Monday 29 June 2015

System Cameras Reviews (10) - Further Thoughts on Olympus E-M1 from Clive

I wasn’t too sure about the image quality until I found a comment on a Olympus forum that advised on Lightroom settings, in particular reducing the Sharping Radius to 0.5. The Lightroom default radius is 1.0. This greatly improved the look of the image. 
I believe you do need the quality glass i.e. the primes & the Pro zoom, to really appreciate the format. Since owning the 40-150mm 2.8 pro lens, I am really sold on the system. It is a great lens to use and produces really sharp images.

My Pros & Cons-
Pros
Compact size, less weight, easy to run 2 bodies at once, with different lens on
Does not look like a 'Pro’ camera
Can see the effects of changing exposure & colour balance in the viewfinder
After taking the image, there is a brief preview in the viewfinder, which confirms what you have got. 
Cost is lower than the big players (Canon & Nikon)
Fully weather sealed
Fn buttons on the Pro Lens lock the focus 
An effective manual clutch on the some lens, allow you to switch quickly between manual & auto focus
Focus Peeking
Wireless  - can use a phone as a remote
Highly configurable, disadvantage to some but to me it is a big plus
Wide range of lens. Panasonic shares the same format, therefore the lens & bodies are interchangeable
Firmware updates that add improvements not just fixes
Amazing Image Stabiliser ensures sharp images and  allows really low shutter speeds to be used handheld

Cons
High ISO, though the increased depth of field from the format allows you to open up the lens more
Battery life can be poor, though I did get 500+ images on one battery at a recent event, but generally I get a lot less
Continuous focusing, not bad but needs improvement

Future development 
Olympus Road Map there are bringing out new pro lens - in particular a 300mm f4 telephoto (600mm in full frame). With the 1.4 converter it will be 840mm f5.6! 
The new 40mg size image functionality will be available in higher shutter speeds.

Sunday 28 June 2015

System Camera Reviews (9) Fuji X-T1 (Phil)

I began my Fuji acquaintance with the fixed-lens X100 and was so impressed with the jpegs that I bought an X-Pro1 with a couple of prime lenses on offer.  The X-T1 followed with its superior EVF and tilting rear screen, but I still prefer the Pro1 for handling, though it's hardly compact or even light.  The lighter T1 comes with a dinky little flash unit that operates from the camera's own battery, and I have a Metz C20 flash for use with the Pro1.    

Most of the kit has been acquired second-hand, and the Fuji lenses can absorb a lot of punishment - I dropped the 55 - 200mm zoom on its mount end onto a pavement, and it showed no damage or malfunction.  The prime lenses are very sharp and have real aperture rings, where the variable f-stop zooms require you to check the aperture on the rear screen (the fixed aperture zooms, which are expensive, have a marked ring).  I have used two Samyang lenses with the Fujis - the 8mm f/2.8 fisheye and the current 12mm f/2 (=18mm).  They are very compact with excellent sharpness and contrast, and are cheap compared to the Fuji equivalents (there is no Fuji fisheye yet) but do not give you any metadata and have to be fired with the 'no lens attached' box ticked in the menu. They have to be used in manual or aperture-priority mode.

This is no drawback, but I have one grumble about the T1: when you choose 2 or 10 second self-timer in the menu, it lasts only as long as you use it.  If the camera goes to sleep, you have to reselect and set it again.  Certainly it never catches you out like Canon, when you come to shoot an instant pic and find that the self-timer is set, so perhaps I shouldn't grumble.  The Pro1 takes a threaded remote shutter release, avoiding all the self-timer hassle, whereas the T1 does not.  The filter sizes are different for all the lenses.

To sum up, not the smallest CSCs in the world but no bigger than the Olympus OM-1 of old.  Big sensor with enlargement pixel for pixel as good as the Canon 5D Mk. 3.  Not the best for action photography yet, but can be used for sport and nature (see Miles Whitworth's images).  Autofocus is slow, though perfectly suited to a more measured style of photography.  

X-T1 with Samyang 12mm 1/70th @ f/8 iso 640.  RAW image, not much processing needed.

X-T1 with 55 - 200mm zoom in single shot mode at 80mm 1/320th @ f/10 iso 200


X-E1 with 18mm Fuji prime



 X-Pro1 with 55-200mm + 16mm extension tube and fill-in flash.  1/125th @ f/14 iso 200 handheld

X-T1 with 55-200mm  1/320th @ f/8 iso 640.


System Camera Reviews (8) Fuji X-T1 (Ann)

For my contribution, here are some comparisons between Canon 5DIII with 16-35mm lens (left) and the fuji X-T1 with a 10-24mm (right).

System Camera Reviews (7) Fuji X-T1 (Ian)

  • Adobe's Fuji X-Trans support is poor until ACR 9.1 (LR 6.1/CC2015), which was released a couple of weeks ago.  It's now much improved, but possibly still not on a par with the very best.  Based on reading web reviews (i.e. with a large pinch of salt), Iridient Developer seems to come out top for RAW processing, but it's Mac only.  I've evaluated Photo Ninja (both Mac and PC) which certainly does a good job, but is clunky as hell to use and I wouldn't really recommend it.  Lightroom is plenty good enough, and the workflow is head and shoulders above anything else out there (with the possible exception of Capture One, which Miles may be able to comment on).
  • As well as much better de-mosaic support for X-Trans sensors, the new Adobe "film simulation" colour profiles are now pretty well spot on - at least for "Standard/Provia", which is the one I tend to use.  Far better than "Adobe Standard", and also better than the custom profile I made with my Colour Checker.  In fact, using the Provia profile I've been enormously impressed as to how close the Fuji colours are to reality "out of the box".
  • Not all sensors are alike when it comes to sharpening, and the Fuji X-Trans is a case in point.  It will cope with much higher radii and detail extraction than the Canon sensors, and several people have published their presets based on extensive experimentation.  The one which impressed me most came from Thomas Fitzgerald's Photography Blog, although - with the improved de-mosaic algorithm - they're possibly a little too strong now.  I'm sure that Thomas will publish updated presets at some point, though.  The URL is:
  • http://blog.thomasfitzgeraldphotography.com/blog/2014/02/updated-x-trans-sharpening-presets-lightroom
  • There are several good Fuji-based blogs, and Thomas Fitzgerald has lots of other interesting articles and reviews which are worth reading.  Another person with an excellent Fuji blog is John Caz - especially a superb blow-by-blow guide to the camera's menu system, and how to set the device up for best results.  The URL is:
  • http://www.johncaz.net/blog/december-19th-2014
  • Version 4 of the Fuji X-T1 firmware is due for release tomorrow, and it promises much improved focusing (and lots else besides).
  • Finally, a personal observation which has been backed up by several other people.  Despite lens firmware updates, there are still times when using Fuji's optical image stabilisation (OIS) causes unsharp pictures - especially when shooting at higher shutter speeds.  The perceived wisdom appears to be changing the OIS mode from 1 (all the time) to 2 (shooting only), but I've found that - while this helps with fast shutter speeds - it makes things worse at show shutter speeds.  Much better to leave the OIS mode on 1, but only to enable OIS when it's actually needed.  This is different to Canon (and, probably Nikon too), and I'd be really interested to hear whether playing with the OIS setting helps with the sharpness of your 18-135.



 Details enlarged from three photos taken with Fuji




System Camera Reviews (6) Fuji X-T1 (Miles)

 I didn't go CSC until there was a system that could shoot at ISO3200 (my benchmark for useful shooting inside/action on gloomy days/nightscapes) and produce images that would easily clean up, even if that meant going for a slightly larger sensor (APS-C) and body over MFT.  One straight-from-RAW example and one DeNoised example showing you can get respectable images shooting action at reasonable shutter speeds with a slower zoom on a cloudy/wet day in a forest. 




I would not tolerate an EVF with any sort of lag (drives an action shooter nuts!) - or that made manual focussing hard.  That ruled out a LOT of stuff.

I also wanted quality lenses matched to a moderate resolution sensor.  Hope remaining image shows that is the case with the X-T1. It isn't a 60MP studio monster, but well framed images should easily print to A3+ which is all I want. 



Downsides with Fuji (you know these)
(1) Flash system is not fully developed, no wireless eTTL (although I've never needed this - manual wireless flash has been fine for me)
(2) Lightroom processing of RAF (but see LR 6.1 - it has some improvements)
(3) Tethered support only just available (Windows only)
(4) AF is decent but not outstanding

Upsides
(1) Substantial free firmware updates (may improve AF accuracy and low light performance)
(2) Quality primes and zooms
(3) That X-T1 EVF has blimping night vision.  You can fit a 10 stop ND and STILL frame and focus.  You can manually focus in the dark when you can barely see anything with your naked eye.

System Camera Reviews (5) Panasonic GM1 and Olympus Pen

 Panasonic GM1 (Mark)
This is a full micro 4/3 sensor in an absolutely tiny body with a collapsing pancake standard zoom lens. It looks like a point-and-shoot, and with silent electronic shutter, fast single auto focussing and iPhone wireless control it's great for street photography. People just don't notice or care that you're taking their picture. It's also a useful backup body when travelling with a single E-M1.


Olympus Pen (Gareth)
Very useful small camera. Gareth uses prime lenses only; Lightroom defaults not great (may be improved in LR6). Also not good at tracking subjects.

System Camera Reviews (4) Olympus OM-D E-M1 with Zuiko 12-40 f/2.8 PRO (Chris)

I am very happy with my new toy!  I have added the Olympus M.Zuiko ED 75-300 f4.8-6.7 II (Thank you Clive D) and have also experimented with the Panasonic 45-200 f4-5.6  I have a Nissin Di486 flash (Guide No 33) which I bought for my Panasonic G1 and is completely compatible with the OMD and takes over when the bundled flash (Guide No 10) runs out of steam.  I can use the bundled flash as a master and the Nissin as a remote with TTL metering

Nice surprises

1. 10 fps
2. Weight (for travel and walkabout)
3. Low light performance
4. In body 5 axis image stabilization - experimenting with the 75-300 (full frame equivalent 150-600) at 250 upwards hand held without problems
5. Weather proof
6. 12-40 f/2.8 lens is a great walkabout lens.  Equivalent to 24 - 80 and light as a feather and sharp as a pin

Ooh - er shocks!

1. Battery life - I was glad to hear from Mark Farrington that 3rd party batteries work well and I now have the original + two spares
2. Some of the controls are less than perfect - the four point adjuster on the back moves the target focus around and I have been known to have moved it accidentally.  It can be re-programmed I’m told, but I have not yet discovered how
3. The Manual is more or less useless.  Call me old fashioned, but when I take out a 200+ page manual, I hope to find all that I need within its covers; alas, no.  The English section is 8 pages long including 3.5 pages of Health & Safety of which 1 page is specially for our transatlantic cousins (“Do not immerse the flash into water of other liquids” and such like).  I have bought a third party book.

I have tried to pick out some images which show a broad breadth of use - the horses at Ely show the long lens at work with mid-level high ISO. The bishop in the church shows a very low light shot without flash, the flowers (are intended to) show sharp focus from the 10-40 and the goldfinches again high(ish) ISO + handheld at 300 mm focal length.


A couple more good points
Focus peaking - I hadn’t heard of this until I tripped over it in an article I was reading this afternoon - I presume that it is a mirrorless only feature?  I shall experiment in Menorca

The ease with which my phone became a wireless remote for the camera, complete with viewfinder info in the phone screen, but I wish that I could stop it showing me each image that I shoot on the phone in edit mode.  I can get over this using continuous shooting, but that may not be appropriate if my camera is on a tripod pointing at a branch waiting for a passing eagle to rest on the branch whilst I sit indoors to avoid alarming said raptor

And a bad one.


It’s all very well being able to rattle away at 10 fps, but only with continuous AF turned off - if I want continuous AF with jpegs only, I can get 6 fps and with RAW, 3.5 - Not quite what it said on the tin!

System Camera Reviews (3) Olympus E-M1 (Mark)

We had a 3-week trip in South Africa and Malawi in May that included a internal light plane flight for which there was a 15kg per person total baggage limit. (That's about the weight of a single 1Dx body, isn't it? [!])

I was able to fit 2 E-M1 bodies, 12-35 f2.8, 40-150 f2.8, 1.4 teleconverter, 45 f1.8 and a Samyang 7.5mm fisheye plus supporting batteries, chargers & other photo kit in a LowePro 200AW slingback bag well within this limit, while still taking enough clothes to remain adequately chic in the game lodges.

The tele zoom plus converter gives a maximum 420mm full-frame equivalent which was just about enough for the game drives, and having 2 bodies meant I didn't have to change lenses on the back of extremely dusty Landrovers. The bodies plus both zooms are weather and dust sealed.

Single auto focussing is extremely quick in decent light, and the in-body stabilization meant I could get a high proportion of sharp images at 420mm at 1/40 (and reasonably high at 1/20 second) at f4 and ISO1600 or 2000. Below that light level, however, auto focussing is very weak, but the 40-150 does have a rapid switch to manual focussing with peaking assistance.

On the negative side, although the CAF is OK for most animals you wouldn't want to use it for birds in flight, and ISO 2000 is my personal limit with 1600 the preferred maximum.
 Excellent for street photography

System Camera Reviews (2) Olympus E-M1 (Clive)

Pros -  Image stabilisation built into body 1/6th down to 1 sec hand held.
4:3rd format is not difficult to get used to
Very good for macro – can get very close.
Good for movement- horizontal panning setting senses movement
10 frames /sec.
Cons
Highlight control not as good as Canon SLR

Selection of images with 40-150 mm 








System Camera Reviews (1) Canon EOS-M (Clive)

The discussion topic for our June meeting was System cameras. 
Canon EOS-M
Clive started the evening introducing us to his Canon EOS-M - a very small compact system camera. 
Pros – same menus as other canon cameras
It has a cropped sensor same as 70D.
Has a flash
Metal case
Fits coat pocket
Only £199 from Argos at the moment
Adaptor allows use of all Canon lenses

Cons - no viewfinder so can be problem on sunny days; screen does not tilt.
Stopped marketing and no further development
Not good at tracking
Images (1) Thames mists

(2) Man

(3) Landscape using 8-15mm with adaptor (gives full auto)