# OMD EM5 vs D700



## stened91 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi i started with a Nikon D90 and moved on to D7000 when D90 chouldnt give me what i wanted. I after 1 year with the D7000 wanted a smaller camera and sold my nikon kit and bought a OMD EM5 with a 12mm, 45mm and 12-50mm. 
But now after a while i miss Nikon, the sturdy grip and weight. Dont get me wrong, the EM5 is awesome with artfilters and is super sharp with the 12mm.. but its too small and dont have any lenses to buy. So i started to look on the marked after a camera i chould switch to. I found out that D700 is awesome and sience i dont record movies i dont realy need the movie mode. If so i chould just buy a videocam right? 

So i am sitting thinking about selling my olympus gear and buy nikon again. Is it worth it? Should i just buy the batterygrip for the olympus and wait for more lenses?

I do mainly shoot sport,wildlife and portrait. 

and is it any other camera i should think about?

Thx


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## Garbz (Aug 9, 2012)

Erm what lenses are you missing? It's a micro 4/3rds camera. Firstly there are many micro 4/3rds lenses available on the market, and if you're after something more exotic like f/1.4 lenses or 1:1 macros or fisheyes then just get the 4/3rds adapter ring which gives you access to MANY other 4/3rds lenses from a large group of manufacturers. 

You swapped once for a small camera, so do you really want to spend money on a large camera again? There's no doubt about it, the D700 is a great camera, but it won't be coming with you to a lot of places. Not like the OMD would.


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## stened91 (Aug 9, 2012)

Yeah i agree. Thats why i switched.. but it doesnt feel right.. its so small. I am looking for like 300mm f2.8 or f4 lenses and macro lenses.. weathersealed lenses for taking my camera out in rain. I know the EM5 is weather sealed.. but there is like 2 lenses that is.
I dont know if i want to spend money on a big camera, but the thing is.. even tho the em5 is a superb camera it feels limited. The D700 feels sturdy and build like a tank, and when i go out in bad weather i dont want to be limited to drizzle becouse my camera does not approve of storms.


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## stened91 (Aug 9, 2012)

So what whould you do in my posission? IF you want a more sturdy camera to take with you out in bad weather?


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## Garbz (Aug 9, 2012)

Buy an adapter ring and one of Olympus's weather sealed lenses. The weather sealing in Olympus gear is leaps and bounds better than that of Canon or Nikon (Nikonos underwater cameras excepted of course). I would get the Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50mm 1:2.0 Macro, and the Zuiko Digital 50-200mm f2.8-3.5. My girlfriend has both. They are both absolutely phenomenal lenses. The zoom (which is a 100-400 effective efl) is significantly sharper and better quality than Nikon / Canon gear at comparable cost (read this as non existent because these Olympus lenses fit in a price range between the cheap and expensive Nikon / Canon gear). The 50mm macro (which comes with a 1:1 extension ring) is also a great compact lens with a focusing system that is absolutely to die for. The the focus by wire mechanism is amazing and above anything else I've used and right up there with a Vivitar 1 series 105mm f/2.0 macro. Sharp lens too which is exactly what you want in a macro lens.

Remember also if you're going to go D700 you're not only getting a bigger body but bigger glass too. I come back to the size bit because you mentioned that the D7000 was too big at one stage. Well a D700 is not only a bigger camera, but a 300mm f/4 is going to send you off to get a gym membership just so you can carry it around town, where as the Olympus 50-200 is easily half the weight. And yes the battery grip on the OMD works well. Personally I find it more comfortable to use with the grip, but then I also find my large SLRs are more comfortable with a grip too. 

Now that being said if you intend to take your camera in the shower with you (no not kidding, that's exactly what one Olympus reviewer did) I would double check that the MMF-2 adapter maintains the weather sealing between the body and lens.


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## Village Idiot (Aug 10, 2012)

I shoot with a 5D MKII and OM-D. I went with M43 as a complimentary camera system that I could use for when the FF DSLR was too big. If you sell the OM-D to go with the Nikon, I'm sure at some point you'll regret not having a more compact camera to tote around with you. How about a compromise of a cheaper m43 camera and a DSLR?


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## ann (Aug 10, 2012)

I have both, and find myself using the OMD more and more often with great results. 

It does take a bit of practice as I have been using nikon's for over 64 years, but not hauling around that d700 with a 70-200 is nice.

There are a wide variety of lens available with more and more arriving on the market. The 75-300 on the OMD gives you a longer reach than my 70-200 with an 2x converter with more than acceptable results.  ALso, the IBIS system is very helpful for me as as I get older it is harder to hand hold heavy equipment which means a tripod which means hauling around more equipment.

I started with a pen-1 to be used as my point and shoot in the pocket camera, as I wasn't happy with the quality of the images from the usual p&s cameras, then i moved up to the pen-3 but when the OMD- EM5 came out I was ready for the switch.

Recently I had the opportunity to test out the OMD at 6400 iso with the 45 1.8 oly lens and frankly the results more than stand up to the d700 at the same ISO and I could shoot with the camera at waist level and fire the shutter and focus from that angle as well, removing the camera from in front of my face which I am sure made the subject more at ease as we just chatted as one would do with out a camera.


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## stened91 (Aug 10, 2012)

Thx for the input guys. I have come to an conclusion to stay with my Oly. So i need help to choose gear.
I have the 45mm f1.8, 12mm f2 and the 12-50mm. What i need is macro and zoom. And some extension/macro tubes that are weather sealed. And do any of you know if the battery grip is weather sealed.. becouse some say its not.. and some say it is.

and i need a flash. Becouse i want to take some cool portrait photos


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## DScience (Aug 10, 2012)

stened91 said:


> Thx for the input guys. I have come to an conclusion to stay with my Oly. So i need help to choose gear.
> I have the 45mm f1.8, 12mm f2 and the 12-50mm. What i need is macro and zoom. And some extension/macro tubes that are weather sealed. And do any of you know if the battery grip is weather sealed.. becouse some say its not.. and some say it is.
> 
> and i need a flash. Becouse i want to take some cool portrait photos



No one has chimed in about this, I have no idea why.

It seems as though you want a 'primary' camera system. The things you mentioned: lens options, weather seal, extension tubes...these ARE the reasons one uses a DSLR, because they have so many options. Most wouldn't want a 4/3 for their main system. Look at everyone here, no one uses the OMD as their PRIMARY camera.


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## stened91 (Aug 11, 2012)

Ok then i have a question for you 

Why dont they who have dslr reccomend one? 


And if i where to switch.. Whould d700 hive me what i want?


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## Solarflare (Aug 11, 2012)

In either case I would wait a couple weeks until photokina ... when the D600 is announced, the D700 should drop in prices like a rock.

First leaked Nikon D600 images | Nikon Rumors
New/updated Nikon D600 specifications | Nikon Rumors
Nikon D600 | Nikon Rumors


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## Garbz (Aug 13, 2012)

DScience said:


> No one has chimed in about this, I have no idea why.
> 
> It seems as though you want a 'primary' camera system. The things you mentioned: lens options, weather seal, extension tubes...these ARE the reasons one uses a DSLR, because they have so many options. Most wouldn't want a 4/3 for their main system. Look at everyone here, no one uses the OMD as their PRIMARY camera.



Erm there are plenty of people who shoot 4/3rds on this forum as their primary system. There are a few people who also shoot Micro4/3rds as their primary. But what do you expect. Most of the users on this forum have been here for many years. Micro4/3rds really only just took off in the last couple of months. 

Since the launch of the OMD and the EPL3 I've seen more and more of a switch towards M4/3rds, finally a system with quality, a large lens and accessory selection, and is small enough that it doesn't stay at home when you're out and about. As for a supposed lack of options, you need to visit the Olympus website at some point. They have just as many accessories for their cameras as Nikon. Not to mention compatibility, the OM-D and the entire PEN series has a standard hotshoe making it compatible with every lighting accessory, you can mount any Olympus lens on it from the small kit lenses, to their Professional series which make most Nikon / Canon users drool, and actually given the short retrofocal distance of the m4/3rds mount you can via an adapter mount ANY lens to it. ANY as in m4/3rds, Olympus 4/3rds, other 4/3rds, ancient Olympus lenses, as well as Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony, etc. My girlfriend use to steal my lenses all the time for her 4/3rds camera because of this. Finally she's got her own now


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## Village Idiot (Aug 13, 2012)

DScience said:


> stened91 said:
> 
> 
> > Thx for the input guys. I have come to an conclusion to stay with my Oly. So i need help to choose gear.
> ...



I hate to say it, but I'd trust OLY's weather sealing over anything but the most top end DSLRs. Not to mention the price of an OM-D compared to a weather sealed DSLR. And as far as lens choice, there are a lot of quality new lenses as well as a multitude of legacy lenses that can be used on a M43 camera. I see people using old Lieca lenses that cost well over the price of a new OM-D body on their cameras. I've also seen people that do studio portraiture that use the OM-D as a primary camera. An M43 camera is basically a small DSLR. The OM-D with the Lumix 17 f/1.7 and the Oly 45 f/1.8 fit perfectly on my bike and take up no where near as much room as the 5D MKII, 24-70 f/2.8L, and 17-40 f/4L. Everyone says the best camera is the one you have with you...


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