# I can haz M4/3 now?



## pixmedic (Feb 8, 2014)

the answer, apparently, is an astounding....yes. yes i can. 
I went to our semi-local brick and mortar camera store today to pick up some new muslin backdrops and as usual, I stopped to peruse the consignment cabinet. I have been in the market for a mirrorless, and I had thought i was set on getting a samsung nx300 (which on paper, specs out better than the oly epl5) Anyway....one of the shop guys shoots with this camera (and the 14-42 lens that came with it) and he showed us some pictures he had blown up to 14x20 and the picture quality was pretty amazing. the woman that bought it new just a few weeks ago took 35 pictures with it and decided she didn't want to have to switch lenses, so she traded it back and got a bridge super-zoom camera. I got a pretty good deal on this camera, practically new in the box...still has the plastic on the lens. 

so yea...I just joined the M4/3 club. Hopefully the store guy wasn't just blowing smoke up my bum when he praised the hell out of this camera and the lenses you can get for it... and hopefully I wont regret not buying the Samsung nx300. while this camera does not have many of the features the Samsung has, it does have in body image stabilization...which i kinda liked.


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## dxqcanada (Feb 8, 2014)

Hmm, does that mean you will be giving away more stuff ?


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## Derrel (Feb 8, 2014)

Well, have fun with it! 14-42mm lens! Black body, black lens! Shutter! Sensor! Focuses from 0.82 feet and *ALL THE WAY TO INFINITY!!!! *Now that's sexy!

Oughtta' be more than adequate.


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## usayit (Feb 8, 2014)

Congratulations...  Great kit to dabble into the system.   The best stuff in micro 43 IMO is in the primes and selection of camera bodies.


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## Ron Evers (Feb 8, 2014)

Welcome to the club, I was concerned you would go to the dark side.


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## pixmedic (Feb 8, 2014)

I originally wanted a viewfinder, and i was pleasantly surprised to find that you can purchase an EVF for this camera that plugs into the hotshoe and the port in front of it.


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## MGRPhoto (Feb 9, 2014)

The E-PL5 is a better camera in terms of image quality. The zoom lenses for the Samsung NX are pretty weak. The only major advantages of the NX300 are the connectivity/apps, image stabilization and the 1080p60fps video. The image stabilization on the NX300 is pretty amazing.


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## minicoop1985 (Feb 9, 2014)

From what I understand, the whole 4/3 lens lineup (sans image-stabilized Panasonic, I think) can be adapted to work on these too. Very nice!


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## brunerww (Feb 9, 2014)

Congrats!  Welcome to m4/3.  I think you'll enjoy it


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## pixmedic (Feb 9, 2014)

MGRPhoto said:


> The E-PL5 is a better camera in terms of image quality. The zoom lenses for the Samsung NX are pretty weak. The only major advantages of the NX300 are the connectivity/apps, image stabilization and the 1080p60fps video. The image stabilization on the NX300 is pretty amazing.



i didn't really care much about wifi or gps...
my biggest concern was spec wise. it really looked like the Samsung nx300 blew the oly out of the water. 
Olympus PEN E-PL5 vs Samsung NX300 - Our Analysis
plus, the Olympus used was about the same price as a Samsung used, so i didn't see any point in getting a lesser camera with a smaller sensor for the same money. 

I guess what made me go with the Olympus was the fact that there were several people there at the time that shot Oly m4/3 that spoke very highly of this camera, and noone seemed to know much of anything about the Samsung lineup. I suspect that given the fact this will only be a camera that will get light use from us, any mirrorless would do the job ok, but the wife seems happy with the Olympus and that's what really matters. which is good....because we are stuck with the Oly now. :mrgreen:

i _*heard *_that Olympus and Panasonic went in and started the m4/3 thing together, and that the Panasonic lenses are compatible on the Olympus cameras. no idea if that's true or not. would be cool though. 
sensor size aside, one of the things I noticed on the aps-c sensor cameras, is that they need bigger lenses, making them a little less compact than the m4/3's. 
the lenses certainly are not cheap for this camera...hopefully the quality is good.


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## Ron Evers (Feb 9, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> MGRPhoto said:
> 
> 
> > The E-PL5 is a better camera in terms of image quality. The zoom lenses for the Samsung NX are pretty weak. The only major advantages of the NX300 are the connectivity/apps, image stabilization and the 1080p60fps video. The image stabilization on the NX300 is pretty amazing.
> ...



M4/3 is a system & any m4/3 lens will mount any m4/3 camera, so yes a Pany lens will mount on an Oly body.  Sigma also make three lovely m4/3 f2.8 lenses (19, 30 & 60) that are very reasonably priced.  The Sigma 60/2.8 is actually sharper than the Oly 60/2.8 @ half the price.  

Here is a list of m4/3 lenses, I think you will be impressed.

Micro Four Thirds Lenses - HENNIGArts : Gear


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> I originally wanted a viewfinder, and i was pleasantly surprised to find that you can purchase an EVF for this camera that plugs into the hotshoe and the port in front of it.



Absolutely!!!  They are good too.   I recommend either the EVF2 or EVF4 skipping the EVF3.   Absolutely usable even for manual focus of manual lenses.


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

Yup... and micro 43 lens will work natively without adapter. You can interchange penny and olympus.  

43 lenses can also be used with an adapter with limits but AF.

The only difference between Panasonic and Olympus is in their implementation of IS.   Penny is in lens and Olympus is in body.  The other is whether or not corrections are applied in camera.

I use a mix of panny lenses and olympus lenses with my olympus cameras


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## pixmedic (Feb 9, 2014)

usayit said:


> Yup... and micro 43 lens will work natively without adapter. You can interchange penny and olympus.
> 
> 43 lenses can also be used with an adapter with limits but AF.
> 
> ...



You can put a Panasonic lens on the Olympus camera and it will AF?
Does the Panasonic having IS in the lens cause any issues?

If any m4/3 lens will mount and AF on any m4/3 camera the Olympus was definitely the right choice. 

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk


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## usayit (Feb 9, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> You can put a Panasonic lens on the Olympus camera and it will AF?
> Does the Panasonic having IS in the lens cause any issues?
> 
> If any m4/3 lens will mount and AF on any m4/3 camera the Olympus was definitely the right choice.
> ...



Yes.   Interchangeable with AF compatibility.  IS is operational just choose either in lens or in body but not both at the same time.   You turn one off.  I find the 5 axis IS in my em5 is superior until you get to long focal lengths....  then I switch to in lens IS.  I only do that with my 100-300 panny.

I currently use

O 12mm f2
P 20mm f1.7
O 45mm f1.8
O 9-18mm
P 12-35 f2.8
P 35-100 f2.8
P 100-300mm

On a O em5 and two O epl1 bodies.  No problems.


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## Ron Evers (Feb 9, 2014)

One caution, Panny corrects it's lenses for CA in body but a Pany lens on Oly body is not corrected.  The must have Pany 14/2.5 is bad for purple fringing but this can be managed by using a skylight 1B filter.


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## pixmedic (Feb 10, 2014)

I guess I am going to have to start looking online for used oly and panny lenses. 
It's very cool to have so many lens options for the epl5.


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## bif (Feb 16, 2014)

minicoop1985 said:


> From what I understand, the whole 4/3 lens lineup (sans image-stabilized Panasonic, I think) can be adapted to work on these too. Very nice!



If there is an IS on/off switch you simply turn it off.  If none exists the camera will turn it off and in both cases the in body sensor shift IS will function just fine.


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## bif (Feb 16, 2014)

usayit said:


> Congratulations...  Great kit to dabble into the system.   The best stuff in micro 43 IMO is in the primes and selection of camera bodies.



YES!

The primes (some of which are TINY) are outstanding.  Especially the 20mm f1.7, 45mm f1.8, and 75mm f1.8!   Plus Olympus has just come out with a 25mm f1.8 (I have the Pan/Leica 25mm f1.4 but both should be superb).

The Olympus and Panasonic lens lineup beats anything the other guys have and it all fits and works on all Panasonic and Olympus bodies!

And definitely get either the VF2 or VF4 external viewfinders.  The lower cost VF2 is an amazing performer, I had one.


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## pixmedic (Feb 16, 2014)

What's the difference between the oly 40-150 f4-5.6 and the 40-150 f3.5-4.5 besides the aperture differences? 
Which one is better for the E-PL5?


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## Ron Evers (Feb 16, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> What's the difference between the oly 40-150 f4-5.6 and the 40-150 f3.5-4.5 besides the aperture differences?
> Which one is better for the E-PL5?



Be careful looking @ Oly lenses that they are M Zuiko.  M meaning they are for m4/3 cameras.


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## usayit (Feb 16, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> What's the difference between the oly 40-150 f4-5.6 and the 40-150 f3.5-4.5 besides the aperture differences?
> Which one is better for the E-PL5?



I believe the 40-150 f/3.5-4.5 is a standard 4/3rds mount.   The 40-150 f/4-5.6 came in both standard and MICRO 4/3rds mount.   What you want is a the micro 4/3rds mount version.   The standard 4/3rds mount is usable on a micro 4/3rds camera but you need an adapter.  As Ron said, look for "M Zuiko" markings.


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