The Differences I Notice Between APS-C and M4/3 Cameras In Everyday Use

Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 300mm f/4 PRO lens; 1/1000th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400 (6.8mp crop of 26mp image) (click to enlarge)
I really cannot complain about the quality of images from my M4/3 gear.

I have too much gear.  Way too much.  I have now resolved to sell either all my Fujifilm gear or all of my Olympus gear by the end of this year.  But which?  Both are serving me well.  I am very happy with both.  Then why?  Having all of this great gear degrades my photographic experience.  I'm not kidding.  In other words, I have too many choices (someday read The Paradox of Choice).  Too many choices demands too much decision-making and causes stress.  Which camera gear to I pick up on the way out of my house?  Every time, I have to choose.  I'm all about simplifying my life, reducing stress and increasing enjoyment in my retirement years.  Eliminating this particular choice will aid in that endeavor.  But which gear do I sell?  That is my conundrum.  I know, I know, a terrible problem.  Well, not terrible, just problematic.  That is what brought me to this post.  Thinking about whether my Fujifilm gear or my Olympus gear gives me a) better image quality and b) a better user experience is part of my decision process in working my way through this problem.  Here are my thoughts based upon my experience with both formats.

The bottom line when it comes to image quality, i.e., resolution, sharpness, dynamic range, digital noise, color rendition, contrast, saturation, the differences I see in my images made with both my Fujifilm X cameras (APS-C) and my Olympus E cameras (M4/3) are minor at most and almost all can only be found if you closely pixel peep.  If you can find any differences at all, that is.  Technology has made the difference.  Some may disagree, but technology is now the great equalizer in photography.  

I made over 86,000 images and, frankly, in about 85,900 of them, I see no difference in image quality.  For me, the two systems produce equally high quality and satisfying images, period.  And...I'm pretty picky and tend to pixel peep (I'm trying to stop!).  I literally look at images from both cameras every day, compare them often and if I didn't know which camera made which image, I wouldn't know.  Neither would you.  Both are THAT good.  Why?  Again, technology is the great equalizer.

Olympus does need a new generation of sensors, however, which is something to keep in mind.  New processors as well. In fact they used the same sensor and processor that is in the E-M1 Mark II, which was first showcased at Photokina in September 2016.  They just added a second processor to gain more speed.  I am sure they tweaked the processor as well, but it is the same processor.  You have to figure that the sensor and processor was developed about 3 or 4 years before its fall 2016 introduction.  Olympus definitely needs a new generation of sensor in their next cameras.  Fujifilm, with the introduction of the X-T3, introduced a brand new sensor and new, more powerful processor.  It is has paid off in the accolades it has received.

Excellent lenses are available from the makers of APS-C sized cameras and M4/3 cameras. The lenses I own and use are better than just about anything that was made in the "film era."  Again, technology has made the difference.  Both Fujifilm and Olympus/Panasonic make superb lenses for their respective formats.

The only practical, everyday differences I experience with image making using my two camera systems are the differences in my personal preferences concerning camera handling, types of and position of camera and lens controls, organization of menus, ease of use and features.  The differences here are much more significant to me than any differences one might find in image quality.  Which camera system do I enjoy using more and why?  That is really the question I need to answer. 

As I wrote, technology is the great equalizer.  Where we made much higher quality images with medium format and large format film cameras than with 35mm film cameras, those differences in today's digital photography world either have been eliminated or largely made irrelevant for the vast majority of us.  Technology, both in the "making" phase of the imaging chain or the "editing" phase of the imaging chain has resulting in us having to throw out about all the old rules concerning format, which apertures are best, etc.  The main differences we found in the past largely don't exist any longer.  The differences are in the operation of the cameras themselves and lens selection.

Here are some thoughts about the differences between the two camera systems I own.

Monarch Pass, Colorado; Fujifilm X-T2; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 27mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/11; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)
Nor can I complain about the quality of images from my APS-C gear.

I do like Fujifilm's colors better.  Even Lightroom's rendition of the Fujifilm film simulations, to me, are more pleasing than the Olympus colors.  I know some of you may like Olympus' colors.  The blues or the skies and green/yellows of foliage just don't work for me.  But with today's editing software, you can pretty much mimic any color palate from any camera.  In fact, I went through a process and developed some Lightroom presets for my Olympus camera that closely mimic the colors from the Fujifilm film simulations. Not perfect and they don't always work perfectly, but I can get close.  With a bit of work, I can make the colors pleasing to me.  With a bit of extra work...

I like Olympus in-body-image-stabilization (IBIS) and assortment of lenses better.  In my tests between my E-M1 Mark II and my X-H1, the Olympus IBIS wins every time.  Of course, the H1's IBIS is Fujifilm's first attempt while Olympus has been at it for several years and have developed several generations and is recognized as the industry leader.  

The Olympus 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens is an extraordinary piece of glass that I cannot foresee ever selling—maybe.  It also extremely versatile.  I leave that on the E-M1 Mark II almost always and it can do about everything I need in 90% of the situations I encounter, from wide angle, to telephoto to almost macro.  But the Fujifilm glass is no slouch either.  The 16-55mm f/2.8 is "glued" to the front of my X-H1 or X-T3.  As I said both have excellent glass but I can normally get by with carrying fewer lenses with the Olympus/Panasonic offerings and, as a bonus, they are smaller and lighter.  All three companies continue to develop new lenses so, who knows what surprises we will find in the future.

By far, I like the Fujifilm controls and menus better than the Olympus.  But I like the Olympus features more than Fujifilm's.  The "old school" controls of the Fujifilm cameras just work for me without having to think about it.  The menus seem to work as well.  I can easily find what I need in the Olympus menus but they put so many features into their cameras that there must be a hundred pages of selections.  Also, the way Olympus sets up their features, unless you have certain settings set in a certain way, you cannot access certain features.  Just the other day, while writing the post on Olympus Pro Capture and Fujifilm Pre-Shot, for the life of me I could not engage Pro Capture on my E-M1 Mark II.  I could not figure out what setting had to be changed to be able to engage it.  I finally turn my Custom settings dial on the top of the camera to a setting I had programmed for Pro Capture and it engaged.  I still don't know why I couldn't engage it directly.  That happens more than it should for me with Olympus.  As long as I have been using them, I should be able to access anything immediately.  Not so.  Never happens with my Fujifilm cameras.

The difference in digital noise between the two formats, which is not much at all, is now negated since I started using Topaz Labs AI Clear, a noise reducing plug-in that uses artificial intelligence (their words) to analyze an image, reduce noise and retain maximum detail.  I don't know how it works, but it works better than any other noise reducing program I've tried.  So digital noise is not an issue in my decision making.

I have found dynamic range about equal between the two systems.  I had hoped Fujifilm's new 26mp sensor had improved upon dynamic range, but I can't find it in my images.  Dynamic range in my two Olympus cameras pretty much matches that in my Fujifilm cameras.  Neither system gives me the dynamic range I want.  Really, the best I've ever used was in my Nikon D810.  That camera had about 2 stops more dynamic range than either of my current camera systems.  But, again, technology to the rescue.  The great equalizer.  I can rattle off a 3-image/2-stop apart bracket in about a quarter of a second.  And, I can engage and disengage bracketing with either a twist of a dial or a push of a button.  In camera bracketing will work nicely in about 99% of the images I make.

Final thoughts.

If you are leaning toward buying a micro4/3 format camera, buy it.  I don't think you will be disappointed.  If you are leaning toward buying an APS-C format camera, then buy that.  Again, I don't think you will be disappointed.  Either camera system will serve you extremely well.  As I said the differences you will notice are in the operational and physical aspects of camera use, not in your final images.  The only thing that will result in your disappointment is if you convince yourself that you need a full frame camera.  But you most likely don't.  Save you money.

At the end of the day, pick the format and camera system that better suits your preferences, go out as often as you can and fully exploit the capabilities of your gear, make satisfying images and just enjoy all the photographic blessings we have in today's digital world.  If you worry about minute differences you will just ruin the craft/hobby for yourself.  Just enjoy the choices you made and don't worry about what anyone else says about them.

Now—back to trying to decide which gear to sell before the year is out.  As you read, not an easy decision.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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