Our friend Valentin Sama from DSLRmagazine (Click here) wrote an interesting report about the E-M5 presentation. He has learned form Olympus that there is a 33% improved dynamic range. And as you see from the picture the motion sensors are placed on top of the viewfinder. This is an ideal position becuase it’s as close as it gets to the sensor. Valentin writes that he would have liked to see a higher resolution viewfinder but Olympus told him that this would have made it impossible to have sharp and no vignetting corners. The Olympus AF is 40% faster than the fastest AF from DSRL cameras.
If you need to see two E-M5 Full Size images Helixcameras posted them here and here.
An interesting story: Masato O. (A friend of mine) was at the CP+ show in Yokohama. He said that there were so many people visiting the Olympus booth that he waited 100 minutes to get his hands on the E-M5!!!
Here are the pictures from the new 75mm f/1.8 and 60mm f/2.8 macro lenses on the E-M5 (Click on it to enlarge):
Hurry guys! There was a live Question & Answer session from Olympus on Facbeook (Click here). The next Q&A session will take place next Thursday at 3:00pm ET. Here are some of the most interesting answers from Olympus:
First news: Olympus says the E-M5 doesn’t use the same [shoplink 26836]G3/GX1[/shoplink] sensor. It uses an “entirely new sensor“. But(!) keep in mind that Olympus marketing could have a different interpretation about the meaning of the word “new”. Maybe in their opinion small tweaks are enough to define a sensor as “new” :)
Second news: Again about the sensor: “The sensor is more similar to the sensor from the [shoplink 23568 ebay]PEN P-3[/shoplink] but with an increased refresh rate or readout of the image off of the sensor. Means the black out is virtually non existant and you can shoot at a much faster frame rates.”
Third news: “Olympus has recently stated that they are studying a successor camera to the E-5 and another lens.”
Fourth news: “regarding adding the OM-D to the Pro Service program, we are studying that point now. No official word yet.”
Fifth news: “ISO 100 has been removed as ISO 200 has the same low noise performance, but better sensitivity.”
Sixth news: “Our in-house testing has confirmed that the E-P3 and E-M5 are faster than the V-1 or J-1”
Seventh news: “Currently we are focused on fast primes but it would not surprise me to see some fast zooms down the road.”
That’s it!
—-
For my european colluegues:
[shoplink 29051 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29052 ebay]Black E-PL3 with double lens kit[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29053 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29054 ebay]Red E-PL3 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29055 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with double lens kit[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29056 ebay]Silver E-PL3 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29057 ebay]Silver E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29059 ebay]Silver E-PM1 with 14-150mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29060 ebay]Silver E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink],
[shoplink 29061 ebay]Black E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens[/shoplink],
Not again! Panaosnic is showing the mockups of the new X lenses…again and over again! DC.watch (Click here) visited the Panasonic booth which doesn’t unveil any new info about the upcoming X lenses.
And also Olympus seem to “learn” from Panasonic and is showing their new lens mockups without o unveil the exact release date and price (via Dc.watch):
Don’t know you guys, but I don’t like that kind of marketing.
Our reader YouDidntDidYou (Thanks!) found some impressive slides from Olympus. It shows how the mirrorless market is growing all over the world. And in Japan the Mirrorless market surpassed the DSLR sales for the very first time! And Micro Four Thirds surpassed Nikon and Canon!!! Yep, that is almost a miracle :)
The first slide on top shows the interchangeable camera market share in Japan. Micro Four Thirds mount cameras are the most sold system in Japan and Olympus forecast shows a strong tendency upwards. And for the first time we can finally see the mirrorless market share of all most important countries in the world:
And this is the company market share in Japan:
Good news for us! But let’s see how the data will be in one year when Canon will have striked back!
As you recall we had plenty of discussions on 43rumors about the E-M5 sensor. There were many open questions about the manufacturer and supposed Olympus tweaks on the sensor. And now that the camera has been officially announced discussions are still continuing!
Kirk Tuck (Click here) says that the “The folks at Olympus don’t make it a habit to divulge the provenance of the sensors they use. I guess it’s supposed to be a trade secret. So I asked a few probing questions. As you can see from the specs the sensor is 16 megapixels. I wanted to know if, similar to the Panasonic sensor in the GH2, you could use other aspect ratios such as 16:9 and 3:2 without losing resolution. The answer I got was “yes.” All but the 1:1 aspect ratio. If this is true (and I have no reason not to believe it) this will make me happy.”
But Richard Butler (dpreview) said that Kirk Tuck’s statement: “would directly contradict the conversations we’ve had with Olympus.” (According to them “The camera is built around a 16MP Four Thirds sensor, almost certainly the same one seen in Panasonic’s DMC-G3”).
The japanese Pro Photographer Kimio Tanaka goes even further. He wrote on Twitter that the sensor on the E-M5 is actually not made by Panasonic! His guess is that it is made by Sony.
So nobody is really 100% sure about the sensor but I guess Dpreview is right and the E-M5 indeed uses the G3 sensors. Anyway, what matters is the image quality and I hope some of the big known websites can soon post some well made full size image samples!
More E-M5 news:
Olympus OM-D E-M5 five-axis test at Engadget.
Olympus black E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera and internals eyes-on (Engadget)
Olympus E-M5 : La prise en main! (OpenPN).
Hands-on at CNET Asia.
Message for readers:
After all the E-M5 buzz I had to rest. Today I have more time to catch up with other news and Panasonic rumors.
After that long announcement night I want to focus a bit on the Olympus interview at Clubsnap, on some E-M5 tidbits from Pekka Potka and first image samples.
1) Mr. Terada from Olympus interviewed by Clubsnap (Click here). Sensor: Mr Terada says: “The new 16mp Live MOS image sensor produces lower noise at High ISO and boasts Dynamic Range that is a 1/3 improvement over current sensors. Combined with an advanced TruePic VI image processor, the results ensure superb color fidelity , at high resolution, sensitivity and colour accuracy.” Future lenses: When asked about fast prime lenses he answers: “we can consider the possibility of faster and wider prime lenses.” And when asked about pancakes he says: “No comment ha ha. Its under consideration“. Four Thirds system: “We continue to be firmly supporting the E-system”
2) Pekka Potka (Click here) is giving us many small interesting info: EVF: Compared to the current external VF-2 viewfinder the built-in E-M5 viewfinder has “new optics allows also a wider diopter adjustment range between -4 to +2 diopter. Eye point is 18mm at -1“. And he says “the EVF real difference is the 120fps giving you a lot smoother experience with moving subjects and while panning.” And “Another improvement with moving subjects is a markedly shorter refresh time of EVF. E-M5´s new TruePic VI image processor has separate processors for saving images and LiveView. Now EVF seems to be on almost all the time. According to Olympus, the lag is shortened to 29ms. Stabilized EVF is another real breakthrough. Viewfinder image is always stabilized when in body stabilization (IBIS) is on. Always means here also video and with every lens.” Sensor: “It might be the same sensor as in Panasonic GX-1 or not. Olympus doesn´t tell. Olympus is now using a version of their ”Fine Detail Processing” technology which was introduced in E-5. That is an implication of E-M5 having a thin low pass (AA) filter which is good for sharpness. Olympus is using their ”Real Color” technology which is related to used RGB array. E-M5 is reading the sensor at up to double speed compared to previous cameras and that has benefits in fps rate, continuous autofocus and video quality.”
3) There are only a few image samples:
At Olympus Japan you can find a couple of images of the same scene taken at ISO 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 (Click on the ISO number to open the image in a new tab/window). What do you think about those images?
The E-M5 is the first digital OM camera that will be added to the long list of OM film cameras. Click on the names to see them on eBay (ordered by first announced camera): [shoplink 28221 ebay]M-1[/shoplink], [shoplink 28222 ebay]OM-1[/shoplink], [shoplink 28223 ebay]OM-1 MD[/shoplink], [shoplink 28224 ebay]OM-1N[/shoplink], [shoplink 28225 ebay]OM-2[/shoplink], [shoplink 28226 ebay]OM-2N[/shoplink], [shoplink 28227 ebay]OM-2S/SP[/shoplink], [shoplink 28228 ebay]OM-3[/shoplink], [shoplink 28229 ebay]OM-3Ti[/shoplink], [shoplink 28230 ebay]OM-4[/shoplink], [shoplink 28231 ebay]OM-4T/Ti black and chrome[/shoplink], [shoplink 28232 ebay]OM-10[/shoplink], [shoplink 28233 ebay]OM-20 (OM-G)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28234 ebay]OM-30(OM-F)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28235 ebay]OM-40 (OM-PC)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28236 ebay]OM-77AF (OM-707)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28237 ebay]OM-88 (OM-101)[/shoplink], [shoplink 28238 ebay]OM-2000[/shoplink].
And here is a list of top OM primes: [shoplink 28869 ebay]21mm f/2.0 and 21mm f/3.5 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28870 ebay]24mm f/2.0 and 24mm f/2.8 and 24mm f/3.5 shift lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28871 ebay]28mm f/2.0 and 28mm f/2.8 and 28mm f/3.5 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28872 ebay]35mm f/2.0 and 35mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/2.8 shift lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28873 ebay]40mm f/2.0 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28874 ebay]50mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/2.0 macro and 50mm f/3.5 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28876 ebay]55mm f/3.5 macro lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28880 ebay]85mm f/2.0 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28881 ebay]90mm f/2.0 macro lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28882 ebay]100mm f/2.0 and 100mm f/2.8 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28884 ebay]135mm f/2.8 and 135mm f/3.5 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28885 ebay]180mm f/2.0 and 180mm f/2.8 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28886 ebay]200mm f/4.0 and 200mm f/5.0 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28887 ebay]250mm f/2.0 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28888 ebay]300mm f/4.5 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28889 ebay]350mm f/2.8 lens[/shoplink],, [shoplink 28890 ebay]400mm f/6.4 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28891 ebay]500mm f/8.0 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28892 ebay]600mm f/6.6 lens[/shoplink], [shoplink 28893 ebay]1000mm f/11 lens[/shoplink].
Important: I will continually update this post with new links to news/previews image samples and preorders. But please do not reload the page every 30 second otherwise the server will crash :) Latest additions are always on top of each category:
Olympus Australia says the new 75mmf /1.8 and 60mm f/2.8 lenses will be available by end of the year. What the hell???
Mr. Tarada (Olympus) said “The new 16mp Live MOS image sensor produces lower noise at High ISO and boasts Dynamic Range that is a 1/3 improvement over current sensors” About a possible future peaking feature: “I feel that magnified focusing is still better“. About future lenses: “Yes, we can consider the possibility of faster and wider prime lenses.”
In Japan (Click here) yo can order the body or kit and get either a free MMF-3 or 32Gb Class 10 SD card.
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