Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II mirrorless micro court thirds digital camera: Am thinking about purchasing this camera so would love to hear from any of you out there that might already have...

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

Am thinking about purchasing this camera so would love to hear from any of you out there that might already have this camera what you think of it and what types of lenses you have. Am very interested to know how it handles noise with high ISO, focusing, battery life, etc. - I mainly take wildlife photos. Many thanks.

Oly Guy

I have a OM D5 and find the pictures great ISO is good -also have a 20mm 1.8 and 45mm 1.8 and 30-100 1.8 all items used from KEH.The camera has so many features like in camera edit and 2x digital shooting so a 100mm shot becomes a 400mm shot with the 2x factor on. It takes a while to learn this camera but is worth it-Also has buttons -programable to bypass menu use. The basic 18 55 lens is also good but becomes 36x110 wide angle is hard to reach unless you get a 9mm prime but that's down the road. Quite a camera and Olympus takes allPanasonic lenses which are less costly. I love the viewfinder also!

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

jrbissell wrote:

I have a OM D5 and find the pictures great ISO is ... (show quote)

Thanks for this. That is an interesting bit of info about the Panasonic lenses. Yes I was told that you can use the live view mode and the minute you put your eye up to the viewfinder it senses that and changes over automatically, a very nice feature.
I would love to know someone who has the ED 75-300 lens and how it performs.

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

I have the the E-M1 mkII--It's great, and a big improvement over the mkI. It will not match a top of the line DSLR in dynamic range or high ISO, low noise, or focus tracking--But if you know what you're doing, it will perform quite well.

With the in body stabilization, IBIS, and some lenses with OIS that work together with IBIS, the ability to handhold long exposures is remarkable. You will give up nothing in terms of quality lenses, as both the Olympus and Panasonic lenses are outstanding.

A good forum for all thing micro 4/3, is mu-43.com. Look for the "Olympus OM-D E-M1 mkII Image Thread" for many examples of what this camera can do, and lots of other information.

One of the main attractions, for me, is huge savings is size, cost and weight of m4/3 over conventional DSLRs.

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

moonhawk wrote:

I have the the E-M1 mkII--It's great, and a big im... (show quote)

Thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely do that.
It is the weight that is persuading me to change from my Canon 7D MkII with a 100-400mm lens plus a 1.4 teleconverter but before I take the plunge I am trying to find out as much as possible so appreciate your input.

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

BTW, I own the 7-14 PRO, the 12-40 PRO, the 12-100 PRO, 40-150 PRO, 300 f/4 PRO, and the Panasonic/Leica 100-400. Not one dog among them.

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

moonhawk wrote:

BTW, I own the 7-14 PRO, the 12-40 PRO, the 12-100 PRO, 40-100 PRO, 300 f/4 PRO, and the Panasonic/Leica 100-400. Not one dog among them.

Thanks good to know. Am looking for the thread you mentioned but so far I haven't come across anything - have never looked for a thread before so am not too sure what I am doing.....

moonhawk Loc: Land of Enchantment

TrishV wrote:

Thanks good to know. Am looking for the thread you mentioned but so far I haven't come across anything - have never looked for a thread before so am not too sure what I am doing.....

See if this works. Click on the header "Forums" to find a thread...

https://www.mu-43.com/threads/olympus-om-d-e-m1-mark-ii-image-thread.87944/

Oly Guy

Remember the sensor is smaller but Olympus has done wonders with ISO since the E series _I shoot the 18 55 at 1600 for family stuff and cannot really see the difference. Great sharpness and software Jpegs come out better than most -I just found the camera shot some of the Photos that did usually not need editing which saves me time. I kind of compare it to the Fuji sharpness with a bit better processor-to my liking.

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

moonhawk wrote:

See if this works. Click on the header "Forums" to find a thread...

https://www.mu-43.com/threads/olympus-om-d-e-m1-mark-ii-image-thread.87944/

Great thanks, that worked out great.

TrishV Loc: Now living on Whidbey Island, WA

jrbissell wrote:

Remember the sensor is smaller but Olympus has done wonders with ISO since the E series _I shoot the 18 55 at 1600 for family stuff and cannot really see the difference. Great sharpness and software Jpegs come out better than most -I just found the camera shot some of the Photos that did usually not need editing which saves me time. I kind of compare it to the Fuji sharpness with a bit better processor-to my liking.

Thanks - appreciate your input.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

TrishV wrote:

Am thinking about purchasing this camera so would love to hear from any of you out there that might already have this camera what you think of it and what types of lenses you have. Am very interested to know how it handles noise with high ISO, focusing, battery life, etc. - I mainly take wildlife photos. Many thanks.

Obviously sensor pixel size limits the dynamic range a little and noise occurs at lower ISOs than larger sensors. Although each has its pluses and minuses, the E-M1mrII compares quite well when put up against the Fuji X-T2. The E-M1 mrII is a professional camera in every sense of the word.

Jerrin1 Loc: Wolverhampton, England

TrishV wrote:

Am thinking about purchasing this camera so would love to hear from any of you out there that might already have this camera what you think of it and what types of lenses you have. Am very interested to know how it handles noise with high ISO, focusing, battery life, etc. - I mainly take wildlife photos. Many thanks.

I bought my EM1 mark II on 17th December 2016 and have regularly used it for wildlife since then. I sold 2 x EM1 bodies + 4 lenses I didn't use very often and now have an Olympus 12 - 100mm f4 Pro, Olympus 300mm f4 Pro and Oly 1.4 TC. I also have a Metz AF 64 digital flash. The EM1.2 is far superior to the EM1 for birds in flight - the new AF system is pretty good. I believe it is better in low light and have used it up to ISO 5000, though normally keep it to under 3200 where possible. The Pro capture feature is brilliant, especially when used with 18fps continuous focus. Battery life is far better than the EM1. From what I have seen the focus stacking/bracketing is superb. I am fortunate to also own a Nikon D500, which handles noise/low light far better than the EM1 mark II and is also better for birds in flight. Having said that, now insects are becoming more abundant I have my macro lens almost permanently fitted to my D500 and use the EM1.2 + 300mm for birds in flight etc.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

TrishV wrote:

Am thinking about purchasing this camera so would love to hear from any of you out there that might already have this camera what you think of it and what types of lenses you have. Am very interested to know how it handles noise with high ISO, focusing, battery life, etc. - I mainly take wildlife photos. Many thanks.

Some other things to think about: the right body lense combo is weatherproof. I go shooting in the rain with no extra protection for the camera other than the camera itself. The IBIS is the best in the industry. I can not shoot with a tripod 98% of the time. My record for handholding without blur is at 1.6 seconds so far (I have seen 5 and 10 seconds and heard of one at 20 seconds). Also, Panasonic is coming out with its new GH5. Give it due consideration too.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

It's a great camera.

As an alternate to the 40-150 or 300, consider the 150 f2 with ec14 and ec20. You'll also need an mmf-3.

Also the 12-40 and 75 are wonderful matches to each other.