Camera test 59
Photography News | Issue 64 | photographynews.co.uk
Performance: ISO
Original image
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
The test shots here were taken with an OM-D E-M1X fitted with a 12-100mm f/4 lens. The camera was fixed to a Novo Explora T20 tripod and shots taken with the self-timer. No in-camera noise reduction was applied, nor was any used in processing. We did try Adobe Lightroom/DxOPhotoLab to check out the potential benefits of noise reduction. The E-M1X showed itself to have a capable digital noise right are the movie record button, shutter release and, very usefully, the ISO and exposure compensation buttons. Having the compensation and ISO buttons next to the shutter release is ideal – the ISO button even has a dimpled finish so you can tell the difference by touch. It’s an unfussy layout and, along with input dials, front and rear, I thought handling was intuitive. The rear is dominated by the 3in touchscreen, which is surrounded by various buttons and controls. Push the menu button and you’ll see a deep menu structure, from A1 to J3, totalling 123 options. It is useful you can create your own menu comprising up to 35 separate items. As you would expect, there is plenty of customisation potential to set up the camera to your liking. I was, however, a little perplexed by the inclusion of a card button. With dual slot cameras, I have all images saved to both in case of card failure. That’s it. Touch wood, I have not had that particular experience, but that is my set-up. Very rarely have I had to decide to save to one card or the other, but that is what Olympus has dedicated a button to. I would understand it much more if the card button let me, on those rare occasions I felt the need, save Raws to one and JPEGs to the other, or change my saving options, but it doesn’t. Those options are available through the menu H1 Card Slot settings, but perhaps that will change with a firmware update. You do need fast C SD cards to benefit from the E-M1X’s dual processors, which have enhanced
performance, even though its sensor, which is the same as used in the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, is not the latest. You can see noise start appearing in areas of even tone at ISO 500, although some noise reduction software will get rid of that. The grain effect of noise is more evident at ISO 800 and gets progressively more obvious through to ISO 3200, especially in areas of plain tone and shadows. With some diligent
noise top-quality images suitable for critical use and big prints are achievable. Venture beyond ISO 3200 and images are less recoverable in terms of noise reduction, but results are still okay until ISO 6400 and beyond, where noise and its impact on fine details becomes more significant All in all, the E-M1X’s sensor is capable, given its age and the small Micro Four Thirds format. reduction,
Images This low-light scene was shot with a 12-100mm f/4 lens on a tripod mounted camera. The OM-D E-M1X has the same sensor as the OM-D E-M1 Mark II and you can see noise starts to become evident at ISO 800, then gets progressively more obvious
ISO 25,600
Performance: exposure latitude
This set of OM-D E-M1X Raws was manually bracketed from the correct meter reading of 1/125sec at f/11, ISO 200. The bracketed shots were exposure corrected in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC. The -1EV and -2EV shots recovered well and look tonally spot on and colour cast free, with some acceptable noise visible in the shadows. The -3EV and -4EV shots also look tonally fine after exposure adjustment, but digital noise is more evident in the shadows and mid-tones, and intricate details suffer.
For high-quality results, the underexposure limit is -2EV. With overexposure, +2EV is the limit. The corrected +1EV and +2EV shots look great, with crisp highlights full of details, excellent tonal balance and not a trace of any noise. The +3EV shot is also artefact free, but the strong highlights are burnt out and could not be recovered at all. The exposure latitude of E-M1X Raws where quality is critical is +2EV and -2EV, which is good, but not the best around.
-4EV
-3EV
-2EV
-1EV
0
+1EV
Original image
+2EV
+3EV
Images These shots were bracketed from 1/125sec at f/11, ISO 200 and corrected in LightroomClassic CC. -2EV to +2EV, the OM-D E-M1X performs well. Outside this range, images show noise or burnt out highlights
+4EV
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