Very informative. Thanks for the write up and impressions. -- Bruce
Sent from my iPad On Sep 18, 2013, at 2:00 PM, Godfrey DiGiorgi <[email protected]> wrote: > (Note: Posting this to the PDML because we've had a bit of a discussion about > alternatives to Pentax cameras there recently. The E-M1 is higher end than > what we were discussing, but I felt others might like to know about it. > Pardon the digression from our usual deep conversation... ;-) > > The Olympus rep was at the local camera shop today, so I took an hour to go > up and fondle the new E-M1. Note that I've already placed an order for one, > and I've already read the instruction manual cover to cover a couple of > times, so I didn't need to ask what button did what or whether this widget or > that widget did this and that—I know all that stuff already. My primary > interest to see one in person was to see for myself how well it focuses with > the FourThirds SLR lenses I own, and also to evaluate using it with and > without the battery grip. > > There were six other people there when I was, all vying for the chance to > play with the one pre-production sample unit the rep had to show. The rep was > very gracious in allowing me to test it with my own lenses and fit my own > storage card so I could do a little snapping and take the results home to > look at. I made 16 exposures, both JPEG and RAW, and allowed a couple of the > other folks to try it with my lenses too. > > My impressions after six or seven minutes handling at the counter: > > - Nice, tight, solid feel. Quite compact, not too small. Light. All the > controls have a solid and reassuring solidity to them: positive and sure. Fit > and finish of every little bit was excellent, even on this pre-production > unit. > > - Without the HLD7 battery grip fitted, it's a little small in my hands (I > take an L-XL glove size) for medium to larger lenses. With the HLD7 fitted, > it feels very nice indeed even with smaller, lighter lenses. The control and > button spacings are nicely placed and big enough to work easily. (Pentax > relevant: it feels a lot like the MZ-S model with the grip fitted: thin and > trim, solid, but with a bit more of a grip.) > > - I tested my FourThirds Olympus ZD 35 Macro and ZD 11-22 zoom lenses on it. > If there's a difference in focusing speed between the E-M1 and the E-5, I'm > not sensitive to it; it's certainly faster than the E-1 or E-PL1—neither of > these are the fastest focusing lenses in anyone's bag anyway. Focusing > accuracy seems very good: for the 16 quick point-and-snap photos I made, they > are all but one right on the money, and that one was with the Macro which > always takes its sweet time to go from far to near. > > - ISO 800 produces very good results, and the stabilization worked a treat at > 1/10-1/20 second. I didn't explore stressing other ISO settings or the > stabilization as there wasn't time. Suffice it to say that I feel completely > comfortable with the quality of the sensor. > > - It's hard to tell you're looking at an EVF: the viewfinder is very clean, > very transparent. I can manually focus either of the above lenses easily > without bothering with either magnification or peaking assist in most cases. > The viewfinder quality is easily better than my Nikon F plain prism with A > screen and a comparable lens. It would take a bit more time to assess it > against the Leicaflex SL viewfinder ... that one is truly remarkable, but so > is the E-M1 EVF. The E-M1 EVF is a substantial notch better than Olympus' own > VF-2 EVF that I use with the Leica X2 and Olympus E-PL1. > > - Lightroom 5.2 (the official release version) imported the E-M1 .ORF files > without a hiccup, and for Lr's support being "preliminary" on this model, the > colors look very accurate and well-balanced. > > I'm glad I ordered one of these bodies. After handling it with and without, I > ordered the HLD7 battery grip on the spot too as I know I'll want it. It is, > once again, a true Olympus pro-grade camera, the successor to their excellent > E-1, E-3 and E-5. I still have and love the E-1... ;-) > > Nice camera. I'm going to enjoy it. > > Godfrey - [email protected] > > > Godfrey > -- > Godfrey DiGiorgi - [email protected] - 408.431.4601 cell > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
