I think this is my final posting, on this camera for a while...as fun as playing with a new camera is I really want to get back to a real camera ( my Sony A7rii)
For what use it may be, my observations:
I think the OMD-EM10II. is a great second camera. Every time I found my self getting annoyed with it I realized I was trying to get it to do what my main camera does.
It might be a great buy for someone who is buying their first new camera and wants to also take photos of coins. For ordinary photography its a nice portable camera.
I suggested to a friend of mine his wife might like one as it is handbag sized( my wife really likes it for that reason). His wife has a canon that is dying and she only ever used the canon like a point and shoot. My old Mate came back and said( as is typical of our conversations) "but you don't have a handbag". Hes right I have lived in Europe now for 15 years... and I still won't buy a mans handbag. Ignoring the joke that discussion bears consideration, meaning: Its too big for my jacket pocket and it is almost two small to handle easily. For that reason I have a Swiss Arca standard L plate in the mail. The L plate extends the grip slightly so hopefully will make the camera easier for me. That grip will also allow me to mount the camera more swiftly to my macro rig.
I really like the IQ of the photos, and with the small sensor there is a huge advantage with the DOF. The camera does produce, through focus bracketing, pictures for stacking, but I have hours a head of me working out what each stacking differential( from1-10 in the camera) means in focus shift at each F stop and magnification. Olympus refuse to release that info labelled it commercially sensitive(that's the story they told me and I wasn't impressed). For now it looks like setting 1 shifts the focus .75 - 1 X the depth of field, as calculated by contrast detection in the camera ( I used a calibration slide mounted at 45 Degrees to see the movement). If that is correct then setting 2-10 will never be used for coins.
If you have an Oly MFT camera and want a good macro lens and don't need the stacking feature.... go for the ED 50mm F2, its only 1:2 magnification but on a MFT sensor you don't really have a need for 1-1. If you are looking at focus stacking on a budget then you will have to go for the native 60mm.
If you want the tethering
and are looking at MFT then skip this camera as it doesn't tether. You would need to spend nearly US$400 more for the OMD-EM5II. It has the same sensor can be tethered and will, for coins produce photos that compete with those produced by the SonyA7rII with a lot less effort. That would mean spending around US$1600.00 Camera plus 60mm macro. That may seem a lot but compare it with the cost of the same ability using the Sony A7rii Camera plus native macro lens plus stack shot system and the soft ware for tethering there is very little change left out of US$5000.00, and for coins I think the smaller MFT sensor gives you a huge advantage over the FF sensor.
Final shot for a while( in this thread) Proof
ASE shot at F 2.8, using the ED 50mm F 2. I left the coin in the sealed capsule so you can see some artifacts from the capsule in the photo. Lighting was my home made lens mounted LED panel. For all the faults of the photo remember this was at F2.8 where there is all the DOF that is needed.
First Page
Posted 03/28/2016 5:37 pm
