Field Review: Olympus E-5 (Day 5)

The art filters of the Olympus E-5 were cool, but they wouldn’t be able to help us in practical shooting situations (at least I couldn’t conclude that they could.) One of the major critiques of the Olympus E-5 is the high ISO abilities. I’m not going to lie, they are fairly horrid and anything beyond 1600 is something that I may not use, ever. This is what many studio or portrait photographers that are just starting out tend to do: in addition to ignoring what wireless strobes can do for you! Using a home made white box that I made over a year and a half ago, the E-5 and Olympus FL-50 flash went to work photographing items.

Portraits

First off, if you’re going to purchase the Olympus E-5, please make an attempt to learn how to light or already know how to. The reason for this is because when there is good lighting available, the camera can really excel at taking amazing images. But at high ISOs, not so much.

The above image and the below image were shot at ISO 3200. That’s some really ugly noise in there.

To be fair, I was using a fairly slow lens for the system. Keep in mind that since this is a 4/3rds sensor that it doesn’t absorb as much light as the APS-C sensors or Full frame: especially with 12MP.

But when the photographer has good lighting and they accompany it with the very good FL-50 to shoot their subjects, the results can come out fairly good. Take a look at the daper young man below.

Still not the greatest or perfect photo, but it is very good.

Product Photography in a White Box

These photos were shot using the white box I talked about earlier. They all shot at ISO 160. This is where I found the metering to be a bit faulty on this camera. Metering methods that would’ve seemed reasonable on a Canon, Nikon or Sony DSLR didn’t give me the expected results on the Olympus E-5. In general, I felt that everything needed to be exposed up to a full stop higher.

Then you throw the wireless flash control into there and at times scratching your head and trying to figure out how some of the typical rules of lighting and metering aren’t working in the situation. I switched between manual and TTL flash and still wasn’t able to achieve the results I wanted. This was also combined with adjusting the shutter speed to let more of the ambient light of the studio in and manipulating the aperture to control flash output as well.

Using this setup reminded me of my magazine days assisting the studio photographers and seeing the different results in Lightroom.

Besides learning that I need to take better care of my hats, I also still found the metering to be very wacky at times. As a result, if I wanted to use these photos to sell this crinkly piece, then I’d have to do quite a bit of photoshopping.

In fact, the detail captured in the images at ISO 160 is unbelievable and this is where we really start to see the fine tuning of the new Olympus processing engine.

As you’ll see in the Lightroom screenshot, all of these photos were shot at different exposures. Once again proving that the Olympus E-5 metering can be a bit quirky.

To be quite honest, I’m a former Olympus shooter and it was quirky even when I used it. But if given sufficient time, I’m positive that I’d be able to master it again. Afterall, the human mind is very adaptable. If you’re a current Olympus shooter, you might be able to achieve better results that I did in this test. But even if you’re not, understand that:

- The E-5 is best used at lower ISOs with external lights (such as a flash)

- If you’re shooting studio portraits then you’ll be right at home with this method.

Got questions? Let us know in the comments.

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Tagged as: e-5, FL-50, flashes, high iso, lighting, olympus, portriats, product photography, review

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http://www.bigelowphoto.com Rory

I think the metering is kind of par for the course when not going with Canikon, and even then there can be hiccups. Pentax’s white balance is fantastic, but the Kx underexposes and the K7 overexposes from my experience. You take what you can get when going with David over Goliath.

Regarding the “high”-ISO (it’s a bit overwhelming that 3200 isn’t really that high anymore) photos, at least with the sized photos on this page, I find the banding far worse than the noise. However, this has to be expected out of a sensor with such a small pixel pitch.

It’s all about shopping for one’s needs. I feel you’ve highlighted both the highs and the lows of the E-5 quite well.
Jason

It could be the metering, or it could be the glass you are using. What lens is used on these shots? On the macro for example, that is definitely not the 50 mm Zuiko f2.0 macro that dPreview.com says is maybe “optically perfect” http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_50_2_o20/

Are these shot in JPEG at the highest resolution, JPEG lower resolution, or RAW?

You can adjust the white balance on the live view screen (btw- Olympus invented live view) Canon and Nikon are nice, but everyone uses them, sometimes a little change is nice!

My point, this camera gets excellent reviews by many reviewers, you just have to know how to use this particular system.
- Chris Gampat
  
  12-60mm F/2.8-4 was what was used.
  
  I’m aware that they invented Live View, I’m a former Olympus shooter.
mrtflop

yes of course the banding is far worse than the noise.
I have a E-5 and I take a mounth to understand the complete possibility of customizing and what they signify on real world pict.
With ISO 2000 I take some pictures where I can’t see in the viewfinder… AF and AE was ok.

Why I must take a pictures if I can’t see what I want??

I’m very astonish for pictures I take @ 125 or 160 ISO (until 250 ISO): we can resample pictures at 2x and we have got 150×200 (cm) prints at very good quality (color, definition, texture,..).
Jason

Oh, ok, well the 12-60mm is a very good lens….. I’m just saying I’ve seen people get pretty good shots from the E-5. I just had a picture taken with my Pana/Leica 25mm f1.4 attached to an E-620 published in a magazine. I can only assume that the same shot with an E-5 would be even better, as the E-620 has a Trupic III processor and the E-5 has a Truepic V+ processor – both have the same sensor….

Using the Summilux lenses, in your setting above, with the E-5, should produce stellar results that rival the JPEG of many cameras on the market…

Did you shoot in JPEG?
- Chris Gampat
  
  Shot RAW actually and I agree. The E-5 can deliver wonderful photos in certain environments.
  
  Part of it has to do with the fact that for the hat photos I needed a larger box.
Jason

I’ve just put my E-620 for sale on eBay, and I think I will buy an E-5 this week. I have looked at the Nikon D700 and love their IQ, but the lack of video, higher price and a number of other things make the E-5 a better option for now.

I may get a D700S or D800 down the road, after they upgrade, or the rumored Olympus MFT Pro camera, but for now, I need something, so I think the E-5 is it.
- Chris Gampat
  
  Come back to show us the photos please
mrtflop

I see some pictures taken with D700: it’s necessary a long work at the pc to delivery the best of data files. The E-5 is also impressive for the pictures’ “first look”. And it’s a remarcable time saving.
If you have leisure to play with raw, also E-5 have some noticeable details to squeeze out from its files.
My simple suggesting is: Go on E-5, if you don’t need to shoot the dark in the night!
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