Some fun reading on the new E-M5!
Four Thirds User samples (jpeg and raw)
Gabrielle Motala's E-M5 "in brief"
DPReview first impressions
Quesabesde's samples including higher ISOs (English via Google Translate
danawa.com's info and samples (Korean)
Fotoactualidad's comparison with Nikon D7000 -- not very indicative of anything IMO since there is no telling how much detail would be blurred due to aggressive NR
Fotopolis' ISO test
(More)
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The gear we have
Canon 7D (released 2009), Tokina 35/2.8 macro
While it is fun to read and speculate about all the new cameras (and face it, 2012 is a heck of a year for gear nerds, with the D800, 5D Mk III, OM-D E-M5, NEX-7, etc etc being made available), the truth is that most of us likely already own all the gear we really need. People rush to declare gear obsolete as soon as the next great thing is out, yet the now "old" gear continues to work just as well as it did before.
Canon S95 (released 2010)
Canon 10D (released 2003), EF 35/2
Canon 20D, (released 2004) EF 400/5.6L
Canon 1Ds Mark II (released 2005), EF 35/2
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Saturday, March 3, 2012
Micro 4/3 glass praised by DXO
DXO Labs have been reviewing some m4/3 glass lately, and the results are pretty impressive. A lot of us prime fans enjoy a basic two- or three lens setup (wide + short tele/portrait, or wide + normal + short tele/portrait is a frequent configuration), and at this point I would say we are quite set at least in this lens mount!
The three lenses that have caught my own interest is the Olympus 12/2
, Panasonic/Leica 25/1.4
, and Olympus 45/1.8
. In "35mm format" terms that would be 24mm, 50mm and 90mm. 24 might be a bit wide for some, but there is always the 17/2.8 and 20/1.7 to fill the gap there.
Check out what they have to say about the 12/2 for instance: Pitted against the Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8, this Olympus 12mm holds an overwhelming advantage. Even more impressive is the fact that this lens can compete with much bigger lenses, such as the Canon 24mm L-series mounted on a 7D.
In short, it really does seem that a high-quality, fully micro 4/3 camera-lens combination is perfectly capable of replacing an APS-C combination — and the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 is a particularly high-quality micro 4/3 lens!
Links to reviews below:
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12/2
Panasonic Leica Summilux DG 25/1.4
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45/1.8
It is certainly nice to see such excellent glass available in this attractive lens mount!
(More)
The three lenses that have caught my own interest is the Olympus 12/2
, Panasonic/Leica 25/1.4, and Olympus 45/1.8 . In "35mm format" terms that would be 24mm, 50mm and 90mm. 24 might be a bit wide for some, but there is always the 17/2.8 and 20/1.7 to fill the gap there.Check out what they have to say about the 12/2 for instance: Pitted against the Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8, this Olympus 12mm holds an overwhelming advantage. Even more impressive is the fact that this lens can compete with much bigger lenses, such as the Canon 24mm L-series mounted on a 7D.
In short, it really does seem that a high-quality, fully micro 4/3 camera-lens combination is perfectly capable of replacing an APS-C combination — and the Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2.0 is a particularly high-quality micro 4/3 lens!
Links to reviews below:
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12/2
Panasonic Leica Summilux DG 25/1.4
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 45/1.8
It is certainly nice to see such excellent glass available in this attractive lens mount!
(More)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
New E-M5 sample images posted
First "serious" samples I have seen so far, posted at Focus Numérique Looking good! (Note: if you get a popup for username/password it is user 'pavp' and password '33'!)
Of course, if you want this image quality at half the price and don't need all of the niceties of the E-M5, the Panasonic GX1
is always an option. While Olympus refuses to divulge details on the E-M5 sensor, smart money is on it being the same as in the GX1.
(More)
Of course, if you want this image quality at half the price and don't need all of the niceties of the E-M5, the Panasonic GX1
is always an option. While Olympus refuses to divulge details on the E-M5 sensor, smart money is on it being the same as in the GX1.
(More)
Monday, February 13, 2012
OM-D E-M5 on order and Pentax takes a belly flop
Quite recently, I commented on some interesting cameras showing up on the market. Since then, Olympus has made the then-speculated about "OM-D" official, and it appears to be about what everyone expected, which can be unusual these days.
The rumors and multiple "leaks" (which really no one believes is anything but controlled release of information from Olympus, they saw how well it worked for Fuji) were pretty much on target. While a lot of people wished for some magic to make existing 4/3 glass autofocus more rapidly, that was but a pipedream and no on-sensor PDAF ala Nikon 1 materialized. Then again, this was all wild speculation with not even a solid rumor to back it up.
What we did get is a nice evolutionary step in the micro 4/3 system. A compact, apparently quite well built camera with a 16MP sensor, integrated EVF and weathersealing that means business. No real surprise, but no disappointment either. The styling seems to be a point of heated debate on the 'net, but my personal opinion is that it nicely recalls the look of the original OM series while remaining fairly modern and up-to-date. Featurewise it seems fully loaded, including a pretty nifty "Live bulb" mode where you can see the exposure build up during long exposures. I am guessing that this will save some trial and error time when doing low light / night shooting where exposure times can run in the minutes. The camera overall made a nice enough impression on me that I placed a pre-order including the 12-50 (which seems an average performer but does have weathersealing unlike other current micro 4/3 glass). Silver, of course.
Meanwhile, Pentax went from rumor to disappointment in what seems to be a few days. The "K-01" started popping up on various rumor sites and in camera forums some time back; at that point it looked like an interesting development: A K-mount mirrorless. Since K-mount means a fairly long registration distance I expected this camera to have a new native mount and a capable K-mount adapter that retained autofocus and other niceties. With Pentax' huge list of K-mount glass from the 1970s onwards, it seemed like a potentially big hit. The few leaked pictures of it made clear the design was, well, unconventional, but I thought it looked like a cool and very different little machine. Then it showed up.
And really, the design is not bad. It does have a "duplo brick" thing going for it, but there is nothing really wrong with that. What is wrong with it: size and lack of viewfinder. There is not even an add-on EVF available. I really have no idea just what Pentax was thinking with this one. Having the native K-mount means you have to leave the big empty space where the mirror used to flop around, making the entire rig nearly as big and thick as a DSLR. So we end up with a rig that marries the disadvantages of both mirrorless (no phase detect AF (except for the Nikon!)) and traditional DSLR (size!). But hey, it is at least available in bright yellow.
Pentax themselves claim it is for the "fashion and design market". Good luck with that.
(More)
The rumors and multiple "leaks" (which really no one believes is anything but controlled release of information from Olympus, they saw how well it worked for Fuji) were pretty much on target. While a lot of people wished for some magic to make existing 4/3 glass autofocus more rapidly, that was but a pipedream and no on-sensor PDAF ala Nikon 1 materialized. Then again, this was all wild speculation with not even a solid rumor to back it up.
What we did get is a nice evolutionary step in the micro 4/3 system. A compact, apparently quite well built camera with a 16MP sensor, integrated EVF and weathersealing that means business. No real surprise, but no disappointment either. The styling seems to be a point of heated debate on the 'net, but my personal opinion is that it nicely recalls the look of the original OM series while remaining fairly modern and up-to-date. Featurewise it seems fully loaded, including a pretty nifty "Live bulb" mode where you can see the exposure build up during long exposures. I am guessing that this will save some trial and error time when doing low light / night shooting where exposure times can run in the minutes. The camera overall made a nice enough impression on me that I placed a pre-order including the 12-50 (which seems an average performer but does have weathersealing unlike other current micro 4/3 glass). Silver, of course.
Meanwhile, Pentax went from rumor to disappointment in what seems to be a few days. The "K-01" started popping up on various rumor sites and in camera forums some time back; at that point it looked like an interesting development: A K-mount mirrorless. Since K-mount means a fairly long registration distance I expected this camera to have a new native mount and a capable K-mount adapter that retained autofocus and other niceties. With Pentax' huge list of K-mount glass from the 1970s onwards, it seemed like a potentially big hit. The few leaked pictures of it made clear the design was, well, unconventional, but I thought it looked like a cool and very different little machine. Then it showed up.
And really, the design is not bad. It does have a "duplo brick" thing going for it, but there is nothing really wrong with that. What is wrong with it: size and lack of viewfinder. There is not even an add-on EVF available. I really have no idea just what Pentax was thinking with this one. Having the native K-mount means you have to leave the big empty space where the mirror used to flop around, making the entire rig nearly as big and thick as a DSLR. So we end up with a rig that marries the disadvantages of both mirrorless (no phase detect AF (except for the Nikon!)) and traditional DSLR (size!). But hey, it is at least available in bright yellow.
Pentax themselves claim it is for the "fashion and design market". Good luck with that.
(More)
Friday, January 27, 2012
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