The µ43 thread - welcome to the really dark side

PardonTheWait · 29 Apr 2016 at 23:29

I believe it's all plastic on all the colours, but the camera's heavier than the GX7. It's supposed to feel quite nice and solid.

The 12-32 kit lens is apparently very good especially for its size so I picked it up, for the sake of £90. I actually got the twin lens kit with the 35-100 as well.

I've got the 12-35 f.28 which I've just bought, so if it turns out I never use the 12-32, I guess I'll just sell it, but I think for making the camera so small it'll be worthwhile keeping for when I want to just take the camera somewhere.

No experience with UWA lenses on M43, I think panasonic do a 7-14 f4 and olympus do a 7-14 which is mega money and a 9-18 which is a bit more reasonable? They're all quite a lot though.

I'm considering picking up the 9mm body cap lens that Olympus do as it costs relative buttons and can make some quite nice images. Fisheye and f8.0, it's more of a toy lens.

Phate · 30 Apr 2016 at 00:43

I've used both the 9-18 and 7-14 and own the latter.

IQ from the 7-14 is better. But the 9-18 is lighter, more compact, cheaper and has the ability to take a filter without some crazy adaptors. Depends on your requirements

- both are good lenses!

Otherwise I own the 12-40 f/2.8 - a good all rounder. I recently picked up the Oly 17mm f/1.8 which is I'm really enjoying.

Next on my list is:

- A longer prime, maybe the 45mm or slightly longer
- 12mm f/2.0

Think about what you need, your style and go from there! Also a good starting point is looking at what lenses you have on a DSLR system (assuming you do?) And your favourites from that then finding the equivalent on MFT

HTH

2StepSteve · 30 Apr 2016 at 10:52

Cheers guys that was useful.

I have a selection of lenses for my 5D3, find myself sticking to 35mm and 85mm a lot. I could probably get away with only needing two or three lenses for the MFT system. The 14-150mm for instance looks appealing. Liking the fact that monster reach is available for a relatively low price due to the crop factor.

I found some sample raw files from the GX80 and tried to import them in to Lightroom but no dice, not support yet. Would be good to see how much give is available when editing. I assume it will be an improvement from my RX100.

Phate · 30 Apr 2016 at 11:30

If you like the 35mm then a 17mm is a must. It's the equivalent. Gives great images too. I used to have an 85mm on DSLR as well, hence considering the 45mm

How much 'give' depends on the camera of course...can only comment on the Olympus apart from the fact the images tend to 'bloom' a bit they're very flexible. But that suits my style anyway and I now underexpose when shooting to compensate and have more control in post

bsoltan · 1 May 2016 at 08:56

My E-PL5 is taking a bit of a beating on current holiday. Not just in terms of photos.

Rolled off the bed today and tried two lenses and get an odd grinding when ~~it tries to focus~~ you turn the camera on, the red S-IS [1] icon flashes on the screen.
As far as I can tell it isn't harming the photos it still focuses and takes pictures ok.

I'm trying to search but limited at the moment. Anything I can check/do to see what could have happened.
When I bought the camera I took out the Currys insurance thing which I still have - I'll have to read the paperwork when I get home to see if this is covered if it is an issue.

paul10 · 2 May 2016 at 16:50

[/url]Bumble Bee by Paul Stuart, on Flickr[/IMG]liking using my 100-400mm for macro style shots

[/url]Butterfly by Paul Stuart, on Flickr[/IMG][/IMG]

ajf · 2 May 2016 at 17:08

bsoltan said:
My E-PL5 is taking a bit of a beating on current holiday. Not just in terms of photos.

Rolled off the bed today and tried two lenses and get an odd grinding when ~~it tries to focus~~ you turn the camera on, the red S-IS [1] icon flashes on the screen.
As far as I can tell it isn't harming the photos it still focuses and takes pictures ok.

I'm trying to search but limited at the moment. Anything I can check/do to see what could have happened.
When I bought the camera I took out the Currys insurance thing which I still have - I'll have to read the paperwork when I get home to see if this is covered if it is an issue.

I believe that indicates an IS system error/failure. The sound is the anti dust mechanism not working correctly. There is an article somewhere on this as I remember this from when I had an issue and was searching. As it happens it wasn't the same issue for me.

Edit.
Yep, here we go. Had saved it for future reference!
Different model, but same issue:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3089011

Greebo · 3 May 2016 at 11:44

Well its being an expensive month. Bought a second hand 75mm f1.8 for £400 earlier in the month and snapped up a 40-150 PRO f2.8 with 1.4 teleconverter for £850 over the weekend.

That's me sorted for the summer.

I must say the 75mm is an absolute gem of a lens although not as much as a bargain the 45mm is.

Oh and i made the complete noob mistake over the weekend thinking I had broken either my body or 12-40 pro lens as it was stuck on MF. Didnt realise that there was a clutch plate on the 12-40

Again, need to read the manual more like Phate! Oh and there has recently being another firmware update for the body Phate which is meant to improve the IS mainly (plus an option to switch the clutch plate off on the 12-40 lens

Minstadave · 3 May 2016 at 12:42

Currently have a Samsung NX300 but looking to try and find something a bit better, ideally want something quicker with an EVF and better continuous/tracking AF performance. Originally was looking at staying APSC with either a Fuji X series (expensive) or Sony A6000 (no decent long lens) but I gather that m43 offers similar performance in a smaller body with a better selection of lenses.

Which camera would best offer decent AF performance, reasonable low light performance and work well with a longer lens for wildlife pics? The GX80 looks interesting with its dual IS, I don't really understand the differences in the Olympus range well.

Greebo · 3 May 2016 at 13:35

For sports action you want the EM-1 in the olympus range as this has dual AF (contrast and phase detect)

The IS on all the olympus cameras is like magic (4 stops) and being built into the body works with any lens unlike the panasonic which you have the IS on the lens with the exception of the new gx80

There is the new olympus 300m f4 (600m effective) lens which has IS built in which will work with the IS on your olympus to give you 6 stops benefit! From reviews this means you can hand hold and get sharp shots at 1/50th second.

ajf · 3 May 2016 at 20:40

There is also a new E-M1 due soon apparently, so might be worth seeing what happens with that.
Either better features for you, or bargains on the current model!

Minstadave · 3 May 2016 at 23:06

ajf said:
There is also a new E-M1 due soon apparently, so might be worth seeing what happens with that.
Either better features for you, or bargains on the current model!

Would be a shame to drop a load of cash and it be replaced.

It's hard to know what to do, the Sony a6000/a6300 looks great but has no longer lenses, the Fuji XPro 2 is nice but the body alone is 1K plus and another 1K-2K for a couple of lenses, micro 4/3rds has a better and cheaper lens range bit Im worried about AF performance with it being contrast only.

Spent all night reading review - the GX8 looks like it might fit my needs best.

Greebo · 4 May 2016 at 09:33

dont forget current EM-1 is phase and contrast AF

Minstadave · 4 May 2016 at 10:52

My main concern about the EM-1 is that it looks like it'll be replaced sometime soon, plus it's a fair bit more expensive than the Panasonic GX80 or GX8 both of which have newer sensors.

Greebo · 4 May 2016 at 12:02

Minstadave said:
My main concern about the EM-1 is that it looks like it'll be replaced sometime soon, plus it's a fair bit more expensive than the Panasonic GX80 or GX8 both of which have newer sensors.

True, i was just pointing out about the AF sensor bit.

But yes, if i was you, until the new em-1 comes out, the GX80 looks the pic of the bunch atm.

Minstadave · 4 May 2016 at 12:27

Greebo said:
True, i was just pointing out about the AF sensor bit.

But yes, if i was you, until the new em-1 comes out, the GX80 looks the pic of the bunch atm.

Appreciate the advice mate, it's really hard to pick out what's best.

Greebo · 4 May 2016 at 13:10

Minstadave said:
Appreciate the advice mate, it's really hard to pick out what's best.

What i discovered when i got my em5 II is that the em10,em1 and mark 1 em5 will all take stunning pics and so will the Panasonics. I was more swayed back then to the olympus due to IS being on the body but Panasonic matches that now.

Just seems to vary what features they have.

I was lucky enough to grab a em5 mk 2 body with 4 original batteries and vertical holder for under £500 from ebay with only 400 shots fired so that was too good a bargain to resist!

Was tempted to get the em1 just purely for the AF but i can live without. The contrast AF is pretty damn good anyway

Smeghead · 4 May 2016 at 13:29

Greebo said:
dont forget current EM-1 is phase and contrast AF

I believe that's only for Four Thirds lenses though (not Micro Four Thirds).

I remember when the GX7 was released, it annoyingly doesn't have the IS available during video, whereas Olympus cameras has it for both stills and video. I don't know if that's still the case, but something to look into if you're interested in video at all.

I do love Panasonic's DFD focus technology though. It's so so quick!

Greebo · 4 May 2016 at 16:56

Smeghead said:
I believe that's only for Four Thirds lenses though (not Micro Four Thirds).

I remember when the GX7 was released, it annoyingly doesn't have the IS available during video, whereas Olympus cameras has it for both stills and video. I don't know if that's still the case, but something to look into if you're interested in video at all.

I do love Panasonic's DFD focus technology though. It's so so quick!

no it switches over to Phase only if you connect a Four Third lens but on CAF on micro lenses it uses both for best of both worlds. Hence EM-1 is much better suited to sports/fast moving pics.

With Micro Four Thirds lenses, that functionality is exclusively reserved for Continuous AF mode. When you switch to continuous AF, the camera uses a combination of both contrast and phase detection AF, which results in fast focus acquisition and less “probing” of focus.

2StepSteve · 5 May 2016 at 10:26

I ordered the GX80 and the 12-32 kit lens. Jessops called today to confirm the delivery address, I asked about when it's expected to come in stock and was told late May, possibly early June. Gah! I hope it arrives before my holiday.