Originally posted by Mark Ransom Here's my own Pentax vs. Olympus. These pictures are a couple of years apart. I was quite proud of the recent one taken with the E-M5ii but I have to admit the Pentax is a bit better.
Both are about 50% crops, JPEGs out of camera with minimal but identical PP.
I should have returned long since with this observation or comment. "Photography" basically means creating an image with light. The second image has very flat light, the first has oblique, dramatic light and consequently there is far more texture and a richer range of tones on the monarch's wings, which make for a better image. In terms of IQ, at the scale I can see on screen, it's a toss-up. BUT, what matters is the image, not the picky-picky detail. Because of the quality of the light the first image is better, not because of the equipment that was used.