Why the Olympus OM-D E-M1 is better than expected for video (Review)

[Andrew Reid]

It has an extreme video look to it. Bummer.

 

Really, all of it? Because I shot the last sequences on a 5D Mark III in raw :)

[Andrew Reid]

Lovely review Andrew.
Though, I was a little confused of your recommendations about how to adjust the "in-camera" picture profile. Did you recommend a flat profile or not?
Which profile did you find best? And how would you dial contrast, colour and sharpness?

Thanks again for a lovely review and a very informative site.

 

The codec is a bit too weak to go flat, I just set it to Vivid for rich tonality and used the GH3-Vivid preset in Film Convert. Not received wisdom but I did several tests with the picture profiles and that was the one that gave the nicest results.

[Andrew Reid]

what i dont understand to this very day:

 

Panasonics m43 approach has always been listening to video people and creating hybrid cams. Olympus on the other hand has always only focused on stills. so how exactly does Panasonic dare to sell a GX7 with the stabilization disabled in video mode?

 

The GX7 isn't aimed at the video crowd, the GH3 is!

 

If I were Panasonic I'd send a supply of sensors in Olympus's direction for a supply of IBIS in the other direction. That would cut Sony's seeming monopoly on sensor supply too.

[fuzzynormal]

To take Olympus on par regarding video cannot be a lot of work. why not do it?

 

The short answer:  they're Japanese and they're making still cameras.  

 

You gotta appreciate the context/culture even if it's frustrating to do so, but that's the best I can offer as for a reason.  There's a lot of things you and I want, but they just don't consider or care about... yet.

[leeys]

 

Olympus don’t want to be too good at video, in-case their cameras become known for it. They want to be associated with photography professionals and not cat-video YouTube uploaders, just in case they might get popular with filmmakers and sell us lots of cameras.

 

It's probably a poorly thought-out reaction.

 

First, still cameras probably outsell video cameras 10 to 1.

 

Second, Olympus sees Panasonic's attempts which have rendered perfectly fine cameras like the GH3 "only good for video" in the eyes of many stills photographers. Also, outcry by many photographers who "don't want video."

 

Third, see first point. Bean counters play it safe.

 

Result? Crappy video implementation.

[Cfreak]

outcry by many photographers who "don't want video."

 

Third, see first point. Bean counters play it safe.

 

They're all fools. I'm hearing from many photographers that they're losing business because they don't do video. For web photos, companies are want to save a buck and take stills off HD video and call it a day.

 

AR: the video is interesting, the frame rate of this camera is not. Mega Video stimmung mann! I didn't watch enough to see if the Clockwork orange references got more severe. Alex rules!

 

If Olympus would give us better frame rates, they might sell some more of these cameras. 

[Andrew Reid]

Poor photographers, they have so few cameras to choose from :)

[Dean]

Thank you, Andrew !!

 

Great review and wonderful film clip. Enjoyed watching it ... especially as it was mostly filmed on an E-M1.

 

I'm loving using this camera and video is a whole new world for me. I tried once before briefly with a GH3, but this IBIS on this thing makes shooting video FUN  :) I wonder what the fun factor was for you making this clip compared to making others?

 

On a different note, is there a thread somewhere on EOSHD that shares E-M1 clips, settings and tips? I can't find anything and info seems to be fragmented. Would be nice to have it in one place.

[tehgeek]

Really, all of it? Because I shot the last sequences on a 5D Mark III in raw :)

 

I only made it half way through.

[Fatalfury]

Inspiring review and a really cool musicvid.

 

Found out this E-M1 clip on vimeo and posted in my local countrys photography forum. But the dudes there think it's impossible to these kinds of shots without rails, and so they must be thinking that the guy who shot the video is lying. What do you reckon, is it all handheld + slowmotion and warp stabilizer?

 

[Xiong]

I only made it half way through.

Really? I found the music video very refreshing, interesting use of the Dogme 95 touches in it as well. 30 fps is not the standard for "cinema" but it worked great here for me, it adds that "other worldly" quality to it since my eyes are so used to 24 fps.

***

 

Good stuff Andrew!

[tehgeek]

Really? I found the music video very refreshing, interesting use of the Dogme 95 touches in it as well. 30 fps is not the standard for "cinema" but it worked great here for me, it adds that "other worldly" quality to it since my eyes are so used to 24 fps.

***

 

Good stuff Andrew!

 

Yeah that came out wrong, I just meant I didn't see the 5D footage. The video look did put me off however.

[whoiam]

I wonder how does the E-M10 do since it share the same processor as E-M1, though only 3Axis IS (from video it look pretty stable). No pdaf sensor means no pdaf strip will be shown on specific condition, and at half the price I am much more tempted to get as 2nd camera for handheld

 

How would a Panasonic, say GX-7 with good stabilized lens, look in comparison?  By that I mean how stable would it look?  

[Xiong]

Yeah that came out wrong, I just meant I didn't see the 5D footage. The video look did put me off however.

Different tastes, its subjective.

[jgharding]

Cool stuff, it also sounds like Reflektor, and I love Arcade Fire like things ;)

[Andrew Reid]

I only made it half way through.

 

I think your attitude is persistently nasty and you're heading for the door.

[Andrew Reid]

Cool stuff, it also sounds like Reflektor, and I love Arcade Fire like things ;)

 

Thanks, Herdwhite will be glad to hear that - it's actually Reflecktor he used as a reference point for the final mix. Not too loud and with plenty of space to let the different elements breathe a bit.

 

Next Herdwhite song takes a completely different sound altogether. We plan to make this zero budget music video thing a regular occurrence :)

[sgreszcz]

There is a discussion on Flickr about Olympus (specifically E-M1) video:  https://www.flickr.com/groups/getolympus/discuss/72157644800709078/

 

An Olympus rep has responded and since it is a public forum maybe it will get some more visibility if people post their input and feedback?

[Inazuma]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but..

Film Convert helps add a bit of authenticity to the video output of the E-M1. However if adding film grain you must make sure not to stress the codec you’re mastering the final project in. Do NOT use the ‘DSLR’ preset in Adobe Premiere for your timeline and do not let the timeline take the form of the E-M1′s H.264 video at just 24Mbit. Instead use ProRes 444 otherwise the image will break-up when Film Convert is applied.

Does this advice apply to all footage shot at 24mbps and below? And do you mean to convert the footage to ProRes proxy before importing to Premiere? Or to just create a sequence using ProRes (or Dnxhd in my case) settings? And why would this make a difference anyway?

[Box]

I just updated to firmware 2.0 and the rolling crop mode stopped working while recording. Is anyone getting the same issue or did I miss out a setting?