My New OlympyKON
Jun 28, 2015 19:57:06 #
New OlympyKON
I have been investigating buying a 4/3 system for some time now. I finally did it. After doing my homework I decided on the Olympus OM-D E-M10. My decision to go Olympus was partially due to Owning a couple of Olympus SLRs back in the day (an OM 1 and an OM 10). There were a couple of things I always liked about the Olympus even though eventually I went Nikon. I like to almost always have a camera with me but did not always want the bulk of carrying one or more of my Nikons. During my quest I looked at a lot of cameras and I looked at a lot of images taken with 4/3 systems. I was always a little put off by the softness and somewhat pastel like colors I saw in the images. I did however, start seeing some images that that seemed to have overcome that look. So decided it would be worth an investment to see for myself what the possibilities are. I have had the camera for almost a week and took it with me on a little escape holiday and explored as much as I could of the camera and its features. I guess I wound up I kinda like it and maybe not so much.
I bought the camera with the 14-42 kit lens (not the greatest) and I also got an Fotodox NG 4/3 adaptor so I could use my Nikon Lenses (glad I did that). The adaptor was supposedly for use with Nikon G lenses (of which I have a few primes) but was glad to discover it works with most my Nikon lenses and really great results with my Nikon 50mm f 1.8 D lens.
OK so the likes:
8 fps burst really cool, focuses quick, Low light situations really good, in video mode (not something I use a lot) did a good job without the onboard mic picking up camera noise. I did a short clip of a band with the only lights being the stage lights and was very impressed with the results. Low light stills also impressed. The little built in flash was ok once I learned to keep my hand off the top of the lens. Oh yeah I do like the ability to change aspect ratio (that comes in handy).
OK likes not so much:
I did not find the small body all that comfortable to hold the squared corners were sometimes annoying on my hand (I have ordered the little grippy thing maybe that will help. I set the camera on my smart phone it looks like the camera has its own resting tray. Images in low light and artificial light looked good but daylight did bring out that pastel look to the colors and that general soft image look (flat) I mentioned I was skeptical of in my research. Oh shooting monochrome was better. An observation I made while doing my homework on 4/3s that a lot of the photos up for display were monochrome (hmm). Oh I did shoot in all the modes (before someone tells me I was in the wrong one).
OK (so I can see the potential) Things I need help with:
RAW files, I downloaded Olympus viewer 3 (not a great piece of software). I downloaded the plug in adobe cameraRaw 9_1. I can get the RAW images to load into Adobe Photoshop elements 13 but not into Lightroom. In Adobe elements I cannot convert the RAW image (ORF) to JPG I have to save it out as a DNG then Bring it into Lightroom and post process and convert. There has to be an easier path (HELP).
Speed lights.. right now I am leaning towards the Olympus FL-600R or the Generic MK-320 TTL Mini. Recommendations welcome. I am a bit of a strobist. I like to be in control of my lighting (modeling my lighting to meet my creative ideas. I rarely do any serious people photos without at least introducing some light to enhance the image .. Im gonna leave this here and get your thoughts. THANKS.
I have been investigating buying a 4/3 system for some time now. I finally did it. After doing my homework I decided on the Olympus OM-D E-M10. My decision to go Olympus was partially due to Owning a couple of Olympus SLRs back in the day (an OM 1 and an OM 10). There were a couple of things I always liked about the Olympus even though eventually I went Nikon. I like to almost always have a camera with me but did not always want the bulk of carrying one or more of my Nikons. During my quest I looked at a lot of cameras and I looked at a lot of images taken with 4/3 systems. I was always a little put off by the softness and somewhat pastel like colors I saw in the images. I did however, start seeing some images that that seemed to have overcome that look. So decided it would be worth an investment to see for myself what the possibilities are. I have had the camera for almost a week and took it with me on a little escape holiday and explored as much as I could of the camera and its features. I guess I wound up I kinda like it and maybe not so much.
I bought the camera with the 14-42 kit lens (not the greatest) and I also got an Fotodox NG 4/3 adaptor so I could use my Nikon Lenses (glad I did that). The adaptor was supposedly for use with Nikon G lenses (of which I have a few primes) but was glad to discover it works with most my Nikon lenses and really great results with my Nikon 50mm f 1.8 D lens.
OK so the likes:
8 fps burst really cool, focuses quick, Low light situations really good, in video mode (not something I use a lot) did a good job without the onboard mic picking up camera noise. I did a short clip of a band with the only lights being the stage lights and was very impressed with the results. Low light stills also impressed. The little built in flash was ok once I learned to keep my hand off the top of the lens. Oh yeah I do like the ability to change aspect ratio (that comes in handy).
OK likes not so much:
I did not find the small body all that comfortable to hold the squared corners were sometimes annoying on my hand (I have ordered the little grippy thing maybe that will help. I set the camera on my smart phone it looks like the camera has its own resting tray. Images in low light and artificial light looked good but daylight did bring out that pastel look to the colors and that general soft image look (flat) I mentioned I was skeptical of in my research. Oh shooting monochrome was better. An observation I made while doing my homework on 4/3s that a lot of the photos up for display were monochrome (hmm). Oh I did shoot in all the modes (before someone tells me I was in the wrong one).
OK (so I can see the potential) Things I need help with:
RAW files, I downloaded Olympus viewer 3 (not a great piece of software). I downloaded the plug in adobe cameraRaw 9_1. I can get the RAW images to load into Adobe Photoshop elements 13 but not into Lightroom. In Adobe elements I cannot convert the RAW image (ORF) to JPG I have to save it out as a DNG then Bring it into Lightroom and post process and convert. There has to be an easier path (HELP).
Speed lights.. right now I am leaning towards the Olympus FL-600R or the Generic MK-320 TTL Mini. Recommendations welcome. I am a bit of a strobist. I like to be in control of my lighting (modeling my lighting to meet my creative ideas. I rarely do any serious people photos without at least introducing some light to enhance the image .. Im gonna leave this here and get your thoughts. THANKS.
MY E-M10 with my nikon 50mm 1.8
taken with the M10 with nikon lens
Jun 28, 2015 20:23:51 #
Congratulations on your nrew system.
You may find the Adobe DNG convertor (a freebie from Adobe) easier to use before importing the files into Lightroom. I used it for a while before upgading to the latest version of LR.
You may find the Adobe DNG convertor (a freebie from Adobe) easier to use before importing the files into Lightroom. I used it for a while before upgading to the latest version of LR.
Jun 28, 2015 20:29:14 #
Fun adapter for m43 is a tilt adapter i got the canon version. its about $20-30 on ebay
Jun 28, 2015 20:38:23 #
Yesterday I attached a Nikon lens to my Olympus you have. I took a few pictures. I was having trouble getting critical focus. Also wondering what you are doing to adjust the exposure. Would you comment on setting, techniques etc using the camera with the Nikon lens?
Jun 28, 2015 21:08:06 #
WAL wrote:
Yesterday I attached a Nikon lens to my Olympus you have. I took a few pictures. I was having trouble getting critical focus. Also wondering what you are doing to adjust the exposure. Would you comment on setting, techniques etc using the camera with the Nikon lens?
I don't think I did anything special. The camera was on the table top tripod you see in the picture. The adaptor was set to keep the lens wide open f 1.8. I manually focused the image. I was using the screen not the viewfinder. I used the shutter button for release. I did have a one of my speedlights set up in slave mode and I used the camera's flash to trigger it. I also closed the shutter down some so image was not taken with the lens wide open. I only had it open to set up the shot. I closed the shutter till it looked good to me on the screen. I also did a lot of shooting with Nikon lenses hand held and tried different lenses. I did not have any problems relative to focus. if you tried this with a slow shutter speed and no flash... you may have had a problem with camera shake. I don't know what else to tell you. There are several versions of these adaptors I don't know if the one you have contributed to your problem. Hope this helps. Good Luck... thankyou.
Jun 28, 2015 21:15:02 #
Jun 28, 2015 21:17:47 #
Jun 28, 2015 21:38:01 #
Even with the em1, I needed to add the full length camera plate. Amazing what 1/4" of extra height does for comfort.
Jun 28, 2015 22:32:42 #
WAL wrote:
Yesterday I attached a Nikon lens to my Olympus you have. I took a few pictures. I was having trouble getting critical focus. Also wondering what you are doing to adjust the exposure. Would you comment on setting, techniques etc using the camera with the Nikon lens?
I'm back... Just happened to check a video on setting up focus peeking on the M-E10. If that is what you tried to do or want to do. It does not automatically work. You have to go into the menu turn on peeking and then assign a function button to peeking. You can then activate it when using a non 4/3 lens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROSbB-MBLg
Jun 29, 2015 06:19:07 #
lukan
Loc: Chicago, IL
frankie c wrote:
I'm back... Just happened to check a video on setting up focus peeking on the M-E10. If that is what you tried to do or want to do. It does not automatically work. You have to go into the menu turn on peeking and then assign a function button to peeking. You can then activate it when using a non 4/3 lens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROSbB-MBLg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROSbB-MBLg
On the E-M1, focus peaking is pretty straight-forward, and the color-coded "in-focus" makes it a breeze to use with just about any lens and adapter. I would think the E-M10 follows suit.
Congrats on your new gear! Check out the Oly 75mm f1.8 as soon as your budget allows! :thumbup:
Jun 29, 2015 06:42:04 #
Good choice, I have been using an Olympus M43 camera for some years now and have never regretted dumping my DSLR, I am sure that you will enjoy your new camera.
The 1442 kit lens is quite good, but I now use a Panasonic 1445 which is a far superior lens but my main lens is a Sigma 19mm 2.8 which is an excellent lens and produces very high quality images.
Occasionally when I need a wider angle I use the 1445 lens but now I keep the Sigma on my camera 99% of the time.
The 1442 kit lens is quite good, but I now use a Panasonic 1445 which is a far superior lens but my main lens is a Sigma 19mm 2.8 which is an excellent lens and produces very high quality images.
Occasionally when I need a wider angle I use the 1445 lens but now I keep the Sigma on my camera 99% of the time.
Jun 29, 2015 07:37:15 #
frankie c wrote:
I'm back... Just happened to check a video on setting up focus peeking on the M-E10. If that is what you tried to do or want to do. It does not automatically work. You have to go into the menu turn on peeking and then assign a function button to peeking. You can then activate it when using a non 4/3 lens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROSbB-MBLg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qROSbB-MBLg
Agree with lukan, peaking is pretty easy once you set it up. You probably already know this but it helps to enlarge the image within the viewfinder or on the back screen so that you can see that focus target more clearly. Really helps with birds/bugs/flowers/stuff like that.
Jun 29, 2015 07:44:37 #
Congratulations on your Oly. I, too am a Nikon man, but added an OMD 5 a couple of years ago, for the times when I want to go light. Glad I did.
Jun 29, 2015 08:39:58 #
Congratulations on your new addition. I am more of a 'walk about' photographer but will use the tridpod and remote also. Purchasing my EM1 in August (after learning that a very respected photographer and camera store manager used one exclusively) , it has taken me almost a year to feel it as versatile in my hands as my dslr ( which included many lenses). The 75mm happens to be one of my favorites, also. If you think the colors are too 'pastel', try some filters. It seems as if you are adapting your Nikon lenses successfully, but try some of their PRO lenses ( sorry, ... not a plug... just an enthusiast) . A lot of engineering thought has gone into their development and will not disappoint. Good luck !
Jun 29, 2015 08:58:05 #
lukan wrote:
On the E-M1, focus peaking is pretty straight-forward, and the color-coded "in-focus" makes it a breeze to use with just about any lens and adapter. I would think the E-M10 follows suit.
Congrats on your new gear! Check out the Oly 75mm f1.8 as soon as your budget allows! :thumbup:
Congrats on your new gear! Check out the Oly 75mm f1.8 as soon as your budget allows! :thumbup:
Thanks.. I am using focus peeking (I just set that up) absolutely fabulous tool.
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