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E-M1, E-M5, E-M5.2, etc. ... Peculiarities

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Sugar water feeder swinging in the wind with bees!



Olympus E-M1MarkII + Extension Tubes + MC-14 + M.300mm F4.0 @ 420mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 1/800s.
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
How do you like this 1.2 Nocticron so far?
Vielen Dank Peter.
I have had the Nocticron 42.5/1.2 for two and a quarter years.
It's simply fabulous. My one and only PL lens so far.
It's sharp wide open @ f/1.2.
I have shot it that way even in bright NM sunshine @ 1/16,000s.
I don't mind that its mechanical aperture ring doesn't work on an Olympus camera.
However I do mind that the Nocticron's IS cannot be combined with the IBIS of Olympus' cameras.
So I use the Nocticron with the IBIS of my OM-D cameras.
Anyway it's one of my favorite m4/3 lenses.
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
speaking of peculiarities ... :LOL:
Thanks Bart. Exactly my kind of fun. :ROTFL:
Trying to break it in order to find out its limits. :facesmack:
As you know well from your own Nocticron, it is holding up quite well indeed! :thumbs:

From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...m5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-2.html#post682583





Olympus E-M1 + LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 @ F/1.2, 1/16000 s, ISO=160. Using Aperture priority mode and Auto ISO took care of the exposure.


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...m5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-9.html#post686895



E-M5.2 + LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 @ FL=42.5 mm, F/11, ISO=200, 1/320 s.


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-12.html#post688029



E-M5.2 + LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 @ F/2.8, ISO=200, 1/320 s.


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-13.html#post688825



E-M5.2 + LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 @ F/1.6, ISO=200, 1/1000 s.


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-13.html#post689203
The Nocticron is one of my all-time favorite lenses. Here are a few images from last year.
• Approaching the Roost in Acrobatic Fashion.
• More TuVus are Arriving.
• Playing Musical Chairs - or Finding the Spot for the Night.
E-M5.2 + Nocticron


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-13.html#post689612
E-M5.2 + Nocticron


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-15.html#post713241



Olympus E-M1 Mark II + LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2 @ f/1.2, ISO 2000, 1/80s.


From:
https://www.getdpi.com/forum/4-3rds...5-e-m5-2-etc-peculiarities-22.html#post718398
Sometimes we get late snow in the middle of April - as happened in 2015.
E-M5.2 + Nocticron 42.5/1.2
Of course, that snow is gone by noon. But the freeze over night can kill the blossoms and it did.
 
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ptomsu

Workshop Member
I was wondering what thread to use for these news of mine - but then I found this one and I think it is the most appropriate one.

Today I finally picked up my Olympus 4/300 Pro. Rests on my desk in my office besides me, unfortunately I do not have my EM1.2 with me right now, but man - what a wonderful piece of glass! I will definitely post some images later, hopefully the strong rain we are currently facing here in Austria passes by soon.

Why did I get this lens? Especially when being so happy with my Fuji XT2 and that marvellous 100-400? Well there is a simple reason and that is I was going through several weeks, actually months of rethinking what my photographical needs and wishes are and most probably will be in the foreseeable future. So I finally decided to sell all my Fuji gear and stay with Olympus m43 exclusively, at least for the moment. The major reasons for me:

1) I prefer shooting with the EM1.2 much more than with the Fuji XT2 - for me it is much faster and much more intuitive than the Fuji, although this is a wonderful camera by itself, but my taste is much more what the EM1.2 offers.
2) The IQ differences between APSC and m43 are very minimal if noticeable at all - again at least for me. So it makes no sense for me to keep both systems in parallel, especially as that constant switching becomes suboptimal as after a few weeks of using one system getting up to speed with the other system takes some time. And my goal is to pick up my camera and operate it in any situation without any problems. And one can expect that the next generation of m43 sensors will be even closer to APSC IP and sensitivity and DR.
3) The Olympus offers - at least for me - much better control layout and much more advanced custom modes, that allow me to adapt o different environments and shooting requirements much faster.
4) I see more interesting lenses form Olympus coming than from Fuji - 1.2/45, 1.2/17, etc. Well there is that marvellous Fuji 1.2/56, but man this lens is slow, contrary to the Oly 1.2/45, which is blazing fast and has at least as dreamy bokeh as the Fuji.
5) There are much more lens choices out in m43 land than there will probably ever be for the Fuji X system. So m43 total available glass will always exceed the X system.
6) IBIS and Dual IS are now available and are already performing in a stellar way - Fuji only has to start with IBIS and while I believe they definitely will be successful, some years will pass before their IBIS reaches the quality of the Olympus IBIS.
7) The m43 system I use and prefer is a lot lighter than an equivalent Fuji X system.

So here I am and for the moment very happy camper with ONLY ONE System! Might that change? Well sure, whenever I see enough reason to get in FF mirrorless in addition to m43. But for the moment - even with the latest and greatest Sony cameras like A9 and A7RIII this is still not enough for me to jump on it.

Fell free to agree or disagree, at least for me this is how my photographic gear will look like in the near (or even far) future. :cool:
 
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ptomsu

Workshop Member
It finally stopped heavy raining after a few hours, so I quickly took some first shots with my new 4/300 Pro on the EM1.2

This is a stunning lens, IBIS with lens IS is out of this world and it remains still a pretty compact combo. Build quality is definitely above the Fuji 100-400!

It is a great macro lens too ...
2017-10-27_0001.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr

2017-10-27_0016.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr

Some from my backyard,
2017-10-27_0002.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr

2017-10-27_0011.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr

The moon shot - will not be my last one with that lens ...
2017-10-27_0013.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr

And the obligatory cat picture - well I disturbed him while sleeping :)
2017-10-27_0014.jpg by ptomsu, on Flickr
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Two different days, two different cameras, two different lightings,
may be the same Red-Naped Sapsucker. :shocked:



Olympus E-M1MarkII + OLYMPUS M.300mm F4.0 Pro @ ISO 800, FOCAL LENGTH 300.0 mm, APERTURE f/4.5, EXPOSURE TIME 0.004s (1/250).




Sony ILCE-9 + FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM OSS + 1.4X Teleconverter @ ISO 5000, FOCAL LENGTH 560.0 mm, APERTURE f/8, EXPOSURE TIME 0.001s (1/1000).
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
K-H,

I very much prefer the Olympus shot - maybe I am biased ;)

Well no, it has better color, better contrasting, better details, better background, ....
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Camera-Lens Comparisons for birding

Today I finally picked up my Olympus 4/300 Pro. Rests on my desk in my office besides me, unfortunately I do not have my EM1.2 with me right now, but man - what a wonderful piece of glass! I will definitely post some images later, hopefully the strong rain we are currently facing here in Austria passes by soon.
Ptomus, really interesting hearing your views on this lens and on the comparison with the two systems (Fuji and Olympus). I am trying to sell some other kit so I can afford to buy it, even though I would be using it on my GH5. Your first results are very encouraging.


Two different days, two different cameras, two different lightings,
may be the same Red-Naped Sapsucker. :shocked:
The Sony photo might have a tad more contrast and slight improvement in sharpness but both of these are marginal and either shot is perfect. But I would expect the ergonomics of the Olympus combination to outweigh using the Sony combination. I went with m43rds for bird photography because tramping around the countryside I need minimum weight and maximum reach (in equivalent focal length). I can't help feeling the Panasonic/Olympus could gain a very good niche amongst bird/wildlife photographers by really promoting their systems for this use.

For information, when I was trying to decide between the Nikon D500 and 300pf+1.4 extender and the GH5 and 100-400 I did a weight/cost comparison. Here are the results.

(Camera/Lens/Weight/Price UK)
GH5+100-400 (200-800mm): 1.79 Kg - GBP £3K
Nikon D500+300pf+1.4e (630mm): 1.70Kg - GBP £3.7K
Canon 7DMkII+400mm f5.6L (640mm): 2.55Kg - GBP £2.6K
Olympus OMD-M2+300/4 (600mm): 1.77Kg - GBP £3.9K

As you can see, the classic Canon birding solution - which is the 7DmkII+400L - is by far the cheapest but also the heaviest! One very positive aspect of the Canon solution is that there is so much kit available second hand from reputable sellers (with warranties). In fact I could own that solution by carefully chosing second hand kit for about GBP £1.5K - which makes it the cheapest of all solutions. However, for me the solution is too heavy compared to the GH5 and D500 solutions. Plus when I tried the Canon solution out in the shop I found the viewfinder cramped and immediately missed not having live view.

The Nikon solution is feted as being one of the best out there in terms of IQ, especially as all m43rds cameras tend to lose sharpness due to noise above iso1250 (in my experience). I have shot up to iso2000 and with careful post processing preserved details but it is a lot of hard work. I regularly see D500 shots at anything up to iso5000 which are astonishingly clean and sharp. It is also the lightest solution of all. The main drawback with the Nikon is that the 300pf does not have enough reach on its own and needs the 1.4 extender (at least) and you are (of course) limited to only one focal length.

The Olympus+300/4 is a considerably more expensive solution compared to the GH5+100-400. I anticipate that in terms of IQ the lens it is sharper than the 100-400 but I do not like the ergonomics of the OMD-MkII (this is of course entirely personal). The GH5, imho, is the best body of available for m43rds in terms of ergonomics - but at the disadvantage of the weight. When I am tramping the streets of London photographing for my books or stock - I am embarassed to say I use my GX8, as it is more compact and lighter!

All in all, if I was wealthy enough I would give house room to my GH5+100-400 and the OMD-II+Oly 300/4. And deep in my little black heart I would also invest in the D500+300pf+1.4e for those dark days of winter when m43rds just will not cut it. But back in the real world, I think my next purchase - if any would be the 300/4.

LouisB
 
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