Inquisitive

Here is a video on that Acratech https://youtu.be/JbUU45AwaPk it looks real interesting especially as I am a video/stills photographer.  I bought there first ballhead years ago and still love it to this day they make solid but lightweight gear.  The damping looks ok in the video but I'm sure it's not cheap 

There is a modification for the EI-717 (sells under many names) that turns the head into an arca style clamp.  It's probably the best inexpensive head out there.  I bought mine off ebay with the conversion.  The platform tightening screw is not ideal and when everything is said and done  your probably better off just buying the head you like and getting a arca clamp to attach to it.  As someone else said the lever release styles can avoid some issues you may hit with the normal locking knobs.

​There crop is greater than 2.4 already seems to be 2.5?  Which is one of the things they need to change that crop is the same no matter what video stabilization mode.

Here is a interesting video no clue what he is saying but EM5 mk ii looks good here.  Looks like it's 1080p 60 and Power OIS on the GH4.  So interesting from quality and stabilization of course it's YT.

I stopped using the mode 1 and just used 2.  With Mode 1 you would get some strangeness sometimes if you moved the wrong way.  I like mode 2 better and found it better than mega OIS on my 14-140 Power OIS no clue.  I just want them to reduce crop which I think they do mainly because of the mode 1 digital stabilization that I personally learned to shy away from.

​I kind of disagree it depends on what you are doing. I live in an area where the lighting conditions can change quickly especially on a cloudy windy day.  You can press the ok button and than the front wheel gives you control of fstop.  The problem is first you need to make sure it is in fstop mode first or you will have to change that mode after pressing the ok button first time.  It will than only stay that way for a few seconds till it reverts back.  An alternate work around though probably equally distasteful to some is put the camera in shutter priority auto and than the front dial is exposure compensation so you can respond much quicker but at a loss of total control. 

@Bob LOL well I would have done the test but yes it is returned.  Not really the kind to buy again and return would have never gotten it had they been open about the crop for one and other issues.  Makes you wonder just how timid or questionable other reviewers were that I missed any of them mentioning these shortcomings.  Both reviewers and Olympus not bothering to be open is what is making them deal with my return. Frankly I just don't know how they could have made some of the design decisions they did. What film maker would say sure block me from changing my settings while recording or go ahead and take 25% of my field of view without at least questioning that decision.  

@noa actually in reasonably steady hands and realizing the limits of IBIS it can be a steadycam replacement.   IBIS is that good which is what makes me hate giving it up.  That being said IBIS alone was not enough for me to overcome the other negatives I noted.  I hope they will fix some things but do not trust them too.  I think internal stabilization will be the future gimbals are to cumbersome try changing a setting or focus while on one of those rigs .   

Feel free to learn about Sanity http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2642/sanity-4-and-5.1/p1

Quote from the creator "what SANITY is about is top picture quality in ALL shooting modes with reasonable data rates and 100% reliability."

That being said I read good things about Moon the thing is there is probably a hack to fit the needs of each individual project out there I liked Sanity for my simple needs.  And yes the files are quite small I mentioned it!  

Just back from returning mine.  I don't think it's a terrible camera and kind of hated to see it go but there are many foibles that ruin it for me.  I think we will see many coming available as refurbs on Ebay and price drops as well.  Perhaps if it hits $750 I will buy it for stills and special video that IBIS would make possible.  Or they can fix some of it's flaws and I'll be first back inline.

My list for the open letter to Olympus is.

The crop factor is to much: I love m4/3 form factor and was fine with the sensor size trade offs. Now you want to take another ~25% IBIS on or off with all that represents in the old equivalency debate. 

Moire: Not a total deal killer but mix it with the rest equals a no go for me.

Very awkward settings control while recording:  I pick manual mode because I want control your making it to hard and it's annoying.

Video Quality: although workable could be should be better. Shadow noise and harder for me to explain there seems to be a bit of hit and miss going on with detail, lacks consistency. No clue why but in comparison my GH2 Hacked with Sanity seems to be far more consistent/dependable?

Headphones: That headphone jack will cost me another $129 making this camera a bit expensive considering competition and where this camera sits specification wise.

To be fair what's right

The IBIS is just flat out amazing and that made it so hard to let go.

All the settable buttons and customizations but than I hit record and you take it away from me 

It seems a very solid stills camera with many cool features but I'm looking for a video and stills in this day and age and I think that is one of M4/3s great potentials.

Display and viewfinder are great

High Res mode for me is meaningful and great though it seems not everyone cares .

Almost forgot your new pro lenses are awesome it was even harder letting go of the 12-40 but without a camera with stabilization I can't justify keeping it.

​Bob feel free to continue your vitriol at the EM5 mk ii and for that matter me but please be accurate.  If you are talking about my videos you took screen grabs from my GH2 was Hacked with Sanity,  I also admitted to the error of putting curves on the EM5 that further flattened the image out and that's why it looks the way it does my bad.  You presenting it as anything else is a deception on your part.  That being said anyone can take the file put it in a editor bring up contrast and see the files are not hopeless .  In fact some may wish to get a flatter file for grading my botched test would be better sample of that 

I think I will be returning the EM5 mk ii not for one main reason but rather the sum total. The main reasons being the awkward way required to change fstop while recording, the crop factor 25% more than a GH2 IBIS on or off is to much for me, moire and shadow noise. I will keep an eye on it so if they upgrade firmware or the price comes down I will reevaluate. In fact if I had the excess money to afford 2 cameras I would keep it just for the IBIS alone it is that good and will be missed.  

In auto they don't share that info but if I remember correctly it was indicating a starting point of f7.1.  Perhaps just to continue to give Bob purpose in life I will do another test not side by side but just the scene he pulled stills from in manual mode same lens etc.

​Well actually I explained what I did wrong and why it needed the contrast adjustment. Other wise I think your crazy to go along with your rudeness you want to hate this camera fine.  If there is a troll it is in the literal sense you I suggest therapy.

In case you missed it:

I have to admit to an error in my tests.  The recent discussion on curves prompted me to double check.  I had fiddled with the curves and forgot that's why my out of camera EM5 file was so flat and needed a contrast boost.  The setting was probably +4/-4 or +3/-3 so my bad .

​I agree they need to fix it.  That being said you can use the touch screen which totally sucks especially if your found of using viewfinder like me.  That being said you can touch the ok menu button and the same side pop out comes out and when it does the dials will work. It takes a little long and wouldn't be to bad but it will go back to sleep on it's own.

I have to admit to an error in my tests.  The recent discussion on curves prompted me to double check.  I had fiddled with the curves and forgot that's why my out of camera EM5 file was so flat and needed a contrast boost.  The setting was probably +4/-4 or +3/-3 so my bad .  

​

Now we have a conversation look at the unedited footage at about 2:30 the tree trunk the GH2 is much more contrasty looked at both the YT and my file there comprable though yes YT added a little more contrast.  Both cameras were set to -2 contrast the Em5 definitely needed more contrast which I gave it in post.  Which is why the EM5 looks nasty in the unedited but far better in the edited contrast boost.  So your right but the EM5 was the one suffering from contrast deprivation.  As to the settings I posted them the GH2 all -2 but saturation -1 because I did realize it needed more saturation in comparison.  I tend to not like to much saturation and I like the GH2 setup that way.  The EM5 was -2 to contrast and saturation +1 to sharpening I can't lower contrast and saturation any further and probably would not give it a sharpening boost in the future probably leave at -2 out of camera.  I did get a dropbox to send them too from someone who also wants to see them http://dropmefiles.com/WE90E looks like they will be up in a hour and a half.  I do look forward to your comments as I took those waving leaves due to your comments on close up detail not being a fair comparison so I thought good point and did what I did for better or worse 

@Bob Goldberg You tube is free which is why I use it.  I'm playing no game I'll upload them but I need a site that will take 3 gigs and cost me nothing and there yours to review.  I keep getting told I must have done something wrong with the GH2?  If you don't mind me asking what do you think I might have done wrong? My settings have been released?  I know that some frown on the auto settings but I locked down the shutter speed to 1/50th and the ISO to 200 on the GH2 and all though I could not lock down the ISO on the EM5 I doubt it would of gone over 200 and if it did that would work against it right?  Perhaps you don't like my choice of the Sanity hack or Smooth but you have never mentioned these as an issue?

You seem to have me all wrong I'm just trying to understand this camera and see if it is maybe better than my first impressions.  I too was ready to return it at first than I saw some promise and now I'm trying to understand this camera.  I won't be comparing it to the GH2 or any other any more.  I'll be editing footage with what I have learned so far I will see what I can coax out of it and if what is right with this camera out weighs what's wrong and luckily I got 20 more days to do just that.  Even if I decide the output is perfect for me there is serious cons about this camera crop factor, bad controls in manual mode, and moire vs pros like stabilization for all lenses, high res mode, and a few others.  In the end it's a personal choice and importance of each pro or con will be different for each of us.

​This was a quick test the exposure was changing to quickly for me to possibly keep up on 2 cameras at the same time so I set to auto sorry if that offends.  If it makes you happy view it as a test of there metering systems .   When you put the EM5 in any auto mode it takes over iso as well that being said I sincerely doubt it choose to go higher than 200 and it could not go lower think about it.  I feel I understand basic camera function as to your comments all those negative effects you state would have been a detriment to the EM5 if they were the case. The GH2 was set to 200 as I could and I told you the shutter speed was set to 1/50th for both! 

As to the fact it is not out of camera: I have shown what I got unedited and edited and only the EM5 edited.  It went thru an editor but there both going to have to do that for most of us so get over it.

As to the fact it's on you tube they both did and they are representative of what I saw on screen believe me or don't.

I think the fact that before I said which was which (not intentionally) the major critic on this site picked the EM5 in my edited clip is interesting.  Of course he than much like you insulted my capabilities.  That being said doesn't that at least make you the least bit curious?  If not oh well than continue to insult away I have thick skin.

What should anyones take away be?  There maybe hope yet for the EM5 mk ii quality as we get use to it's idiosyncraises.  I think I have given positives and negatives all along. I was not looking to favor either camera just wanted to know if I could consider it equal enough for my purposes to the GH2.  I think the people who have painted me a Olympus fanboy should reread my posts and honestly it says more about them than me.  I'm sure if we compare this to the GH4 it will be trounced someone should do just that perhaps you!  I haven't even decided if I am keeping the EM5 but from what I have learned I'm going to play with just the EM5 and edit it and see if I feel it is good enough for me weighing what I hate about the camera and what I like about the camera.

​How poorly I made.... LOL well I told you how I set them up but I don't dismiss I may have screwed something up in post.  So I will post a video with the corrections I made to the EM5 only and leave the footage from the GH2 as it was out of camera.  I will even admit that out of the camera the GH2 looks better but we have had a long time to get it right and we all are getting are head around EM5 mk ii.  I won't agree as you stated in another post that we have to evaluate them strictly by out of camera results that's as silly as just comparing stills by a cameras jpgs alone.  If the camera needs some post to make it shine that's ok with me.  So the settings are posted and the cameras were on shutter priority auto so anything either camera did they did to themselves.  Also please keep in mind while evangelizing the Panasonic series it would be nothing without the hacking that was done to the GH1 and GH2 that motivated Panasonic to morph the GH series into what it has become.  If only the hackers could break this one down I'm sure we could be amazed.  As far as YT files go anything it's doing it's doing to both of them at the same time. I think it is a fair comparison.  

http://youtu.be/xc7VphzEpB8

​Well actually stabilization was off on both as it was on a tripod. 

Well the one on the left is the EM5 and the GH2 on the right.  I only did what I wrote which was not much.  Here is the file out of camera for both.  I did discover the EM5 is very flat and the GH2 has a lot of contrast in comparison check the tree trunk in the shadows towards the end and than look at it after my changes. You should be able to view it at 1080.

http://youtu.be/XUEjQOIHvIU

I've done another test and have come to a conclusion I think.  I think the EM5 mk ii settings in the camera are just a beginning and it shows it stuff when tweaked in grading.  The odd thing was I did my test and on looking what came out of the camera I considered the GH2 the winner.  When I was editing I could see the side by side the EM5 looked better than it was showing.  So I tried to simply grade them to make them more similar. After my grade I liked the EM5 better go figure.  I think it comes down to a flatter file on the EM5 where the GH2 has more contrast.  This all kinds of makes sense because sometimes what came out of the EM5 looked great to me and sometimes not!  Same with other peoples videos.

As far as the settings on the EM5 mk ii I was using natural -2 contrast +1 sharpness and -1 saturation.  As for the GH2 smooth -2 all except saturation -1.  Side note the EM5 files was 2,382,642 KB to the GH2 878,028 KB.  Both were auto WB and constant focus.  Both were set to 1/50th and auto exposure Iso was set to 200 on GH2 and the Em5 did what it thought best so no clue probably 200.  I ran them side by side the GH2 using the 14-140 and the Olympus the 12-40 which does give the EM5 a little help. I should also add I zoomed out to about 50 vs the EM5 40 to make up for the crop factor.

The very basic grade was for the EM5 -10 satuation -20 brightness 4 contrast WB and a slight hue adj.  The GH2 was saturation 5 brightness 19 contrast 7 WB and a slight hue adj.  I'm sure someone better versed in grading could get better on both cameras.  For me it was to see if they were in the neighborhood and after some tweaking I now do not share Mr Goldbergs opinion at least as far as the GH2 goes.  It's by no means perfect and I have big gripes manual control, moire, and crop that being said it is a great stills camera and not to embarrassing as a video camera I now discovered so it works for me I think??   A firmware update with a few tweaks could put it over the top.

​I saw no crop difference which is one of my beefs I'd like to get field of view back if it isn't needed and don't like the compromise it's a little harsh about a 25% loss by my estimation compared with a GH2.  I also found mode1 just a little to much and to easily warping it maybe overall effecting image quality as well.  So I'm sticking with mode2. How do you manually override the IBIS?

Getting your settings right seems to make a big difference in quality I'm doing a final side by side with my GH2 tomorrow with the settings I'm settling on will post result.  My initial run looked promising for the EM5 vs GH2 all though the cameras were set the same there were exposure variances that might be effecting my judgement.  The GH2 seems a 1/2 stop more sensitive.

I figured something out today.  If you want to change shutter or f stop in manual mode there is the touch screen approach which is annoying.  That being said you can while using the viewfinder or screen press the OK button which will bring up the same side menu as the touch screen and than the dial is activated.  Was very happy to figure that out it was one of my big gripes.  Would rather the option to leave it active all the time but at least this is less cumbersome than the touch screen IMO.

Hi John thanks for chiming in.  I went and read your blog so that all makes sense I'm just conflicted on the trade offs.  I do have one question you mentioned the IS in mode one having an additional crop, was the camera different in release 0.9?  As is now it seems the crop is the same all the time I wish I could turn it off and not get the crop on those occasions when I need the full field of view.

I really wasn't expecting the focus tracking that I found.  The list of the things I'm forgiving for this camera to get the stabilization is getting a little to long.  

I don't like the extra crop I do aircraft and boat interiors sometimes and I can't afford to give up my field of view.  
Not being able to change fstop with the dials falls into the just plain stupid and hopefully they can and will fix.
Moire is showing up more than I expected.
I need to spend another $129 to get Headphone connection $279 to get Headphone and battery life that gets it close to GH4 money.
If the video continuous focus is that bad compared to GH2 what am I missing in a GH4.
The xtras that I already passed up by not going with GH4 4K, slow motion.
I should add that IBIS may not be as good as I want it to be when it's good it's real good but when it burps it ruins what your doing.  I speculate it maybe why John Brawley used an additional gimbal making curiosity?

Now that being said my EM5 mkii and 12-40 put me back $1700 got a good deal.  A GH4 with 12-35 would cost about $600 more!  I love the 12-40 it's a better lens but without any stabilization hard to justify if I go Panasonic.  Which in the end makes me just a little mad Olympus did not do better.  I think video is a huge part of what's good about M4/3 cameras and Olympus is dropping the ball ignoring it.  I'm not giving up yet got a couple more weeks to make up my mind and really hope Olympus does something amazing to make what they can better.