Olympus E-5 Review from a E-3 user perspective...

I am an Olympus E-3 user. And recently at the Olympus User Gathering sponsor by Olympus Malaysia.. i finally have a chance to test the Olympus E-5 the Olympus flagship SLR aim to replace Olympus E-3. I was hoping that the E-5 would meet my lust to upgrade my old trusty Olympus E-3.

SIZE

When i first glance at the Olympus E-5 it look so similar with Olympus E-3. Well i was hoping for a smaller and lighter version of Olympus E-5 but i guess the engineers in Olympus all have big hands...and the body of the Olympus E-5 is made of the same magnesium alloy body...Why cant they make it smaller????

C-AF AUTOFOCUS

The first thing i test is not the sharpness nor the dramatic tone art filter so overhype by many reviewers. The first thing i test is actually the C-AF because i was never satisfy with E-3 C-AF. This AutoFocus mode is suppose to track moving object. I ask my fellow friend blu to help me hold a spoon and keep on moving from left to right at a very slow speed. Then i set the Olympus E-5 to C-Af mode hoping to grab few usable pictures of the hand holding the spoon. Well the results is not encouraging. It is still the crappy C-AF Olympus E-3 have. Well for E-3 users hoping to get a better C-AF on E-5 ..forget about it.. Maybe i test it wrongly but if the claim as having one of the world fastest AF is true then a moving hand holding a spoon should not be a problem!!

LOW LIGHT ISO

i was not expecting miracle on low light iso performance because basically this is the same sensor as the one inside Olympus E-P2. I have a few photographragh taken during the gathering at high iso. Double click on the image to enlarge. You can judge for yourself whether it is good or not. If you compare it with E-3 well you will definitely find improvement. However comparing it with Nikon d90 and even Olympus E-P2 will leave you dissapointed. Dissapointed not because it is bad but i expect more from a flagship camera.

STORAGE

Thanks god olympus realize that the XD card should be remove from the flagship SLR. XD card is not the industry standard and it is a very slow card...the write speed is rediculous for a flagship SLR!!

ART FILTER

Err come on if i want to use fun art filter i would opt for a m43 camera like epl1

AF Assist Light

Yes this flagship SLR DO NOT have AF assist Light..What a shame...

Ok i think i need to explain more here..i know we can use the pop up flash as AF assist light but the burst of strobing white lights on your subject or model isn;t exactly what i have in mind. i am expecting something like the continuos red light or even white lights as the AF assist light. Dont the engineer understand strobing light / flashing light will annoy your subject or model..i mean come on even point and shoot like Lx3 have it..and panasonic Gf1 have it and even nikon D90 have it right..

DETAIL

The detail is the strongest pro of this flagship SLR. In fact this would be the only main attraction.

VERDICT

Other feature is plus minus the same with Olympus E-3. I cant find any main attraction to make me fall in love with it...it lack SOUL...or perhaps Olympus announcement on this is the last SLR from Olympus make me take a step back and reevaluate whether should i upgrade or not..Conclusion is i would not get one because of lack of substance and expensive. At rm5600 i would have go for the nikon D7000 or canon 7D which has much more better offering than E-5...

you can view the unedited out of the camera jpeg here (full size)
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for an honest opinion.
I am too an E-3 user and regarding "Yes this flagship SLR DO NOT have AF assist Light", you probably mean "without having to use the on-board flash" which does provide AutoFocus assist strobe light.
J-Marc G from Nice, in France
Lucifer said…
you are right about the AF assist light..and thanks for dropping by my blog.. :)
Anonymous said…
From the User's Manual: "The built-in flash can be set to function as an AF illuminator. This makes focusing easier in low-light conditions using AF mode. To use this function, raise the flash. It is available when shooting with the phase difference AF (when shooting using the view finder)."
Anonymous said…
What lenses did you use? I think with some HG and SHG lenses you may get better results, as I've seen better results from other people who use these lenses. Plus the AF light is unnecessary in my experience, there is a built in white balance sensor too. As far as C-AF being the fastest, well, they state it is only with the 12-60mm lens.

I really like this new camera, although it does fall short in a few areas. And it seems a bit preposterous that they would charge $1,700 for the E-5 and only $1,200 for the D7000. I am strongly considering the D7000, although the fact that I primarily use the 50mm macro makes it really hard to go to Nikon.

If the E-5 was the same price as the Nikon, I would buy the Olympus immediately, still, even at the higher price, I may end up with an E-5...
Anonymous said…
Ohh.. Trapiche Malbec is a classic. Nice choice of vine. You'd probalby get around 200 bottles of that vine for the same price as the E-5.
Anonymous said…
C-AF - actually it's been improved a fair bit.

If you go into the menu - Toolbox1> AF/MF> C-AF Lock, by default, this is set to OFF. Turn it on and do your moving spoon experiment again. I think you will find the results very different.

One of the big changes with the E-5 vs the E-3 in C-AF is the much better predictive AF capability.

OFF - for rapid changes in subject distance (fast moving, head on)

ON - for slower changes in subject distance (e.g., race car going diagonally across the frame) where one AF point needs to hand off to the next across the frame.
Lucifer said…
yes i am aware that we can rely on the build in flash but the build in flash actually send out annoying flash strobes as AF assist lights, these light is definitely annoying if you ever use it......the continuous red light just like those from panasonic lx3 or having a continuos light from the body like Nikon D90 make more sense..
Lucifer said…
i tested the moving spoon test with zuiko 12-60 SWD

using this setting >> "If you go into the menu - Toolbox1> AF/MF> C-AF Lock, by default, this is set to OFF " will only increase the chances of having blur or ouf of focus picture..but i have not try that just my wild guess based on my experience with the e-3 behaviour
Anonymous said…
Lucifer, I am not sure about results with photographing a spoon. I tried photographing cars whizzing by outside my workplace window with random vehicles at random speeds filling a third of the frame and then going *across* the viewfinder and the C-AF works ok. Meaning my targets are further away than a spoon's distance? I can hear the AF sound beep a few times as the system tracks the target across the frame and hands off from one AF point to another.
Anonymous said…
...cont'd...with C-AF Lock ON
Anonymous said…
...cont'd...with an E-5 I had also meant to say!!! ;)
Anonymous said…
With all due respect it is at best a lame review. Not worth the little time spent reading it.
Sorry for the negative comment.
Alfred
CompMac said…
Wooiittt... Never asked my permission before posting my pic in your blog ah? :p
Anonymous said…
I'm still in love with my E-1. It is smaller than both the E-3 and E-5, with better ergo's for my hands, has brilliant IQ with it's Kodak sensor in the ISO range that I use. I do know that both the E-3 and E-5 are superior in many ways but, Olympus took away many of the brilliant features that made the E-1 shine in order to satisfy the mass population with the E-3 and now with the E-5. Most folks don't think outside of the box. They prefer to stay inside the (I want to be like everyone else)syndrome. I will still upgrade to the E-3 or E-5 because I believe in the Olympus photographic vision but I'm waiting for prices to drop. It seems that many manufactures have done away with an IR beam for focus assist, not just Olympus. The E-1 has one and it will focus in complete darkness without the use of any flash. Priceless!!

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