Interestingly, this shows how important the photographer's style and post-processing are: this may be a very different camera, but the photographs look and feel just like James's pictures.
The advantage of a silver and black camera is that, whilst more noticeable, people tend to think it’s an old film camera. The thought of someone taking your photo and having it printed seems less disturbing than having a digital image of you that they can put online.
@@Raist3dbexcept their native aspect is 3:2 so when changing to 4:3 it crops the sides quite considerably. As a result it won’t give as wide a field of view as one would expect. Especially noticeable with wider lenses. When an MFT sensor changes to 3:2 one only loses a little off the top and bottom.
@@alex-reay I haven't noticed much of a cut there on the X-T50, so I would say any of the new 40 MP Fujis works quite well with this. And Fuji has pretty wide angle lens selections available so I don't see it as an issue if you want wider with 4:3.
Sleep mode is your friend! Toggle this on in the menu and the camera will go to sleep within a few seconds of shooting to conserve power. Half press the shutter button and it is instantly on again. I only use the on/off button to turn mine on at the beginning of the day, and turn it off at the end (or when I know I won't be using it for an hour or two). Sleep mode uses a tiny amount of battery, and I always carry a spare battery or two - at 46g each they weigh next to nothing and slip into the smallest of pockets. (As an aside, video eats battery on the OM-5, but just taking photos a single battery lasts for as long as I can reasonably get away from the family to indulge my photography interests.) Also, if lens size bothers you on this tiny camera (it does me - I like to be able to pocket it) then the 17mm f/1.8 is half the size and weight, and cheap. For landscape and family photos the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 is negligible. The 17mm is plastic, not intended for wet weather, and doesn't have perfect IQ (though more than good enough for most styles of photography). If it dies after being out in the rain (I used non-weather sealed lenses for years without much of a problem) then simply buy another - you can afford three for the price of the bulkier 20mm PRO. I would only choose the 20mm PRO if I was going to a sandy beach, the weather was awful, or if I really needed that extra speed (less than one stop) or a razor thin DoF. Also the Pana Leica 9mm f1.7, which is weather sealed and has amazing IQ, pairs fantastically with this camera if you are looking for an fast ultra wide compact setup for indoor and outdoor work.
Yeah spending a day with a camera probably needs a warning of totally uninformed opinions that could be totally wrong I love James but I immediately cringed at the comment about size comparison and no point to m43 anymore… but comparing a 20mm 1.4 with a 40mm a whole stop slower🤦🏼♂️ An actual comparison: 20mm 1.4 on m43 the closest Sony FF 40mm 1.4 sigma is… almost 5 times larger and 6(!!!!) times heavier!! James if you read this it is ALWAYS true m43 any lens actual equivalent you will find there are all quite literally a fifth size and weight of FF and often a fraction of the price!! So PLEASE do not repeat that comment if you love cameras and photography, it hurts my heart that you might be blindly following the bandwagon of falsehoods around m43.. it’s not 2010 anymore and nearly all the stigmas that have gone on and on are simply not true anymore.
@@JEE774 Please keep on Bad-mouthing M43!! I have the Pen EP-1, the original E-M5, and a E-PL 5, with a bunch of VERY nice lenses, including the 17mm and 45mm F 1.8, a 50mm 43 macro-lense with the original 43 to M43 adaptor, and a original OM to M43 adaptor, all came with the original flash, even the VF-1 viewfinder, chargers, batteries etc. I paid a total of 2100 DKR for all that gear, US$ 315. I could haul around my trusty old Nikon D200, and a 50, 85 and 105mm MF Nikkor-lense, or ALL the M43 gear!!
@@JEE774 It's not ALWAYS true at all that any m43rds actual equivalent is literally a firth of the size and weight of FF. That's actually the lie. If it's equivalent, there's a lot of options in the from somewhat wide to beginning of telephoto that are quite comparable in size, and sometimes even favorable. You can't simply compare the same F-stop because that's not equivalent in FF.
Just bought the original mark 1 EM5 used exc cond for £160……absolutely fantastic alternative to the ridiculously priced compact market and in most ways better / higher spec. Love it 🎉
James, I’ll not go on about how you can remap the on/off location to the right side. What I will go on about is the photos you took. They are every bit as good as your current camera. I have always loved the look you get and these are right there. By the way my everyday carry is a Pen E-P3 which has the film like look that I like.
Lol, never once have I ever considered the position of the power button - but I will now! As others have mentioned you can ascribe power on/off to the function lever on the right should you want to. The power button where it is pays respect to the the aesthetics of this line of cameras going back to the analogue OM-1 from 1972. I think it's a little reductionist to consider MFT's only advantages are size. I'd say more impactful advantages are things like, higher frame rates, for example, or having double the effective depth of field for the same field of view at the same aperture, allowing for far easier zone focusing, or for wider apertures to be used when extra stops of light are beneficial.
@@veikop Well, yeah, you don't really ever need to go narrower than f/5.6 with MFT for anything that doesn't require close focusing or slow shutter speeds, but sometimes you require close focusing or slow shutter speeds ;)
@robertmills4591 "The power button where it is pays respect to the the aesthetics of this line of cameras going back to the analogue OM-1 from 1972." Yeah, and I always found that a pain, too. Still do, on my current OM1.
A pity you didn't find out that the ON/OFF function can be assigned to the FN lever. With this simple adjustment you would have improved your feeling with the camera a lot...
I think James point is still valid as it means you lose the fn lever that could be used for something else. I tend to use them to turn on/off bracketing to be a power on switch. I don't have an OM5 if you can reassign the power on switch to be a FN lever I'll let them off 😂
Great new series. You may not like the camera but you’ve taken some fab shots. Glad you loved the Orig E-M5 and thanks for confirming that we all get grumpier with age .. thought it was just me 👍
I now own an OM-5, having had Canon, and I agree about the power swtich, but everything is remappable on the OM-5, so you can really make it your own. Having multiple batteries is the answer, as with any camera and letting standby do its job. The really frustrating thing about camera design, try being a left hander and having to shoot and do everything right handed no matter what camera you own that can be frustrating. This was a really interesting to hear your thoughts on the OM-5 and the M4/3 format. Looking forward to the next 'a day with' video. Thank you.
Hi, fellow lefty! I find many things awkward, too, since the world is right-handed. Our super power is to become more ambidextrous with time. Shooting a midsize camera one handed? Eh...No. Funny thing is that James is a lefty, too!!
Bloody hell, you've certainly been catching some flak in these comments! Hope you don't take it to heart, it's good to have many points of view, and I think it's to the detriment of us all if we sit siloed by manufacturer/lens mount and merely congratulate ourselves on the unique brilliance of the system we use. Appreciate your videos James, cheers from Derbyshire
Hello James. Been a few years since seeing your videos. What brought me to your channel was Micro4/3 - Lumix but lost me when you changed to Sony and FF. You sold me on the 4/3 format with my first G7 then up to G9. Have so completely enjoyed the fulfilling hobby and wonderful experiences with lightweight and versatile format. Now I'm looking towards retro Lumix cameras such as GF1 or GX85 as simplicity and old age creeps into my life. I hope you perhaps explore some of the older, simple Lumix 4/3 cameras that bring still life to life. Honestly, just not interested in the complex, heavy and huge full frame cameras any longer as I am 71 years of age and to begin again isn't in the bargain. As long as I still have eyes that function, I'll be taking photos. Thanks, James.
I'm sorry but you're going to have to re-do this video now that you know how to fix the on/off situation lol. Also, the images looked great. Definitely speaks to the fact that a big heavy expensive camera isn't needed to get good photos.
Great pics as always! but… if all you’re going to do is complain about a couple of nitpicks you dont like about a camera bc you didn’t spend the proper time to actually know it well (like you can change the power switch in this one) or compare them to your way more expensive Sony, well it doesn’t see like a series I’d want to watch. This has been the first one of your videos I haven’t actually enjoyed
One of the things I really respect about you is that you don’t seem to be a “dig your heels in” type of guy and will process critical evaluations with a teachable heart.
I always enjoy watching your channel and I love the fact you don’t take anything (perhaps, especially yourself) too seriously but you are clearly ‘serious’ about what you do. I do worry that every photography channel either is, or becomes, a gear channel. I’ll keep watching but please keep talking about your vision, intent and realisation of your images. Cheers 😁
Yes yes and yes. I miss the videos where James does pov and we hear the thought process behind planning, finding, composing and editing images to realise a vision. The adventure and the process and the inner thoughts. Rather than fairly nothing content around gear. Not meant to be a downer, I think James is great and I’d love to be on a tog day out with him . But the artistic side and image side of james process is more interesting to me than gear , especially when there’s many actual review videos out there (which this explicitly is not)
@@nextsibling depends if you want fleeting views from one off visiting people searching for gear on the potential of shopping… or if you want to run a sustainable community of followers who want to actually connect with you and your content 🤷
I have two OM-5's and at this point I feel like they are an extension of me, an extra body part if you will. So it's so interesting to see how you use it, and what you notice. The one hand use / where the power switch is has never even occured to me. Fascinating! I had to stop and think about what I do, and I think I often have it hanging on my left shoulder, and my left hand reaches down to turn it on and then I grab it and shoot with the right hand, hand it back on the shoulder and turn it off with the left. I think. Would have loved to see more of you using the camera, trying out it's features and what not. But maybe in the next "one day with a camera". This felt a bit focused on design features, which are of course an important factor, but I more Photography done with the gear would be nice to see :)
Very enjoyable, James. I flew over Gt Orme heading for Dwygyfylchi in 1977 in a Hunter based at RAF Valley. I was aiming to "visit" a friend but got very close to the hill behind Dwygyfylchi and scared the living daylights out of myself. It was night, you see. I learned a bit from that . . .
You conveyed your emotions very well and I can totally understand what you're saying. It felt a tat like a single issue review though, even if it served as a running gag. If you could highlight a couple more aspects of each camera in this series I think it would be appreciated.❤
You can configure the buttons and switches on the OM-5 and change the Fn Lever on the right side on the back of the camera to a off/on switch so it's NOT AN ISSUE!!!!!!!!!
100% The camera is capable of taking great pictures. It's light, compact, and full of features. There's a great range of lenses for it as well. And yet, this video is essentially a talented pro bitching about the default position of the on/off button. I need to go take some pictures and stop watching these rapid gear critique videos.
James says he finds the OM-5 intriguing "because of the nostalgia". The power switch is exactly the same and in the same position as the OM-1/OM-2 film cameras I used in the 1980s.
James, you are the archetypal MFT-shooter! You find something to get upset about. 🤣 Apart from long lenses, I find the zoom ranges available attractive. When I look at other systems, it's hard to go from 9mm m43 at the wide end to 300mm m43 continuously for kitzoom money. Or even continuously for a lot more money. If all things photography are a hobby, I think it's one of the most accessible entries. Oh, and the good old Lumix 20mm f/1.7 is way smaller.
You can set the camera to sleep when idle and wake when you half press the shutter button. With the E-M1 MkII and possibly with the OM-5 you can allocate a lever on the right to be an on-off switch instead of the left hand side lever. EDIT, I notice that others have made the same point, which rather negates a whole lot [10 minutes?] of your video rant.
@@kwonwaguespack5739 For those not acquainted to any advanced camera, menus and what to set are a mystery. Even changing brands brings a whole lot of confusion. However, one needs to make the effort to learn these menus. If not willing or able to learn, one has the wrong type of camera. For these people, the ‘point and shoot’ camera was invented. Also the iAuto mode found on most cameras. I have little sympathy for those who buy or use a camera while making zero effort to learn how to use it but nonetheless bitch publicly about things that have a specific solution. They should think and ask before criticising.
The overall light gathered is equal to 2.8 on full frame. Yes, the shutter speed is the same as it would be on a full frame 1.4 but not the light gathered, that would be scientifically impossible. This is a very common misunderstanding. Ps. I use MFT cameras and hence not against them but it is good to understand the fundamentals nevertheless.
A few years ago I sold all my Olympus gear and switched to Canon full frame. Long story short, I am back to Olympus 😂, although I kept my favourite FF lenses . The size and weight difference is still big. You picked one of the smallest ff cameras, that hardly anyone uses for photography,and paired it with one of the smallest lenses...I like landscape, macro, astro and architect photography, and if you use more lenses than a 40mm for all of that, mft of course beats ff any time regarding size/weight. I am quite happy now to have the best of both worlds to me, and I also reduced my gear a lot.
Cheers James, it’s Sean in Atlanta! I am so much like you in that I just purchased an OLYMPUS EM5 MIII, new, for $600! Deal! Go into your menu and disable the power switch on the left and change it to the lever on the right where the AEL/AFL button is. I’m shocked that you bought the OM5, I just could not justify the price difference between these two brand-new cameras. I like the new series and I hope you, your wife and baby, are well! Sean
Seeing as you asked, I'd like to see more 'medium format' content. Obvious questions.... Is it worth the size, weight, cost? Is the larger file really all that beneficial? Can it be used one-handed? ;-)
heyyy, I'm just here to say a few words, I really like the way you do your videos and basically with time you've become my favorite youtuber covering photography stuff and the only one making such content that I consistently watch, I'm basically just starting my adventure with photography and you've been of great help and inspiratiom to me, personally I'm using a Sony A6400 with the Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens plus a Sigma 30mm f/1.4, though I mostly just go for the Sigma lens, and the strap the camera came with isn't very great unlike the strap my parents' old Nikon dslr came with so when I come home I'll look for a better one, but yeah, I suppose what I'm trying to say is just thanks for making this content and letting me relax, listen about interesting things amd learn some more.. that's a long one, but if anyone reads it feel free to reply and maybe give some random tips and all heh
The power button on the left is a nod to the original 1970’s OM-1. Can’t add a photo here but give it a quick google and you’ll see it’s very similar, even the lever and font.
I nearly spit my SD card out as I saw the video title! Going back to mft! False alarm 😂. But you are right, i switched from Nikon to Olympus around 5 years ago and the on/off switch still does my head in.
I have the OM-1. Agree that the on-off switch on the left is a pain. However, the OM-1 does have a joystick. I do a lot of super macro with my OM-1 and combined with the 90mm macro plus 1.4 teleconverter, it is the best camera on the market. (5.6 x magnification). I also have a Nikon Z8 for Street, landscape and wildlife.
I agree with the power button position it makes a huge difference, especially when travelling or street photography. Your home town looks lovely I will have to take a look next time I am in wales.
According to my thinking, it is simply not possible to adequately test any modern state-of-the-art camera in two days. You need at least three days just to read the user manual. I have possessed my present camera for over three years, purchased a special book on it, and I bet there is still something I do not know about it. And this is the case although I already knew my way around the menu system of a forerunner quite well. And as I have now read in further comments, the on/off switch is reprogrammable. Something you obviously missed. This proves my point. You cannot deliver any type of useful information about a camera based on testing it just for two days.
Agree 100% about the power with for one-handed operation. I got more shots with my Panasonic GF1 and 20mm pancake because I kept in my right pocket and could operate the camera quickly with one hand.
I think with the MPB sponsorship it would be useful to see how useable older generation used cameras are today. The A5100 intrigues me for example as it can be picked up for £200, and apparently is on the same sensor as the A6400, uses the same battery, but is in a smaller body (I haven't checked how where the power switch on it is though).
Skips over all the features that something like the Sony wont have and complains about issues easily overcome while mentioning nothing of the image quality.
Thanks for the video! If you want a smaller sized lens, it might be an option to use the olympus 25mm 1.8. It is much smaller and the image quality is also very good. As you compared it to a 40mm 2.5, so the aperture still is much wider. As others have pointed out already, you can reprogram the on/off switch to the AEL/AFL switch. Then this disadvantage can be mitigated as well.
Going on with the one handed theme, I also highly dislike that many cameras place the image review button on the left side. Ugh! Fortunately many cameras allow you to reassign a button on the right side but it shouldn't be this way as default.
Oh come on James read the instruction book before you shoot! Llandudno one of my favourite places to visit been there many times and I love that noisy pier, you can buy almost anything on there and the bar at the end wow! I have not been there for some time but I will never forget that policeman hitting that poor lady with his baton! shame of him then a man came round for payment so I left the kids there to finish watching Punch and Judy! joking aside thank you for your time telling us all about your new toy for the day I found it very interesting...
I think you can switch the on off to the 1-2 switch and af point, to a custom button and then using the dials (one for horizontal the other for vertical moving the af point). The second thing i use myself.
Started with em5mkii, still love it after moving to em1mkiii. I bought extra batteries for the em5mkii, theyre tiny to put in small bag. Even the em5mkii computational features are awesome, the OM5 much more so.
I've only been to Llandudno the once. About 25 years I think. Grim weather but I got a few nice pics. Enjoyed your video. I did have the old OM1 and OM10 back in the 1980s. I switched to Canon now for digital. Enjoyed your video mate.
I have exactly this combination of camera and lens. Love the weather sealing, weight, size, image stabilization and myriad of functions such as 50MP handheld high-res shot mode, pro capture and live ND filter. I dislike that the camera doesn't have a normal USB-C charging port and that I can't use the camera while it is charging.
I've been shooting MFT since the E-M5 launched for work, and I shoot lifestyle portraiture in remote regions. The benefit for me is I get my main lens, the Olympus 75mm f1.8. I ask anyway to try and find a 150mm equiv FF lens with f1.8 worth of light on the sensor, all in the same size footprint as the 75mm f1.8. I'll wait, but no matter how long I wait, no one will be able to get an answer to that. The reason that combination is important, well, try having a job involving taking natural undisturbed portraits of people's day-to-day life in remote regions of the world without having people stare at you in the frame. It's a niche use case and obviously MFT isn't king for portraits, but it annoys me when people write the system off for anything but wildlife or hiking as a weight savor. I'll admit that the 75mm f1.8 is kind of an oddity or outlier, it's just that good for my use case. I've been asked to try a Z8 and 135mm Plena, less than an hour in I packed it up because everyone in the village scenes were staring at the foreigner with a big camera/lens. The rest of my kit could be handled entirely by my fp L (and even the 75 mostly by using the 90mm f2.8 in crop mode, that's still 25mp and 135mm of reach/fov). The G9.ii's updated handheld hi-res works well for portraits, depending on the environment/subject. That said, I usually use my Pentax K-1.ii or 645Z for that kind of work. Great shots, your pastel blues and overall colors, regardless of format, are hands down my favorite.
Your photo's have an airy, filmic feel. Apols if that's become a cliche' word! Llandudno still seems to offer a wealth of interesting photogenic locations. I spent a fair bit of time there in the 80's/90's as family had moved to the area. There used to be a great 2nd hand camera shop on (I think) Mostyn Street? Always had some absolute gems in the window, particularly the myriad 70's 35mm Rangefinder compact types. Back in in the days of film!
I use the 20mm on an OM1-ii and while it's my favourite focal length for walking around, unfortunately the difference between it and the 17mm 1.2 or the 25mm 1.2 is very noticeable. The battery on the OM1 is remarkable, especially if you put the camera in airplane mode.
I used to feel the same way about power switches on the left side of the camera. I was so used to the switch being around the shutter release. However on my Canon EOS R which has the same design flaw, I realized that turning the camera on and off was much slower than allowing the camera to go into sleep mode and just waking it with any button press. And there was no noticeable difference on battery consumption.
For a moment there, I thought you were shooting on an old film SLR. I still have a Pentax SV, the camera my father taught me photography on in the 70s, and I still have his Canon AE-1, the camera that he replaced it with. I deeply regret selling my Nikon FA when digital turned up. You can see where this is going! The now retro look of the SLR, designed around the pentaprism, remain my favourite looking cameras to this day. I now have a Nikon D750 and the Fuji X100F, both fine looking cameras in their own way, but the former is bloated in comparison to the chiselled good looks of the old FA, and the Fuji, well, just a little too retro, read old fashioned. That the SLR design continues to survive in the mirrorless digital age, with no pentaprisms in sight (no pun intended!), is testament to the fondness that modern designers clearly still have for the design of the old SLRs. Maybe you could do a video on camera design through the ages, driven by form follows function, your favourites, and how retro designs continue to remain popular, long after their time in the limelight (no pun intended!)...
I know you won’t want this to be Olympus heavy, but the OM1 (mark 1 and/or 2) would be useful as someone who is considering upgrading from an original E-M1.
Whenever I consider that one, or the GR3, I pick up my E-PL7, same size with more functionality. Leica have just brought out a new LX100 with the D-Lux 8, for lots of money
Not sure why you bother constantly playing with different cameras and lenses. From the vids I've seen, your photographic style seems to largely be taking snapshots from eye level. Nothing wrong with that, but you could do the same thing with any modern cell phone.
@@JamesPopsysPhoto Varying the height allows for more creative possibilities. For example, getting low is means for emphasizing important foreground elements. Shooting everything from eye level all the time is just showing the viewer exactly what they would see standing in the same location. If that is your goal (eg. documentary photography) there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it is interesting to try to show your audience a different take/perspective on a scene. Just my opinion, we all find different images appealing or not. If we all like the same thing the world would be a less interesting place
I can operate the EM5II - who is the same - with one hand , configured the sleep function : ) , it works wonders, also buying a little metal grip is key for having a solid grip when walking around and taking one handed photos. setup the Focus button on the front and voila ! Love your videos have a great day !
Thanks for this new video series! I was wondering about the new OM series, and would not have noticed the issue with the power switch until too late. Re-assigning the power "function" seems rather cludgy to me, and it makes you lose the possibility of assigning a real function. That aside - the photos look amazing, so it's great to see that OM has maintained the Olympus quality. This helps a lot in keeping M4/3 a relevant system. Regarding power-switches on the right and joysticks under your thumb, I hope you have the Panny G9ii on your list. This is the first model Panny with the "proper" autofocus, so it would be very interesting to see how you find it in comparison to the OM-5. Oh yes, since it is MPB doing the sponsoring, please don't forget to pull in some old cameras as well! I have a GX80, old G5 and a gaggle of old GX1's - none of which holds me back in terms of quality photos. If a photo comes out a dud, it won't be my old camera's fault! 😛 Damn, I have to come visit Llandudno soon, what a gorgeous place!
You can make the AEL/AFL-switch act as the on/off switch in the menus, making the camera much more one-handable! Can't remember where, but it's hidden in there :)
I worked for Olympus for several years, (NOT the photographic division, which was in an adjacent building to me). I switched from using a Sony A55/Zeiss comb to an Olympus EPL7 as the image results were far superior in terms of sharpness than my larger Sony sensor. There will come a time young man sooner than you expect (I'm 70 btw, not bad for my age though 🤪) when you can't carry your son about on top of your Backpack, let alone all that camera gear because yer Neck, Shoulders, Back, Knees or 'A**e End' hurts too much!😣 Oh, and don't think all that gym work is going to make you immune from all that crap, 🏋♀ it won't. MFT is a godsend when 'weight' becomes important. Yes, some Sony Cam Bodies are comparable to MFT, but as you well know son, "ya cannae change the laws of physics" and those big full-frame lenses are a pain to carry about, Literally! Oh and btw, stop 'belly aching' about a bloody on/off switch you sound like a big girl's blouse. I started my photographic hobby off during the 1970s with a new Leica R3 with a Summilux 50mm f1.4 purchased from the Burlington Arcade Piccadilly. I've used Leica Glass and Angenieux Zooms together with, at one point, 3 Bodies: Leica R3, R5, R7 plus lenses and a Motor Drive that took Ten, yes Ten AA Batteries god help me! My film stock was mostly Kodakchrome 64, a difficult slow film to work with, but razor sharp, my Leica Lenses burned the Image deep with a 35mm quality that was hard to better. I had, and have used the best, and lugged it all around in a massive Shoulder Bag with my tripod, I was young fit and skinny then, but life catches up with ya see, so don't be depressed when you end up using a 'Bridge Camera' it's all a part of life 😀. Anyway, if you need any advice jimmy boy I'm always willing to help yer😉 😊
The Micro 4/3 cameras are great if you don't always want razor thin depth of field. I still miss my Olympus Pen F. Stabilisation. Fast. Focus. Nice controls. Menu wasn't great and neither was high ISO but it was fun.
Comparing the size of the Oly f1.4 with the Sony f2.5 isn’t really fair though, James. The LUMIX f1.7 or the Oly 17mm or 25mm f1.8 versions might be a better comparison?
@babaarcuszatir Based on ISO/Aperture/Shutter speed exposure triangle, it isn't. And James mostly shoots scenes that do not depend on razor thin depth of field for their artistic merit.
@@MikeRamsay based on lens structure, it is. Same field of view, ~same aperture diameter (14,3 mm vs. 16 mm). Actually the Sony is better in this regard with f/2.5 and also physically smaller, so James was right. I’m not even getting into things like ISO is not part of the exposure, only aperture and shutter speed, as it has no influence on incoming photons. And also ISO is not sensor sensitivity, it has nothing to do with quantum efficiency, which is a structural given. If he doesn’t need “razor thin” DoF, then a 2.5/40 at f/5.6 is a win, as it is more compact than the 1.4/20, don’t you think? 🙂
I have 3 Olympus bodies with on/off switch on the left and never think about it. My wife has the original E-M5 whose on/off was on the back at the bottom right. It seems to be in a spot when you could accidentally turn it on/off, though to be fair that's never happened to ether of us. I don't know why you have to turn the camera on/off so often that reaching over with the right thumb or left hand becomes as issue. Just leave it on. Battery consumption can be rapid, but I keep the rear screen turned inward most of the time and I set the camera to go sleep after a minute. I also always carry around an extra battery or two with all my bodies. I guess these things bother some more than others. My first car (1971 Peugeot) had the signal light lever on the right and the lights/wipers on the left. When I changed cars, the levers were the other way round, can't say I remember it taking more than an hour to adapt.
Don't get the point about the powerbutton. I switch my camera on only once on a day's hiken when I arrive on the location. I just let it go to sleep, just touching the shutter is enough to wake it up again in no time...
I enjoyed the video, James, and the resulting images and can certainly understand your frustration with the positioning of the on/off switch. The paddle steamer is, of course, the Waverley. I was born in Greenock on the River Clyde and sailed 'doon the watter' on it on numerous occasions growing up.😄
If this is to be a series, I’d love to see some kind of scoring / ranking system. I know it’s done, but might as well. Anyway, thanks for making interesting content.
I love your videos, but this one has been repetitive and ABSOLUTELLY inacurate!!! You can just customize your lever to be the power button, Thats it... so simple... you would have done a video about the camera instead... pay attention at the AMAZING dynamic range that you get using LiveND, check the livecomposite, livetime, stabilization, sealing... etc...
I have an old Olympus OM1 film camera and the reason the power button is on the left is because that is where the switch to turn on/off the camera's light meter was located. So in effect, they carried this over from the OM1 film cameras most likely. The other thing may have been that people were accidentally turning the camera off too with their thumb when fumbling around looking for the AF-ON button (I knkow some camera designs have that "flaw"). I think Fuji had that problem or it was a complaint on their older XT20/XT30 cameras that it was easy to accidentally turn the camera off while operating the dials on the right side, so while this may be an annoyance, it may also help prevent that too... of course if you're the type that does turn the camera on/off a lot, it does get annoying. But I do agree that it is nice to be able to operate a camera with one hand (or two if you have an aperture ring, that's fine too), and one reason I sort of love/hate certain Fuji cameras (some have the AF switch on the body which requires using two hands basically, whereas my Nikon Z mirrorless cameras can pretty much be operate with one hand (at least my Z7, the Z8 and Zf require two to make some changes -- but on the Zf if I wanted to do one-handed operation I could by setting it so that the command dials control ISO and not use the dedicated ISO dial on the top -- which is on the left side). So with the exception of their lenses not having traditional aperture rings, I can operate the Zf as if twas like a traditional (modern) camera or a film camera (I can do the same thing with the shutter speed, set it so it can be operate with the command dials, Fuji's are similar this regard too).
Olympus has put their power switch on the left since their SLR film cameras of the 1970s. Doing so in this century is the action of an obstinate retrogrouch. I don't care that I can, in theory, remap some other button to fix their mistake. There aren't enough function buttons to start with, so I don't really want to dedicate one for power, and 1-handed operation should have been thought about by the designer.
@@TimGreigPhotography It's busy. For example, two days ago (the last time I was photographing) my left hand was gripping the railing of the boat to keep me steady, while I used a camera with a properly located power switch (Panasonic G9 with the Olympus 75/1.8 lens) with my right hand and eye.
Your power switch problem (self inflicted as you seemed to have missed the reassignment option in menu). didn't seem to impact adversely on the quality of the images James. Good to see the OM5 can produce some great images when in the hands of a professional.
