Micro 4/3 The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Experience

Probably a minor thing for many, but I am loving the shutter sound and lack of vibration through the body! It isn't too much louder than my GXR's leaf shutter... maybe about the same as the Pentax K-01, but with a deeper sound. Very pleasant.

There has been conversation on this in the past, most theories seemed to indicate this was dampening due to the weather proofing, but I hope they can carry this "feature" over to the new PEN line.
 
I agree, the shutter sound and dampened feel during shutter release are a major plus with this camera!
 
Its kind of funny about the shutter sound. I'd read about how quiet it was compared to the other m43 cams, Olympus in particular. But I got my expectations up too much because, once I actually heard it I was a bit disappointed. It is a bit more muffled than the EPL3 and other Pens and Pany's I've owned - not as loud a 'thunk', but its fundamentally a somewhat muffled or damped version of the same sound and clearly audible in any sort of quiet environment. I was thinking it would be a bit closer to maybe the GXR (either the 28 or 50mm lens unit) which is nearly silent but does have an audible little snick that you almost have to listen for to hear. I wasn't expected dead silence like the X100 or any of the leaf shutter compacts (GRD3, LX5, X10, etc), but was expecting quieter than it is. And as long as I can clearly hear it, I really prefer the shutter sound of the X-Pro 1, which is probably a similar volume (maybe even slightly louder), but a very pleasant (to my ears) "click" or "snick" sound as opposed to the fairly quiet thud of the OMD.

This is a non-issue to me, BTW and I don't intend it as a criticism of the camera. Its more an observation about expectations. Like if several people and reviews tell me a movie is really good, it better be REALLY good or I'm likely to be disappointed by it. OTOH, a movie I stumble onto with no idea or expectations about it can be a pleasant surprise even if its only sort of good. I guess I had higher expectations for the OMD and lower expectations for the X-Pro 1 shutter sounds, and my reactions to both were colored by those expectations...

I wonder how much time, if any, the engineers spend trying to "tune" the shutter sound, assuming there is one and its not just a simulated shutter sound (which all of the silent shutter cameras I'm aware of have programmed in as an option). I remember reading about how the Mazda Miata engineers spent an inordinate amount of time and resources tuning the exhaust note of the early iterations of the Miata to create a signature sound, very similar to the old MG or Spitfires from British Leyland. Do camera makers put any thought into this stuff or does it just come out the way the mechanicals dictate???

-Ray
 
I remember when you were asking whether the GXR shutter was really silent. It was certainly quiet to me, but I didn't understand what you meant by silent until I shot a X100 afterwards. Awesome! But yeah, the GXR was effectively silent for me, in almost every environment.

I do still think the E-M5 is going to be much more quiet in the field than previous PENs. I remember when I first got the E-P3, we were on a small ferry on a weekend getaway with some friends, and I decided to do a bracketed shot (for some unknown reason). I wasn't really close to anyone and there was a decent amount of ambient noise, but still, when I hit the shutter, they all turned around to look at me and asked what I was doing. I have to think the E-M5 would have gone unnoticed in that same scenario (which will most likely never happen again :D).

Also, again with handheld brackets, I always felt like I was strafing a bit with the E-P3, somehow caused by shutter vibration through the body. Maybe due to the increased speed, or increased weight, I don't feel the same way with the E-M5.
 
I don't have the camera, but I wonder if it's different sounding depending on the lens. That is, maybe the weather proof lens muffles it more than a 14-42 kit? Just a thought...

Here's a video of the shutter sound from Youtube:
 
I don't have the camera, but I wonder if it's different sounding depending on the lens. That is, maybe the weather proof lens muffles it more than a 14-42 kit? Just a thought...

Here's a video of the shutter sound from Youtube:

Good point, it makes sense that with a weather-sealed lens, it could be dampened even more.

Even with my non-sealed primes, though, the E-M5 is still noticeably more quiet than the E-P3 or E-PL3 (not that they are crazy bad).
 
Oly 50/f2 macro RAW

5080045-Edit-XL.jpg


Oly 14-42IIr f3.5 kit lens

5080063-Edit-XL.jpg
 
Another "like" for the E-M5 shutter. Amongst focal plane curtain shutters it's right up there with the best for me. Certainly not "turn on the fake shutter sound on my G1X so I get some kind of audible warning" quiet, but still very discrete. I'm using it mostly with the PL25 so far; haven't really checked to see if it is more muffled with the 12-50mm.
 
I'm shooting RAW with the OM-D Nic only had the OM-D since Monday so early days.

From what I see in Lightroom 4.1RC2 its not a Panasonic sensor its got a diff. look at ISO200 in shadow areas little real noise its better than any Panasonic sensor very smooth and detailed
The Tone curve for jpeg not tried yet as I only shoot RAW BUT its worth a try.

I think the IBIS is amazing it really is.
 
John, very nice colours and light.

I wouldn't say use jpeg instead of the RAWs, but for the purposes of further editing they are the best looking jpegs I have seen because they retain such a broad dynamic range. If for reasons of storage capacity limits I had to shoot jpegs only (extended travel, for instance) I wouldn't be too concerned about the files being cooked too hard.

The sensor origin still seems to be a mystery. Olympus has done well to keep it a secret this long! It's certainly a noticable departure from the 12MP Pens but I've not used a 16MP Panasonic so I can offer no opinion on how they might compare.

Great stuff that fast lens and the OM-D sensor is a winner

So far the Leica 25mm has been my lens of choice on the E-M5. So far I have only heard the rattlesnake once when it was pointed directly at the sun. Other than that, in the same situations where the 25mm would chirp away on my E-PL1, I hear not a peep when it is mounted on the E-M5. Good news!
 
For any of you OMD folks who haven't seen it, DPR actually did a great little "how to" article on getting to some of the key features of the OMD. I've had the camera for a few weeks now and used it intensively the first 10 days or so and I hadn't figured out a few of these. And I suspect I'll find them very helpful going forward. For example, I didn't have the EVF's own little personal IBIS turned on. I turned it on yesterday and stuck my longest lens on the camera (150 at the long end) and it was another head-shaking, LOL moment for me. I remember trying to even frame a shot with an old 200mm bazooka telephoto with a Pentax K1000 and just holding it steady enough to frame was hard enough. With the OMD, I'm shooting with an effective 300, so half again as long. I've been ok with this lens with the earlier Pens, but with this EVF-IBIS, you get in the general area, half-press and all jerkiness and motion just STOPS dead! Not unlike having a tripod except that you have to half-press to invoke it. I don't shoot with long lenses much, but this is a REALLY nice feature - maybe I'll start shooting with it more. I gotta figure the camera's IBIS (as distinct from the EVF's ibis) will help nail a lot more long shots too. Anyway, here's the article - worth a look:

User Guide: Getting the most out of the Olympus E-M5: Digital Photography Review

I sort of re-designed my camera's interface after reading it, leaving the fn2 button on the "multi controller" setting (I think that's what they call it) and moving ISO to the record button (which I had been using for magnification - to make the focus box as small as possible). Now with the multi-controller on the very handy fn2 button, I can usually leave that on magnification, but I can also pull up the tone curves setting very very easily. WB and aspect ratio can also be controlled from that same "multi control" button, but I rarely mess with those while shooting...

-Ray
 
Thanks, Ray.

Another setup that I would recommend is to set the four way controller to "Direct Function" (Gears -> B -> Button Function -> Four way controller function). The default setting assigns the buttons to move the focus point around the screen, a function that can be easily performed using the touch screen. Doing this allows you to assign the down and right arrows to things like ISO, WB, flash, etc. If you still want to use the buttons to move the focus point you just press the left arrow. The up arrow allows you to change shutter speed, aperture, and exposure comp with the four way controller (E-PL1 style!).
 
My favourite settings to set/change on the E-M5, some of which will have been described in the DPReview link:

Super Control Panel: All Oly users swear by it. (Gears -> D -> Control Settings) It's not quite as simple as turning it on, though. You actually have to choose which modes you want it to display in!

Warm White Balance: Setting this to off removes the default warm cast to the WB, recommended (Gears -> G -> Keep Warm Color). This menu also contains the Noise Filter. On previous Olys this was quite aggressive (jpegs only, of course). I leave it off

IBIS preview: (Gears -> C -> Half Way Rls with IS) Set this to on to start the IBIS upon half-pressing the shutter button.

Magnify off with Shutter: (Gears -> E -> LV Close Up mode) In previous Pen models, once you activated the magnified focus assist it would remain in magnified view until the shutter was released unless you physically returned it to normal view. The E-M5 allows you to choose to disable the magnified view upon a half press of the shutter. This mirrors how Panasonic's G series Micro 4/3 cameras work.
 
Thanks Nic. Yeah, the "direct function" thing is a must - I don't recall a previous Oly this wasn't the standard configuration, but I guess with this one there are so many potential buttons they figured some people who like to move the focus point a lot might like to skip some buttons. I was a bit confused by it until I turned this on. The Super Control Panel is Oly's best kept secret except everyone eventually figures it out. I'm pretty sure its what Fuji was trying to copy with its excellent "Q" button on the X-Pro 1, which takes you into a very SCP-like interface. Also Warm White Balance is something that should default to off, but doesn't. The first thing I change on any Oly camera. And the IBIS preview doesn't matter to me mostly, but its sort of miraculous with a long lens or if you're magnified trying to manually focus on something (which I don't do much either).

Good stuff. Very complicated camera when you first get it (like all Olys, but more-so but once you live with it a while and get it customized to your liking, very simple camera to actually USE... A worthy tradeoff to me.

-Ray
 
Good stuff. Very complicated camera when you first get it (like all Olys, but more-so but once you live with it a while and get it customized to your liking, very simple camera to actually USE... A worthy tradeoff to me.

-Ray

Exactly. I find that an Olympus menu only ever need be complex once. When I've got it set up the first time I rarely need to go back.
 
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