Jock Elliott
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Troy, NY
The initial purchase of the OMD EM5 (the mark I version) was purely a reaction to my much loved FX200 superzoom getting a spec of dust on its sensor. $100 later, it was fixed, but there was no guarantee that the dust-on-sensor problem would not reoccur.
What was clearly needed was a camera that was extremely unlikely to collect dust on its sensor. So when a refurbished OMD EM5 with 12-50 zoom (which is weather resistant and internally zooming), it was a no-brainer to purchase it.
But that particular camera and lens combo never really caught fire for me. It wasn’t until my LX100 also collected a spec of dust on its sensor, leaving me bereft of a good fast lens, that I purchased the Olympus “Travel Lens” combo. It consists of a 17mm f/1.8 prime and a 14-150 weather resistant zoom. With the 14-150 attached, the OMD EM5 rose in my estimation, and I really began to connect with the OMD EM5: “Hey, this is a pretty neat camera!” It is versatile, fast, and useful, and it does almost everything pretty well. When I needed to shoot an assignment for the Salvation Army, it made it easy to get what was needed without fuss or drama.
When I showed the EM5/14-150 combo to my brother-in-law, a DSLR user, he didn’t know that he was looking through an electronic viewfinder. He asked, “Is this lighted somehow?” Indeed, the view through the EVF makes me wonder if there actually are any advantages to a DSLR.
The other half of the travel lens combo, the 17mm, would occasionally find service on the OMD EM5 for shooting low-light stuff. Changing lenses, however, makes me nervous; there is always the opportunity to drop a lens or get dust on the sensor or have some other sort of misadventure. So when an OMD EM5 II became available at a good price in December, 2016, I snapped it up.
The differences between the OMD EM5 and the OMD EM5 II are well enumerated here: 57 differences between the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the OM-D E-M5 - Amateur Photographer
My basic take is that, as much as I like the EM5 (which is a lot), the EM5 II is even better in almost every single way. The electronic viewfinder is now so good that I can do critical focus without using focus peaking or magnification. The build quality seems more substantial, and the autofocus seems to be a wee bit quicker as well. Even better, the two cameras use the same battery, so, with the spares that were purchased, there are now four batteries available to power the two camera bodies.
The two bodies are set up differently. The EM5 is configured with this tweak -- Way to quadruple battery life on the Olympus OM-D EM-5 – to extend the battery life. It turns off the rear screen except for when reviewing shots or changing shooting parameters. The EM5 II is set up so that the eye sensor switches between LCD and EVF, but I have turned off the touch screen feature and shoot primarily through the EVF. The EM5 II plus 17mm has become the go-to combo for shooting the Single-in-January series while the EM5 plus 14-150 would be the first choice for shooting a general-purpose assignment.
What comes next is a little difficult to describe because my vocabulary fails me. When I first joined Serious Compacts and saw some images taken with digital full-frame Leicas, they had a certain quality of image – a “clarity” if you will – that I really liked. While shooting Single in January with the EM5 II and 17mm, I have sometimes seen that quality in my own images, and that pleases the heck out of me.
The bottom line: the OMD EM5 is a terrific camera that can be had at very attractive prices these days and, when used in combo with the Travel Lens Kit, delivers a versatility that seems hard to beat. The OMD EM5 II is even “terrific-er.” If you can afford the extra expense, it makes a great choice that I can heartily recommend.
Cheers, Jock
What was clearly needed was a camera that was extremely unlikely to collect dust on its sensor. So when a refurbished OMD EM5 with 12-50 zoom (which is weather resistant and internally zooming), it was a no-brainer to purchase it.
But that particular camera and lens combo never really caught fire for me. It wasn’t until my LX100 also collected a spec of dust on its sensor, leaving me bereft of a good fast lens, that I purchased the Olympus “Travel Lens” combo. It consists of a 17mm f/1.8 prime and a 14-150 weather resistant zoom. With the 14-150 attached, the OMD EM5 rose in my estimation, and I really began to connect with the OMD EM5: “Hey, this is a pretty neat camera!” It is versatile, fast, and useful, and it does almost everything pretty well. When I needed to shoot an assignment for the Salvation Army, it made it easy to get what was needed without fuss or drama.
When I showed the EM5/14-150 combo to my brother-in-law, a DSLR user, he didn’t know that he was looking through an electronic viewfinder. He asked, “Is this lighted somehow?” Indeed, the view through the EVF makes me wonder if there actually are any advantages to a DSLR.
The other half of the travel lens combo, the 17mm, would occasionally find service on the OMD EM5 for shooting low-light stuff. Changing lenses, however, makes me nervous; there is always the opportunity to drop a lens or get dust on the sensor or have some other sort of misadventure. So when an OMD EM5 II became available at a good price in December, 2016, I snapped it up.
The differences between the OMD EM5 and the OMD EM5 II are well enumerated here: 57 differences between the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II and the OM-D E-M5 - Amateur Photographer
My basic take is that, as much as I like the EM5 (which is a lot), the EM5 II is even better in almost every single way. The electronic viewfinder is now so good that I can do critical focus without using focus peaking or magnification. The build quality seems more substantial, and the autofocus seems to be a wee bit quicker as well. Even better, the two cameras use the same battery, so, with the spares that were purchased, there are now four batteries available to power the two camera bodies.
The two bodies are set up differently. The EM5 is configured with this tweak -- Way to quadruple battery life on the Olympus OM-D EM-5 – to extend the battery life. It turns off the rear screen except for when reviewing shots or changing shooting parameters. The EM5 II is set up so that the eye sensor switches between LCD and EVF, but I have turned off the touch screen feature and shoot primarily through the EVF. The EM5 II plus 17mm has become the go-to combo for shooting the Single-in-January series while the EM5 plus 14-150 would be the first choice for shooting a general-purpose assignment.
What comes next is a little difficult to describe because my vocabulary fails me. When I first joined Serious Compacts and saw some images taken with digital full-frame Leicas, they had a certain quality of image – a “clarity” if you will – that I really liked. While shooting Single in January with the EM5 II and 17mm, I have sometimes seen that quality in my own images, and that pleases the heck out of me.
The bottom line: the OMD EM5 is a terrific camera that can be had at very attractive prices these days and, when used in combo with the Travel Lens Kit, delivers a versatility that seems hard to beat. The OMD EM5 II is even “terrific-er.” If you can afford the extra expense, it makes a great choice that I can heartily recommend.
Cheers, Jock
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