The E-M1 keeps receiving awards as best camera of the year 2013. The E-M1 has now been chosen as mirrorless camera of the year at Photographyblog too!
Some more E-M1 tests:
E-M1 vs GX7 at BestMirrorlessCameras.
Can the OM-D E-M1 Replace Your DSLR for Sports Photography? (TheDigitalStory).
Sam: “Not a rumor, but I’ve posted some thoughts about shooting action with the E-M1, including some photos and some criticisms regarding shooting in the “Hi” and “Lo” FPS modes that I don’t hear anyone else really grumbling about – an area of improvement I think Oly needs to work on. http://www.flickr.com/groups/om-d_user/discuss/72157639712733065/”
Not everything about the E-M1 is perfect:
There is one unsolved issue: Phase detect AF strips showing up in Olympus E-M1 video (EosHD).
And one solved: Tim told me that “a good number of us with E-M1’s had a pink color shift in the Apple RAW processor. It’s now been fixed with the latest Raw update.”
E-M1 Store Links:
Olympus E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto, Amazon DE (via DL), Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL), WexUK, Topshot FI, CameraWorldUK.
Olympus M. Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO Lens at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, AmazonDE (viaDL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-40mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK and CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus E-M1 with 12-50mm Lens kit at Amazon DE (via DL), WexUK, CameraWorldUK, Amazon UK (via DL), Amazon ES (via DL).
Olympus EP-13 Eyecup for E-M1 at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus HLD-7 Battery Grip for E-M1 at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LC-62D Metal Front Lens Cap for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
Olympus LH-66 Lens Hood for 12-40mm at Adorama and BHphoto.
36 Responses
The EosHD article is an interesting read. Although it has this issue that shows up sometimes it is good to see he does rate the camera for video due to the I.S. Adding the extra frame rates would be good but it is clearly not stopping him using the camera for video. Just not as much as he would like to.
It also shows up during live-view at times in very bad light conditions, especially with focus peaking enabled. Hasn’t caused me any trouble, but noted it when doing some macro photography with my E-M1 with very little light.
I didnt know about that issue, but it only shows up in certain backlight scenarios?
Andrew actually using the camera for certain style of video shootings(handheld)is a fresh wind among all the complaints about framerates, keeping in mind he is perfectly aware of the not ideal specs here.
Well you won’t fix that visual issue with a firmware update…
OMD for sports is only so-so, focus tracking inferior to a DSLR and the DOF with the best m43 lenses isn’t shallow enough to get good subject separation. Sports backgrounds are so busy/distracting, those shots look no better than a p&s image.
FINALLY ….someone said it.
+1 and don’t forget that big prints from M43 sensor do not look good enough.
what is a big print ? Are we talking 6 feet by 6 feet…yep…they won’t look the best but most people don’t print that large….but if you want a 24 x 36 …micro four thirds images look spectacular….but if you want to print really big…full frame is the way to go
I think that MFT compliments FF. If you shoot seriously or professionally and are going to go out and shoot sports…why mess around? MFT just isn’t there yet for action….almost…but not quite…and it is with a $1400 body….I am not going there for sports..the money can be better spent. Maybe the next full generation of the M1 will be there-there.
Also..if I go out to shoot anything that I think may eventually print large (32″ and up) I am going to definitely take my full frame….
…but I rarely shoot sports…and I do shoot for a local blog…and I always take my MFT gear for that….so much more fun! …and I use an E-P5 and an E-PL6..both with VF-4’s ….it keeps everything small…and does what MFT does well, for me.
If you only have one system…and you are going to shoot action…then the M1 makes sense…
Yes, I too think both systems compliment each other well. I bought a D610 recently to supplement my EM1 (I didn’t choose an A7, I didn’t work for me, too slow, viewfinder blackout, mushy shutter button, battery life…) to use with primes for shallow DOF work (for m43 I have a Voigtländer, but its heavy for m43 and manual, I sometimes like autofocus, too).
But macro and zooms as well as small 1.8 primes are great with the OMD. Best of both worlds!
The tracking isn’t as good as a nikon d4…but it is certainly better than the d7100 or d5300…the 75 1.8 will give you tremendous separation….at least it does when I use this combination .
The 75mm is a GREAT lens…(I own one)…but you are not going to get anywhere close to the separation of the Canon 135mm f/2L on a FF camera….no where near…and you will get better continuos AF (apparently…based on the articles above on this page)…so in the end you get more isolated subject and more keepers (with similar skill sets)…but you have to lug the beasts around. LOL! I am hoping that Olympus can equal the best FF CAF with the M2. MFT still remains the most compact and “complete” mirrorless system (barring AF primes at the wide and tele ends of its lens selections). It will get there..but in the meantime….I am really glad that I bought into this system!
Well, he’s more or less said it himself: the solution to the strips problem is buying an EM5 or EM10 (probably no OSPADF).
sorry, replied to wrong thread
1.8 is about f4 FF equiv. so that should be about one stop slower than the fastest 300mm 2.8. However, many use 300mm f4 for sports as well so I don’t really see a problem with the DOF. The images look bad because of lack of skill.
Regardless I don’t see why you would wanna use a m43 for that kind of photography. With the ISO set at 3200 you don’t even need to print large to see all the ugliness (this will already look bad at fullscreen on an average monitor).
Now, what loads of people don’t realise, when they do sports or wildlife comparisons with fullframe, is that the lenses they use for comparisons are so far out of the budget of most enthusiasts that it is completely unreasonable. For example the above mentioned Canon 300mm, 2.8 L costs 6800$ at B&H. Such a lens doesn’t even exist in m43. If you are that serious, then of course there is no reason to go m43. However, when you’re out wanting to shoot your kids sport, and take it a bit more serious than the moms with their cell phones, m43 offer more focal length for less money. Especially when the olympus 40-150 2.8 comes out, m43 will be a very nice option to shoot sports on an enthusiast, but probably not on a professional level.
And that’s fine.
Well, I’m not saying you should compare these. In fact I just pointed out that there is no problem with DOF.
And if you wanna talk about similar-budget-similar-performance, an average 70-300 4.5-5.6 will probably be a cheaper option than the 40-150 2.8 while offering roughly the same absolute max. aperture at the long end. That’s something an enthusiast on budget might want to consider.
MFT gear is the only gear I have now. When I was shooting sports professionally, I was using pro dSLR gear. If I was still doing that, I’d likely still be using dSLR gear. That said, being someone who does shoot sports occasionally just for fun now, the E-M1 is definitely a worthwhile up grade over the E-M5 since the C-AF opens up your options in terms of how you shoot.
@Chris
my opinion:
when I see ultra shallow depth of field used for sports photography by full framers the background looks like watercolour mush/blobs which ends up looking it’s been green screened in a studio and the end result is far more distracting and takes away from the overall composition…
same goes for cinema shots.
That first set of shots I posted were shot in the middle of the day at small apertures, so the DOF isn’t really indicative of what MFT can provide. At this point I’m really concentrating on whether the AF can keep up with action, and so far my experience (including shooting with the 12-40mm) says that it can. From there then it means shooting with faster lenses, using ND filters so that I can use a slow enough shutter speed in conjunction with large apertures to help blur the background. DOF is not the only tool int the photographer’s toolkit to get clean looking backgrounds.
That first set of shots I posted were shot in the middle of the day at small apertures, so the DOF isn’t really indicative of what MFT can provide. At this point I’m really concentrating on whether the AF can keep up with action, and so far my experience (including shooting with the 12-40mm) says that it can. From there then it means shooting with faster lenses, using ND filters so that I can use a slow enough shutter speed in conjunction with large apertures to help blur the background. DOF is not the only tool int the photographer’s toolkit to get clean looking backgrounds.
I like the mechanical Design. It Looks More serious than the other OM-D’ s.
In the Same Mood is the new Fuji xT 1.
I doubt the the Fuji will focus “as well” as the M1…that is PURE speculation….but I doubt it seriously….Maybe Fuji will have a surprise!?
wow, really the pink shift issue was fixed!
Camera of the year….????
How can it be?
The videomode of this camera sucks in the most part of the word, as it doesn’t have 25/50p. If a processor can read 30 pics out, it could easy read 25, but Olympus doesn’t care, or just stupid, arrogant. But we are so excited that this is the camera of the year.
We shouldn’t focus so much on new gear that we lose the focus on the core fucntionality. Basic video functionality should be OK, before they put Wi-fi, GPS, ECT… into the cameras. And now comes the 4K!!! How exciting! I fear, we start with 4 times the problems…
Please, realize that the majority of photographers don’t care or care only a little about video.
The numerous awards, the E-M1 receives, are completely justified. It is simply the best camera released in 2013. Great ergonomics in a small and light package. That is what so many want and not video bloated hybrid with hybrid ergonomics and compromised view finders.
And the E-M1 is more feature-rich than any other cameras released in 2013. Another very important reason why it is the camera of the year.
It’s not the Camera of the Year, it’s the Compact System Camera of the year.
The Camera of the year on their site is the Sony A7R:
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/camera_of_the_year_2013/
So yeah, there is a higher award on their site. The E-M1 just won a certain category.
I own a Sony HD camcorder. It has a function where if you press a button on the side, it takes a still photo. Was this a selling point when I bought it? Of course not. I bought it for it’s video capabilities. For decades, cameras have lacked the ability to shoot video. So I don’t get the hand-wringing some people do when a STILLS camera doesn’t have the latest video options that a dedicated video camera from the same company.
The EM1 is an amazing camera for stills (funny that, using a camera for still images). I couldn’t care any less about how it shoots video. Sure, I’d use it in a pinch if I really needed to but I definitely won’t go into the trouble of making full movies on a STILLS camera.
What are people like you going to whine about next in a few years if/when video improves? Oh no, the new EM2 doesn’t send texts as well as my iPhone 7 or the internet browser is slower than my computer at home. This is why it can’t be camera of the year 2016!
Rubbish.
Has the camera locking up been an issue with others?
I can’t speak for anybody else, but my E-M5 locks up on (rare) occasion, the E-M1 — never. At least, not yet.
Just a reminder: Olympus outreached 24×36 film resolution with 10 perhaps 12 Mpx. With 16 we have been long past it. So really, what is now FF35 belongs to middle format, which is a very specific, and expensive endeavour – budget enthusiast was correct.
Now ADMIN, any news of a FW update of the (old) E-M5. They sell it yet, you know 🙂
no news sorry 🙁
Thank you. Let’s hope they do it for the sake of selling the 12-40 🙂
Any news about the Olympus 300mm telephoto?
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