18 Month Update on the Olympus E-M5; Is it a Keeper?

Olympus E-M5 w Panasonic 7-14mm lens at 7mm

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I've had the Olympus OM-D E-M5 for about 18 months now and have shot extensively with it under a wide variety of circumstances. 

I have found positive and negative aspects of this camera as well as the 4/3 system.

The question is:  "Is the Olympus, as well as the Micro 4/3 system a keeper, or do I move on to something different?"

Here are my thoughts.

a)  The images are of very high quality.  I have nothing to complain about.  Even though I use a Nikon D800E with the best Nikon lenses, the images from the E-M5 are technically fine for almost all purposes.  I have no complaints about the 4/3 sensor size, resolution, noise or any other technical issue with my image files. I have made some 12" X 18" prints with my Epson 3800 printer and they looked great.  The largest I would normally have made is 24" X 36" but I don't know how the files would hold up under that additional enlargement. 

I read that one has to use a sensor no smaller than APS-C or DX, but in my tests, the difference is so minimal that, unless you pixel peep, you won't see a difference.

b)  The color from the Olympus algorithms is spot on.  I almost never have to do any color correction.  I use either auto white balance or daylight.  Since I normally only shoot RAW images, it doesn't make that much difference.  I like to use daylight white balance even in the mornings or evenings so the camera captures the warmth of the light and doesn't try to correct for the overly yellow/orange/red tint that AWB would do.  I'll use AWB indoors and under strange light.

c)  The camera is light, fast, well built and wonderful to handle, with two exceptions.  First, I still dislike the location of the On-Off switch.  Not a good place to put it.  Second, the Fn2 button and the Playback buttons are so small, they are almost impossible to push easily--especially with my big, fat fingers.  My solution, and it is working nicely as I de-couple the shutter button from the focusing function, is detailed in this post.  I can now easily push the Fn2 button to focus.  Works well.

I like its size and weight.  The huge difference between full frame, APS-C and Micro 4/3 is the size of the lenses.  Everyone can make a relatively small camera, but the lenses have to be constructed so as their image circle be large enough to cover the diagonal of the format.  Larger image circle, larger lenses.  The Micro 4/3 lenses are very high quality and small, small, small!  Nicely small and light, but well-built!

d)  The doggone hundreds of settings on this camera body are hard for me to remember!  Maybe if I were a bit younger or I used the camera everyday, I would be able to remember all the settings.  I mean there seems to be hundreds of options from which to choose to set the camera and all its controls.  For example, pushing the "four-way arrows" buttons on the rear of the camera, for some reason, no longer moves the focusing point around.  I don't know why and I can't figure out how to make it do it again, short of resetting the camera to factory settings.  I don't want to do that as it took me a while to go through all of them and set it the way it is.  I would like a very simple camera with few controls.  I don't need and have never (in almost 44 years of photography) needed all those settings.

I suspect a younger and more prolific photographer would remember and know how to do all those things, but some things just escape me.  But, never to give up, I'm still trying to figure it out and won't stop until I do.  (For reference, I have a copy of the user's manual on my iPod and iPad, one of which is usually with me when I'm out.)

e)  The lenses are wonderfully sharp, contrasty, transmit great color are relatively light weight and very well constructed.  I have all Panasonic lenses, as I normally have been using zooms with the camera.  However, I do plan on acquiring a few Olympus lenses over the next year--mainly some of the fast primes, which seem to be terrific!

Most of the reviews of lens quality are way overblown in detailing differences in image quality.  Almost all lenses made today, no matter which format, are better than almost all the photographers who use them.  Molded aspheric elements, ED glass, complex zooming mechanisms, modern carbon-based construction materials, etc. go into today's lenses to allow us to make top quality images.

I read DXO Mark lens and sensor tests.  I like that their testing is consistent across the board so you can compare lenses to each other on the same camera bodies.  But, ask them what the difference is in actually image quality you will see in a print (or on a computer screen) from two lenses that test out 5 digits apart.  I don't think any.  Theoretical difference versus practical difference.  I would like to know what their take is on meaningful difference between test items in the way their numbers come out.  For example, a lens on the E-M5 tests out as a 19 and a lens on a Nikon D800 tests out as a 26.  Is there a difference that we, as practitioners, can actually see?  Under normal circumstances, I don't think so.  So, be careful when you lust for a lens/camera combination that tests high.  You might not even see a difference in practical terms.  It would be nice to know how many digits apart two lenses would have to be to actually see a difference in, say, an 8" X 10" print.

All in all, I'm really happy with the camera and lenses.  I recently purchased some extension tubes and will also use my Nikon 6T dual-element close-up filter and try some close-up photography.  I'm going to experiment with my Nikon SB 800 flash with an extension cord to see if I can make that work so I don't have to buy an Olympus flash.  I don't do much flash photography, but on occasion, I need one.  I hate to spend the money for one of the big Olympus flash units if not necessary.  I'll report back.

So, my final verdict is that the Olympus E-M5 and lenses are keepers.  I can live with the little niggles of frustration as that comes with most everything anymore.  There are always work arounds.

My wife and I are getting ready to leave on an extended road trip soon and I'm trying to decide whether to take the Nikon gear or the Olympus gear.  Such a terrible dilemma to have.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook


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