Micro 4/3 Ming Thein's review of Olympus OM-D E-M1

This is got to be the most serious compact of the year!
And you just have to love Ming's water resistant testing photo!


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As a fishing,hiking,kayaking sort of guy this ticks all the boxes for a compact, go with me everywhere, system camera.

Great one, Olympus!
 
I scan the Ming's review, he is happy with the af improvements. DPR preview says that it is not as fast as high end 43 dslr af w/ 43 lenses, so they recommend m43 lenses. The focus tracking is a good improvement:

Autofocus Real-world experience:

Focus is usually acceptably fast, though anyone coming from an E-3 or E-5 is likely to find themselves disappointed, in comparison.

The way see it is this: if you're a Four Thirds lens owner and you're expecting full DSLR performance, you're going to be disappointed. However, if you want a camera that offers a considerable step up in image quality, that allows you to continue to take great images with your existing lenses and welcomes you into an impressive and growing new system, then you'll be delighted.

Which isn't to say the focus is bad - our first impressions are that the performance is consistent with Canon's EOS 70D, which offers some of the best live view focus of a conventional DSLR. However, for the very best performance, the E-M1 should be used with Micro Four Thirds lenses.

Continuous AF/Tracking

Continuous and tracking AF has been a stumbling block for mirrorless cameras, so far, because contrast-detection AF can't give the camera information about where to focus the next shot. The addition of on-sensor phase detection to the E-M1 promises to improve this - a concept several manufacturers are trying to develop.

Our initial impression is that the E-M1 is a step forward for Olympus (and Mirrorless cameras in general) - doing a pretty good job of tracking a target and getting a healthy proportion of shots in focus. Interestingly our tests so far have suggested that the camera will either tend to be significantly out-of-focus or absolutely tack sharp - a rather different behavior than we're used to seeing in DSLRs, where shots can prove to be a fraction out-of-focus once viewed on anything other than the camera's screen. We'll be conducting more tests and posting further conclusions soon.
 
I think ergonomics is improving with the grip and the size when you use the bigger lenses. I like e-pl5 but it is too small anything other then small Olympus primes/Panasonic pancakes. I add a grip for em5 so it is similar size to em1. Ep5 didn't even have the grip option... So far best ergonomics is Sony nex 6/7 body form for me.

Here is the new 40-150mm f/2.8 lens that is coming at the end of 2014:
Olympus M.Zuiko PRO 40-150mm f/2.8 Lens Roadmap
 
I would have said more or less equivalent, but considering that's pixel-peeping, call it the same. That left me thinking (with relief) that the real improvement with the EM-1 was the UI - which, when you think about it, is not shocking. I think that we have come to the point where IQ improvements are at best incremental and often purely marginal.
 
I scan the Ming's review, he is happy with the af improvements. DPR preview says that it is not as fast as high end 43 dslr af w/ 43 lenses, so they recommend m43 lenses. The focus tracking is a good improvement:

Dpreview has revised it's comments on AF with 43's lenses on the E-M1 vs. 43's lenses on the E-5. Seems they did their comparison based on memory of how the E-5 AF performance was. Now they say the E-M1 is equal to the E-5's AF performance! Geez, how many other comparisons have they made from memory in the last few years? Do ya think all those adds from Canikon may have affected their memory?
 
DP Review debacle

Dpreview has revised it's comments on AF with 43's lenses on the E-M1 vs. 43's lenses on the E-5. Seems they did their comparison based on memory of how the E-5 AF performance was. Now they say the E-M1 is equal to the E-5's AF performance! Geez, how many other comparisons have they made from memory in the last few years? Do ya think all those adds from Canikon may have affected their memory?

Yeah, a definite faux-pas, especially when their comment was at variance with all the other early reviewers. I see the M43 Olympus crowd remembering this one for a long time ...:tongue:
 
mft no longer pocketable. FF cameras get smaller and so do aps-c ones. MFT looses some of its competitive edge, at least as far as bodies are concerned. Time to get rid of the adjective "micro" or else compact cameras ought to be called "nano".

Reminds me of cars. The BMW 3 series grew every time a new version came out. It`s now as large as the previous 5 series. The same with the VW golf etc.
 
mft no longer pocketable. FF cameras get smaller and so do aps-c ones. MFT looses some of its competitive edge, at least as far as bodies are concerned. Time to get rid of the adjective "micro" or else compact cameras ought to be called "nano".

Reminds me of cars. The BMW 3 series grew every time a new version came out. It`s now as large as the previous 5 series. The same with the VW golf etc.

Yeah, m43 lost me on expensive lenses and bodies and now bigger bodies.
 
We should be happy to have the current choices today compared to a few years ago. I used FF/APSC Canons and started mirrorless using Sigma DP1 in 2008... As LL said IQ improved to a very good level, so the choice can be made more on ergonomics and usability. I think the saving with m43/mirrorless comes with the lens sizes... I never carried my Canon 100-400mm on my travels, even Canon 70-300mm became heavy when you walk 10-12hrs a day... Yes, the new FF Sony mirrorless camera will be similar size to EM1 or Fuji Pro 1 which is same size as Leica M's:

Compact Camera Meter

I would prefer G7 size/shape to EM1, but the EM1 af improvement is very good to pass. I'm sure this will make it to cheaper Oly bodies and maybe even to Sony nex as Sony is removing the mirrors in the dslrs also... See updated dpreview EM1 af page:
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Review

Here is what Olympus is thinking w/ EM1:
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More on above set up:
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Weather Sealed Test
 
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