Micro 4/3 Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 + Oly E-PL5

By "compromise" I meant that my ideal camera might be a smaller Sony RX1 with a retracting lens and articulated screen...might as well add a built-in EVF to that while we're at it. Oh, and for about 500 bucks. So every camera has some compromise, for now anyway.

The last Oly I owned was a C5050z and before that, an E10 (which was a GREAT early digicam!), so I don't know about the earlier EP's...never had one. So you're saying you can dial down the volume? What models? Can you silence the shutter?
 
This is from the Olympus web site:

Can I adjust the sound level the shutter release makes?

This model has a true Focal Plane Shutter so the sound you are hearing is the actual sound of the shutter physically opening and closing. It is not possible to alter the volume of the shutter sound.
 
i could dial down the sound on my old second gen ep2. oly's reasoning is irrelevent imo, its just silly to exclude a meaningful feature from 'new & improved' gens of same model; successive gens are supposed to add features, not remove them. ive only had the epl5 a few days and olys elimination of this pretty basic feature has already effected my shooting several times.
 
i could dial down the sound on my old second gen ep2. oly's reasoning is irrelevent imo, its just silly to exclude a meaningful feature from 'new & improved' gens of same model; successive gens are supposed to add features, not remove them. ive only had the epl5 a few days and olys elimination of this pretty basic feature has already effected my shooting several times.

The "added" feature of the new shutter on the EP5 was 1/8000s shutter speed, twice as fast as the EP2 could manage. I don't know if Oly uses the same shutter on all their models, and just limits the speed. The shutter on my E-PM2 is significantly quieter than on any SLR or DSLR I've used.
 
the epl5 shutter, which i was citing, has a top ss of 4000, so no benefit there. and honestly, its the loudest shutter ive used in years. even at 8000, i still dont get what the heck that has to do with the option to lower the sound.

i may be wrong, but i thought the gx7 has a top 8000 ss, and as noted above, has a 'silent' shutter capability.

look, i like the epl5. produces preety good images, esp in low light. im an oly fan. but quiet shutter is old tech and there is no reason to eliminate it imo.
 
Right, I get that the 1/8000s shutter is of no benefit to you because the E-PL5 doesn't support it, but what I'm saying is that perhaps the same shutter as the OM5 is used, and in the E-PL5 is electronically limited to 1/4000s. The focal plane shutter would have to be awfully stiff to support 1/8000s, so that may be why it's "loud". The sound is somewhat muffled by the size of the OM5, but in the E-PL5 there isn't enough bulk to muffle the shutter sound as well as the OM5, hence it being "loud".

What Oly is saying is that they can't lower the sound - it's not artificially generated. How true that is, I have no idea. I guess if enough users complain, Oly might be persuaded to use a quieter design in the future.
 
The E-M5 doesn't just have a muffled sound but it's also a different sound to anything I've heard on a Pen camera before. I've no idea whether the newer E-P5 uses a modded version of this shutter or something completely different again.

Panasonic has offered a completely electronic shutter for a while now in a number of models but it is not without it's own problems. The sequential readout from the sensor can produce some very strange effects, and I wouldn't feel confident using it in it's current state.

GH3 electronic shutter
 
All very interesting. Back in the day when I shot film, I used a Leica IIIb w/ 28mm f3.5 Nikkor screwmount (yes, Nikkor) that had a very quiet cloth shutter. Just made a littl "pffft". Does anybody use the Lumix GX-1 and if so, how is IQ say compared to the Oly EPL5 or other Pen's ?
 
Thanks for the interesting article. One gx7 review put rolling eshutter as a negative point but they didn't explain it. It looks like they need a faster read out for it to become more useful. I haven't paid attention until I saw in gx7 reviews. However it eliminates the shutter shock pretty good:

GX7 - Shutter shock and eShutter test with 14-42 pz lens: Micro Four Thirds Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Panasonic has offered a completely electronic shutter for a while now in a number of models but it is not without it's own problems. The sequential readout from the sensor can produce some very strange effects, and I wouldn't feel confident using it in it's current state.

GH3 electronic shutter
 
Thanks for the interesting article. One gx7 review put rolling eshutter as a negative point but they didn't explain it. It looks like they need a faster read out for it to become more useful. I haven't paid attention until I saw in gx7 reviews. However it eliminates the shutter shock pretty good:

GX7 - Shutter shock and eShutter test with 14-42 pz lens: Micro Four Thirds Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Yes, you're right. With a static subject taken from a static position the electronic shutter is going to give you the absolute sharpest image so it does offer some extra benefits over simply being silent. I had known about the strange effects with moving objects but this article was the first one that I have read where they showed the possible negative effects of taking an image of a static scene handheld, even if the shutter speed is well with the acceptable range to produce a sharp image. Reading to the very end of the blog article he mentions that Nikon is achieving sensor readouts as fast as 1/80s on their latest "1" models whereas Panasonic takes 1/10s, hence the more pronounced special effects.
 
Alright...have ordered a black E-PL5 w/ kit zoom plus a Pany 14mm f2.5. What is the opinion on third party batts? I see that the Wasabi replacement is rated at 2000mah vs. 1400 for the oem. Just want to be sure I don't fry any circuitry and void the warranty!
 
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