OM-D E-M5 First impressions

dreilly said:
A few shots with the Panny 20.
does a great job.
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I appreciate you did shared photos where the subjects were more than 1 foot from the camera. When I was paying attention to the m4/3 world it seemed like 90% of the photos people shared were close-ups.

There's nothing wrong with close-ups of course. But it made me wonder why they dominated the samples I saw on several Forms.

I enjoyed the LUMIX 20/1.7. It is a great lens and I enjoyed using that angle of view... it reminded me of when I carried a Canonet QL17 around everyday.
 
Willie,
You know, I was just thinking that the other day. A long while back I was on the 4/3 forums (I think it might have been pre-Pen days) and I had the exact same thought...why are there all these photographs of bees and flowers everywhere? I think the Pen series opened up the idea that these cameras were good for street photography, and I think that changed the demographic. The 4/3 E series were great all-around cameras and were great for candid people work, etc. But I think it was the Pens that opened up the format to different genres. Thanks for making that comment, now I don't feel like I was crazy for bugging out of those forums and thinking that I had brought a knife to a gunfight or tried to iron my pants with a steamship or some such metaphor.
 
dreilly said:
I had no idea that the 14mm came in black....probably would have gotten that one...does the 20 come in black too? Funny, that grey is pretty dark anyway.
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I didn't neither until I noticed many listings were specifying "Silver" so I looked further and found "Black" ones. It could be specific to bundle models or region specific. I don't think 20 ever had black version. Since you got rid of 25/1.4 and have 20/1.7, I think the silver (yes it's pretty dark, more like gunmetal) one works well. :)

Now only if Panasonic re-issue the 20/1.7 with faster/quieter AF in black... ;)
 
dreilly said:
The 20 is much quieter than the 25, which chatters just like the X-Pro 1 did.
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Really? I am not hearing that at all. I can hear very quick *tick when it focuses but nothing like 20's focusing sound or X-Pro1 chattering I heard. Maybe because the focusing itself is very quick I don't notice it like I did with 20. Hmm. I've heard people taking about the "noise" on the 25, but I'm not sure if I'm hearing the same thing. So far I have no complain in the sound/noise department.
 
Sug,
You can't hear the aperture adjusting to different light levels as you move the camera around? It's not super loud and it didn't bother me, but I heard it.
 
dreilly said:
How's that 14-54 II working on the OM-D, Nikku?
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I'll definitely give a report once I've had a chance to handle it more.

As for the "rattlesnake" noise on the 25/1.4, it's way louder on the E-P2 than the E-M5, but I do occasionally hear it on the E-M5 (not very loud at all).
 
dreilly said:
Willie,
You know, I was just thinking that the other day. A long while back I was on the 4/3 forums (I think it might have been pre-Pen days) and I had the exact same thought...why are there all these photographs of bees and flowers everywhere? I think the Pen series opened up the idea that these cameras were good for street photography, and I think that changed the demographic. The 4/3 E series were great all-around cameras and were great for candid people work, etc. But I think it was the Pens that opened up the format to different genres. Thanks for making that comment, now I don't feel like I was crazy for bugging out of those forums and thinking that I had brought a knife to a gunfight or tried to iron my pants with a steamship or some such metaphor.
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I think it's also that the mirrorless cameras are seen as an affordable first step up from compacts - and for people with no pretensions of Making Art, flowers and animals and close-ups of friends are always popular subjects.

I suspect you'd see a similar ratio with entry-level DSLRs if you could match APS-C and m43 demographically - but DSLRs also bring in people with those pretensions of making art to give greater variety to what you see on the web.
 
I've been following this thread with great interest. FWIW, I have both the Pany 14mm f2.5 and the Pany 20mm f1.7, which I happily use on an Oly E-PL1 (which is approximately the same size as the old Olympus RC). These lenses are splendid, and are great for use in street photography. I've been very happy w/ the IQ. Most of the color pix in the Vienna and Salzburg sets on my flickr were taken with the 20/1.7 on the E-PL1.

From the OP's review and other comments on this thread, I'm looking seriously at an OM-D and staying within the M4/3 system. Very impressive results, and being able to use the lenses I already have (plus legacy glass) would be a real plus.
 
dreilly said:
Sug,
You can't hear the aperture adjusting to different light levels as you move the camera around? It's not super loud and it didn't bother me, but I heard it.
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I'm at work with some conversations happening and computer fans are running, but I don't hear anything with the lens facing different brightness levels. With X-Pro1 (at least before the firmware update when I had it) I heard the chatter loud and clear by doing what I did with OM-D/25mm. I've tried both rear LCD and EVF but nothing. OM-D is adjusting the brightness of the scene accordingly but the aperture blades are full-open and not moving around. I even tried using LED light a bit but no chatter.

Maybe they changed something with new batch? (lens firmware is 1.0) Maybe that's OM-D doing it? (firmware 1.1)
 
I wonder if it has something to do with how you set the EVF...to autoadjust or not? I just shipped out my 25, so I can't test it anymore.
 
dreilly said:
I wonder if it has something to do with how you set the EVF...to autoadjust or not? I just shipped out my 25, so I can't test it anymore.
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Not sure if I'm doing things "right" but EVF auto adjusts the brightness by default as far as I know. I tried live-view boost thing but the result was the same. No noticeable chatter. The 25/1.4 is behaving as quiet as the 45/1.8 (which is REALLY silent) for focusing, with just one quick and small "tick" when focus is done. No chattering during use/carry. I do miss the 20/1.7's portability a lot though...
 
Got the 14/2.5 from the ebay seller we talked about earlier. Nice lens pouch included. :)

Haven't had chance to shoot anything but wow this thing is small! A lot smaller/lighter than the 20/1.7 (though I don't have it anymore to compare in photos). On OM-D, the kit reminds me of product shots of E-410 from a few years ago, but even smaller.

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nikku said:
I'll definitely give a report once I've had a chance to handle it more.
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First impression: I probably need the battery grip to balance out the camera a little better. If it weren't for the necessary thickness that the adapter adds, I might not need the grip, as on its own the 14-54mm is not so big.
Second impression: autofocus is not as fast as any of my dedicated m4/3rds lenses (7-14mm, 14/2.5, 25/1.4, 45/1.8, 14-42mm kit lens). It is as fast as the first version 14-42mm on my E-P2, and faster than the 20/1.7 was on that camera.
Third impression: prime lens image quality in a useful focal range. I've only taken boring test shots and dog pics, but I'll be doing more shooting with it when I can. Unfortunately, the lens size makes it less than convenient for hauling around on my bicycle. For me, it will be more of a "special purpose" lens (beach, bad weather, portrait sessions, traveling when I don't want to bring multiple lenses).

I'll try to post a photo or two taken with it here.
 
Okay, here's a few dog and flower pics to give an impression of the 14-54mm. All shots wide open. Two at the widest and two at the longest settings. Minimal PP done (levels adjusted).
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