New Olympus High End m43 Camera

[ptomsu]

Another shot along Ship Creek with the E-M1X and 17/1.2 Pro lens. Raw file converted to TIF with the Olympus Workspace software. Does anyone use this software?

Gary

ISO 100, 1/80th at f8

No I never used this software. I am mostly using LR Classic and in some cases C1Pro but I found during last year that LR has come pretty close to C1Pro if not exceeded it WRT IQ. But the organisational advantages of LR are far beyond C1Pro, especially if combined with LR CC and LR CC mobile which I started using heavily over the last months. I learned not to use any "exotic" SW anymore for processing the add way some time ago.

 

[bensonga]

No I never used this software. I am mostly using LR Classic and in some cases C1Pro but I found during last year that LR has come pretty close to C1Pro if not exceeded it WRT IQ. But the organisational advantages of LR are far beyond C1Pro, especially if combined with LR CC and LR CC mobile which I started using heavily over the last months. I learned not to use any "exotic" SW anymore for processing the add way some time ago.

I only downloaded and used it in order to convert the E-M1X Raw files to TIF. For that purpose alone, it works just fine. At first glance, it appears to be more "user friendly" than Sigma's Photo Pro (although SPP has certainly improved over the past few years and I'm happy to use it for Raw conversions to TIF).

For personal reasons, I simply refuse to buy into Adobe's perpetual subscription software licensing model.

Gary

 

[bensonga]

Looking forward to your dog race shots.

Kind regards.

No Iditarod sled dog racing shots from me today. After being on vacation for the past week, my wife thought there were more important tasks which needed to be done at home. Testing out a new camera was near the bottom of her list of things I should accomplish today.

I will check with my XC ski racer friends to see when the next races are being held in Anchorage. That could be a good test of the E-M1X AF.

Unfortunately, the Fur Rondy Gran Prix is no longer held here in the winter (the escalating cost of insurance put an end to those car races on city streets).

Gary

 

[ptomsu]

I only downloaded and used it in order to convert the E-M1X Raw files to TIF. For that purpose alone, it works just fine. At first glance, it appears to be more "user friendly" than Sigma's Photo Pro (although SPP has certainly improved over the past few years and I'm happy to use it for Raw conversions to TIF).

For personal reasons, I simply refuse to buy into Adobe's perpetual subscription software licensing model.

Gary

But be honest - for $9.99 a months? I actually could not care less and I am very sensitive WRT abos.

Anyway - since I decided to buy into their model for LR and PS I am a very happy user. Get all the latest updates immediately and without any worries and just move on.

You have to think that way that you just bought around $4000.- worth of equipment - then $9.99 per month cannot be the hurdle.

I want to make clear that I do not get any money from convincing someone to Adobe subscription plans, but in that specific case I found money to be a lame excuse :thumbup:

 

[bensonga]

Here is another from my first few E-M1X and 17/1.2 Pro shots. Nice evening light at the outlet of Ship Creek.

Gary

EM1X, 17/1.2 Pro, ISO 100, 1/160th at f8

 

[bensonga]

But be honest - for $9.99 a months?

It is obviously not about the money Peter....for me, it's a matter of principle. That is why I said my reasons are personal. I don't think there is either a right or wrong choice.

That said, I have six close photographer friends here in Anchorage and four of the six have switched from Adobe CC and Lightroom to Capture One recently, at least in part because they don’t want to pay monthly subscription fees to Adobe for the rest of their lives.

Gary

 

[ptomsu]

It is obviously not about the money Peter....for me, it's a matter of principle. That is why I said my reasons are personal. I don't think there is either a right or wrong choice.

That said, I have six close photographer friends here in Anchorage and four of the six have switched from Adobe CC and Lightroom to Capture One recently, at least in part because they don’t want to pay monthly subscription fees to Adobe for the rest of their lives.

Gary

Gary,

sorry but I need to answer this one. I was thinking exactly like that. But there are two facts wrong in this calculation:

1) you can cancel the Adobe subscription plans anytime - so it is not for the rest of your life
2) buying C1Pro costs around €280.- an upgrade usually ever 18 months is typically around €160.- or so. This means that a subscription plan for around €120.- a year is more or less exactly the same you pay for staying on the latest release of C1Pro
3) this Adobe subscription plan opens you LR Classic, LR CC and LR CC Mobile together with I think 20G storage in Creative Cloud. This allows you totally different ways to work with your photos, import to mobile devices and have it simultaneously synced over the cloud with LR Classic where finally you can store your photos and videos locally and hence never run over the 20G cloud limit.

So the argument that lifelong prison in the Adobe ecosystem is not true, it is not more expensive and it opens up a number of new ways to work and share. This were the main reasons for me to subscribe and I have not regret it.

Mind you I am also running the latest copy of C1Pro since the beginning and I also have synced all my locally stored photos (catalog) to C1Pro, so I can see which is better. I have extensively compared IQ over the years between the two and while there were clear IQ advantages to C1Pro some years ago I must say since the latest releases of LRxyz these differences have vanished, I dare to say that meanwhile it is often the other way around that I prefer the outcome of LR and Adobe products and that becomes even more true with their latest Enhance feature where AI is used to significantly increase detail and overall sharpness of photos without any artefacts.

All of this together put an end for me to that boring and lifelong discussion if and why and what etc. is better - LR or C1Pro - and I concentrate on taking, organising and sharing my photos videos in the most convenient way.

PS: I also have tried most of the other RAW developer, DXO, Luminar, however they are called - nice toys but not really useable for a real workflow - at least not for me.

 

[ptomsu]

Here is another from my first few E-M1X and 17/1.2 Pro shots. Nice evening light at the outlet of Ship Creek.

Gary

EM1X, 17/1.2 Pro, ISO 100, 1/160th at f8

Gary,

many thanks for your photos indeed as they show me the exceptional IQ possible with that new EM1X. This backs what our local Austrian Olympus Ambassador told me and showed me, that due to the immense processing power of the EM1X it is possible to significantly show images with much less noise, even if in deep shadows, hence resulting is much better DR. This feature alone is for me meanwhile a compelling reason for this camera :thumbs:

 

[bensonga]

3) this Adobe subscription plan opens you LR Classic, LR CC and LR CC Mobile together with I think 20G storage in Creative Cloud. This allows you totally different ways to work with your photos, import to mobile devices and have it simultaneously synced over the cloud with LR Classic where finally you can store your photos and videos locally and hence never run over the 20G cloud limit.

I shouldn’t even try to speak for my friends who have switched from Adobe’s subscription plans to C1Pro, but I’ll just say that I am old school Peter. I prefer to own, not rent, whenever I have that choice. With the exception of Raw conversions for new camera files, I could still be happily using 10+ year old versions of Photoshop. My image processing and storage requirements are very simple.

Gary

 

[pegelli]

1) you can cancel the Adobe subscription plans anytime - so it is not for the rest of your life

Sorry, Off Topic Waring :OT:
This is the one thing that bugs me, the subscription end terms. When you stop you can no longer access the develop module, only the library module. However you can still import new images and use it as a DAM. That's useless to me. I would find it acceptable and more fair if at the end of the subscription you can no longer import new pictures but can still do everything (incl. the develop module) on the pictures you have imported during the subscription. If Adobe would do that I would start the subscription immediately but now I'm happy with 6.14 (the last perpetual license) and if I ever get a camera that is not supported in there I'll go the dng conversion route and still keep using LR 6.14. I'll miss out on some improvements that way, but I consider the more recent ones "nice to haves" and not essential.

I'll end my OT here :grin:

 

[pegelli]

I only downloaded and used it in order to convert the E-M1X Raw files to TIF. For that purpose alone, it works just fine. At first glance, it appears to be more "user friendly" than Sigma's Photo Pro (although SPP has certainly improved over the past few years and I'm happy to use it for Raw conversions to TIF).

Gary, another option which I find flexible is to convert the files to dng using the latest free Adobe dng converter (once the E-M1X is in there) and then any older version of Photoshop or Lightroom will open them as a full raw file.

 

[iiiNelson]

Congrats on your camera and I dumped Adobe about 2 years ago. When canceling be careful that they don’t try to charge you an extra fee for canceling before the year is up... I had to threaten legal action because they wanted to charge me a $26 penalty for “early cancellation” before my whole year was up. After the threat they wavered on the “penalty” but it’s a perfect example of why I don’t miss Adobe at all. C1Pro and Affinity Photo do everything for me.

YMMV

 

[k-hawinkler]

Congrats on your camera and I dumped Adobe about 2 years ago. When canceling be careful that they don’t try to charge you an extra fee for canceling before the year is up... I had to threaten legal action because they wanted to charge me a $26 penalty for “early cancellation” before my whole year was up. After the threat they wavered on the “penalty” but it’s a perfect example of why I don’t miss Adobe at all. C1Pro and Affinity Photo do everything for me.

YMMV

Thanks Tre. What do you use Affinity Photo for? TIA.

 

[iiiNelson]

Thanks Tre. What do you use Affinity Photo for? TIA.

Photoshop replacement/alternative. It’s a great program and a great RAW converter if you need it to do that. It’s available in Mac OS X, iOS, and Windows.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

I was never a heavy user of either Photoshop or Affinity Photo (outside of for IR photography) but it’s there as an option should I need more than C1. I can do 90%+ of most of my conversions in C1 (and the same could be said of LR/Aperture/DXO when I used them). I’m not into renting software really (I understand business wise why they went to the subscription model and it’s fine for many) and I rather just pay for upgrades as I need them. The bigger benefit for me was the tethering support of C1 that LR doesn’t provide without plug-ins for none Canon, Nikon, and some Leica Cameras. The catalog features are good enough for me in C1 but I don’t argue that LR is deeper. I’m a single user and just need it to be basic and straightforward. Since I don’t own a Leica S and have absolutely no future plans to own/invest into Canon/Nikon systems then C1Pro is/was the obvious option. Even more so that that they’re working directly with Sony and Fuji to provide a “complete” software path with custom profiles built in. I’m happy to hear Adobe is taking the conversion process more seriously though I never had a huge issue with their conversions in the past personally. I had no issue getting an image properly exposed (or close to it) to the end result I usually wanted... sometime it took more work and time in LR though even as a more experienced LR user compared to a novice (at the time) C1 user and that’s the other thing that sold me on dropping Adobe. I could get the desired look faster and that was worth a lot to me even if C1 was technically more expensive in the long run.

Back on topic though. I just wanted to answer your question more fully.

 

[bensonga]

I know this kind of static photo is not what the E-M1X was designed for. No one in their right mind would pay $3k for a m43rds camera if they only wanted to take photos of RR crossing signs. Certainly not me. :loco: :ROTFL:

That said, until I have an opportunity to try the camera out on fast action sports events, I decided to see how it performs on my usual and mundane test shots.

While this is not up to the quality of my Sigma sd Quattro or Nikon D810, the E-M1X performed as well as any other m43rds or standard APS-C camera I own on this type of photo.

With my limited testing, there is really only one upgrade I wish Olympus had included with the E-M1X. It is not a BSI sensor or higher ISO performance (not important for me). It's the EFV.

I compared the E-M1X EVF with the viewfinder on my Panasonic G9 today. If the E-M1X had a viewfinder as good as the G9 it would certainly be worth the difference (for me) between a ~$2,500 vs $3,000 initial purchase price.

Maybe a E-M1X.2 will have the EVF this top of the line Olympus Pro camera deserves.

Gary

EM1X, 45/1.2 Pro, ISO 200, 1/1000th at f8

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

I know this kind of static photo is not what the E-M1X was designed for. No one in their right mind would pay $3k for a m43rds camera if they only wanted to take photos of RR crossing signs. Certainly not me. :loco: :ROTFL:

That said, until I have an opportunity to try the camera out on fast action sports events, I decided to see how it performs on my usual and mundane test shots.

While this is not up to the quality of my Sigma sd Quattro or Nikon D810, the E-M1X performed as well as any other m43rds or standard APS-C camera I own on this type of photo.

With my limited testing, there is really only one upgrade I wish Olympus had included with the E-M1X. It is not a BSI sensor or higher ISO performance (not important for me). It's the EFV.

I compared the E-M1X EVF with the viewfinder on my Panasonic G9 today. If the E-M1X had a viewfinder as good as the G9 it would certainly be worth the difference (for me) between a ~$2,500 vs $3,000 initial purchase price.

Maybe a E-M1X.2 will have the EVF this top of the line Olympus Pro camera deserves.

Gary

EM1X, 45/1.2 Pro, ISO 200, 1/1000th at f8

While a higher resolution viewfinder is always nice, I'm primarily looking for a viewfinder that updates quickly, both under normal shooting and not least when shooting bursts. This is a frustration with the GX8. The viewfinder is great under normal circumstances, but once I'm shooting bursts, it all becomes guesswork. It would be interesting to know how the viewfinders of the E-M1X compares to the G9 when it comes to bursts.

 

[ptomsu]

I know this kind of static photo is not what the E-M1X was designed for. No one in their right mind would pay $3k for a m43rds camera if they only wanted to take photos of RR crossing signs. Certainly not me. :loco: :ROTFL:

That said, until I have an opportunity to try the camera out on fast action sports events, I decided to see how it performs on my usual and mundane test shots.

While this is not up to the quality of my Sigma sd Quattro or Nikon D810, the E-M1X performed as well as any other m43rds or standard APS-C camera I own on this type of photo.

With my limited testing, there is really only one upgrade I wish Olympus had included with the E-M1X. It is not a BSI sensor or higher ISO performance (not important for me). It's the EFV.

I compared the E-M1X EVF with the viewfinder on my Panasonic G9 today. If the E-M1X had a viewfinder as good as the G9 it would certainly be worth the difference (for me) between a ~$2,500 vs $3,000 initial purchase price.

Maybe a E-M1X.2 will have the EVF this top of the line Olympus Pro camera deserves.

Gary

EM1X, 45/1.2 Pro, ISO 200, 1/1000th at f8

Gary,

thank you SO MUCH for this post and answer. I already felt alone reiterating that I am disappointed by the EVF of the EM1X. While it is incredible what Olympus made out of these 2.4MP in the EM1X it is obvious and clearly noticeable that 3.6 or more MP are what is needed at least. I know they wanted to be able to implement progressive scan, but they should have been able to do so with >3.6Mp as well.

I am always looking through the EVF and if this is better then I am more promoted to take a photo - a good photo, finally a better photo.

I really hope for the EM1X2 or the EM1.3 to have such state of the art EVFs.

Meanwhile I need to look elsewhere - I have learned that now!

Peter

 

[bensonga]

Gary,

Meanwhile I need to look elsewhere - I have learned that now!

Peter

Life is full of compromises Peter. I’m guessing that many m43rds photographers who need the better AF, IS, weather proofing and ergonomics with super-telephoto lenses etc that the E-M1X offers vs the G9 will be willing to live with a very good (but in certain respects not class leading) EVF.

Of course, I know we would each like to have the best of both worlds.

Gary

 

[bensonga]

It would be interesting to know how the viewfinders of the E-M1X compares to the G9 when it comes to bursts.

I’m not the best one to make this comparison, but I would guess/hope there are qualified reviewers on the Internet who will do it.

Gary

 

[ptomsu]

Life is full of compromises Peter. I’m guessing that many m43rds photographers who need the better AF, IS, weather proofing and ergonomics with super-telephoto lenses etc that the E-M1X offers vs the G9 will be willing to live with a very good (but in certain respects not class leading) EVF.

Of course, I know we would each like to have the best of both worlds.

Gary

I fully agree with that - but now the difference is that you have at least a D810 as alternative with one of the best OVFs available, which I sold years ago ....

I do not regret selling it but I have currently no alternative cameras to move on when I desire better EVF which I quite often do. This is why I think I need to look elsewhere because waiting for the next Olympus iteration that might bring a better EVF will take at least one more year. And I have been waiting for that already so long, actually since I got the EM1.2. So the pressure for me to look elsewhere became pretty strong

Now looking elsewhere opens up a whole pandora of not expected issues

1) Nikon Z - AF is not there close to Olympus (or Sony the AF leader) - but a Z7 with selected S-lenses would be the best alternative base for a mirrorless system I currently can imagine
2) Canon R - I would love the lenses (always loved the Canon glass I owned) and the new R lenses seem to be even better - but the current R lacks IBIS so again a no go for now
3) Panasonic L-mount - this would come close and maybe the best parallel alternative besides Nikon Z to go, but will get pretty large and heavy - but comes close to what I am used to from Olympus except size and weight
4) Fuji X-system - would be the best rounded non FF system available, had it and liked it but then as parallel system to my m43 - no it is too close and as the only system I am not going to be happy - have been there!
5) go and buy a D810 (or even D850) - no option for me as I abandoned DSLRs and as good as they are I will not invest into these systems anymore

So you see where I am :facesmack: does not feel too good. I already stopped buying anything a year ago in anticipation for either the next Olympus (that now is the EM1X) or another FF mirrorless system. But at the current state I find too many failures (for me) in any system.

Maybe the best solution would be to get the EM1X - but then I am back to my initial complaints again ... does not get better :toocool:

Peter