Olympus MFT cameras – E-M1ii vs E-M5iii

Have got the E-M10ii and do love it, but note that the E-M1ii and E-M5iii are pretty much the same price (for the body) and gawd knows we love an upgrade right? Am hankering after the M1 if I’m honest. Focus stacking in camera is one thing, plus the generally faster operation.

From what I can tell aside from the obvious form factor difference there isn’t much reason not to go for the E-M1ii over the E-M5iii is there? Granted the M5 is newer but the specs are near identical I think. Build material (metal vs polycarbonate), battery and dual memory card seem an advantage of the M1, not that I would be likely to need those. But when did need come into it.

Anyone got experience of either/both? Seem to recall on the E-M10 thread a few weeks ago some on here were owners/users. Cheers!

Edit: of course with the M1iii imminent it’s possible that the M1ii might come down in price further I guess.

M5mk2 and M1mk2 here. I’ve not really looked at the M5mk3 but it appears to be fairly close in spec. The M1mk2 has better in camera stacking which is customisable. It’s faster too, it’ll shoot 18fps with AF tracking in RAW and 60 yes 60fps fixed focus RAW.
There’ll no doubt be little advantages throughout but those are what spring to mind.

Personally I find the shape of the M1’s better with the grip it’s a joy to hold, it certainly feels more balanced with the longer lenses (40-150 Pro etc)

Note: Focus stacking will require the use of specific lenses on either body – basically the f2.8 pro and macro ranges, which by the way are absolutely superb optics.

How do you like the E-M10ii? I’ve just got one and haven’t really had the chance to use it much yet. Any tips/tricks?

Am hankering after the M1 if I’m honest. Focus stacking in camera is one thing, plus the generally faster operation.

As far as I’m aware both do focus stacking in camera.

Speed wise the only reported difference seems to be C-AF functionality. As in em5iii is worse than em1.

I tried an em1 ii and ergonomics were great but it was in the size range where it was no smaller than aps-c bodies. If I wanted a travel or walk about camera then the 5 makes more sense to me, particularly with the size of the m43 primes. I imagine that em5 prices will start to fall soon once the em1iii is out. Apparently the em1ii will still be part of the current line up so may not be quite as discounted in the near future as you may hope .

I’m in a similar situation to you (aging gx1) and not heavily invested in lenses so I’m wondering about fuji too when I consider the em1ii.

I have the EM5 iii. It’s a great upgrade from my EM5 i. The focussing in particular is much better.
For me it does everything the EM1 ii does, minus a couple of features I can live without, in a smaller lighter package (battery life, card slots and faster pro-capture. The EM 1 ii is undoubtedly better technically but I like the size of the EM 5.

EM1 iii was just announced so there might be good deals soon on the EM 1 ii.

https://cameradecision.com/compare/Olympus-OM-D-E-M5-III-vs-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1-Mark-II

Interesting thoughts, thanks. The EM1 does *look* bulky in pictures but have yet to fondle one in real life so perhaps I should do that.

How do you like the E-M10ii? I’ve just got one and haven’t really had the chance to use it much yet. Any tips/tricks?

I am growing to absolutely love the E-M10ii to be honest, but really feel like I lucked out because I didn’t do loads of research, but have been taken aback by some cool features, such as…
– Live Composite (did some nice star trails, almost too easily, see the “Photos of which you are proud” thread I posted on there the other day
– Live View (?) which was good for setting up Live Composite if nothing else, since instead of guessing what the bulb exposure will result in, you can see it forming on the screen
– Flexibility of the menus and function buttons (I have been watching this guy’s videos a fair bit, this one gives you some great tips on how to set it up well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNwboafjTfA as well as other stuff.
– Just discovered some of the Arty filters, and one of them looks cool – where it colourises only certain colours in a monochrome picture – I wouldn’t normally be fussed about this sort of thing but it looks cool “in camera”

In short though, it looks great, feels great in the hand (although I bought the grip to make it more substantial) and does take some lovely pics and wasn’t mega expensive. Do you have any other lenses? It really comes to life when you get some nice lenses, eg. the 45mm portrait lens is a cracker @ f1.8 and is actually very cheap.

Can’t think of anything else off the top of my head, but I do just feel like it is a great platform from which to make progress.

Edit, here you go…

Also (with a 75-300mm lens)…

Maybe invest in some more lenses rather than another body ?
The Pro lenses really bring the best out of these little cameras. If you really get into it invest in a EM1X or EM1mk3 down the line?
(I’m currently coveting the EM1mk3 for its liveND mode)

LiveComp is a great feature and I love star trails too, try experimenting with adding light painting to bring out details in the foreground of your LC shots- hardest bit is getting the right location at the right time / weather.

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Kinwarton dovecote. 120 x 25sec exposures – 50mins. #startrail #circumpolar #polaris #nightsky #nightphotography #lightpainting #olympus #olympusomd #omdem1markii #photooftheday #nationaltrust #alcester #warwickshire

A post shared by Andrew Eades (@72slowback) on Oct 2, 2019 at 2:53pm PDT

Nice. That Rob Trek guy did a video on the light painting technique so I’m giving thought to how to make use of that.

I do have quite a few lenses already TBF but no Pro ones. But think I’ve got most “types” of lenses now so may hold off the Pro range for now. I quite like having two kidneys as well 😉

Haha yes they ain’t cheap but seriously lovely bits of kit.

Have you got one of the 2.8 macro’s ? These aren’t a bad price and that’ll unlock the focus stacking feature should you opt for the higher spec body.

I have the 60mm f2.8 macro yeah. It’s not a Pro lens though, the focus stacking would still work with that you say?

Yes it does. No not strictly a Pro – no weather sealing but I guess due the short throw needed on the focus mech on a lens of this type the focusing speed comes within a similar spec as the Pro lenses and as such quick/accurate enough to work with in cam stacking.

Interesting, thanks. Another tick in the box for the upgrade then…

…although a star tracker is something else I am thinking about. Significantly cheaper than a new camera 😮

Yes I’ve considered a star tracker also. Incidentally, my friend / colleague has a pristine Star Aventurer Pro up for sale which he keeps wafting under my nose…

If your interested drop me a PM
2months old hardly used.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/sky-watcher-star-adventurer-astrophoto-kit-1557725/

Simply changed his mind on set up.