The decline and fall of Reflex.

[Thomas_A]

Seems many m43 users around. Count me in as well. My street combo is the E-M5 II/Pana-Leica 15 mm f/1.7. I have a few lenses and the E-PL1 as backup.

(Will get a Zhumell Z130 soon and if I find a big interest, I may add some other stuff for astrophoto)

 

[gene_stl]

I have been a Nikon F F2 F3 user since 1967. I dragged my feet greatly when digital happened and just had three Coolpixes 990 995 and 4500 because they had great macro capability and went onto microscopes wonderfully easily.

Then I saw the Olympus OM M5 mk II with its pixel shifting abilities and in camera stacking. And great lenses in a mount with other options.

Of course my cell phone is a Samsung S6 and it figured out on its own that I had it on the eyepiece of a microscope and was making a stack. It put all the pix in one folder all by itself. (16mp)

I would recommend the Oly cameras. They like Nikon also build microscopes. Micro 4/3 is very good especially with pixel shifting. Unless you are mainly shooting at lesser light levels or high speed action wherein you might want/need bigger pixels.

 

[Freeway]

I love my Fuji mirrorless APS-C cameras, X-T2 and X-T10: best cameras I've owned in 65+ years.

Yeah, I'm strictly a amateur, personal satisfaction only, photographer, so the APs-C format is quite adequate for me. Fiji lens are excellent though a bit expensive and the selection is relatively limited compared to Canon or Nikon.

What I really like about my Fuji cameras is their use of (some) only fashioned switches and dials versus virtually all setting via view screen.

[Edit] I, of course, learned photography when aperture, shutter speed, and focus all had to be selected manually by dials, so I suppose that was a factor in my choice of the Fuji models and enjoyment of them.

Old world analog style controls meets new world digital. Aperture ring and shutter dial.
It's what originally got me into Fuji. That plus the great jpeg engine. Fuji colors.
You can see some of my photography at the Facebook link in my signature. View full screen.

Original X-E1

 

[JJB70]

The compact and lightweight nature of the OM-D line are very appealing. The M5 seems to be the sweet spot of the range. The M1 is nice but probably more than I want to pay and the M5 does more than I need or will use. Actually the M10 would be enough for me but I think having an IP rating is a worthwhile feature and if buying a camera I'd rather spend a bit more (within reason) for the model I want.
I would like to look at the Panasonic Lumix 4/3 cameras but they seem as rare as rocking horse droppings here in Singapore. Are Panasonic still making them?

 

[Newman]

Yes, and they are good cameras too.

 

[JJB70]

Yes, and they are good cameras too.

Thx, I will try and find a shop with stock here.

 

[LTig]

The compact and lightweight nature of the OM-D line are very appealing. The M5 seems to be the sweet spot of the range. The M1 is nice but probably more than I want to pay and the M5 does more than I need or will use. Actually the M10 would be enough for me but I think having an IP rating is a worthwhile feature and if buying a camera I'd rather spend a bit more (within reason) for the model I want.
I would like to look at the Panasonic Lumix 4/3 cameras but they seem as rare as rocking horse droppings here in Singapore. Are Panasonic still making them?

Before you decide between Olympus and Panasonic you should check the user interface (menu settings, etc.). Being used to Nikon D200/D800 UIs (which seem to be one of the best in the market) the Panasonic UI is quite decent (I own/owned G1, GX7, GX9) while the Olympus UI is just horrible (my wife owns a M10 mk1). Even after she took a course offered by our dealer she has problems finding settings and I'm not able to help her because my problems are even worse. Menu entries appear and disappear depending on other menu settings and the manual is far from clear about this. My wife bought the M10 because the body is very small and the view finder really good but I'm sure if she needs to buy a new cam she'll never touch an Olympus again.

BTW the manuals of both Panasonic and Olympus are similarly bad while Nikon manuals really help to hande the camera.

 

[Newman]

Menu entries appear and disappear depending on other menu settings and the manual is far from clear about this.

I doubt this, based on my experience. Example please.

 

[LTig]

I would like to look at the Panasonic Lumix 4/3 cameras but they seem as rare as rocking horse droppings here in Singapore. Are Panasonic still making them?

Yes of course. In many shops in Germany you'll find full frame, MFT, 1" and small sensor cams by Panasonic.

See the online shop.

 

[LTig]

I doubt this, based on my experience. Example please.

I can't remember which setting was hidden, it's too many years ago (I try not to touch the M10). I remember that my wife looked for a setting described in the manual and it was nowhere to be found in the menu. Finally it appeared after she changed something in the cam (maybe something like going from S to A mode). When I studied the manual I finally saw a hint that the setting we searched for could be disabled but this hint came at the place where the change (A to S?) was described and not where the setting was described .

Which cam do you base your experience on?

EDIT: There is actually something similar in my D800 where the menu point to open the shutter for cleaning the sensor did not appear. Even the Nikon guy doing the cleaning was stunned and finally stored the current settings on the card, restored the cam to the manufacturers setting which let the menu point appear, and afterwards restored the settings from the card. I think he thought this to be a bug in the firmware.

 

[LTig]

View attachment 172649

I used the Oly 75mm for this candid portrait. A full frame 150mm that is just as sharp across the frame would be huge.

cheers

Yeah, that's probably the best lense ever made for the MFT system. Got a used one for € 480 and am very happy with it. However WRT depth of field it's just like a full frame f3.6/150 mm so nothing special here.

 

[LTig]

View attachment 172653

And I used the Oly 45mm ƒ/1.8 for this candid portrait. Weighs 110g and looks like a toy with its tiny size and 37mm filter thread, but delivers like a champ.

Yep. Got one as well (before I found the 75mm) and am very happy with it as well. I lusted for the f1.2 but didn't want to pay that much.

 

[Newman]

EDIT: There is actually something similar in my D800 where the menu point to open the shutter for cleaning the sensor did not appear. Even the Nikon guy doing the cleaning was stunned and finally stored the current settings on the card, restored the cam to the manufacturers setting which let the menu point appear, and afterwards restored the settings from the card. I think he thought this to be a bug in the firmware.

And that’s the main point IMO, doesn’t matter the brand, the UI can confuse.

The thing about the Olympus camera UI is that I would describe it as an Expert User UI. It is so extensive! Compared to my wife’s D5600 DSLR, it has about 4x as many things that can be adjusted. And compared to my Canon 7D DSLR, also 2-3x as many.

If you only want a simple UI, the D5600 will please. If you want extensive control, it won’t. If you only want a simple UI, the Olympus will displease. If you want extensive control, it won’t leave you wanting, if you put the time into it. For example, I don‘t know any other camera where you can save a complete custom camera setup on top of each of the PASM modes on the mode dial. I found that brilliantly useful.

I remember the #1 Tip For New Players that I repeatedly passed on to Olympus and Panasonic users regarding their UI, was that when you went into the menu setting for adjusting the EVF or back monitor, the menu changed whether you looked at the back monitor or through the EVF!! It’s a brilliant and logical idea — look at the back monitor to adjust the back monitor, then lift the camera to your eye to adjust the EVF using an EVF-specific menu — but totally confused any one trying to adust the settings for one panel while looking at the other: it was gone!

cheers

 

[JJB70]

A dealer last night recommended the Canon Eos RP. Does anyone have experience of this model? I'm not really bothered about full frame, but the RP body is currently about the same price as the M5 iii and the dealers argument was that there is a mountain of lens and other accessory options available from Canon and third parties and that Canon is more widely supported than 4/3. Notwithstanding that the dealer may want to sell Canon more than Olympus I do think there is a logic in what he said as Canon is sold in pretty much every camera shop and companies like Tamron, Sigma, Samyang etc seem to do a lot more for Canon than for the 4/3 format. The RP body is still very compact and light, pretty similar to a 4/3 body. My concern is that one feature is loses which Olympus has is weather sealing. Given that I like outdoors photography I like the weather sealing feature, but the dealers opinion was that unless you do something silly the RP will be fine. He offered an excellent deal on a package with a 24 - 105 F4 lens, it's at the higher end of what I'd like to spend but it looks like a seriously nice bit of glass.

 

[Newman]

It’s an old and dodgy sensor in a modern camera, but would definitely give cleaner images at high ISO.

 

[JJB70]

Thx!

 

[Chromatischism]

The thing about the Olympus camera UI is that I would describe it as an Expert User UI. It is so extensive! Compared to my wife’s D5600 DSLR, it has about 4x as many things that can be adjusted. And compared to my Canon 7D DSLR, also 2-3x as many.

If you only want a simple UI, the D5600 will please. If you want extensive control, it won’t. If you only want a simple UI, the Olympus will displease. If you want extensive control, it won’t leave you wanting, if you put the time into it. For example, I don‘t know any other camera where you can save a complete custom camera setup on top of each of the PASM modes on the mode dial. I found that brilliantly useful.

Nikon works the same way, or at least that was true of my D80, D300, D7100, and Z 6 (I and II). On the latter cameras you also have custom user settings (U1, U2, U3) on top of the PASM (which I only use M as an effective U4). I also have a D5300 that I rarely use but can't confirm at the moment if it works the same, though I can't imagine it not saving the settings for each mode.

 

[JeffS7444]

A dealer last night recommended the Canon Eos RP. Does anyone have experience of this model?

No, but $1300 USD for the outfit including kit zoom lens certainly sounds tempting, doesn't it? But will the added bulk cause you to leave it at home more often in favor of your phone?

RP camera body doesn't do image stabilization, so you'll need to rely on your choice of lenses to provide it.

I checked out a review on that non-"L" 24-105 lens, and it looks decent, and about on par with other inexpensive zoom lenses that I've seen. Personally, I'd be more interested in Canon's 35/1.8 macro as a small/affordable first or only lens, but I am accustomed to shooting with minimal systems and realize that approach isn't for everyone.

 

[JJB70]

I have been a smartphone snapper for a few years and haven't used a dedicated camera for a long time simply because smartphone cameras are so convenient and their quality is excellent. For the sort of family snapshots and catching images when travelling use which is most photography most of the time for most people they really are excellent. However I want to return to action photography and macro photography as a hobby after a few years off. I want something reasonably compact and lightweight, but I also accept that once you use a camera then there's some extra weight and bulk to carry around. The compactness of 4/3 is hugely appealling but some full frame models like the RP and Lumix S5 seem to be pretty similar to 4/3 models in size and weight.

 

[0bs3rv3r]

I find phone cameras are only good for small images, viewed on a phone, on a web page, small print etc. The minute I try to blow them up to a bigger image, or try to crop them by any amount other than just a tiny bit of framing, I end up with coarse images, contrast problems etc. Not having access to a raw image to work on also is very limiting. For comparison my 'normal' camera is a Canon 80D. For macro, or birding, etc, a proper lens and camera are still required. A friend has a Sony mirrorless. Yep nice, but not ready to make the swap, and it will be to something that lets me continue to use all my lenses.