Olympus E-M1 II mini-review - a sign of things to come with the Panasonic GH5?

[Andrew Reid]

I got to play with the new Olympus E-M1 II today, a pro Micro Four Thirds camera they hope will sell for $2000. It certainly pulls out all the stops to imitate a miniature 1D X Mark II.

This camera does NOT crop the sensor in 4K mode like the GH4. Instead, it over-samples from 5K down to 4K, using the full width of the sensor even with sensor-shift 5 axis stabilisation enabled.

Featuring a 237Mbit codec, the image quality in Cinema 4K mode is outstanding with very little rolling shutter.

Read the full article

[hoodlum]

I wonder if the option to prioritize FPS over stabilization suggests that IBIS would be less effective with 4kp60.  It would not surprise me to see IBIS disabled on the GH5 when using 4Kp60.

Did you get a change to try out the "almost 3x" Movie Teleconverter? The ~3x crop suggests that Olympus is pulling a 1920x1080 crop from the centre of the sensor so the quality could be comparable to a crop from C4k.  If 60p is available with this crop then it could be useful for some wildlife videos.

[wolf33d]

I couldn't agry more with RAW dynamic range of M43 vs FF. 

I repeated that for years yet people tell you M43 is as good. 

It does not mean though that a FF is in any case a monster in DR. 5D3 for exemple is awful compared to Sony sensors. 

What is sure is that a good m43 sensor cannot come close to a good FF sensor. 

For video I find it way less problematic though. 

Since there is no body satisfying me in term of both video and photo (the 1dx2 being the closest but lacks multiple feature for its price both in photo and video) I am more and more seing myself with a D810 that is unbeatable for DR and landscape photo with a 14-24 attached (+ a 50 or 85 for occasional portraits), and a GH5 with the 12-35 2.8 attached which will be unbeatable for video I think. 

My only fear being the AF of the GH5. If only Panasonic could deliver at least a A6500 level, not even mentioning canon DPAF. 

1DX2 is no go for me. Don't come close to D810 in DR, video codec is no good, and no essential IBIS (especially if you take the best lenses they don't have IS, like the 24-70 2.8, or any good prime)

[Bleeboo]

No slow motion?

Page 75 of the manual descibes a "slow/quick" movie function available in 1080p 30. 

What would that mean for the EM-1 M2, if not slow motion functionality?

Thank you if you can answer, this is not being made clear by Olympus nor any reviews posted so far.

[Cinegain]

http://asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1mk2/feature4.html

Well there's that. But I think it means it just puts the 60p in a 30p timeline. Would do the same for timelapse... putting it in a immediately watchable sequence.

[Bleeboo]

Thanks for that. So we can expect 50% speed in 1080p 30p shot at 60fps.

Probably why Olympus is being somewhat vague about what the "slow/quick" movie function specifically is, odd that this and other reviews skip over it, though.

[Don Kotlos]

Two other interesting features are

1. "Movie Tele-converter (approx. 3x): This function lets you take zoomed-in shots of the area you touch on the monitor during shooting while maintaining high image quality."

2. "HDMI output (actual size) + camera monitor (magnified) display. During standby when shooting a movie, you can magnify the camera monitor on its own for more accurate focusing."

Now if someone is not interested in the photography part of the camera it will still be a hard sell at $2000, but if you were looking for a miniature D5/1Dx then this is a bargain. 

[sanveer]

3 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I got to play with the new Olympus E-M1 II today, a pro Micro Four Thirds camera they hope will sell for $2000. It certainly pulls out all the stops to imitate a miniature 1D X Mark II.

This camera does NOT crop the sensor in 4K mode like the GH4. Instead, it over-samples from 5K down to 4K, using the full width of the sensor even with sensor-shift 5 axis stabilisation enabled.

Featuring a 237Mbit codec, the image quality in Cinema 4K mode is outstanding with very little rolling shutter.

Read the full article

I said this before too. Most users of GH4s and most Panasonic ILSc, don't know what extra features they want in the GH5. While the colour science seems to have been improved, and the GX85 and G85 signal this along with IBIS, nobody knows what else to expect, or more importantly know what they want Panasonic to add in the GH5. 

IronFilm said that the Yagh monster should be made much smaller, more on the lines of what Sony does, and Panasonic seems to have listened, and that has been added to the GH5 lineup (I suspect it will also work with the GX85 and the G85).

I feel, that Panasonic needs to figure out a few things, the most important of which should be Codec. It should do a Much Tweaked version of its VLog with much higher bitrates and a little more dynamic range. Also, atleast 2 flavours of VLog, like Sony's C-Log would be a good idea. I doubt whether it would want to introduce RAW or even ProRes for video, in its Mirrorless Camera. That's asking for too much. Though, I hope Panasonic Introduces multiple card format support, and includes 2 slots for the UHS-II standard and also for xqd cards. That way it can always improve things for photo and video, and atleast not worry about speed ever being a restricting factor for it.

I wonder if its possible ti improve its Sensor performance, any further, in terms of dynamic range. I personally don't even think any more dynamic range is really necessary, and Sony being the sensor supplier, won't improve it, either. But, if Panasonic can make the difference between video and photo dynamic range even less than it is, it would be a great feat. If Sony can manage it, Panasonic needs to work on it too. Though, to Panasonic's credit, its cameras don't seriously overheat like Sony's at attempting to push the camera and sensor to their very limit.

I doubt whether the ISO improvement will be better than the GX85 or the G85 (which is much better than the GH4), which TBO, that level is good enough. 
 

[Vesku]

Millions of features but..

Does this gimmick monster super customizible camera show aperture, shutter speed and iso in video modes. It would help choosing exposure.

I hope the GH5 will.

[Trek of Joy]

Judging by the DPreview comparison tool, IQ with the EM1.2 is no better than the the rest of the current m43 world. Unless the GH5 has an entirely new sensor, it will be virtually identical to what we're seeing from the G/GX80/85's. Olympus' claims of a 1-stop improvement are clearly bunk.

[ozmorphasis]

8 bit 420 vs 10 bit 422 internal.  Was this mentioned somewhere in this thread or in the article?  I didn't see it mentioned, but it is one of (if not THE) defining elements when having a pro vs prosumer conversation about video cameras.   That difference would definitely put the Panasonic in an entirely different playing field despite the nice bit rate and the apparently class leading stabilizer of the Olly. 

[fuzzynormal]

3 hours ago, Vesku said:

Does this gimmick monster super customizable camera show aperture, shutter speed and iso in video modes.

I know the EM5II is annoying in this regard.  Not too cool how they don't implement exposure controls during recording.  I would hope that oversight is resolved in the EM1II.

[Cinegain]

It has PASM control and I was able to select the values. However, the real question is, can you change it in a pinch whilst shooting video. That I'm not sure, but I would imagine so... Almost picked up the phone and told 'em 'ok, I'll give in, sign me up for one already', but I didn't. I know, I'm shocked myself. That's a first... me saying no an impulse purchase.

[SullyCortez]

Andrew great article, I'm really hoping Panasonic kills it with the GH5.... they truly have an open market as nothing has quite captivated people SINCE the GH4 like the GH4. Hopefully the GH5 has some tricks up its sleeve (although panasonic still hasn't confirmed what codec the GH5 will shoot with internally, and whether or not it will even have IBIS. I've heard rumors they swapped IBIS for a Global shutter.... if that is true.... I honestly wouldn't even care about IBIS). Thoughts?

6 hours ago, Trek of Joy said:

Judging by the DPreview comparison tool, IQ with the EM1.2 is no better than the the rest of the current m43 world. Unless the GH5 has an entirely new sensor, it will be virtually identical to what we're seeing from the G/GX80/85's. Olympus' claims of a 1-stop improvement are clearly bunk.

From the sound of it in terms of what panasonic has said about the GH5 (namely 6K Photo mode) it's looking like a new sensor

[jonpais]

@Andrew Reid Regarding your comment about IBIS not making tripods obsolete (my own words), I'd been playing around with the Crane (with GH4) for months, and when I went back to using a tripod for locked down shots (when testing out the Leica Nocticron) I realized just how wonderful a good tripod is, if you can bring one along. 

[Trek of Joy]

1 hour ago, SullyCortez said:

From the sound of it in terms of what panasonic has said about the GH5 (namely 6K Photo mode) it's looking like a new sensor

Olympus claimed the same thing, if that's the case current sensor tech seems to have peaked in m43 land at the moment. 6k photo mode just sounds like a full(er) sensor readout, its only 18.6mp. Anyone expecting improvement is more than 1/3 EV or so isn't being realistic, in the last couple years that's all we've seen from new generations of a given sensor size. Until something revolutionary like the long rumored organic sensor sees the light of day, new sensors are just a small evolution of the previous generation.

[liork]

I saw in the specs 29 mintues limit. Are you sure you're not confusing with the X-T2?

[hoodlum]

7 hours ago, Jn- said:

Unfortunately Teleconverter is not available in 4K or C4K, p.38 of manual.

I read somewhere also of a recording time of only 15 min. 4K,  without bat. grip, haven't confirmed where I read this though?

That would make sense since a 3x crop would give you 1920x1080.  Keep in mind that the available options refer to the final output after the crop.

[Vesku]

On 11/26/2016 at 0:40 AM, Cinegain said:

It has PASM control and I was able to select the values. However, the real question is, can you change it in a pinch whilst shooting video. That I'm not sure, but I would imagine so... Almost picked up the phone and told 'em 'ok, I'll give in, sign me up for one already', but I didn't. I know, I'm shocked myself. That's a first... me saying no an impulse purchase.

Very important for me is that I can see all the exposure values aperture, shutter speed and iso in all PASM modes just like when taking photos. Can you remember Oly showing these values? 

I dont understand why for example Panasonic is not showing exposure info in video modes. It so basic thing to monitor aperture or shutter speed or iso.

[liork]

As you can see here, while recording video, iso, Aperture and shutter speed values are presented on the screen, watch around 12:30 time: