Two cameras

[Guy Roberts]

To those who have the em1 and e5: do you use both cameras and if so when do you use the e5 in preference to the em1?

[doofclenas]

Probably not what you're looking for, but I Sold my e5 for my em1 back in November of 2013. Over that timespan, I can only think of one situation where I would have preferred my e5...shooting a wedding. Otherwise, I've been perfectly happy...especially with the weight savings and native lens sizes.

[kenwae]

Same here; once I got the EM1 the E5 sat on the shelf; after several months of that, I sold it; haven't looked back, wouldn't go back...Sold most of the 4/3 lenses and now have several m4/3.

[Daniel Bradley]

I still have my trusty old E-30 for emergency backup etc, but almost never use it. If I really needed a second body I would probably get another E-M1. I have kept my FT lenses though as they are really good. Have only one mFT lens, the 75-300 II and only use it for travel. Prefer the IQ of the 50-200, or if I want longer, the Canon 400.

[tomsi42]

I don't have an E-M1, but an E-M5; so I end up using my E-30 quite a lot - so I can use the excellent 50-200mm f/2-8-3.5 lens.

The day I get an E-M1, I suspect that the E-30 will be sent away ...

[Daniel Bradley]

The E-30 still focuses the 50-200 better than the E-M1 when the light is not so good.

[Guy Roberts]

I still have my trusty old E-30 for emergency backup etc, but almost never use it. If I really needed a second body I would probably get another E-M1. I have kept my FT lenses though as they are really good. Have only one mFT lens, the 75-300 II and only use it for travel. Prefer the IQ of the 50-200, or if I want longer, the Canon 400.

That you have kept you 4/3 lenses is interesting because I thought that they might be awkward on the em1. Do you use the 14-35 on it?

[Daniel Bradley]

No. I have and still use the 14-54 II, the 50-200 (non SWD) and sometimes the little 35/3.5 macro. We also still have the old kit lens pair, but I never use them.

Focus with the 14-54 is good, with the 50-200 less good, but good enough and the 35 is slow, but that is OK. Don't mind the size. With the heavier ones I always hold and carry by the lens, never the body.

[ronolsen]

I use my M1 almost exclusively. Though I still carry my M5. Kept my 4/3 lenses and glad I did at least my 12-60SWD, loved it on my E-30 and is now almost permanently attached to the M1. Any one use the 50-200SWD? I early 50-200 though it's on long term loan to a friend so I haven't used it yet.

[Zensu]

I use my M1 almost exclusively. Though I still carry my M5. Kept my 4/3 lenses and glad I did at least my 12-60SWD, loved it on my E-30 and is now almost permanently attached to the M1. Any one use the 50-200SWD? I early 50-200 though it's on long term loan to a friend so I haven't used it yet.

I also use the 43s' 12-60 SWD on the E-M1 and it's lightning fast in auto focus, IMHO. I'm looking forward to getting a good deal on a used 50-200 SWD lens too! That will round out my kit.
Bobby

[kenwae]

I use my 50-200 with a 2x teleconverter and the MMF3 on my EM1. It's a a bit of a beast, but it works quite well; it is my super telephoto set up. However, I just got the m4/3 75-300ii and that now seems to replace that bit of a beast....I sold my 12-60 in favor of the 12-40, but found the 12-60 on the EM1 was excellent; the 12-40 is just smaller, lighter and a bit faster, and a great lens...The only other 4/3 lens I have is the Sigma 105 macro. But, I also picked up the m4/3 60 macro which I use more often. With the focus stacking feature coming in firmware 4.0, I may try out the Sigma 105 and the 2x converter....

[TonyVentourisPhotography]

I personally much prefer the feel of the E-M1. I don't mind the other bodies, but the E-m1 has always been just right for me. Button placement, size, etc... I sold my 50-200 when the 40-150 and TC were release. That was a night and day difference in terms of handling and quality.

[Godfrey]

I sold my E-5 and most of my lenses and such when I closed my photo business in 2011. But I kept my E-1 and a couple of lenses simply because I like shooting with the E-1 so much. After I bought the E-M1, I acquired another 50-200/2.8-3.5 lens, and EC-14/EX-25 accessories. They work just as beautifully with the E-M1 as they do with the E-1. All my other FourThirds format accessory and lens acquisitions since have been targeted at the E-M1.

I can't say that I shoot with the E-1 all that much, but I just had it out again the other day. I still find shooting with it a huge pleasure and my small, dedicated lens set for it (11-22, 25/2.8, 35/3.5, 50-200 with extender and extension tube, and a Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 lens on adapter) works beautifully with it. The E-1 body is hardly worth selling for what it brings back, and this gear works well with the E-M1 too, so I suspect it will stay with me until the body breaks or whatever.

The friend who bought my E-5 and other gear still uses it daily in his work. He just bought an E-M1 body recently, but hasn't even unpacked it yet—too busy shooting, I imagine. It takes time to learn a new camera.

G

[Don Baldwinson]

I personally much prefer the feel of the E-M1. I don't mind the other bodies, but the E-m1 has always been just right for me. Button placement, size, etc... I sold my 50-200 when the 40-150 and TC were release. That was a night and day difference in terms of handling and quality.

I agree that the handling, build and focus speed of the 40-150f2.8 are noticeably advanced compared with the 50-200 ZD lens. But I have found, side by side, with and without 1.4 extenders at 150mm, the image quality from my "old" version 50-200 is right up there with the newer lens. Sometimes better, more dependent on the photographer than the hardware. Very close to my 150mm F2 in fact. The 50-200 has been criticized for it's bokeh at times, but the 40-150 can be quite quite ugly if the subject is not close and the background far away.
Nowadays, if money is tight the 50-200 is hard to beat.
Cheers,
Don

[Zensu]

I sold my E-5 and most of my lenses and such when I closed my photo business in 2011. But I kept my E-1 and a couple of lenses simply because I like shooting with the E-1 so much. After I bought the E-M1, I acquired another 50-200/2.8-3.5 lens, and EC-14/EX-25 accessories. They work just as beautifully with the E-M1 as they do with the E-1. All my other FourThirds format accessory and lens acquisitions since have been targeted at the E-M1.

I can't say that I shoot with the E-1 all that much, but I just had it out again the other day. I still find shooting with it a huge pleasure and my small, dedicated lens set for it (11-22, 25/2.8, 35/3.5, 50-200 with extender and extension tube, and a Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 lens on adapter) works beautifully with it. The E-1 body is hardly worth selling for what it brings back, and this gear works well with the E-M1 too, so I suspect it will stay with me until the body breaks or whatever.

The friend who bought my E-5 and other gear still uses it daily in his work. He just bought an E-M1 body recently, but hasn't even unpacked it yet—too busy shooting, I imagine. It takes time to learn a new camera.

G

Godfrey, I have the E-M1 and love it. I just got a great condition 50-200 SWD lens and EC-14 for very little money! I thought about getting an EX-25 but the manual for the EC-14 says they can't be used together on the 50-200 SWD. Would you please give me your opinion on using both the EC-14 and EX-25 together or separately on the 50-200 SWD lens?
Thanks!
Bobby

[Guy Roberts]

Ok, I have just bit the bullet and bought the em1 second hand from a friend.
Fingers crossed it is as good as reported.

[Big Greg]

I still have an e-30, e-3, and e-1 along with my E-M1. They all see use, but the EM-1 is my "go to" body. At some point I'll pick up a second one to be my backup / 2nd body for weddings, events, etc. I skipped the e-5, but the E-M1 outclasses all my other bodies in a number of significant ways. I still have my stable of 4/3 glass and have only bought three m4/3 lenses, and two of those were the cheap Rokinon manual focus lenses (7.5MM fisheye and 85 MM f1.4). The one Zuiko m4/3 lens I have is the 75MM f1.8 which is a really nice lens. At some point I'll probably pick up a 45MM f1.8, but I've been having a hard time convincing myself it will be better than the 50MM f2, other than that I'm sure the AF will be faster.

[Guy Roberts]

My reason for buying the m1 is portability when on walking holidays like in the hills of the Lake District in the UK which my wife and I have started doing.
The e5 takes great photographs but it is a bit large for this sort of thing I am finding.
My reticence is: I don't want to make the e5 redundant because it is a great camera; the evf burn problem.
Also I don't know how good the lenses are compared to the top line 4/3.
i am looking forward to getting it though.

[BobT]

I just love the E-M1. No longer do people ogle at the "pro" with the D4 look alike. Now I'm just an old fart with a camera. I like everything about it except one - the arrow pad. Is it just me? I haven't heard anyone else complain about it. I had no problem at all with the E-3 arrow pad but the E-M1's pad is so fiddly I'm forever miss-cuing and finding I've inadvertently moved the focus area. Another minor thing is that I lament the loss of two card slots. Just today, for the first time, I went out shooting with the card left in the PC's card reader. With the E-3 it wouldn't have been an issue. The camera would simply have defaulted to the Dx card. It's no biggy but could be easily solved with a bit of internal memory or a micro SD slot.

[Daniel Bradley]

Not just you, Bob. After two years and some 60,000 shots I still have trouble finding my way around with my thumb on the back of the E-M1. The arrow pad, and especially the info button are a little hard for me to manage. Maybe it would be easier with a grip??
I have been thinking of making some kind of stash for an emergency card on the strap or some place where I can't forget it. I missed a whole mornings shooting once this summer because not only did I leave my main card in the laptop, I left the reserve card home as well. Isn't getting old wonderful?

[Zensu]

Not just you, Bob. After two years and some 60,000 shots I still have trouble finding my way around with my thumb on the back of the E-M1. The arrow pad, and especially the info button are a little hard for me to manage. Maybe it would be easier with a grip??
I have been thinking of making some kind of stash for an emergency card on the strap or some place where I can't forget it. I missed a whole mornings shooting once this summer because not only did I leave my main card in the laptop, I left the reserve card home as well. Isn't getting old wonderful?

I think the grip (HLD7) helps me a great deal. I can spread my fingers out more with the grip attached which causes my right hands center of gravity to be a little lower. I just shift my grip toward the left hand (holding lens) and that frees up my right thumb which is right next to the back arrow pad thanks to my lower center of gravity.
As far as not having media cards available I always leave this on my camera strap:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...per_Black.html
I have 4 32GB SD cards and at 2 are always in the holder on my strap.
Bobby

[dh202]

I like everything about it except one - the arrow pad. Is it just me? I haven't heard anyone else complain about it. I had no problem at all with the E-3 arrow pad but the E-M1's pad is so fiddly I'm forever miss-cuing and finding I've inadvertently moved the focus area.

I agree that it is was too easy to accidently change setting by hitting a button inadvertently .
I had the same frustrating problem with af points and learned a trick.

Just turn the setting in the B cog Button-Lever - 'button function', (on the second page of the list),scroll up or down and change the setting from [...], to 'direct function' Then by default, immediately after a half press of the release , pressing the left arrow pad will bring up the grid and enable you to use the 4 arrows to scroll the focus points until you shoot and then reset it by toggling the left arrow again. If you set button 'Fn 1' to set HP (home position of the focus points, to center point, then you can leave the point you set with the left arrow key, and toggle between that point and center point by toggling Fn1 on and off. Want to start over ... half press- hit the left arrow key-choose another focus point and shoot ;-)
David

[Guy Roberts]

Nearly there with the om1. Got the battery charger and the shutter has had 2840 uses, the firmware is 2 and there is no burn in the view finder.
I don't know where the diopter is set to as there isn't a 0 mark on the dial, so I counted and there are 14 clicks so I have set it to 7. As you can see I am paranoid about this because we have a lot of intense sun, the camera is out of warranty and the cost of repairs will be horrible when you add freight and duty.
i didn't get the cable to connect the camera to my computer to upgrade the firmware so I will have to order one. I am assuming that I will have to upgrade one step at a time, I.e. I can't just jump to 4.
i have bought the lens adaptor and i will get the grip as well.
looking forward to using this little beauty.

[Daniel Bradley]

Hi Guy,
7 clicks is pretty much the zero setting. You should be fine with that.
Once you plug it in to your computer and run the update program, it will tell you exactly what you need to do, that is, whether you can skip v3 all together or not.
Have fun! Great camera.

[Guy Roberts]

Hi Guy,
7 clicks is pretty much the zero setting. You should be fine with that.
Once you plug it in to your computer and run the update program, it will tell you exactly what you need to do, that is, whether you can skip v3 all together or not.
Have fun! Great camera.

Thanks Daniel.
The correct setting for the diopter for me is 2 clicks less than this, but from memory that is where yours got burnt, so I will put up with a slightly blurred viewfinder.
I have managed to get the wireless working on my phone which is good as I often use the wired remote with the e5.
From first impressions this is one sophisticated camera.
Got a lot of reading to do