Olympus E-M1 Photos from today

[PHIL RUDIN]

The "pink things" are Sergeant Major fish eggs in early the stage of development.

 

[pkgman]

So Phil is the Nauticam available now?

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Yes the housing is shipping and orders are being filled.

 

[watboy]

Hope you don't mind, here are my first shots with the EM1 from Raja Ampat.



Both shot with 60mm macro at IS 200, F8 and 1/160th shutter speed, uncropped. The goby I used a subsee +5.

The main benefits I enjoy of the Nauticam EM1 over the EM5 are in the ergonomics and handling. Having triggers for shutter and AEL/AFL lock is much easier on my hands. I found the two control wheels to be very easy to reach. Normally after a long trip, my right had gets a bit sore on the EM5. With the EM1 I had no issues. I didn't setup the mode lever, but i'm thinking now of setting it up so I can flip the lever and then the control dials can change ISO and flash settings. Might be easer than having to hit the down/right arrow for those. I also prefer integrated handles that are flush on the bottom and have support brackets up top. Its far more sturdy than my old easy-tray and it doesn't top forward when I lay it flat on a table anymore. The camera tray now locks, which is nice as my EM5 has slipped out once before. Only minus is the on/off switch, because of its location, you have to lift the knob every time you insert or remove the camera. Minor point because its impossible to forget. Is a little more buoyant than my EM5. They shipped it to me with the wrong vacuum pump port, so I didn't get to try.

As for the camera, I didn't feel like it focused much faster than the EM5. It wasn't slow, but I wasn't blown away either. The 1/320 sync speed I found useful once or twice for sunballs, and I totally forgot that I could do 100-like ISO, so didn't try.

Overall the camera is perfect for me. It has addressed all the ergonomic short comings of the EM5 (plus the port release lever is super cool).

 

[girellator]

Thank to share and to give also such precious informations about the new EM1 and Nauticam housing . Very temptating are the much stronger arms that hold the housing my OMD is always temptating to escape from his easytray ... Of course the 1/320 and iso 100 , but the heaviest weight ( as I thought ) is a bit annoying and tHe speed not improve of the auto focus very disappointing .
As if I want to upgrade I'm suppose to spend more than 3000 euros ( camera body , housing and back window to change for my viewfinder ( of course it size is probably not the same than the one of the EM5...) )I'm going to wait a little and see more pictures taken with the EM1 and read more advice from you both or anybody who has one
Finally my pictures taken with the EM5 are not so bad

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

Regarding Watboy's comment on auto focus I would make the following observations. If you are using the 60mm macro and shooting very close, say 1:3 or closer to 1:1 a lot of the AF speed has to do with your technique. I think both the EM-1 and EM-5 focus quite fast with most lenses. The big difference between the two cameras is the large improvement in C-AF with the E-M1 and the PDAF for use with the excellent line of four thirds lenses from the Olympus DSLR systems.

If you are not shooting 4/3 lenses or using continuous AF then speed differences between the two cameras is limited. You also have a faster burst rate and a larger buffer with the E-M1 about 60 RAW images at 6.5 frames per second in AF. These features are directed more towards the Pro or advanced enthusiast rather than the shooter using S-AF.

I would also agree that the image quality of the E-M5 is very good and that you would want to be looking for more than just the moderate improvement in image quality of the E-M1 if you are going to make the move up to the E-M1.

 

[watboy]

Phil is right. I spent most of my macro shooting using S-AF with m4/3 lenses. For wide (9-18mn oly m43) and fisheye (pana 8mm), i'd often use C-AF and the EM1 was quite snappy. Focus speed was never an issue. Though I never found the EM5's wide angle focus speed to be an issue to begin with. So it is better, but you still have to have patience and technique for close macro and super macro. I've never shot a DSLR underwater, so I don't know how much slower it is at that kind of work.

I think that if you are buying a new nauticam system new, the EM1 is worth every penny over the EM5. You have to remember that included in the price difference is the new vacuum electronics and integrated handles. However, upgrading from an EM5 to EM1 is less obvious of a choice. I made the splurge, and for me the single biggest improvement was in the ergonomics. It sounds like its minor, but having paddles for shutter release and AEL/AFL lock made macro shooting much easier. I have far fewer out of focus or out of frame macro shots now. My EM5 is going to my GF, who prefers wide angle (and has a much better eye for that) while i like macro.

Regarding Watboy's comment on auto focus I would make the following observations. If you are using the 60mm macro and shooting very close, say 1:3 or closer to 1:1 a lot of the AF speed has to do with your technique. I think both the EM-1 and EM-5 focus quite fast with most lenses. The big difference between the two cameras is the large improvement in C-AF with the E-M1 and the PDAF for use with the excellent line of four thirds lenses from the Olympus DSLR systems.

If you are not shooting 4/3 lenses or using continuous AF then speed differences between the two cameras is limited. You also have a faster burst rate and a larger buffer with the E-M1 about 60 RAW images at 6.5 frames per second in AF. These features are directed more towards the Pro or advanced enthusiast rather than the shooter using S-AF.

I would also agree that the image quality of the E-M5 is very good and that you would want to be looking for more than just the moderate improvement in image quality of the E-M1 if you are going to make the move up to the E-M1.

 

[antennariidae]

I think that if you are buying a new nauticam system new, the EM1 is worth every penny over the EM5.

I think that for the housing, you are correct. However, the E-M5 is back down to $799 many places. A $600 difference from the E-M1. Makes the decision that much harder.

 

[PHIL RUDIN]

While I agree with your math this is not really apples to apples. The EM-1 is at the beginning of its cycle which should for the Pro camera last about three years. The run for the EM-5 is coming to an end about two years and the new OM-D EM-10 to be announced in the next few months will be a step down from EM-5. So if you want to wait over a year for the EM-1 I am sure it will drop 20% like the EM-5 has on sale and the difference will again be about $400.00. If cost is your main issue then I think the EM-5 is hard to beat with any camera of the same image quality.

 

[antennariidae]

While I agree with your math this is not really apples to apples. The EM-1 is at the beginning of its cycle which should for the Pro camera last about three years. The run for the EM-5 is coming to an end about two years and the new OM-D EM-10 to be announced in the next few months will be a step down from EM-5. So if you want to wait over a year for the EM-1 I am sure it will drop 20% like the EM-5 has on sale and the difference will again be about $400.00. If cost is your main issue then I think the EM-5 is hard to beat with any camera of the same image quality.

True. Hadn't seen the emerging info on the EM-10. Certainly does appear to be an attempt to step back and differentiate the E-M1 from the next model down.