Olympus OMD E-M10, A Smart Buy

On my previous post I have stated that two months ago I wanted to change camera but had some difficulties to find the right one, mainly because of fund issue (duh! :v). My previous camera the Samsung NX2000 was a good camera, but I wanted more, here’s why :

• Samsung doesn’t offer many choices for lens / accessory, and they are quite rare to find and pricey in my country
• No viewfinder, truth be told I don't mind shooting with the LCD screen (or "Live View”) probably because of my experience with smartphone and prosumer grade camera before, but having a viewfinder surely helps a lot when shooting under bright sunlight
• The rumour about Samsung going on hiatus for some time in the camera world (dunno whether it’s true or not)

Simply said, I wanted to change brand and find a camera with a viewfinder. The latter wouldn’t be a problem if I just bought a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex), but for me they’re quite big, heavy, and not as easy to handle as a DSLM (Digital Single Lens Mirrorless / ‘Mirrorless' for short), so I wanted to stay Mirrorless. Next was brand, in my country Canon and Nikon were, are, and (maybe) will always be the top selling camera brands in DSLR category, but they started out a bit late in Mirrorless so their products still needed some time to catch up with the current top-tier DSLMs. Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus, and Panasonic are the top four when it comes to the world of Mirrorless. So, long story short (again), after many many days of browsing, reading reviews, and finding the best price, I narrowed down my choice to four, here they are : (My budget : more or less 7 million Rupiah (US$ 530))

Olympus OMD E-M5 with 12-50mm Kit Lens

1. Olympus OMD E-M5 Mk.1 + 12-50mm Kit Lens (used) - 16.1 Mpx Micro Four Thirds (m4/3) sensor - 7,2 million Rupiah (US$ 545)

     My first choice, considering its good reviews almost everywhere, packed with a good all-rounder kit lens and weatherproof body. It has smaller megapixels and sensor size from my NX2000, but reviewers say it produces better quality photos with faster AF performance. The negative side, it has no Wi-Fi, the screen resolution is a bit low, and it is a used product, so there’s no guarantee it doesn’t have small (or bigger) problems and won’t break down after a couple of uses (I have a little phobia to used products, forgive me >_<). By the time I wrote this, the Mk.2 version has been available for quite some time, but it doubles the price for not-so-different performance, so it is out of contention.

Olympus OMD E-M10 with 14-42mm PZ Lens

2. Olympus OMD E-M10 Mk.1 + 14-42mm PZ Lens - 16.1 Mpx Micro Four Thirds (m4/3) sensor - 7 million Rupiah (US$ 530)

     Ahh, the little brother of the E-M5, it has the same sensor, solid body (but without weatherproof), and newer engine than the E-M5 (TruPic7 vs TruPic6). All around it performs almost identically to the E-M5 (even better in some cases) along with the addition of Wi-Fi and higher resolution screen. The AF speed is as fast as its older sibling, plus more focus points (81 vs 35). The only downside, it is packed with lesser quality kit lens compared to the one in E-M5 package (still good enough for starter though). The Mk.2 edition is already available by the time this article is written, but then again it almost doubles the price of the Mk.1, so bye-bye.

3. Canon EOS M3 + 18-55mm Kit Lens - 24,2 Mpx APS-C sensor EF-M Mount - 6,8 million Rupiah (US$ 515)

Canon EOS M3 with 18-55mm Kit Lens

   I know I just said that Canon’s DSLMs are not in the same league as those of Sony, Olympus, and Panasonic, especially after reading about the dismal Autofocus performance of the original EOS M (first generation). But rainbow always comes up after the rain, many reviewers say that the performance of the M3 is much better than its predecessor and when you do it right, it takes superb quality photos. And don’t forget that this is Canon's, a company which already has plethora of choices when it comes to lenses & accessories (you need an additional adapter to pair it with DSLR lenses though) and it has a whopping 24,2 Mpx sensor for an affordable price. The biggest downside is that it has no viewfinder, but an additional electronic viewfinder is available, BUT again, it takes your hotshoe port and it is VERY pricey (about 2-3 million Rupiah).

Sony Alpha a6000 with 16-50mm PZ Lens

4. Sony Alpha a6000 + 16-50mm PZ Lens - 24,3 Mpx APS-C sensor E-Mount - 8,2 million Rupiah (US$ 620)

     The priciest, yet probably the best choice when it comes to feature, photo result, and performance. It has phase-detection Autofocus meaning it focuses faster when shooting in dim light compared to the Olympus-es which only rely on contrast-detection. AF speed is blazingly fast, takes great quality pictures, and the build is rigid, so what are its weaknesses? First, no touchscreen , and second, the lens choice for the E-mount system is still rather limited compared to the Micro Four Thirds (and it exceeded my budget, my problem not yours, hahaha). If you got the budget though, the a6000 is a better choice than the others on my list.

After contemplating for a few days, I decided that I would pick the Olympus OMD E-M10, and after a few days of using it, I knew that my choice was right on the spot, here's why : (I'll try to somewhat compare it to NX2000, because that is the only DSLM I've experienced using for more than a year)

Sensor size comparison

• Okay, the E-M10 only has 16 Mpx sensor, lower compared to the NX2000 and even some high-end smartphones. Not to mention that the sensor size is also smaller than the Samsung (Micro Four Thirds vs APS-C, see the picture on the right). But even only after a couple of shots I noticed that the image results're brighter, sharper, and had more vivid color than the NX2000. They packed plenty of detail too, both outdoor and indoor. Just remember that megapixels count isn't everything.
• High ISO performance, previously I said that the NX2000 noise spikes very high when you set the ISO more than 1600, but that didn't happen on the E-M10. Noise is barely noticeable up to ISO 3200, and you can even use ISO 6400 and still get good result.
• Lens size, this is a BIG deal. I've read an article before, and the author said that it's pointless to make a Full-framed Mirrorless, why? Because the main advantage of Mirrorless cameras is their small and light body, BUT by using Full Frame sensor on the body, the lens must be made bigger to accomodate the equally big sensor in the body. So in the end you'll get a small camera body, but HUGE lens which makes the balance somewhat wrong and erodes the portability of the Mirrorless. With Micro Four Thirds sensor on the E-M10 though, you get a small body, matched with the equally small lenses.

  

  Samsung NX2000 with 50-200mm telephoto zoom lens

My E-M10 with 40-150mm telephoto zoom lens, the lens' size is
much smaller and match the body size better than the Samsung,
considering the same focal length between the two lenses 

• Design. I would say this a thousand times if I must, I LOVE THE DESIGN OF THE E-M10! Compact size, metal build, classic design, and the two-tone color make this camera simply a beauty to see (and to use). Its two-tone color (silver and black) makes it less bizzare no matter what color of the lens you paired it with (Olympus usually sells their lenses in black and silver). Not an important matter to some people, but it's definitely a plus.
• Battery life. Not much to say here, the battery life of DSLMs will never match DSLRs (but who knows what would happen in 3 or 5 years). The LCD and electronic viewfinder of some Mirrorless camera just consume too much energy, and you can't simply put a big-sized with big capacity battery inside that small body, can you? Still, the battery life of the E-M10 is slightly better than the NX2000 (250 vs 200 shots in a single charge).

Lastly, I want to give some advice for smart buyers who're looking for a good camera with limited budget :

Panasonic 20mm F1.7 pancake lens

• There are many brands out there, not just two (Sorry Canon and Nikon fans, your cameras are awesome as well). Don't be afraid to look for other options from many brands (Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, etc), but make sure that the brand is widely recognizeable (aka famous) and have good history of product quality. So, if you stumbled upon a "BestCamera" or "MightyEdo" brand with mega specs and down to earth price, you'd still better stay away from them :))
• Don't be lazy to compare prices between retail store and online stores. Many merchants sold the E-M10 for 9 or 10 million before I found ONLY two merchants offered their brand new E-M10 for 7 million only (2 million cheaper!)
• Focus more on the lenses, you better buy the mid-to-lower-end of the camera body and save the money for buying good quality lenses. Remember, the camera body WILL usually get obsolete after 2-3 years, but a good lens will last for more than 5 years (Panasonic 20mm F1.7, still considered one of the best lenses for Micro Four Thirds system since 2009)
• The most important is, read many reviews from different sources. Some reviews may differ from others, but not by much. After reading some, you can draw a red line between reviews to determine whether the camera really suit your need or not.

Happy hunting!