Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsUpdating review, from 4 to 5 stars. An amazing little camera
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2017
After lots and lots of research and reading reviews I decided to get this little guy as a bring everywhere camera. To keep it in the car with me at all times as opposed to lugging around my D7100 and bigger lenses. First of all it is much much smaller than any dslr. Pics don't really describe how small these really are until you get them in your hand. I really wanted something compact that I could have with me all the time, but much nicer than say a cell phone. I immediately ordered the Panasonic 42.5 and also the Oly 25 1.8 since I tend to love the classic 50mm and 85mm equivalent. Both are very nice little prime lenses. I can't emphasize this enough, but the size of these Micro 4/3 cameras is amazing. They're tiny. Anyway after using this for a month or so and taking it on a few trips I've come away with a few thoughts.
Size: The size is awesome and it's very nice to be able to just throw it in the car on the front seat and have it all the time. I had a blast using it with my gorillapod to shoot little waterfalls back home, and being able to just plop it down and quickly get a shot is great. I bought a little messenger bag (Tenba dna-8 which is awesome) and it's just a real nice lightweight setup to carry.
2: In body 5 axis stabilization (IBIS) is awesome. You can get clean hand held shots pretty consistently down to about 1/4 second.
3: picture quality: The pictures are very nice. They get noisy pretty quickly at higher ISOs and it's quite noticeable compared to my d7100. If you shoot JPEG the noise reduction is pretty good but results in very soft but useable images at higher ISOs. I shoot RAW and do nr in post. It's a smaller sensor, so the dynamic range is a little less than a bigger DSLR but it's still plenty good enough.
4: Battery life: The battery life isn't too terrible if you leave the screen review off and have it timeout quickly. Otherwise coming from a dslr setup, the battery life is quite terrible in comparison. I managed to burn through a battery in a few hours at night when I first got it (that was before turning off screen review after every shot and having it not timeout at all). So having a backup battery is what I would consider a must. Update 3/5/17: the battery life is just fine for a days worth of shooting. I took it out for some star trails using live composite the other night and let it run for an hour. Came back home and still showed full battery. So definitely not an issue, but still much less life than a DSLR.
5: Ergonomics: Being small these MFT cameras leave a lot to be desired when it comes to ergonomics and layout of the buttons. I really miss having the top screen of my D7100 for quickly checking and setting ISO/Aperture, metering etc. Obviously being so small, you naturally don't have room for all of the extra buttons/dials that a bigger bodied camera affords. Olympus has what they refer to as a super control panel, and it allows you to change most things most used via that onscreen. It's fairly easy to use once you get used to it, but in many ways it reminds me of my Nikon D5100 which you had to change many settings onscreen as well, with hardly any shortcuts for often used functions compared to a DSLR.
Conclusion: If I have the choice, I'll reach for my d7100 everytime if size isn't a factor for the day. It's just much easier to use quickly and I prefer the picture quality over the omd. Update 3/5/17: after even more use my last statement is becoming less and less true. The simple fact that I have this with me all the time and am becoming more used to using it, it's just a pure joy to use. The focus is dead accurate, and ibis at night is just awesome. Took it out with my son last night to the fair, and got some pretty nice shots at the fair at ISO 200 and 1/4 second or less. Completely awesome for hand held light trails of the rides and such. When I wanted shots with him, just turned the ISO up to keep the shutter speed up and it nailed darn near every shot. It's amazing. I love it. At the current price of 499 it's just an absolute steal. Think I payed 650 a couple months back. The entire point of getting this was to compliment my bigger setup, being able to always have it with me and not miss those opportunities that arrive and you wish you had a camera with you. Would I recommend one of these as a first camera? Absolutely! Whether this is your first and only camera, or your second and smaller "little camera" it's truly fantastic. The value this thing brings is just amazing. I currently have the pany 42.5 1.7, the oly 25 1.8 and the oly 9-18 and it's really a perfect setup for me. Covers 99% of anything I'll ever feel like shooting, and with a few nd's thrown in the mix for long exposures it's a perfect everyday setup. Highly recommended. Happy shooting :)
