Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro 4/3 Digital Camera & 12-50mm Lens (Black/Black) with M.Zuiko 40-150mm L

I'm strictly a casual photographer who will go birding now and then, try to act creative with landscapes or macro shots, and document family events and kids' sports. The OM-D is quite the step up from the Lumix FZ-30 super-zoom I bought several years ago.

Background: The FZ-30 is actually a rather capable camera, for what it is, with an excellent Leica designed, reasonably fast, manually controlled zoom lens. But the boundary of it's capabilities, once found, proved too limiting. And as an all-in-one superzoom, there really isn't much you can do about them. Primarily, the limits I needed to overcome were poor low-light (or even modest light) performance and high noise. Both are part of the same issue of a very small, non-CMOS sensor that could only go up to ISO 400. There were simply too many shots that I could not capture, or when captured were much noisier than I could mask, even using tools such as Noise Ninja or Neat Image.

I shopped for a long time before selecting the OMD EM5. Sony's novel NEX series drew my attention first. The NEX-5 offered very competitive price/performance, but I need a permanent viewfinder. Composing shots off the LCD back just isn't going to work for me 90% of the time. The optional viewfinder is very nice, but it's an add-on. So I looked at the NEX-7. A step up the price range for shot quality that is really a sideways step from the NEX-5, trading resolution for an arguable reduction in low-light performance or slight increase in noise, depending on how you look at it. Deal breaker? No. But the quirky interface and the rather limited selection of native lenses made me pause. Then the flooding hit the production facility overseas and made the decision for me to wait.

Meanwhile, the OMD EM5 emerged. It's what I I was looking for in regards to performance, size, native m4/3rds lens offerings and incredible flexibility to easily use almost any other type of lens you want. Low-light performance? Got it. It's fast, has built-in (and very good) image stabilization so I'm not required to buy particular lenses to get it. The stabilization will assist every lens.

Shots are beautiful. Colors are excellent (make sure you turn off the overly warm native white balancing that Olympus has enabled by default, for some reason). I'm still new to it and have only shot in JPEG and not dabbled in RAW. But I will eventually. I'm still getting used to the thing, since photography is still a bit more than casual but less than a hobby for me.

Of the two lenses that come with this kit the 12-50 is clearly superior. Nice and versatile for all sorts of situations. Very fast focusing. Fun macro functionality. You can manually zoom it or switch to the motor drive (great for video) effortlessly.

The second lens, the 40-150, is just okay. Not as well constructed, the zoom is a bit stiff. It's also not very fast, which comes into play at the long end especially. Noticeably slower to focus than the 12-50, the focus will also "hunt" while you have the shutter half-pressed even when kept solidly on the subject. Changing the focus pattern to a single, center zone helps, but does not cure it.

I've used the 40-150 to shoot some sports (kid's soccer) with just okay results. Yes, I know such a camera in general is inferior to a dSLR for such work. But I believe the primary problem I'm having shooting sports is related to the lens. Don't get me wrong, when it works it works well, and I've gotten some very nice individual shots and even with the high-speed (9 fps). But there are too many I've had to throw away because, principally, the wrong object is in focus. Think I'll be lens shopping...

For kicks I bought a 55mm-58-mm adapter and screwed on my Lumix DMW-LT55 1.7x tele-converter that I'd bought years ago for the FZ-30. It's large light-gathering front end (much bigger both entrance and exit than the Olympus lens) seemed not to slow the 40-150 at all. It's gimicky and too heavy for the already sticky zoom of the 40-150, but for $4 for the converter let me play with a 510mm (35mm equivalent) lens.

The camera itself is solidly constructed, small, light, and compact. I can stuff two extra telephoto lenses in the pocket of a windbreaker without even noticing, and the camera with the 12-50mm on it fits in the palm of my hand. Try that with a full-size dSLR. In fact, you could argue the body might be *too* small. I've got big hands and am used to dealing with things not sized for me. But the OMD EM5 pushes the limit. I've actually purchased a custom-made add-on grip for it here on Amazon (search for JB Camera Designs) for $45 that integrates with the body perfectly and gives exactly the extra grip I want, with pretty much zero extra weight.

The touch interface on the back is great. The only downside is that the viewfinder sensor might be a bit too sensitive and you can trip it with your hand when touching the screen -thus shutting off the LCD on the back as it toggles the view into the viewfinder. I've turned the automatic switching off at times and just used the button on the side of the viewfinder to toggle between them.

I'm still learning all the capabilities of this complex and finely crafted little machine. I've managed to get most of the general settings where I like them, but there are lots more functions and tweaking to be had that I've only touched the surface on.

Anyway, it's a great camera that, IMHO, surpasses the APC series competition (frequently in low light, where it should not be able to) with a broader selection of lenses and support than what Sony is offering. The camera handles great, crushes a dSLR for portability, and produces beautiful images. I hope to have it for many years.