Great 43rumors readers E-M5 reviews (And updated preorder list with FR, UK and ES)
The E-M5 is now shipping to more and more 43rumors readers and they are sharing their reviews of the cameras with me (Thanks!!!). Unlike the usual professional reviewing websites their reports are more “personal” and based on their own needs. I find they very interesting also because they are far away from the pixel peeping mania. And here you have the list the latest reviews made by our 43rumors readers:
Alex Mustard reviews Olympus OM-D E-M5 at WetPixel:”The camera has significantly improved AF, ISO, dynamic range, resolution etc and the housing is more button controlled than menu driven. It is a no brainer, if you have the funds. The E-M5 is also likely to appeal to many compact shooters looking to make a serious upgrade, providing a system that is much easier to adapt to than a SLR. I can also see it appealing to some current SLR shooters, who are looking to downsize, without compromising on performance and image quality.”
Full review by Ming Thein: “The original promise of ‘smaller, same quality’ which was made with Four Thirds I felt was never fulfilled with earlier cameras; they weren’t small enough, or able to deliver the same image quality. Although Micro Four Thirds went a long way to fulfilling the smaller part of the equation, image quality, speed and usability were lagging behind until the last generation; only now has the promise been met. I don’t look at the OM-D’s files and think ‘wow, this isn’t bad for such a small sensor!’; instead, I look at the files and am satisfied enough to not think about the sensor size.”
Jonathan Hrovath shared his thoughts about the E-M5: “The bottom line is that the OMD E-M5 feels like a high end DSLR in speed and function. Considering how small it is, this is quite the feat. I am loving this camera and haven’t been this excited to get out and shoot since I got my Nikon D700 back in 2009. It just makes you want to immerse yourself in the camera and make some art.”
Dearsusan posted a review of the OM-D’s IBIS and found it to provide a solid 3-4 stops of stability improvement in real life conditions.
Terje: “I have written an open letter to Olympus on the OMD-5 at http://www.anotherimage.com/?p=2574. It is not a review of a fantastic camera but a summary of weak points that easily may be fixed.”
Steve Huff posted the second part of the E-M5 highlight recovering test. And he also posted an “unfair” comparison with the Nikon D800 and superexpensive Leica X2 (Click here to read the article): “While the OM-D did not meet or beat the D800 here it came damn close, and to me that is impressive. I have to say that the more I shoot the OM-D E-M5 the more I love it. As for the X2, it also has a larger sensor than the OM-D but it appears it performed about the same noise wise though you can clearly see the Leica color signature coming through.”
Head to Head, E-M5 versus X PRO 1 at Digitalcamerareview.
On the in Stock front I can report that two silver cameras are on auction in Europe at eBay UK (Click here) and eBay Spain (Click here). And first E-m5 are now listed at Amazon France. As you can see from the rankings below the Silver version is loved in USA while the Black leads the rankings in Germany.
E-M5 (Pre)order links (Click on store name): Amazon, Adorama, B&H, Jessops, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Japan and Digitalrev. Cheap third party E-M5 batteries on eBay (Click here).
The E-M5 keeps to be present in the Amazon Bestseller list(changes hourly!):
USA: E-M5 on position 7/9/20 (Click here)
UK: E-M5 is on position 23/38 (Click here).
Germany: The E-M5 is on position 1/10/12 (Click here).
France: E-M5 on position 17 (Click here).
Japan: E-M5 on position 22/23 (Click here).
io
2 years ago |Nice camera. It only needs better video…
Ulli
2 years ago |it depends on what your needs are for video, I use it for video pictorials and concerts, its more then good enough.
io
2 years ago |Since I live in PAL land, I need at least 25fps. Asking too much? Better codec implementation and bitrate are also welcome.
MrKal_El
2 years ago |Again. Love what the E-M5 has brought to Micro Four Thirds: Excitement & Quality.
Bronica
2 years ago |Tambien. The OM D is great – I use it mainly with prime lenses. The resolution is visible higher than my brothers EOS 600 (but with kit lens and Tamron 2,8 28-75). My last Canon was an EOS 1n – hard work to carry it. Than I changed to the Lumix LX3 – it was a liberation – taking good photos was so easy. Than I bought the very cheap E-PL1 – refurbished. Today I have a system from fish eye to 300mm – still portable. And Om D. Yes, happy!
Don Pope
2 years ago |Got mine yesterday. It may end up replacing my Nikon D90.
konikonaku
2 years ago |already sold my D90 before E-M5 launch…now still waiting for silver BO..
mike
2 years ago |Very interesting review. I actually going from the E-510 to the E-M5 so I’m very excited about the camera. Has anyone that has pre-ordered from Amazon US received their E-M5 Yet?
Eric
2 years ago |I pre-ordered mine (Black w/ 50mm lens) via Amazon US on March 16 and it arrived Thursday. Still waiting for the grip and spare battery I ordered at the same time.
GreyOwl
2 years ago |Spare batteries seem to be as rare as hens teeth here in the UK.
caver3d
2 years ago |I preordered on Feb. 7 from Amazon US and received the black E-M5 with black 12-50mm lens on May 31.
I may just look at it and admire it for the next 3 months before I actually use it –grin–
avds
2 years ago |Good. Now let’s hope we’ll see the same IQ and built-in *viewfinder* in EP5 soon. If it has these and still remains compact and considerably less expensive than the EM5, it will be right in the sweet spot for me (I can live without the ueber-tricky stabilization, weather sealing and expandability if the price is right).
Fabrys
2 years ago |Maybe it came “damn close to the D800E” because of the lighter Anti Aliasing filter
My new Flick’r album with the OMD E-M5 in Barcelona :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabrys/sets/72157629996469356/
Ulli
2 years ago |love the b&w shots
Fabrys
2 years ago |Thanks Ulli
Nick
2 years ago |I’m confused, d800e doesn’t have an aa filter…
Fabrys
2 years ago |Yes the D800E doesn’t have aa filter (Steve Huff speak about the “normal” D800), the OMD have a lighter aa filter than the GX1. So the OMD is a kind of D800E in M43 (well it’s more like a joke, we can’t compare seriously this two cameras)
)
Anentropic
2 years ago |I’m curious… digitalcamerainfo head-to-head says that “The X-Pro1’s color accuracy is far better than the E-M5’s” but previously you posted a graph from another review which showed E-M5 had far better colour accuracy than any of the other cameras tested including XPro1 and Nex7.
well, DCI article has no detail of testing method or what the actual ‘scores’ they refer to were, so I guess I trust the other graph more
st3v4nt
2 years ago |I was planning to leave the comment on digitalcamerainfo site regarding the article, but seeing that they only conclude without revealing the methods nor showing any image comparison, I say they are not to be taken seriously.
bli
2 years ago |The rubber around the EVF started to get loose when the camera rubbed against my shirt… I superglued it — hopefully not too much of a mistake…
lone.samurai
2 years ago |How good is the EM5 compared to the EP3 or E5 in the shadow DR department? I feel that this is an area 4/3 and m4/3 is still lacking in despite improving vastly in the highlight DR and iso areas of IQ.
To the users out there, Is the EM5 really a big step forward with shadow noise over previous Oly and Panny cams or just an incremental upgrade?
JF
2 years ago |Amazingly better than GH1
Kylberg
2 years ago |“damn close to the D800E” – in the eyes of Steve Huff…… doesn’t tell much given his methodology.
The EM5 has great IQ but the D800 is in another division, not only in IQ. (Twice as expensive, twicce as heavy, trice the volume.) Just got mine and it is amazing: usability and IQ. Exposure control is much better (no blown-out highlights). Resolution much better. Tonality much better. DR much better (two steps better than Canon 5DMkIII). That is of course compared to my G3. Files are beautiful, clearly visible already on screen and on A5 prints. Yes, the EM5 is better than the G3 but it cannot reach the D800. This is a MF challenger the same way as m43 is a (successful) challenger of APS-C.
I will still keep my m43 but will wait and see what Pana comes up with camera-wise. Could also be a Oly EP5 with built-in VF. And the Pana 12-35 as only AF lens.
BTW: I bought a Nikon 85/1.8G and tried it on my G3: Very nice results! Compared to the Oly 75/1.8 the Nikon is larger and weighs 45g more – and costs 40% of the Oly.
Bob B.
2 years ago |My OM-D is a GREAT camera…not replacing my FF DSLR anytime soon…but still…it is soooo much fun to shoot with. Total winner.
(oh…almost forgot….Terje is a total cry baby. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)
CFBSr
2 years ago |Got my OM-D Silver body yesterday! All I expected and more. Could say it replaced my OM-1 but nothing will ever replace that old beauty!
st3v4nt
2 years ago |I see lot of people still getting wrong conclusion after reading stevehuff article, it’s an article based on personal experience and very subjective opinion of himself. It’s up to you if you want to take it seriously or not. But sure it’s entertaining since the man love the rangefinder and compact camera, the very same reason we go to the m4/3 system. If really OM-D could beat D800, XPro1 and X2 in every aspect then Oly will hit the jackpot and there’s something very wrong with other camera maker.
OM-D still wont replace your DSLR sure but every time 4/3 and m4/3 could give chill to DSLR user, it sure does entertaining.
mahler
2 years ago |The EM-5 de facto replaces a huge amount of DSLRs. Many users leave their DSLR equipment at home 90% of time and aren’t just not brave enough to sell it.
Charlie
2 years ago |“Head to Head, E-M5 versus X PRO 1 at Digitalcamerareview.” : User Experience — Winner: Fujifilm X-Pro1
mahler
2 years ago |That “review” completely ignores the X-Pro 1 weaknesses: lackluster performance, problematic usability, superfluous optical view finder. Too expensive for what it does.
Rick
2 years ago |I couldn’t find the head 2 head on digitalcamerareview.com, but here is what that website said in the conclusion of the OM-D E-M5 review:
If I were in the market for a mirrorless, interchangeable lens compact digital and was not wedded to any particular manufacturer or system, the E-M5 would probably be it. Of all the other cameras in this class that I’ve already reviewed, I like this one the best.
DonParrot
2 years ago |Well,
I’m far from writing an own review as I’m far from being a photpographer who has got the skills to assess all the factors that have to be assessed to write a well based review.
But what I can say is: Since I’ve got my E-M5 I enjoy shooting pictures more than ever (with the landscape grip, that is) and since I was at the dog-race circuit, last week…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63427925@N00/sets/72157629907856270/with/7274834412/
…I’m closer than ever to selling my E-5. If there only was a fast µFT tele (zoom) lens or the 50-200 2.8-3.5 SWD C-AFing at full speed…
Al Jimenez
2 years ago |“Review” by users who just spent over a thousand for a new camera tend to be, well, justifying the purchase. I do it too by the way. Glowing reports without any drawbacks of the camera are not very credible and will not sway me to buy. NOTE: I am not passing judgement on the camera, just on the value of recent buyers glowing reports.
JP
2 years ago |Well, considering that the reviews from pros to amateurs – have been overwhelming positive – it would seem your logic is flawed. Just because a user spent $1,000 on the camera doesn’t mean they will mislead about the performance.
There are some focusing drawbacks when shooting video, the video frame rate could be more conducive to videographers and the viewfinder could be better – but overall this is a stellar camera.
What camera do you prefer over the E-M5 in the sub full frame range? (It is ok if you don’t have an answer or are scared to answer – we all know your type. You are about as typical as they get.)
Al Jimenez
2 years ago |Talk about typical! You attack the poster, rather than the post. I am glad your post includes negatives, so in that respect you were not typical.
caver3d
2 years ago |You are the one attacking other reviewers with your initial post. And, by the way, we could care less if you order one or not.
Joshua
2 years ago |Can’t we all just get along? This isn’t the playground, it’s the internet guys, and a camera rumor site’s comment board at that! Let’s use some class here. lol
John
2 years ago |I wrte about the drawbacks of my OM-D – didn’t get published!
In short, lovely image quality but not very durable. Poor spares back-up too, at the moment.
David
2 years ago |Full disclosure, I sold my m4/3 stuff to buy the X-Pro 1.
While I am very happy with the Fujifilm, I must say that the Digitalcamerareview “review” was one of the worst I have ever read. It looks like they used the 35mm on the Fuji and the 12-50mm on the Olympus. That’s a major handicap to the Olympus from the start. And then no mention of the fantastic and useful features on the Olympus like weather sealing, IBIS, far superior autofocus and superior size? I don’t know why they bothered.
Bob B.
2 years ago |Have to agree! That comparison is a SHAM….First off….if you are going to put two cameras in the ring together to duke it out…they should both be wearing gloves. The cameras should BOTH be wearing prime lenses…and it should be mentioned that the OM’s upper cut (blazing autofocus speed) would put the Fuji on the matt before he even got a shot off!
Seems that the reviewer was just a LITTLE biased and meddled with the ingredients to get the results that he wanted from the start.
The Fuji fix was in!
Anonymous
2 years ago |I guess we are as a reader not reviewer have to accept that some of the reviewer ;they sometimes using UNFAIR comparison tool, and we also have the right to bring out an opinion about those unfair or misleading review.
Is good to have a knowledge about something, when you can share it with other people.
mahler
2 years ago |Big mistake!
Kaiser Soze
2 years ago |I was out shooting with my E30 and 25mm1.4 when I met a guy shooting with a black EM5 and the new 25mm1.4. I instantly fell in love with his camera and lens combo.
Kylberg
2 years ago |Looking at the photos reviewers actually makes, Ming Thein is the winner! – And more worth reading than less professional and talented reviewers. That is how I see it. Ming Thein review of the EM5 is a very balanced “first impressions” thing.
Thom Hogan is in the same department, but has more focus (!) on the critical mass. I like that. Have you read his X-pro1 review? Really a great review of a camera that have so many glitsches, even in IQ. I had already ditched my long gone plans to purchase before Thom’s review, but it confirmed the decission.