DPR reviews the E-P5

[Uncle Frank]

A few months later than expected, but dpr's ep5 review finally is available.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I wonder if there were issues with the E-P5 design causing problems with the 5-axis IBIS? The IBIS on the E-M5 is rock solid and as stated on previous write-ups the hump on the E-M5 was necessary to house the IS system.

 

[daveja]

A few months later than expected, but dpr's ep5 review finally is available.

The part where they say "Unusually prone to blurred/shaken images at certain shutter speeds (around 1/160sec)" is kind of disturbing...Does not sound like an ibis issue unless it's a bug... Ibis should not be needed that much at 1/160 IMO... I can shoot my D700 at 1/30 with a wide angle lens without VR so 1/160 should not be an issue on a stabilized body... Must have been an issue with their test camera...

 

[Uncle Frank]

what do you think of the review as compared with your personal experience?

in their final word at the end they do not seem to be very happy with the image stabilization - You own this camera and you owned the em-5 is there a big difference?

I think it's a fair evaluation. It's early days for me, but I think the ep5 ibis is pretty much the same as the em5.

 

[Rooz]

They are the most common shutter speeds I shoot at and I've never seen a blurry image. I've also never accidentally hit the 2x2 switch so not sue what that's about. Go figure.

 

[bruce rubenstein]

As DPR pointed out, this appears to be more of a shutter issue than IBIS. The shutter in the EP5 is different than the EM5 (1/8000 sec. top speed), and I've also read comments that the shutter sound is different/sharper in the EP5 & E-M1 than the E-5M. The spectral content of vibrations induced by the shutter will have have high frequency components that shaky hands won't. My EPL-2 has the same sort of issues, in the same shutter speed range. I do find it surprising that no other review mentioned this problem.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I wonder if they can fix this in firmware?

 

[bruce rubenstein]

Not if the cause is the shutter. The shutter is mechanical and only its timing is computer controlled. IBIS behavior may be able to be modified with a firmware update. Firmware is not magic pixie dust.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

Firmware is not magic pixie dust.

Not if you're a Fuji shooter! *flame suit now on! :tongue:*

I wonder if this is something Olympus will just fix in production and then do free repairs for people this will affect. Olympus seems pretty quick to fix issues without saying much. But with DPreview bringing attention to it, I think they'll address it quickly.

 

[bruce rubenstein]

It's probably on their to-do list now, but probably won't show up until the E-P6 (the fix for not having a built in EVF like the GX7), early next year.

 

[Uncle Frank]

It's probably on their to-do list now, but probably won't show up until the E-P6 (the fix for not having a built in EVF like the GX7), early next year.

A built in evf is the primary difference between the OMD and PEN series. My guess is they'll retain the current setup, so that they have lines to appeal to a broad customer base.

 

[Rooz]

Not if you're a Fuji shooter! *flame suit now on! :tongue:*

lmfao...great stuff

I guess I must've used all the pixie dust on my ep5 cos I have not experienced this issue and its also the first review I've ever seen that mentions it as an issue.

A built in evf is the primary difference between the OMD and PEN series. My guess is they'll retain the current setup, so that they have lines to appeal to a broad customer base.

I agree frank. as long as the pen doesn't get bigger id be very happy with a VF. I hope they move to swivel screens aswell. I think they are far more useful. although I wouldn't be at all surprised if the epl5 gets bigger and better and they drop the advanced pen line altogether...no vf to further set the differentiation.

from what I understand there will be an em6 which sits below an em1. so that's gonna be em1-em6-ep5-epl5...seems one too many for me...although it fits perfectly with sonys shotgun spray and pray approach.

 

[bruce rubenstein]

There are folks who don't want the SLR hump, or an add-on finder. That's taken care of with the NEX-6, E-X1 and now the GX7. The E-P5 costs as much, or more, than all those cameras with no EVF. I think the GX7 will way out sell the E-P5 and Olympus will come out with a more competitive product.

 

[khollister]

lmfao...great stuff

I guess I must've used all the pixie dust on my ep5 cos I have not experienced this issue and its also the first review I've ever seen that mentions it as an issue.

I'm glad to hear that, because I'm back in the hunt for another body, as the X100S I tried is going right back to Amazon. I couldn't deal with the AF, eye relief on the VF and the IQ didn't blow me away compared to my Oly m43 stuff.

So I'm deciding between the E-P5 and GX7, It's down to color concerns on the Panasonic (even though I shoot RAW only, I don't want an involved color correction process on every shot - the colors from the E-M5 are scary good most of the time with no adjustment) and the potential shutter shock (or whatever the cause really is) problem that DPR saw on the E-P5.

The draw to the E-P5:

• Build quality
• EVF quality
• Oly files - familiarity
• IBIS
• Common battery with E-M5

The draw list to the GX7:

• integrated EVF
• better SW UI (menus)
• no one has panned it (yet) for an issue similar to the DPR E-P5 controversy

Downsides to the E-P5 - external EVF

Downsides to the GX7 - less effective IBIS, another battery, EVF WB not adjustable

Rooz has made his position clear, but Frank said he thought the DPR review was fair. Frank - does that mean you are seeing the double image blurring that DPR commented on?

And just to keep this on the rails, I could care less about video.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I'm glad to hear that, because I'm back in the hunt for another body, as the X100S I tried is going right back to Amazon. I couldn't deal with the AF, eye relief on the VF and the IQ didn't blow me away compared to my Oly m43 stuff.

So I'm deciding between the E-P5 and GX7, It's down to color concerns on the Panasonic (even though I shoot RAW only, I don't want an involved color correction process on every shot - the colors from the E-M5 are scary good most of the time with no adjustment) and the potential shutter shock (or whatever the cause really is) problem that DPR saw on the E-P5.

The draw to the E-P5:

• Build quality
• EVF quality
• Oly files - familiarity
• IBIS
• Common battery with E-M5

The draw list to the GX7:

• integrated EVF
• better SW UI (menus)
• no one has panned it (yet) for an issue similar to the DPR E-P5 controversy

Downsides to the E-P5 - external EVF

Downsides to the GX7 - less effective IBIS, another battery, EVF WB not adjustable

Rooz has made his position clear, but Frank said he thought the DPR review was fair. Frank - does that mean you are seeing the double image blurring that DPR commented on?

And just to keep this on the rails, I could care less about video.

This is a tough choice. I've tried both out and the GX7 is super nice...but 5-axis IBIS is a big deal and I would say the deciding factor for Olympus. But I also just love the GX7 form factor and the EVF in no way at all bothered me. What's annoying is that Olympus will probably do the built-in EVF with the E-P6 if they are smart.

Honestly what Olympus should do is this:

- Release a fixed fast zoom lens XZ-3 with M43 sized sensor and competes with the RX100 / Takes VF-4

- The E-PL5 should take over the spot of the plasticky E-PM2 / Takes VF-4

- The E-PL5 successor should take over as the premium Pen camera and bring back the E-PL2 form factor but with better build, tilt LCD, pop-up flash, etc. / Takes VF-4

- The E-P6 should be both the successor to the E-P5 and E-M5 with built in EVF...seriously the E-P5 and E-M5 are really competing in the same market segment!

- Lower the price of the E-M1 :tongue:

 

[Uncle Frank]

Rooz has made his position clear, but Frank said he thought the DPR review was fair. Frank - does that mean you are seeing the double image blurring that DPR commented on?

There are multiple threads about shutter shock on DPR, but it's not just for the ep5. Apparently its related to Oly's shutter mechanism. Some of my images have had blurring, but it could be due to poor technique as easily as shutter shock. At any rate, I don't see this as a significant problem. It's just another hill that's become an Internet mountain.

 

[khollister]

Thanks, Frank.

I just got back from visiting a photographer friend who has Olympus m43 gear as well as a Nikon D800. He recently purchased a GX7 and had been raving about it so I went over to check it out and look at some raw files in LR with his adjustments removed. My observations:

• The fit & finish was a lot better than I expected based on some internet comments. The body felt pretty solid and dense, and I would rate the switchcraft as better than the E-M5 feel.
• Looking at a variety of indoor and outdoor image raw files in LR with the default Adobe Standard profile, I didn't see anything that would drive me crazy. In general, a little less saturated & a little cooler than the Oly files I'm used to, but nothing odd. I think the AWB actually might be more accurate, especially indoors.
• EVF is very high resolution with good contrast, no motion artifacts that I saw. Eye relief is just adequate with glasses. I tried it without glasses and understand the "tunnel effect" comments - not a problem with my glasses on (how I normally shoot). He also had an Oly VF-4 I tried on an E-PL5. It was bigger (pretty much FX vs DX VF difference), but it seemed the GX7 VF was higher resolution and "clearer" inspite of the specs. The WB of the GX7 EVF is on the cool side, but I don't think it would bother me.
• The UI (both the menus and the switchology) is a huge improvement over the E-M5/E-PL5 that I am used to.
• The iOS remote app is very cool - not limited to iAuto like the braindead Olympus implementation (what were they thinking?).
• AF with my 17/1.8 was as fast if not a hair faster than the E-PL5 I took over. Nice control over the focus box size, too.
• Grip felt really nice - I could easily shoot one handed
• touch screen implementation is way cool - much more featured than Oly. Also like the soft function buttons.

What I didn't like:

• No shadows "blinkies" and the highlight blinkies seem to be in playback only, not in preview in VF. There is a live histogram in the VF at least.
• The playback view is based on the small embedded JPG in the raw file, so zooming in to check focus doesn't work well. If you shoot raw+jpg, it works because it uses the full size jpg for the playback view. Given that I rarely chimp focus on m43 due to the accuracy of the AF (for stuff that doesn't move fast), I don't see this as a big deal for me personally. The solution is to just shoot raw+jpg and strip the jpg on import to LR.
• the shutter is louder than I would have expected due to a much higher frequency component compared to the E-M5. Not DSLR-loud, though.

And the answer is ...

I ordered a GX7 from B&H :biggrin:

What we need is a joint venture where Olympus does the image sensor/processing chain and Panasonic does the software/UI.

 

[khollister]

Oh, and if any GX7 owners are looking for a small Arca plate, the Kirk PZ-130 that I had on my E-P2 and E-PL5 fits just fine on the GX7 and does NOT interfere with the LCD tilt.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I ordered a GX7 from B&H :biggrin:

Congratulations. It may have seemed like a difficult decision, but you couldn't go wrong with either choice. I'll look forward to seeing wonderful images.