Micro 4/3 Olympus OMD EM-5 full review at DPR

[Armanius]

Full review is up. No spoilers!

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[pdh]

hmm they like it then ... the small thing that jumped out was " A series of settings changes is also needed to engage IS when shooting with manual focus lenses." ... but then, the chances of my being able to buy one of these is pretty small, so it's academic

 

[Armanius]

Yeah, I pre-ordered back in February. But canceled. Just put in another order last week, but doubt I'll see one any time soon.

Here's the spoiler now

If you're absolutely unwilling to compromise on image quality then spending twice the money and moving up to the bulk of a full-frame is the only way of gaining a significant step up from the E-M5.

 

[Luckypenguin]

I think they like it...

 

[krugorg]

The review is better than I expected. Dang, I had just made the firm decision this weekend that I was waiting for a new E-P4/5.

Anyone know how to interpret the Dynamic Range graphs? I am trying to figure out how it would compare to, for example, a Pentax K5. The curves look pretty close to me, but so does pretty much anything I plug in.

 

[pdh]

Yeah, I pre-ordered back in February. But canceled.

well, I mean .. I haven't any money for one ...

 

[Andrewteee]

Anyone know how to interpret the Dynamic Range graphs? I am trying to figure out how it would compare to, for example, a Pentax K5. The curves look pretty close to me, but so does pretty much anything I plug in.

I think this is a key comment:

"...a more gentle tone curve that offers greater dynamic range..."

The K5 highlights are not as gently sloped in the highlights. I believe that this means that the highlights don't suddenly blow out on the E-M5 (up to a point). There is a more gradual transition. I believe that film has that characteristic, more than early digital. But perhaps it's getting closer.

Looks like an impressive camera.

 

[serhan]

I haven't read all the details much but dpr wrote:

The camera is built around a 16MP Four Thirds sensor, which all out testing suggests may well be the same one seen in Panasonic's DMC-G3.

Olympus acted similarly with E-P3 also. So we'll see when the dxo mark score comes out.

I think this is a key comment:

"...a more gentle tone curve that offers greater dynamic range..."

 

[krugorg]

I haven't read all the details much but dpr wrote:

"The camera is built around a 16MP Four Thirds sensor, which all out testing suggests may well be the same one seen in Panasonic's DMC-G3."

Olympus acted similarly with E-P3 also. So we'll see when the dxo mark score comes out.

True, it *could* very well be a Panasonic sensor, but there would seem to be plenty of proprietary bits outside of the sensor that impact overall IQ. For example, what Fuji is able to extract out of their outside-sourced sensors.

I would be surprised if it does as well as the NEX 5N, for example, on DXO's DR test, but I would be happy if the gap closed a bit (i.e. difference was appropriate given the sensor size difference).

 

[Pelao]

Yeah, I pre-ordered back in February. But canceled. Just put in another order last week, but doubt I'll see one any time soon.

Here's the spoiler now

That's an interesting claim for them to make. While it's clear that it's a well designed camera, with great specifications and image quality, a claim like that requires, at least to my mind, some qualification of what they mean by significant.

Anyway, this camera ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of people.

 

[krugorg]

ephotozine full review

One more... seems a bit light after the behemoth DPR review:

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Full Review