Olympus OM-D Test Drive

[Mike Farley]

Olympus is currently offering a free trial of its cameras and some of its lenses. The loan period is usually for 48 hours, which means that you get at least one full day to try out the equipment. If you collect the gear on a Friday, you will not have to hand it back until the Monday which could be useful. When I got my OM-D camera, my first day with the camera was mainly spent going through the extensive menus, which allow just about every control to be congfiured, fine tuning it to work the way I wanted. Even then, I was still making adjustments for the next few days. The participating dealers in London are CameraWorld and Park Cameras.

https://wow.olympus.eu/GB_en

(if you type this URL into your browser rather than clicking the link, it's "wow" not "www" and the address is case sensitive, so "GB" has to be in capitals. I cannot help thinking that Olympus could have made it a bit simpler.)

[Mike Farley]

As part of its "test and wow" campaign, Olympus is offering the chance to try out three of its prime lenses, these being the 17 f/1.8, 60 f/2.8 macro and the 75 f/1.8. The latter has the reputation to be one of the sharpest and best lenses made for any camera, although some might find the focal length which equates to 150 mm on 35 mm a bit odd (m/43 has a 2x crop factor). The macro is also supposed to be sharp, but it is the 17 f/1.8 which is very close to the classic 35 mm focal length and is potentially the most interesting optic of the three.

Despite most people judging a lens by how well it performs on test charts, there is more to the way a lens renders than that. Indeed, sharpness is not always everything and there is one club member who, after looking at shots they had just taken with one of Leica's best lenses, pronounced the results as being "too sharp"! It is a reason why some people look for older optics which give smoother and less contrasty results. It seems that Olympus' lens designers might taken a similar view and once they had made the lens sharp enough, looked at other aspects of how it performs. There is more here at The Online Photographer.

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.co ... -tale.html

Of course, not everyone will like the lens, so as a counterpoint here is Robin Wong. The author works for Olympus, apparently, but does not show any indications of bias here. Nonetheless I am looking forward to having an opportunity to test the Olympus 17 in the near future.

http://robinwong.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01 ... ympus.html

m/43 users have something of a dilemma at this focal length, as the recently introduced and slightly wider Panasonic LEICA DG Summilux 15 mm F/1.7 is getting very good reviews, albeit it is another odd focal length.

[Mike Farley]

As I have mentioned in the "Newby" thread, I shall shortly be borrowing an E-M1 and 12-40 f/2.8 lens using this scheme. Having considered all the current mirrorless options, at the moment m/43 is the system which I find most interesting. There are a number of questions I want to answer:

• Is the E-M1 worth the additional outlay? The results from both cameras are near enough identical according to DxOMark, so I will be considering factors such as handling and build quality.
• The E-M1 is supposed to have better continuous AF compared to the E-M10, but is it as good as my Canon DSLR? Not that I use C-AF that much, but I like to know that it is there if needed.
• I currently have a Panasonic 14-45 as my standard zoom and it performs very well, especially given its budget price. It does not always focus quickly on the E-M10 and is not as fast as the constant f/2.8 aperture on the 12-40, but is more compact. Would an upgrade be worthwhile?

I am also interested in all the lenses Olympus has included in this offer, so will probably end up testing those as well.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[Mike Farley]

OK, the test is now complete and some of the results did surprise me.

The actual process of arranging the loan went very smoothly, although mention is made on Olympus' website that the payment card registered with the account needs to be presented when collecting the camera. The website does not request that these details are supplied and an e-mail to the company went unanswered. A quick phone call to Park Cameras resolved the matter and they will accept any valid card.

Armed with pictorial evidence of my identity, a recent bill and a credit card, I presented myself at Park Cameras, who did not swipe my payment card, but only took a copy of it, together with my other proof of identity. Shortly afterwards I walked out of the shop with a camera kit for which I had not paid; and everyone was happy.

The whole ensemble consisted of an Olympus E-M1, 12-40 lens, a single battery and battery grip, accessory flash, cable and battery charger, which were all packed into a dinky Olympus Pen bag. You would expect a demo camera to have the latest firmware, which is currently at version 1.4, but to my surprise it was 1.1 which was installed. I did mention this on return, so by it now might have been corrected, although Olympus has just announced a major update to 2.0. Unusually for Olympus, being part of the Pro range the lens comes with a hood, which is easily removed by pressing a couple of buttons on either sides. Neat.

My usual method of carrying a small camera such as the E-M1 is in my hand with a wrist strap for security. This means that the camera is quickly available for use and has allowed me to capture more than one shot when events have rapidly and unexpectedly occurred in front of me. When shooting on the street, I also like the camera to be visible, but holding it in my hand is discrete. This method of operation is not how the manufacturers expect customers to use their cameras, with a neck strap being more common. This has resulted in buttons being inadvertently pressed on my cameras as I am holding them, with my Panasonic G3 being particularly badly affected.

I found my hands were covering both control wheels on the E-M1's top plate, which did lead to accidental operation. That is a shame, as the controls are very ergonomic when the camera is being used. The situation is improved when the battery grip is improved and I found that usually I was only touching one of the wheels. However, with the grip attached, the bulk of the camera was nearer the size of my 7D with its 17-55 lens than I would have wished, even if the Olympus setup was lighter.

One point which I would make about the battery grip is that while it is possible to use two batteries, the grip itself only takes one, with the other battery being in its usual position in the camera. There is a connector underneath the camera which has a rubber cover, which can be stored on the grip when it is in use. This design means that it is necessary to remove the grip when taking the other battery from the camera for charging. Not ideal. A recent article in Amateur Photographer also reported that the rubber cover fell off and was lost when one of its staff members used an E-M1 to document his experience on board a sailing boat participating in a race.

Another slight oddity is the design of the small separate flash gun, supplied with the camera, which does not have a built in flash. While it sits in the hot shoe, the actual connector is a socket below the shoe. A cover has to be removed from the flash gun, with the hot shoe cover and an additional cover for the connector having to taken off the camera. That's three small items which can be easily lost. Why not simply have a standard hot shoe connection for the flash?

One of the reports about the E-M1 was of shutter shock creating double images at around 1/180th second shutter speeds. I could not reproduce this and a friend who has the E-M1 reports that he has not experienced any issues either. What we have both noticed is that the AF point can move without user apparent intervention, although it is not something I have been aware of with the E-M10.

One test I did carry out was of the continuous AF. My conclusion is that it is better than the E-M10, which I would expect given that the E-M1 uses a combination of contrast and phase detection which the E-M10 does not have. There is a tracking option and I found that while this works reasonably well, it does not always stay on the original subject when there is more than one thing moving in the scene. Overall, the Olympus C-AF is adequate for occasional use, but I would not want to rely on it full time.

I was pleased with the results I got from the 12-40 lens and it is a good match with the E-M1, being well balanced in the hand. What I would say is that my current Panasonic 14-45 kit lens is not that far behind in image quality and mainly lacks the extra speed of the Olympus optic. Mounted the 12-40 on the E-M10 made for a front heavy combo, which was only partly mitigated by fitting the optional grip. The 14-45 does have the benefit of being smaller and lighter, which suits the way I work very well.

Eventually the time came to return the camera and once again everything went smoothly. The equipment was quickly checked and then I was on my way. The person at Park Cameras I dealt with asked me how I got on, but there was no attempt to make a sale. Exactly how it should be.

So, the $64k question. Would I buy an E-M1 and 12-40 lens? They are undoubtedly a good combination and would meet most of my photography needs, but I did have some handling issues. There are some excellent lenses available for m43, but only average C-AF performance means that I would be reluctant to dispose of my Canon gear just yet. Not that I use C-AF often, but I like to know it is there.

Going full time from the 18 MP of my Canon to 16 MP would not worry me, as 16 MP is more than enough for the A3 prints I take to club. One of the prints I have made as a potential contender for my entry to the forthcoming Bamber Trophy is a crop of a 12 MP image taken on a Panasonic GF1 and image quality is fine.

Ironically, Olympus' main competition is from the E-M10, which is based on the earlier E-M5, but has some of the E-M1's features. I think that it offers a lot for the money and there is no real discernible difference in image quality. Yes, the E-M1 has weather sealing, better C-AF and more controls on a slightly larger body, but for me that is not enough to justify a purchase. That could change when I can examine the newly released 40-150 zoom which fills a significant gap in the m43 range of lenses. Mounting that lens on an E-M1 body might be a better balanced combination.

For the moment, I will stick with my existing equipment and will rely on the fast primes I own for situations when I need a lens with more speed. The E-M10 is not quite as convenient as the E-M1 to operate with the camera held to my eye, but neither is it an ergonomic disaster. For those times where m43 is not the best option, I still have my Canon DSLR as a backup.

In summary, I think that this loan scheme is an excellent initiative from Olympus and I would encourage anyone seriously thinking about getting into m43 to give it a try.

[Mike Farley]

I forgot to mention the placement of the on/off switch on the E-M1, which is on the left hand side of the top plate. The OM-Ds are a retro design and this is where the switch was placed on the original film OMs, so it is consistent with the vintage ethos. What it is not, is conveniently positioned, as it requires the use of both hands when turning the camera on and off. The E-M10 has the switch at the lower right hand side on the back, which is slightly better, but for me the best place has always been around the shutter release. Canon does this for it entry level models, but not those higher up in the range, which has always struck me as odd.