[rawr]

Olympus packs a lot of tech and performance into a fairly small body, and some of these capabilities are maybe difficult to implement in a DSLR.

Once upon a time, Pentax was known for small SLR bodies with lots of tech inside, just like the Olympus reputation. Think Olympus OM-1 vs Pentax MX/ME Super etc. That day could come again.

[luftfluss]

Once upon a time, Pentax was known for small SLR bodies with lots of tech inside, just like the Olympus reputation. Think Olympus OM-1 vs Pentax MX/ME Super etc. That day could come again.

Heck, Pentax still qualifies, I think - what other DSLR has IBIS, Astrotracer, Pixel Shift, AA Simulator, Composition Adjust, that lunar lander LCD screen...

[larryaustin3]

Heck, Pentax still qualifies, I think - what other DSLR has IBIS, Astrotracer, Pixel Shift, AA Simulator, Composition Adjust, that lunar lander LCD screen...

Hell yeah. Your comment though illustrates where Pentax really lags behind the competition: marketing. Not enough people know these things.

[luftfluss]

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III with M.Zuiko 12-100mm f/4 PRO @ 57mm; 1/250s f/5.6 ISO 200. Out-of-camera JPEG. Click through to see the full-resolution image on Flickr.

That's a lovely photo - you put Lady Liberty in the right spot.

[mecrox]

So... I ended up taking the plunge yesterday and got the E-M1 Mark III with the M.Zuiko 12-100mm, plus a 64 GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-II card to put in slot 1. (The second SD card slot was populated with an older 64 GB UHS-I card; only slot 1 supports UHS-II speeds.)

First impressions are very, very positive: S-AF is extremely fast, decisive and accurate; a brief C-AF test on some seagulls in flight produced surprisingly high keeper rates; high-ISO performance is above expectations; and the image stabilization is almost supernatural: A 1/3s exposure at 100mm (200mm equiv. 135) came out perfectly sharp. My Panasonic flashgun (originally purchased for my FZ1000) also works as designed, which is expected because Olympus and Panasonic flashguns are pretty much identical to each other. The lens hood on the M.Zuiko 12-100mm positively latches with a button release so it can't accidentally come off. USB Power Delivery support is a huge boon, because it lets me charge (or operate) the camera in the field using the USD PD power banks I already have. And above all, it's amazing how compact and lightweight this setup is.

The only major complaint I have is the steep learning curve: Olympus OM-D cameras are notorious for their complexity and it'll take me a long time to make sense out of all the menus and controls.

In less than 24 hours of ownership, Olympus has managed to seriously impress me. Pentax needs to step up their game and deliver something competitive.

Draco

Lucky you! Sounds fab. There are various sites and cheat sheets if you Google which explain typical menu settings, AF settings and the like. These will mainly still be for the older EM1 Mark II but most menu items will have stayed the same. An example is Unlocking Olympus. For AF settings here is one site. There are lots of others. In practice I have not found much of an IQ difference between M43 and APS-C especially where IBIS and accurate AF can be used to keep ISO down and images correctly focused. However, the combination of smaller size and full features on the better M43 kit means that my enjoyment and keeper rate have increased. I have a camera with me more often and it delivers good results. There is less leeway for seriously incorrect exposures, though. One wants to try to get that right in camera. FWIW I have made good prints of 45” x 30” from m43. I really don’t need anything larger.

Sulasula is the website of one M43 wildlife photographer. He also has a few tips for settings, AF, post-processing and the like. When I get as good as that maybe I’ll think it’s time to move on, lol.

[bwDraco]

You Tube

You Tube

[surfar]

Quick as a Flash!

[luftfluss]

10 fps continuous shooting WITH FLASH! - Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III - YouTube

If one of my Pentaxes did that, I'd think it was having a seizure

[WorksAsIntended]

If one of my Pentaxes did that, I'd think it was having a seizure

The fun part is, that the flash strikes are that short, that the video camera gets it on half the image only in some cases.
I was not aware of the 10fps flashing. Interesting.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

So... I ended up taking the plunge yesterday and got the E-M1 Mark III with the M.Zuiko 12-100mm, plus a 64 GB SanDisk Extreme PRO UHS-II card to put in slot 1. (The second SD card slot was populated with an older 64 GB UHS-I card; only slot 1 supports UHS-II speeds.)

First impressions are very, very positive: S-AF is extremely fast, decisive and accurate; a brief C-AF test on some seagulls in flight produced surprisingly high keeper rates; high-ISO performance is above expectations; and the image stabilization is almost supernatural: A 1/3s exposure at 100mm (200mm equiv. 135) came out perfectly sharp. My Panasonic flashgun (originally purchased for my FZ1000) also works as designed, which is expected because Olympus and Panasonic flashguns are pretty much identical to each other. The lens hood on the M.Zuiko 12-100mm positively latches with a button release so it can't accidentally come off. USB Power Delivery support is a huge boon, because it lets me charge (or operate) the camera in the field using the USD PD power banks I already have. And above all, it's amazing how compact and lightweight this setup is.

The only major complaint I have is the steep learning curve: Olympus OM-D cameras are notorious for their complexity and it'll take me a long time to make sense out of all the menus and controls.

In less than 24 hours of ownership, Olympus has managed to seriously impress me. Pentax needs to step up their game and deliver something competitive.

Draco

Nice! This camera is quite impressive.

[normhead]

I'm glad you are impressed.
Keep on posting.

[UncleVanya]

Bit depth is cool, but I wouldn't sweat it.

https://photographylife.com/14-bit-vs-12-bit-raw/amp

16 bit is the apsc and FF standard these days but I've seen no evidence it really improves end results.

Further, my 16mp 12 bit raw files on my EM-1 give me results in 13x19 prints that match up well with my 24mp 16 bit K-3 files. I think I can see subtle differences, but I'm not viewing double blind and comparing that way.

[acoufap]

Bit depth is cool, but I wouldn't sweat it.

https://photographylife.com/14-bit-vs-12-bit-raw/amp

16 bit is the apsc and FF standard these days but I've seen no evidence it really improves end results.

Further, my 16mp 12 bit raw files on my EM-1 give me results in 13x19 prints that match up well with my 24mp 16 bit K-3 files. I think I can see subtle differences, but I'm not viewing double blind and comparing that way.

Thanks for the link - enjoyed reading the article. Seems I can stay with my Canon Powershot G10. The sensor uses 12 bit digitization.

If there's a talk about 12 vs. 14 bit depth it means the sensor cells analog signal is digitized using 12 or 14 bit. This is not what we're talking about in the context of RGB-data that is stored in RGB image data. K-5, K-3, K-1 and KP use 14 bit digitization, KS-2 12 bit. Computers address data by bytes = 8 bit, word = 16 bit data, double word = 32 bit ....

Raw files can't be shown on a screen. Raw data - the sensors digitized output data - has to be converted to an image file format, usually a RGB (red, green, blue) color space format. This is done by raw converters. The converted data given by a (real, not raw) digital image file is usually addressable data in 8 or 16 bit per color channel. In HDR processing I think also formats up to 64 bit are used. The stronger you post process, the more bits are appreciated. This way you won't get banding in very soft color gradients and color mappings can be done more precise.

It may be that in most cases differences in 12 vs. 14 bit vs. 15 or 16 bit digitization are negligible in end results. But if you do a lot of post processing it's always better to have more bits (more data increments) when you need it. I don't want to decide this when taking photos - so I go with more bits if I can.

[surfar]

Once upon a time, Pentax was known

Back in the WaltDisney age!

[ChristianRock]

I wouldn't put down 20MP and 12-bit RAW... for most people, it's perfectly fine.

What I don't feel is fair is to compare a just-released camera with the camera that he had previously, which is 2013 technology (the K-3), and a lens from the 2000s (the Tamron 70-200) and then saying "Pentax needs to step up". A comparison between the K-new to be released this year with hopefully new lenses (I heard they want to revamp the 50-135 and 16-50), or at least something like the 16-85 for a similar range to what the OP has got.