Olympus OM-D E-M5 real world RAW and JPEG samples to download

[bichon]

i'm not sure.. i do know that when i'm shooting, i'm all over the place (wide to normal to zoom). the question is, can i handle switching lenses on the fly ?. maybe i should look thru my port and see what my favorite focal length is and buy primes and keep that one on and hope when i switch, i dont lose the shots.
what do you think ?

[Ian]

Shooting with primes does mean changing your style a bit; as someone else recently described; you use your legs to zoom

The m.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is very versatile and super sharp. It's not too expensive either, and it's very small and light. The Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 pancake is impressive and not too expensive and also tiny and light. For street photography I could probably work well with just these two lenses. As these lenses are so sharp and you're looking at 16MP body, you could zoom by cropping as well.

Some say that shooting with primes adds discipline to one's photography. Personally, I like zooms but do like the challenge of using primes.

Ian

[Ian]

It's rather ironic that I think this latest samples gallery is probably the most interesting that I have produced and yet it has not been picked up that much by other sites. I wonder if everyone is sick of E-M5 sample images now!

Ian

[Ian]

Actually, I'm wondering if thumbnail views in a gallery is a bit old hat. Maybe I should generate larger preview images that click through to the full sample image? At the moment I fit three 'slide frames' across the page and each one is 175x175 pixels with the image contained 150 pixels along the long side. Instead I could probably do two columns of unframed 300 pixel wide preview images. What do you think?

Ian

[StephenL]

Yes, it would be easier to pick and choose photos for detailed perusal.

[bichon]

Originally Posted by Ian

Shooting with primes does mean changing your style a bit; as someone else recently described; you use your legs to zoom

The m.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 is very versatile and super sharp. It's not too expensive either, and it's very small and light. The Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 pancake is impressive and not too expensive and also tiny and light. For street photography I could probably work well with just these two lenses. As these lenses are so sharp and you're looking at 16MP body, you could zoom by cropping as well.

Some say that shooting with primes adds discipline to one's photography. Personally, I like zooms but do like the challenge of using primes.

Ian

sounds like a good idea. the only issue is that in some situations for my street photography, getting too close would cause the people to look my way and ruin the candid look. but maybe i could crop in and hope the distortion would not be too obvious on 8x11 prints.like this one (sorry, cannot post images till i do 6 posts.. just put http\\ business before this:
gallery.photo.net/photo/14723117-lg.jpg

[bichon]

do i really need a zoom ?
well, i looked over my pics (my best ones)...

47 taken at wide (18-24)
39 taken at normalish (36-50)
28 taken at zoom (80-120)

most landscapes and street-scapes taken at wide
candids from far away.. or places where i cant 'use my feet' (like on a boat)... (80-120)
so i suppose i could do with keeping a wide on the camera and switch to a normal and if time, switch to the zoom, or use the normal.. crop and hope my 8x12 prints dont show much distortion.

[aamalric]

Originally Posted by Ian

It's rather ironic that I think this latest samples gallery is probably the most interesting that I have produced and yet it has not been picked up that much by other sites. I wonder if everyone is sick of E-M5 sample images now!

Ian

Yes, I think it's the case. Opinion at DPR went through various meltdowns due to strange comparisons, and now people don't trust their eyes

Of the pictures I downloaded here the most interesting to me was the nocturnal parking one at 1600. It shows the balance between resolution and noise the camera is capable of. Same goes for the portrait at 1600.

The street shots at 200 ISO show some progress in DR IMHO.

Not sure of my screen: blue skies still look a bit grainy. Have to check again.
IYO did we earn something at base ISO compared to the 12 Mpx sensor?

Thank you for all the effort!

Am.

[diforbes]

I'm new here and have never used a four-thirds or micro four thirds camera, however I'm seriously considering the OM-D E-M5 in order to lighten the load of carrying two heavier dSLRs and lenses, plus being able to buy a lot more kit for the money. The samples and the discussion here are interesting and are addressing two questions I have:
- Four Thirds lenses that use phase detect AF on the E-M5, which is designed to use contrast detect AF. I've been told by another reviewer that using lenses such as the 12-60mm SWD via an adapter will result in sluggish AF performance with a lot of hunting, especially in low light, on the E-M5. For a mid-range zoom, the 12-60 seems like a good, fast (but expensive), choice. What has been your experience using Four Thirds lenses so far? I would hate to buy one or other FT lenses and not have the AF work well.
- Zooms versus primes. The mFT lens line up seems to favor primes as far as speed and IQ goes. I use two zooms a lot, a mid-range (18-70mm f3.5/4.5 Nikkor DX) and a 70-200mm f2.8 FX Nikkor). I don't see fast (meaning max f4) in the mFT mid-range and telephoto zoom categories. Which of the Olympus and Panasonic mFT zooms do you favor?

Thanks.

[Ian]

It's true that both Panasonic and Olympus have focused on making Micro Four Thirds small and light and this has meant sacrificing some lens brightness through smaller maximum apertures. The exceptions, as you have noted, are some primes.

With electronic viewfinder cameras there is less need for a very bright maximum aperture in terms of viewfinder usability. Olympus and Panasonic have advanced image stabilisation systems too, so using slower shutter speeds than you may be used to is viable. You may find that Olympus and Panasonic MFT zoom lenses are sharper, especially in the corners, at full aperture than some of your Nikon lenses.

But you are right, there are limited options for native MFT fast zooms but as Olympus and Panasonic build their systems they will eventually address this. Panasonic's roadmap already includes some fast zoom lenses.

The Zuiko Digital 14-54 f/2.8-3.5 II is a high quality (and dust and moisture sealed) Four Thirds lens that is designed to work optimally on a Four Thirds DSLR in phase detect and contrast detect modes. It's not super fast in either mode, but it's not slow and unreliable either. This would be a good alternative to the 12-60 SWD. The 12-60 is not optimised for CDAF and although focusing is not terribly slow on the E-M5, I am finding that AF reliability is not guaranteed - the 14-54 II is much better in this respect.

Ian