The Olympus OM-D E-M5 is, in my view the first Mirrorless at all that in this sense affords no serious weaknesses more. So I was hoping before buying, and it has fortunately confirmed even after four weeks of intensive use. With her I have to be the first time the feeling arrived in my life as buyers of digital cameras, and no longer need to hope for new developments. I think the E-M5 will stay with me until they faded away.
The list of desired properties, after which you can contact the E-M5 is a catch to long for a review like this. I recommend a look at the usual review pages. On dpreview there is already a as usual very good report by Richard Butler; Imaging Resource and dcresource will follow soon. The extensive configuration options informed myself in the setting thread for E-M5 camera system of the German Forum. In this report, here I would like to especially on the points which are not necessarily clear, even after reading the usual reports, at least not with such clarity. These are:
- The stabilizer works quite excellent, very unlike the built-in stabilizers PENs. One should, as always, the advertising messages ('5 f-stops') does not take on full, but the stability is competing with the best lens stabilizers on the market, and that's pretty sensational for a housing stability. For me personally it brings secure three stops, which is a lot. Above all, he has but never affected me visibly negative effect on the image quality. Also videos are quite excellent stabilized (again this is not the case with the pen).
All stabilizers generate noise, so even this, and it is true that he works louder than other stabilizers. This is not in video mode, where it is much quieter, but oddly enough, very well, if you completely off him (no idea if the latter approach is solved by a firmware update time). However, I believe that this is a non-issue. I have already photographed with the camera in a closed, relatively quiet rooms with other people, and never has anyone noticed the noise (I sometimes demand). There would again be much louder.
- For portraits, the AF works with face detection quite excellent, even with very fast lenses (I am currently working exclusively with Panasonic Leica 25mm / 1.4). If the person looks roughly toward the camera, the face is reliably detected and the set by photographer eye focuses (the left, the right, or simply the more). Namely, exactly. No front focus, not a back focus, and it is actually the eye focuses, rather than the nose, the brim of his hat, or anything else, which is closer to the camera is located as the eye can see.
Despite such positive highlights you will need to learn as a DSLR Umsteiger dealing with the AF. The typical DSLR-focusing characteristic, always focusing on the next object in the AF area, about whose absence I've just been delighted in the case of portraits is elsewhere namely quite missing. If the AF includes partly a low-contrast object in the foreground, but parts are filled by high-contrast background, the AF will usually opt for the background, what one simply does not want to now. And this situation often occurs, skin and coat are now even low-contrast structures. You can fight back against it, especially with the zoom function, with which you can effectively reduce the AF. But the handling of it will be practiced, especially when you have to keep in sequential shots with AF-C the main subject in the then small and no longer displayed from the 2nd picture AF frame ...
- Speaking of series pictures: here is doing very positive effect that the E-M5 has a short blackout time, quite comparable to that of SLR cameras. In the vast majority of mirrorless which is unfortunately not the case. This not only helps sequential shots, but also in normal Photography: very quickly after triggering one has again a live image in the viewfinder and therefore can possibly trigger again quickly..
- A real surprise set the type filter for me is I actually had the dismissed before buying a useless advertising feature, but behold, some of which I use actually.. It is after all an advantage to get paraded during recording in the viewfinder, as the whole will look at the end and as an effect, for example, changes in the exposure.
- Especially with the Panasonic Leica 25mm / 1.4 noticed that the infamous aperture rattle no longer occurs at the E-M5 usually. Tip: Turn off the camera when changing lenses, otherwise it rattles anyway! Who the owner of an E-M5 and wants to know 25 / 1.4ers, which is ever mentioned, can sometimes testhalber turn the mode dial to 'Movie', there Setting mode P and shoot a movie without really then panning between very bright run and very dark subjects ... this is in contrast to the stability noise even really a disturbing noise, and it occurs more or less strongly with this otherwise great lens on all μFT cameras on. Only the non-E-M5. Did I not know that the purchase and look forward now more so!
- Very disturbing I find the 'D rings' that these triangular metal rattling parts to which you should attach the camera strap. Fortunately, they can be very easily (pull the flexible plastic parts and metal parts Unscrew similar keyrings) remove. I have, following a forum Tips, on the right eye now as a wrist strap of the Wii Remote depend (those things really keep what from, was sued in the first versions for Nintendo due to weak ligaments). So I find the handling now very good.
- The touch panel is a nice added value. Unfortunately, it feels like the eye sensor in the enclosure, so you prefer the latter disabled. However, the targeted focus and direct the selection of menu items in the SCP (the main menu) is a fine thing. And the folding mechanism is the preferred I variant: a handle has a light viewfinder camera that can be held, moreover, very good (is on the set / out folding displays not the case, so I do not this, despite their greater flexibility like so much). Unfortunately, the touch panel does not work during filming, so very few user intervention as possible at all during filming. This and the lack of support for PAL frame rates and 24p will probably let video fans to steer clear of the camera make, despite the anti-roll bars, the functioning even in video mode Tracking AF and also in video mode strong image quality.
- When playing I find the slow response times of the camera a bit disappointing. You mean that you can not quickly scroll through the images by nimble on wheel turns (there are then a number of clicks swallowed easily). Fortunately, the only really applies in playback mode; when taking the camera reacts fast and reliably to user input.
Conclusion: a really good camera is Olympus because succeeded! Finally you can take advantage of the inherent strengths such as the sophisticated wireless flash system and the great μFT lens park, without having to put up elsewhere with severe restrictions. I think this is the first serious attack from the mirrorless bearing on semi-professional DSLRs, and. Not only because of the dust / water protected Bodies and the optional battery grip, but mainly because of the all-round successful overall package
