So, I finally bit the bullet and got an Olympus OMD EM10 camera. After getting feedback and opinions here :
https://photography-on-the.net …194&highlight=olympus+omd
(many thanks for the people that took time to share with me on there)
So it arrived Thursday before last, but due to the rain I couldn't really give it a go until I went to NYC the following Tuesday (June 24th). I ordered it off Ebay (tried to find a seller here but couldn't) and it was $649 and came with the 14-40 kit lens.
Upon reaching NYC I went directly the BHPhoto to browse the camera bags for it. Despite having about 50 different bags here, I wanted a new one that was much smaller. Yes, I am a Bagaholic. And this was also the first time I had every been to BHPhoto. I promptly left with a bag (Lowepro Streamline 150 which is actually 2.5x the size I need for the camera), a new 14-150 Olympus lens ($599), 32 gig card ($17.99) and UV filter for the lens. I am sure many on here can relate to this buying spree.
So I spend some time in the city at various times of the day playing with this lens. Here is a brief review of my (limited) use of it so far.
PROS
1 - Small. Very light weight. I mean, after my 40D and canon 17-55 2.8, this camera feels nonexistent in your hand. This is the primary reason I bought this as noted in the original thread listed above.
2- IQ is great. Give or take. (more on this later). Just not quite "there" yet. But this may be my problem and not the camera.
3- Autofocus is pretty darn fast.
4 - It has a view finder (though some may find the type to be unacceptable, I don't)
CONS
1 - Small. The controls are a bit cramped. And I do not have large hands either. But this will be a non-issue once I get used to it.
2 - IQ. Maybe this is just my fault and I need to play with it some, but some of "my" shots from the Canon come out looking much better. But let me explain that a bit. The shots I am referring to are the ones I do in Manual mode. (Autofocus and IS is still on). These are shots that are done in not-so-good light. I usually set my camera on Manual iso800/3.4-4.0av/20-30tv and do a chimp or two. But these photos generally come out with a very warm and pleasing background color from the ambient light that is available. See some old examples below :
So far, I can duplicate this warm and pleasing ambient light tone with the Olympus OMD EM10. I have set up sample shots with each here at home, using the exact same settings on the OMD that I used with the Canon set up and it just doesn't come out the same. I have mirrored the all the settings in each, not just ISO/AV/TV but also the white balance (auto) metering (spot), etc.. This is something that is going to bug me until I figure it out and stop me from giving it a 5 star rating as opposed to the 4 star I am at now.
3 - Autofocus by touch is hit or miss. You touch the view screen where you want the camera to focus, it focuses and snaps an image. These are generally 50/50 in focus. The Finger-To-Shutter Button still produces better.
4- Viewfinder takes some getting used to.
If I had to add one more Con here it would not be about the camera, but about the manual. It was very brief with more pages devoted to French, Spanish and other languages than the English part. This is fixed (luckily) by going online and downloading a complete English manual that is superb and very detailed. But still, it would be nice to have something to hold my hand so I don't have to keep running back and forth to the computer to look up the chapter in the pdf file.
Sample pics from the OMD EM10 to follow.
