Micro 4/3 Despite lust towards FF and DSLR dinosaurs, I'm just drifting towards m4/3...

I think this way sometimes. An RX100# is a truly pants pocket-able camera. My only problem is that I remember once taking an RX10 to Disney and I just wasn't happy with the results. Too much low light noise. I always seem to find myself in low-light situations, either evening or indoors, and the 1" sensors just can't cut it.

The latest RX100 series is way too expensive for my budget, but I am using the Nikon 1 J5. While it doesn't have the low light handheld capabilities of M43, I find the 1" 20mp sensor has slightly better highlight recovery and with the cheap 10-30mm PD VR zoom lens, I can shoot low light handheld shots at around 3200 ISO that are still fairly useable. It might have something to do with Nikon's image processing, plus I find due to the OSPDAF and deeper DOF my hit rate is much higher on the J5.

It's not really a snap shooter camera though, because I find most SOOC images to be bland that get posted online. Much of my image processing with the J5 was crafted from shooting M43! ;)

Quick sample at 3200 ISO:
49083125856_00aa4b982b_b.jpg

Shots taken with the Nikon 1 J5 + 10-30mm PD VR Lens
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr

Another at 1600 ISO:
49083389032_347a3b14fc_b.jpg

Shots taken with the Nikon 1 J5 + 10-30mm PD VR Lens
by Jonathan Friolo, on Flickr
 
A bit OT, but there seems to be a meltdown going on over at 43rumors over the announced specs of the EM 10 MkIV. CDAF vs PDAF crowds. I couldn't tell you what type of AF any camera I've ever owned has/had. Maybe if I was an action, BIF, or wildlife enthusiast such things would be more important. Or if I obsessed over technical spec sheets. SMH.
 
A bit OT, but there seems to be a meltdown going on over at 43rumors over the announced specs of the EM 10 MkIV. CDAF vs PDAF crowds. I couldn't tell you what type of AF any camera I've ever owned has/had. Maybe if I was an action, BIF, or wildlife enthusiast such things would be more important. Or if I obsessed over technical spec sheets. SMH.

I recently thought I would arm myself with the new age PDAF only to find out I don't need it.
It's nice but there's a premium.

And on the other end of the stick I thought I didn't need IBIS but adore it.
And it's dirt cheap.
 
"Small and Light" is what made Oly's MFT's camera line. But, then Canon's M and Fujifilm's X mount cameras showed up. Canon is still here and so too Fujifilm, but Olympus is gone (don't kid yourself JIP is not going to invest in it and revive it; it is an asset stripper). To invest in MFT's you have only Panasonic, and that's doubtful. Time for a viable alternative. MFT's had its day. And, its day is done. (FYI I own two Oly bodies, 6 primes, and 2 zooms. So I understand the pain. But, it is time to bury the dead and move on.)
 
Not sure I agree with "burying it and moving on".

Yes, JIP is likely not going to do anything meaningful to the line.
So any money you spend on an Olympus system will stay there (probably hard to resell at all).

But if what's available right now is a good fit for someone - no reason not to keep using it...
I've been using a few 'dead' systems and they still make great photos for my purposes...
Especially if you like long lenses and travelling light, there's still no alternative to some of m43's options.
 
A bit OT, but there seems to be a meltdown going on over at 43rumors over the announced specs of the EM 10 MkIV. CDAF vs PDAF crowds. I couldn't tell you what type of AF any camera I've ever owned has/had. Maybe if I was an action, BIF, or wildlife enthusiast such things would be more important. Or if I obsessed over technical spec sheets. SMH.
I suspect the Olympus news is making everyone over there a bit tense. I do love the top comment in the 43rumors article announcing the specs. “2.36 m dot EVF, I doubt it will be useable’. Useable? The Sony A7 iii has an EVF with that resolution. I really don’t this these folks have actually used a camera. It’s really small and light, 13.5 oz for the body with battery.
 
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Not sure I agree with "burying it and moving on".

Yes, JIP is likely not going to do anything meaningful to the line.
So any money you spend on an Olympus system will stay there (probably hard to resell at all).

But if what's available right now is a good fit for someone - no reason not to keep using it...
I've been using a few 'dead' systems and they still make great photos for my purposes...
Especially if you like long lenses and travelling light, there's still no alternative to some of m43's options.

I'll gladly dig it all up.
Buried treasure!
 
A fixed prime lens M4/3 compact doesn't readily seem like the best idea given there are strong and decently compact APS-C options by Ricoh, Fujifilm.
 
"Small and Light" is what made Oly's MFT's camera line. But, then Canon's M and Fujifilm's X mount cameras showed up. Canon is still here and so too Fujifilm, but Olympus is gone (don't kid yourself JIP is not going to invest in it and revive it; it is an asset stripper). To invest in MFT's you have only Panasonic, and that's doubtful.
Canon M definitely gives a good fight against M4/3 in overall package size. Beautiful stuff. But it's a small system, very small lens selection and such.

Fuji X is noticeably larger though. Both in selection and overall package size. :)


Time for a viable alternative.
And, its day is done. (FYI I own two Oly bodies, 6 primes, and 2 zooms. So I understand the pain. But, it is time to bury the dead and move on.)

Please clarify this for me as I haven't shot anything professionally... this is my impression how it's going to be.

Unless you are a working professional shooting Olympus, who needs fast pro level warranty packages (such as Nikon's NPS. Olympus doesn't even offer these sorts of deals!) I don't understand why you'd bury a perfectly usable system just because it may cease to sell new gear in the future.

Most pros would be satisfied buying spare copies of the lenses and bodies and keeping them as backups. Usually one has one spare, maybe under these circumstances you buy a third backup.

One way to understand this might be to try to recoup the resale value of the camera as well as possible by selling now instead of years later. But if you are professionally shooting Olympus in the first place, doesn't this mean you have evaluated the system as the one you prefer to make money with, and now you're willing to sell at a loss to jump to a "worse" system?

And if you're shooting for fun, what's exactly the danger of shooting "extinct" cameras? 😄
 
I’ve always wondered how small a mu43 equivalent of the x100 series might have been. Neither Panasonic or Olympus ever produced a fixed prime lens compact.
In all fairness, I think they were right not to feel the need to. Pair any of the smaller bodies and you're right there. Heck, even the oh-so-dated GF1 with the 20mm feels very much like the LX100 did, but it's faster to turn on and shoot, and the lens is better! Yes, the EVF is a joke, but I like it for framing enough to keep it - and at least it's small.

I enjoyed the E-PM1 with the 20mm immensely. And I was able to also carry the 12-32mm at the same time without any issues because it's so small.

In a way, best of both worlds ...

Canon M definitely gives a good fight against M4/3 in overall package size. Beautiful stuff. But it's a small system, very small lens selection and such.

Fuji X is noticeably larger though. Both in selection and overall package size. :)

Please clarify this for me as I haven't shot anything professionally... this is my impression how it's going to be.

Unless you are a working professional shooting Olympus, who needs fast pro level warranty packages (such as Nikon's NPS. Olympus doesn't even offer these sorts of deals!) I don't understand why you'd bury a perfectly usable system just because it may cease to sell new gear in the future.

Most pros would be satisfied buying spare copies of the lenses and bodies and keeping them as backups. Usually one has one spare, maybe under these circumstances you buy a third backup.

One way to understand this might be to try to recoup the resale value of the camera as well as possible by selling now instead of years later. But if you are professionally shooting Olympus in the first place, doesn't this mean you have evaluated the system as the one you prefer to make money with, and now you're willing to sell at a loss to jump to a "worse" system?

And if you're shooting for fun, what's exactly the danger of shooting "extinct" cameras? 😄
Spot on. I'll hang on to the E-M5 III for a long time - it's the best overall package in a mid-range camera that there is on the market right now; and furthermore, the lenses are great, small and (comparatively) light. The GX9 is a super-fast shooter, too, very competent and efficient. The fact that other cameras, even small ones, offer slightly better IQ in some cases just doesn't compensate for that. I love the Fujifilm X-E3 because it's basically a Leica workalike and functions very conveniently - but not for the reason that it's in any tangible way superior to the GX9 or even the E-M5 III. Yes, you have to make some small (hah!) compromises when using :mu43:, but overall, there's just nothing like it.

And again: The whole system, two bodies, all lenses, fit nicely into a medium-sized bag - and that's even when packing lenses I usually don't shoot! On the other hand, even the very compact X-E3 loses its luster when you try to pack five lenses (one zoom, four primes) into the *same* space as the GX9 with three zooms and four primes, covering *everything* from a 15mm to a 600mm equivalent (28mm to 135mm for the Fuji). And the images look great ... I could even have substituted the GX9 and 12-32mm by the E-M5 III with 12-45mm PRO and still have some space left ... the Fujifilm kit actually made packing the tiny 27mm securely kind of a hassle (through a lack of dedicated lens space after putting in the 23mm and 35mm), and the 90mm took the place of the 100-300mm ... go figure.

For me, that's okay - I have several bags available to me, and I'm also used to carrying even bigger gear (Nikon D750 with the 70-200mm f/4, anyone? Or Z6 and D750, both with f/4 zooms - fills a backpack! In the realm of cropped sensor cameras, :mu43: is still going strong and is hard if impossible to replace in any convenient and obvious way. And Panasonic is still there to carry the flame, anyway.

btw. I also own a very nice, sufficiently compact and very inexpensive (for what it is) superzoom, the Panasonic FZ1000. Can it replace :mu43:? It *can* replace the 14-150mm II, I know that - but neither the package nor the results equal :mu43: in use, and it's bigger and just as heavy, if not heavier, as the E-M5 III using the otherwise quite nice 14-150mm II ... The Sony RX10 IV might be able to outdo the E-M5 III - but I seriously doubt it'd be as nice and versatile; you'd have to lug this behemoth of an all-in-one around all the time, with no escape whatsover. I'll smile quietly watching you do it, cuddling my superbly small and competent E-M5 III with its fantastic 12-45mm f/4 companion :)

M.
 
I bought into Olympus an u43 over 10 years ago. Back then- it had the cutting edge EVF, and couldtake almost every lens I had via an inexpensive adapter. The cameras were compact, about the same size of a Canonet QL17 GIII.
I still have the EP2, an EP2 full-spectrum camera, and the EPM1. The latter- my knock-around camera, with the 17/2.8.

What turned me off: the endless cycle of introducing new bodies with minor upgrades. Ten EPL models in as many years. Development pumped into a big body the size of a full-frame Nikon D850 with the sensor the size of a 110 Instamatic. Right or wrong: I would have preferred to see the Pen F line continued, a compact body with an internal EVF. My EVF-2 works fine after 10 years, but it is not as nice as having a built in viewfinder.

If someone is looking to move to a new system, I would advise them to stay away from u43. If you are heavily invested in lenses for u43, my ten year old EP2's work perfectly. I would buy a couple of bodies when the swan-song sale begins.
 
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If someone is looking to move to a new system, I would advise them to stay away from u43.
If one goes the "preowned goods only" route, the financial risk is greatly diminished. Secondly, thanks to slow(er) sensor developments for the last 4 years you can get an old body that should still be competent against the best of µ4/3.

Agreed about the Olympus PL lineup. They work well but the churnout rate is high, something that wasn't the case with DSLRs or indeed, with CaNikon even today. It's just a company strategy, can't generalize over the products.
 
I really like that lens. It's SO compact. Someday I'll fall into a lightly used Pen F going super-cheap. Maybe not as cheap as the NIB $120 EPL1 kit that I got when the EPL2 came out, but a good deal will come.
 
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