Photography News issue 17

30

Camera review

In standard operation the E-M5Mark II gives an image file measuring 4608x3456 pixels and a print size of 39x29.2cm at 300ppi. In High Resolution mode you get a very slightly wider view and in JPEG an image size of 7296x5472 pixels or a print size of 61.77x46.33cm at 300ppi. This is the image shown here. The Raw file is even bigger at 9216x6912 pixels, but no raw converter was available at the time to process our shot. This pair of images was taken with a Mark II using a tripod mounted 40-150mm zoom at 40mm and ISO 200. The exposure was 1.3secs at f/6.3. For High Resolution mode, you need a solid tripod and a non-moving subject. Fire the shutter using a cable release and the camera takes eight exposures in one second using the camera’s sensor shift mechanism to change the image by 0.5 pixels between each shot. There’s no sound (this might be because I always turn off any beeps) as this happens and no warning appears on the monitor so it seems nothing is going on, but actually the camera is working. Once the exposures are finished, you get a processing progress bar while the image is completed and the camera merges the shots. You get a final high res JPEG, a high res 104.5MB Raw and another Raw of the scene at normal resolution but this is ORI High Resolution mode

STANDARD 16-MEGAPIXEL SHOT

HIGHRESOLUTION 40-MEGAPIXEL SHOT

Anatomy

STANDARD 16-MEGAPIXEL SHOT

HIGHRESOLUTION 40-MEGAPIXEL SHOT

FROMTHE TOP The E-M5 Mark II body is actually 50 grams lighter than its predecessor, but the magnesium alloy body feels very solid and robust. It’s also environmentally sealed.

need scenes that are totally stationary. With a scene with any movement (clouds, flowing water etc), you risk getting an unacceptable multi-image effect as the subject moves. The mode itself is very clever and innovative, but its usefulness is potentially limitedbecauseof theneed for a completely still scene. Then again, there might be an opportunity for some interesting creative effects too. Nonetheless, this mode is worth exploring and it could be a real benefit to some users.

format, not ORF. ORI is another proprietary Olympus format and whether it will be supported by third-party softwares, only time will tell. The moral is if you want a standard Raw as a backup to the high resolution shot, shoot it as a Raw – just in case third-party support is not forthcoming. The High Resolution mode is a great idea and it works well with the right subject. As you can see from our test image, the quality benefit is amazing and fine detail is wonderfully reproduced. The key thing though is the ‘right subject’, because you

FROMTHE FRONT The Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor has the benefit of Olympus’s Supersonic Wave Filter – over the year on my E-M1, it’s proved a very effective cleaning mechanism.

FULL-FRAME IMAGE

1/8SEC AT F/4

1/4SEC AT F/5.6

FROMTHE TOP The ability, with four function buttons available, to customise the E-M5 Mark II is very welcome. The on/off switch around the exposure mode dial is more convenient too.

THE E-M5 MARK II’S IS SYSTEM The E-M5 Mark II’s image stabilisation system claims a five-stop benefit, ie. a shutter speed of 1/8sec gives sharpness comparable to 1/125sec. This is 1EV more than the original E-M5. The E-M5 Mark II’s sensor shift image stabilisation system is built into the camera body so is available for any lens attached, plus it works in all five planes of movement (yaw, pitch, roll, vertical shift and horizontal shift) and it has been enhanced to give what Olympus claims is the most powerful IS system. My test shot was taken with the high spec 12-40mm f/2.8 standard zoom in the interior of the water treatment museum. The lens was set to 34mm (effective 68mm in 35mm format), so a short telephoto lens. Assuming that 1/60sec is advised for this focal length for sharp handheld images, I shot at 1/8sec, 1/4sec and 1/2sec, so 3EV, 4EV and 5EV respectively. Success rate of five shots (viewed at 100% on screen) at 1/8sec was 100%, 80% at 1/4sec and 20% at 1/2sec. By any measure that is a very impressive showing. While the system works very well for stills it is equally useful for handheld movie shooting where the IS system could potentially do away with any extra gyro stabilising devices.

1/2SEC AT F/8

FROMTHE BACK The camera’s vari-angle three- inch, 1037k dots TFT LCDmonitor is good to use and a real benefit for shooting at low or unusual camera viewpoints. The screen is touch sensitive too.

Photography News | Issue 17

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