Some may know me from the mu43 forum. I’m a pretty committed Olympus user with two bodies and a decent set of lenses. I’m mostly happy with the results I get, but since I do a decent amount of landscapes, I do find m43 can be limiting in terms of shadow pushing in high DR scenes, even at base ISO.
I recently upgraded to the EM1.3, mainly for its hand held hi res mode (HHHR), since as well as increased resolution (which was not my primary goal), it does deliver much improved shadow noise. However, it’s not all roses since there are some notable limitations with HHHR:
- It’s slow - about 20s per image to do the stacking. It might not sound a lot, but it can be frustrating when you have fleeting light (sunset, fast moving clouds etc), and you want to take a few shots from different perspectives.
- The burst is taken fairly quickly, but even so, subject movement can be a problem. Foliage in a wind just turns to mush.
- Olympus in their wisdom have limited HHHR to f8 or wider. It’s so that diffraction doesn’t impact resolution - but it means sunstars are a no-no - which I find pretty annoying since I love sunstars!
- The perennial issue of blown highlights is still there, and I don’t know what in detail Olympus have done on the EM1.3, but it’s notably worse than on the EM1.2. I find I’m having to pull the exposure back by 0.5-1.0 EV compared to the older model, which is obviating some of the shadow improvements from HHHR.
So, I’m looking at the Z6/Z7 again - I’ve always liked the feel of these cameras and really like the EVF, screen, handling, and access to the lens back catalogue. I’ve looked very closely at it all before and almost pressed the button, but I’m definitely going to do it this time. I’ve already sold a number of my lenses and the Pen F is up for sale too. I’ll probably keep the EM1.3 plus 40-150 & TC for long lens shooting, but otherwise switch to Nikon for the wide and landscape work.
So, a few questions:
- Do I go for the 6 or the 7? Part of me would love that extra resolution, but the size of the files puts me off and I’m not unhappy with the 20Mp on m43 at the moment. I ran a Sony A7r2 briefly (42Mp), and enjoyed the IQ a lot, but didn’t feel the resolution was the important bit. If the 6 offers as good or better DR and noise as the 7, then I’d be happy with that I think. Are there other differences between them besides the sensor?
- For lenses, I’m thinking the 14-30 plus either the 24-70 or the 24-200 would be a good start since I’m running the 8-18 and 12-100on the Olympus. I also have (and love) the 8mm fisheye, so would want a Nikon fisheye too. If I get the 24-200, I may get the 24-70/4 too since as a kit it’s not a lot more. Thoughts?
- I like and use the Livetime feature a lot on the Olympus. Is there anything even near on the Z?
Thanks!
I recently upgraded to the EM1.3, mainly for its hand held hi res mode (HHHR), since as well as increased resolution (which was not my primary goal), it does deliver much improved shadow noise. However, it’s not all roses since there are some notable limitations with HHHR:
- It’s slow - about 20s per image to do the stacking. It might not sound a lot, but it can be frustrating when you have fleeting light (sunset, fast moving clouds etc), and you want to take a few shots from different perspectives.
- The burst is taken fairly quickly, but even so, subject movement can be a problem. Foliage in a wind just turns to mush.
- Olympus in their wisdom have limited HHHR to f8 or wider. It’s so that diffraction doesn’t impact resolution - but it means sunstars are a no-no - which I find pretty annoying since I love sunstars!
- The perennial issue of blown highlights is still there, and I don’t know what in detail Olympus have done on the EM1.3, but it’s notably worse than on the EM1.2. I find I’m having to pull the exposure back by 0.5-1.0 EV compared to the older model, which is obviating some of the shadow improvements from HHHR.
So, I’m looking at the Z6/Z7 again - I’ve always liked the feel of these cameras and really like the EVF, screen, handling, and access to the lens back catalogue. I’ve looked very closely at it all before and almost pressed the button, but I’m definitely going to do it this time. I’ve already sold a number of my lenses and the Pen F is up for sale too. I’ll probably keep the EM1.3 plus 40-150 & TC for long lens shooting, but otherwise switch to Nikon for the wide and landscape work.
So, a few questions:
- Do I go for the 6 or the 7? Part of me would love that extra resolution, but the size of the files puts me off and I’m not unhappy with the 20Mp on m43 at the moment. I ran a Sony A7r2 briefly (42Mp), and enjoyed the IQ a lot, but didn’t feel the resolution was the important bit. If the 6 offers as good or better DR and noise as the 7, then I’d be happy with that I think. Are there other differences between them besides the sensor?
- For lenses, I’m thinking the 14-30 plus either the 24-70 or the 24-200 would be a good start since I’m running the 8-18 and 12-100on the Olympus. I also have (and love) the 8mm fisheye, so would want a Nikon fisheye too. If I get the 24-200, I may get the 24-70/4 too since as a kit it’s not a lot more. Thoughts?
- I like and use the Livetime feature a lot on the Olympus. Is there anything even near on the Z?
Thanks!