Big test
“OVER THE 1000 FRAMES OR SO I SHOT FOR THIS REVIEW, THE OM-5 BEHAVED VERY WELL INDEED”
stacking software, you can shoot up to 999 frames for merging there. A new AF feature for the OM-5 is Starry Sky AF. Anyone who’s tried astro shooting knows how tricky it is to manually focus on the stars – you just can’t dial in infinity focus and expect stars to be sharp. On the OM- 5, you can rely on the camera’s AF skills with two performance options: accuracy or speed. It works very well. I also tried the camera with 40- 150mm f/2.8 and 300mm f/4 lenses, which stretched the AF system more than the supplied 12-45mm standard zoom. It did perfectly well with most subjects. I stuck mostly with single- point or used a small zone, moving the working zone around the image area when needed. I tested the shooting speed on a 300MB/s Sandisk SD card. In Raw- only sequential high, I got a rate of just under 11fps with the buffer cleared in 5secs. At this speed, AE/AF are fixed, so if you want tracking you have to drop down to 6fps. In large- JPEG mode it was the same shooting rate but for much, much longer. The buffer limits shooting capacity, and in continuous
wrong with that, of course, but it’s odd that the two OM System models have such different menu structures. Among the positives for handling, many features can be adjusted using the Super Control Panel: a touch panel of 26 boxes that gives quick access to many key – and some not so key – camera features. All in, the OM-5’s handling is good and its design has stood the test of time. OM System clearly wanted a second model out quickly, so we have a few tweaks in an identical body – but no doubt the next generation will be more OM System than Olympus. Over the 1000 frames or so I shot for this review, the OM-5 behaved very well indeed and proved reliable in rain and snow. There were no problems with exposure or white- balance and the camera delivered consistently good results. The same was true of AF. It may lack the subject detection modes of the OM-1, but the OM-5 proved sensitive, accurate and quick. Aside from the all-area AF option, there’s face/eye priority AF, and the target mode lets you configure four custom patterns within the 11x11
AF grid. Face/eye detection has been enhanced and is more accurate with tracking when the subject isn’t looking directly at the lens. For group shots, a face can be prioritised with the touchscreen or function button. AF stacking and bracketing will appeal to both landscape and macro shooters. For stacking (a compatible lens is required) you can select up to eight shots, selecting the focus differential between each one. The JPEG result is produced in-camera, and trying a few macro shots showed it works really well. If you have focus WHAT’S ON THE MENU The OM-5 is not a massive advance from its predecessor and that includes the menu, which is the same style. It’s not as user-friendly as that of the OM-1, but it’s perfectly functional
UPPING THE MEGAPIXELS Handheld High Res Shot mode produces 50-megapixel files and works well even when venturing into the region of slow shutter speeds. This was taken on the OM-5 fitted with the 12-45mm f/4 Pro lens at 20mm, with an exposure of 1/25sec at f/8 and ISO 800
PERFORMANCE: ISO
fine detail suffered a little. That said, some noise reduction in post- processing would improve shots at this speed, so no problem getting large prints. Beyond ISO 2000, digital noise becomes more significant and the graining pattern is obvious, but it’s neutral so has a filmic look. ISO 3200 is perfectly usable for critical work – especially with noise reduction in post. ISO 6400 produces quite coarse grain that has a negative impact on fine detail, but again the filmic look means it’s acceptable and can even add mood to the right scenes.
The OM-5 has a native ISO range of 200 to 6400, with the option of extension to ISO 80 and 25,600. I turned off all in-camera noise reduction and found a low light scene in Guildford to see how it fared. This was a poorly lit scene and the base exposure at ISO 200 was 3.2secs and f/5.6. Results were processed in Adobe Lightroom with no noise reduction applied. Test shots were very clean at ISO 200 and 400, with noise starting to appear at ISO 800 – visible but not distracting when viewed at 100%. The level of digital noise was higher and more evident at ISO 1600 and
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Issue 103 | Photography News 25
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