and see whether you want a D800.
As for comparing the VH2 on the E-P2 with the EVF on the OMD, it doesn't compare - of course, it's the same unit, but the refresh rate on the OMD makes it completely different in real use.
The E-P2 is an okay camera, but it's no way to decide whether you want to drop NEX - in fact, I dropped µ43 for NEX selling my EP2 and came back with the OMD.

Hi Jono,

Many thanks for your help. I greatly appreciate it.
It certainly clears up a number of questions.

So, I have the Leica M240 on pre-order and bought a month ago the VF-2 at a considerable discount.
I am planning on using the VF-2 on the M. My thinking was to get an inexpensive camera to see whether my VF-2 works at all and if it does, how well. It seems to be still awhile until the M shows up.

The VF-2 has a frame rate of 60 fps and I assume that's what one sees on the E-P2.
In Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Digital Photography Review I find the OM-D's refresh rate can be increased to 120 Hz.
Question: How does the VF-2, aka Leica EVF, perform on the M240 in comparison? Which other characteristics matter in this regard? For example is there a blackout time?

BTW, I have no plans on giving up my interests in Sony's NEXs.
Indeed, I like using them, especially for tele purposes.

I was also aware of the relatively poor sensor quality of the E-P2 and I am really only interested in checking out for myself certain aspects of that technology.

Based on several threads here in this forum there might be an OM-D in my future, either pretty soon or later in the year.

Thanks again for your help.

With best regards, K-H.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Jorgen,

Many thanks. Excellent.
I like a combination of new and older lenses, both seem to have their own charms
So, please let me ask, how do you assess the OM Zuiko 300mm f/4.5? Thanks.

With best regards, K-H.
In spite of being am OM user for almost 40 years, I've never used the 300mm. According to Tesselator (and many others), it's very good, also on m4/3.
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Re: Backing into the M5 generation

So, I have the Leica M240 on pre-order and bought a month ago the VF-2 at a considerable discount.
I am planning on using the VF-2 on the M. My thinking was to get an inexpensive camera to see whether my VF-2 works at all and if it does, how well. It seems to be still awhile until the M shows up.

The VF-2 has a frame rate of 60 fps and I assume that's what one sees on the E-P2.
In Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Digital Photography Review I find the OM-D's refresh rate can be increased to 120 Hz.
Question: How does the VF-2, aka Leica EVF, perform on the M240 in comparison? Which other characteristics matter in this regard? For example is there a blackout time?

....

With best regards, K-H.
Interesting. I followed almost the same path. I normally shoot with an M9 and wide angle, have an M(240) coming perhaps by summer 2013, and bought a $150 VF-2 for it during the Thanksgiving to Christmas madness. I wanted an early sense of whether medium telephotos seen through the VF2 would work well for several possible scenarios, and the EPL5 had just come on the market, with prices as low as $150 off list (if you got the very unfashionable white-paint model -- please don't tell any of my Leica friends), with the latest Sony sensor and the same image processing chips as the OMD-5. The price savings to get a P2 instead while losing the image quality and handling speed of the M5 seems a bad tradeoff. And with the M45/1.8, I've got a pretty reasonable stand-in for my M(240) with a medium telephoto, only 6 months sooner.

Blackout time through the VF-2? As long as you set review OFF, it's about like the mirror return on a DSLR, maybe a bit faster. I had to check just now, since I haven't been bothered by it.

With regard to your pink question, the folks who can answer it are being coy still, since they are under NDA or work for Leica. The autofocus is pretty fast on the EPL-5, which bodes well.

I've posted pictures with the 45 and 75 lenses elsewhere in this section. It grows on you.

scott
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure the E-3 was out in late 2007, not 2008. I first held one at an NPPA workshop held at San Jose State College that September.
I can confirm that. I have E-3 files in the archive from November 2007. I never loved it. I think Olympus put a stronger AA filter on that one.

scott
 

m43

New member
:) I've had mine for 8 months so far, but I like it more now than I did when I got it . . . and that isn't very common.
Loved mine from day 1 shot for 3 months in a California trip with Yvonne
Never missed a beat with the Panny 24-70 2.8 OR the 14-140 (28-280):):salute:
 

Zlatko Batistich

New member
I think it's fair to say that they've transplanted the concept of the original OM into the digital world. The only other manufacturer that has so far succeeded with something similar is Leica with the M series, which is probably even more true to the original concept while at the same time grasping the progress of digital cameras.
They would have transplanted the concept of the original OM much better if it had an optical viewfinder and a full-frame sensor. The original OM was nearly a Leica-sized full-frame camera. There was something especially sweet about that. With a 2X crop factor, the EM5 seems only superficially OM-like. That doesn't make it a bad camera or undeserving of its distinction. It just bothers me a bit that they are using the old name, but not delivering anything compatible. It seems to me that a prerequesite for using the OM name would be full compatibility with the OM-system lenses, and that would require a full-frame sensor to start.
 

Maggie O

Active member
Tell me if I'm crazy for trading in a Nikon D90 with a 35/1.8 Dx lens and a 16-85 DX lens for an OM-D with a 12mm, 17mm and 45mm kit?
 
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