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7 Comments

  1. Rich
    March 22, 2017 @ 22:03

    Thanks for the comparison, it makes me feel a bit better with my purchase of an Olympus E-M5 II. I fell in love with the build quality and look of the O-MD line and last year I finally decided to finally invest in a “good” camera after many years of using a film SLR. When the digital era arrived I purchased several point and shoots but never invested in another good camera. Having never owned a larger sensor DSLR I’ve been bothered by the feeling that I was possibly missing out on better photos, particularly when it comes to noise and higher ISO performance… also I see that larger sensor cameras appear to be more popular and also seem to be taken more seriously on the many photography sites I visit. I did buy the 12-40mm Pro, and though it’s a bit large and heavy for the E-M5 II it’s the lens I use most of the time. I still question my choice of M4/3 at times but I’ve already invested a good deal of money in it.

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    • BigEnso
      March 24, 2017 @ 16:01

      Rich, I was a Nikon shooter up until about 2 years ago. I had been using Nikon equipment for over 40 years. After lugging a D800 and some big glass around Europe for a month, I came back, sold all of my Nikon stuff and moved to an Olympus OM-D EM-1 with the 12-40 f/2.8. It was the best move I ever made. I don’t use the 12-40 for travel though. I use a Tamron 14-150 f/3.5-5.8 Di III. It is the only M43 lens Tamron makes and it works great. What makes the E-M1 (and most likely the E-M5 II) so great is the image stabilization system. It has allowed me to get shots handheld that I would not have been able to shoot on the Nikon without a tripod. Considering how many places prohibit tripods these days, that is a blessing. As an example, I was back in Europe shooting in a cathedral in Budapest which was not particularly well lit. I was able to shoot a 1 second, ISO 200, f/8, 14 mm (28 mm equivalent) image handheld. If you do a 100% crop of the back wall, you can still read the writing. You can take a look at it here if you like: http://www.davidkuenleyo.com/p219534738/h4fc7e6e7#h4fc7e6e7

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      • Rich
        March 24, 2017 @ 16:13

        David, thanks for your input, that is a beautiful shot! I really appreciate your take on it considering you had been using a full frame camera. Do find the high ISO performance of Micro Four Thirds a disadvantage at all?

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        • BigEnso
          March 24, 2017 @ 16:49

          Rich, no I don’t. One of the nice things about the image stabilization is that it lets me shoot at a lower ISO than I would have without it. Even at higher ISOs though, I haven’t had any problems. I looked for something shot at an ISO higher than 1600 but with the IS, I never seem to go hither than that.

          These two images were shot at ISO 800: http://www.davidkuenleyo.com/p631382227/h7D24208C#h7d24208c http://www.davidkuenleyo.com/p1034098398/h466a8871#h466a8871 And this was at ISO 1600: http://www.davidkuenleyo.com/p631382227/h76918877#h76918877 All were handheld.

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          • Rich
            March 24, 2017 @ 17:17

            They look great, I looked through some of your other images too and they’re all really nice. Looks like you’ve traveled to some pretty cool places. I didn’t know Tamron made that lens… I’m curious about why you chose it over the Olympus 14-150mm as they’re relatively close in physical size, aperture, and price.

          • BigEnso
            March 24, 2017 @ 17:43

            I checked DxOMark for their evaluation and since they were essentially the same, I went with Tamron based on price. It was roughly $150 less than the Olympus. I definitely haven’t been disappointed with the choice.

  2. Silviu
    July 29, 2023 @ 11:55

    Hello!

    I just wanted to point out that the Canon 17-40mm is the worst L lens ever produced. Plus on a DSLR it can also be that the lens is not calibrated. Please try to repet your experiment with like 16-35 f4 or 2.8. You will see a masive difference.

    Have a great day and keep the nice photos coming 🙂

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