(Note: Posting this to the PDML because we've had a bit of a discussion about alternatives to Pentax cameras there recently. The E-M1 is higher end than what we were discussing, but I felt others might like to know about it. Pardon the digression from our usual deep conversation... ;-)
The Olympus rep was at the local camera shop today, so I took an hour to go up and fondle the new E-M1. Note that I've already placed an order for one, and I've already read the instruction manual cover to cover a couple of times, so I didn't need to ask what button did what or whether this widget or that widget did this and that—I know all that stuff already. My primary interest to see one in person was to see for myself how well it focuses with the FourThirds SLR lenses I own, and also to evaluate using it with and without the battery grip. There were six other people there when I was, all vying for the chance to play with the one pre-production sample unit the rep had to show. The rep was very gracious in allowing me to test it with my own lenses and fit my own storage card so I could do a little snapping and take the results home to look at. I made 16 exposures, both JPEG and RAW, and allowed a couple of the other folks to try it with my lenses too. My impressions after six or seven minutes handling at the counter: - Nice, tight, solid feel. Quite compact, not too small. Light. All the controls have a solid and reassuring solidity to them: positive and sure. Fit and finish of every little bit was excellent, even on this pre-production unit. - Without the HLD7 battery grip fitted, it's a little small in my hands (I take an L-XL glove size) for medium to larger lenses. With the HLD7 fitted, it feels very nice indeed even with smaller, lighter lenses. The control and button spacings are nicely placed and big enough to work easily. (Pentax relevant: it feels a lot like the MZ-S model with the grip fitted: thin and trim, solid, but with a bit more of a grip.) - I tested my FourThirds Olympus ZD 35 Macro and ZD 11-22 zoom lenses on it. If there's a difference in focusing speed between the E-M1 and the E-5, I'm not sensitive to it; it's certainly faster than the E-1 or E-PL1—neither of these are the fastest focusing lenses in anyone's bag anyway. Focusing accuracy seems very good: for the 16 quick point-and-snap photos I made, they are all but one right on the money, and that one was with the Macro which always takes its sweet time to go from far to near. - ISO 800 produces very good results, and the stabilization worked a treat at 1/10-1/20 second. I didn't explore stressing other ISO settings or the stabilization as there wasn't time. Suffice it to say that I feel completely comfortable with the quality of the sensor. - It's hard to tell you're looking at an EVF: the viewfinder is very clean, very transparent. I can manually focus either of the above lenses easily without bothering with either magnification or peaking assist in most cases. The viewfinder quality is easily better than my Nikon F plain prism with A screen and a comparable lens. It would take a bit more time to assess it against the Leicaflex SL viewfinder ... that one is truly remarkable, but so is the E-M1 EVF. The E-M1 EVF is a substantial notch better than Olympus' own VF-2 EVF that I use with the Leica X2 and Olympus E-PL1. - Lightroom 5.2 (the official release version) imported the E-M1 .ORF files without a hiccup, and for Lr's support being "preliminary" on this model, the colors look very accurate and well-balanced. I'm glad I ordered one of these bodies. After handling it with and without, I ordered the HLD7 battery grip on the spot too as I know I'll want it. It is, once again, a true Olympus pro-grade camera, the successor to their excellent E-1, E-3 and E-5. I still have and love the E-1... ;-) Nice camera. I'm going to enjoy it. Godfrey - godfreydigio...@me.com Godfrey -- Godfrey DiGiorgi - godfreydigio...@me.com - 408.431.4601 cell -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
