Camera test
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ISO performance The digital noise performance of Micro Four Thirds cameras seems to improve with every new model and indeed the E-M5 Mark II represents a marked improvement over the original E-M5. These Raw shots from the E-M5 Mark II fitted with the 12-40mm zoom were processed through the supplied Olympus Viewer 3 software with default settings. I reckon that, if I had to, I’d happily use ISO 3200 or even ISO 4000 without worrying
ISO 100
ISO 800
too much about noise levels, knowing that I could reduce noise later in software. To be fair, there was still light in the sky for this twilight shot and a night image might show more noise, but even so, the signs are very promising. As a comparison, also shown is a set of shots from the E-M1 and E-M5. You can see that the Mark II’s noise is much finer than the E-M5’s, while precise detail is better rendered than the E-M1’s results.
OLYMPUS OM-D E-M5 MARK II
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
FULL-FRAME IMAGE
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
E-M1 andE-M5MkI high ISOcomparison High ISOnoise reduction
You wouldn’t expect there to be a huge difference between the images from the E-M1 and the E-M5 Mark II, given that they share the same sensor and processor, but the more marked difference is in how the original E-M5 compares with the MkII version. Noise is far more prominent on the original model at both 6400 and 12,800.
A night scene was shot using the E-M5 Mark II and 12-40mm f/2.8 zoom, and high ISO noise reduction applied at the three strengths available: low, normal and high. ISO 3200 to 25,600 settings were tried, although only ISO 6400 is shown here. Simultaneous Raw and JPEG files were shot and as it seems noise reduction is applied to both files, the results from the processed Raws is shown here. At ISO 6400, using normal or even high NR seems to benefit the image without affecting fine detail, so it’s definitely worth using. At higher ISOs, the NR seems to have more impact, so should be used with a little more caution.
FULL-FRAME IMAGE
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
ISO 6400 NONR
ISO 6400 LOWNR
OLYMPUS OM-D E-M5
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
ISO 6400 NORMAL NR
ISO 6400 HIGHNR
OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1
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Issue 18 | Photography News
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