Thinking of OM-D, would appreciate experienced opinions

grannybuttons

After a couple of unhappy years with a Canon 7D (it's just too large for me) I've sold it and am thinking of an Olympus OM-D. I would appreciate comments from people who've already bought one or used it extensively. What alternatives are there at around the same price?

I mostly do photojournalism and reportage, with a new interest in landscape & travel photography, normally not wanting to carry camera bags. Apart from the camera, the only accessory I want to carry is a notepad/pen and a phone.

I like putting the camera to my eye, and don't like cameras without viewfinders. Is there anything to compare with the OM-D at the price? I've only seen them in camera shops, and can't find one to use outside.

I had OM1 and OM2 for nearly 20 years from the 1970s, and recently held one again, and was shocked at how big the high-end cameras have now become, in comparison.

Need2Ski

I've had one for 2+ months. I have the 12-50 kit lens, the 40-150, the Panasonic Leica 25 f1.4, and the Oly 45 f1.8. Was primarily using an Oly E620 and since the Olympus 43 system seemed largely stagnant with no clear upgrade path I started looking at cameras like the D7000, D60, 7D, etc. But every time I looked at them with lenses I wanted smaller and lighter rather than bigger and heavier. I take cameras hiking and use them a lot for travel, size matters to me. The E-M5 had almost everything I wanted and I jumped into the m43 system pretty much head first. The DR blows and noise performance at higher isos blows the E620 out of the water. Most professional reviews put the IQ very close to the current APS-C crop of dSLRs and that's what my eyes tell me. I'll try to highlight potential limitations. With native lenses single frame autofocus is very fast but continuous tracking autofocus still lags behind good APS-C cameras. Probably not the optimal choice for action sports or tracking birds in flight. Small size means buttons are fairly small and somewhat cramped. I have the grip and generally use the horizontal grip. I think that really improves handling. This doesn't really bother me and I just view it as part of the trade off for having a highly customizable camera in a diminutive package. The menu system is, to be kind, not very transparent. I felt it took me a while to adjust to the camera. Using cdaf is different than using pdaf and I feel the default evaluative meter errors too much toward protecting highlights. Not necessarily bad but anything with specular highlights was underexposed. I've largely switched to center-weighted and trying to meter the essential elements (just a better technique anyway) and am finding the metering to be very good. The kit lens has some nice features (weather resistant, decent close focus mode, power zoom for video) but, IMO, optically it's simply a solid kit lens. I'm kind of looking at the new Panasonic 12-35 and I'm holding out hope that Olympus will release a high quality standard zoom. The 40-150 is remarkably small and light and my copy is way better optically than it has any right being for the size, weight, and price. The line-up of prime lenses is quite strong. I find the PL25 and Oly 45 really excellent. The new 75mm is reputed to be a really outstanding lens. The in body image stabilization system is, IMO, a big asset. IBIS with an f1.4 lens will allow you to shoot hand held in pretty darn low light. I feel it offers a lot of features in a small package. It ain't perfect but I'm very satisfied. If you have specific questions I'll try to answer.

roscowgo

I just bought my first ever non P&S camera, and there was a lot of thinking about different cameras.

I'm on the poor side of broke and ultimately had to go with a refurbed 1100D.

The 4/3rds cameras were such a temptation though. Especially the ones with viewfinders. The OM-D was at the top of the come hither list.

Not knowing anything about lenses... the ones available for the 4/3 cameras seem to be good, at a smaller size, for a much lower price. That was way tempting.

TomCollins

grannybuttons wrote: »

After a couple of unhappy years with a Canon 7D (it's just too large for me) I've sold it and am thinking of an Olympus OM-D. I would appreciate comments from people who've already bought one or used it extensively. What alternatives are there at around the same price?

I mostly do photojournalism and reportage, with a new interest in landscape & travel photography, normally not wanting to carry camera bags. Apart from the camera, the only accessory I want to carry is a notepad/pen and a phone.

I like putting the camera to my eye, and don't like cameras without viewfinders. Is there anything to compare with the OM-D at the price? I've only seen them in camera shops, and can't find one to use outside.

I had OM1 and OM2 for nearly 20 years from the 1970s, and recently held one again, and was shocked at how big the high-end cameras have now become, in comparison.

I want to weigh in on your question about making the change to a M4/3's set up from an APS-c camera.

First everything that Need2Ski said is right on and all the technical data on these cameras is out there with review after review. The pixel peepers have checked it out and they too have weighed in on the OMD E-M5. What I would want to ad is that you should ask yourself what are your intentions with the photographs you take. Are you "going pro"? Do you want to print billboard size prints? Or are you mostly interested in documenting your life, travel, family and posting to on-line sources like Dgrin, your own web page, Flickr and the like?

To me carrying a 35 pound camera bag full of lenses used to seem really important. I felt compelled to keep up with the constantly and rapidly changing world of digital cameras and all the improvements, that by the way, seem to happen weekly. I realized however in this past year that I really like having a camera with me constantly and I'm serious, all the time. Having my camera, which until 6 months ago was a Nikon D700, with me all the time, just became too much. It was just too big to have with me constantly. So I started looking into alternatives. I rented a few different cameras from on-line rental companies like "lensrental.com" or "borrowlenses.com" and tried a few out.

Soon I was asking myself the question I posed to you...what am I doing with my photos. I have done a number of weddings, I do a lot of aerial and construction photography and I get paid for those things, but I don't do it a lot and I don't make a living at it. Largely I shoot for my own interest. Travel, family, friends, special interest stuff (I like portraits, rust and old stuff). I have my own web site, I post on Flickr and I've recently found some wonderful new friends here on Dgrin. I also have a printer that prints up to 13x19" prints and I like printing, matting and framing my favorites to hang around our home and to give away to friends. And the prints that come from the OMD are stunning.

So, I guess my point is this, understand why you shoot, what you shoot and what you plan to do with the shots you take. I made the switch to an Olympus OMD E-M5 several months ago and after not picking up my Nikon D700 for all the months that I had the OMD, I decided to sell it and all the lenses and big gear I had to support it. I've never, not once, even a little bit felt like I made a mistake. I am extremely happy with the OMD and I'll never look back. AND my camera is always, constantly with me again and I'm happy about that.

P.S. Need2Ski mentioned the Panasonic 25mm F1.4 and the Olympus 45mm F1.8. I have them both and they are extraordinary. The kit 12-50mm is o.k., but oddly, for me, a must have. I live in Seattle and shoot in the rain a lot and that lens on the OMD body makes a nice, water sealed setup.

Wow, that was long. Sorry if it seemed really boring. Good luck with your decision, welcome to Dgrin and I hope this was helpful.

Tom
BTW~here's a link to a recent collection of Rust http://www.tomcollinsphotography.com/PhotographicAbstractArt/Rust/24930728_DbLgqZ
And here's a link to a little trip I was just on. And everything was shot with the OMD.
http://www.tomcollinsphotography.com/Travel/Pendleton-Oregon/25306086_zQQ5sk