Olympus Pen EP3 sensor struggles

In my last post I talked about why I would still choose a compact micro four thirds camera kit like the Olympus EP3 to take travel photos with - over just carrying around my iPhone. At the moment.

This is likely to change, probably in the not too distant future. I'm looking at 'upgrading' my current iPhone 6 to a 6sPlus, or maybe 7 - ostensibly for better video. But I'm sure the camera upgrade will also be nice to have as well.

For the time being though I prefer the ergonomics, extra control and far greater lens selection of the Olympus EP3, especially if I can get an evf accessory to go with it (anyone out there in internet land got one they would like to send my way?). The larger m4/3rds sensor is also nice to have and offers a slight IQ boost as well, although it does have its limits. I discovered what these are traveling home from our recent trip to Christchurch.

Olympus EP3 unedited RAW capture

For all of our trips over to Christchurch this winter we have been blessed with fantastic weather. And none more so than on our last trip back. Heading towards the West Coast at about an hour before sunset, the clouds and light over the mountain range was simply beautiful. I just had to stop and capture what I was seeing - with my Olympus EP3.

Fortunately, with just my wife and I traveling, we aren't really constrained by time (or bored kids), so I've been able to stop and take my time shooting the landscape. Having said that though, it is mid winter, and was absolutely freezing cold getting out of the car. After only about 5 minutes I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, it was quite windy in places, and I had only brought my flimsy travel tripod with me. All of which is to say that I didn't want to spend hours setting up shots and bracketing hundreds of exposures. I was working fairly quickly.

As you can see above with the unedited RAW capture of one image, the dynamic range in the scene was off the chart, requiring at least some bracketing to capture all the information. So bracket I did - mostly. But I'm also pretty sure that with some of the images I took, the histogram on the lcd screen of the EP3 was telling me that I had captured the information, without clipping the highlights or shadows? In fact, I'm pretty sure that's what it was telling me about the above RAW image (but I could be wrong)? If it was telling me that, then it lied. Because once I got the images into Lightroom, it became obvious fairly quickly that some of the highlight areas had blown completely. Still, there was something there, so I decided to work on the image anyway.

Springfield light. Olympus EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm lens. f11 @ 1/250th, ISO 200

The final image, cropped to a pano format to hide the blown out clouds, is ok - but it required a lot of work to get it looking like that. Maybe that's not surprising, given the RAW file? But a lot of the work was in dealing with the noise from the smaller senor. Even with the initial poor exposure (my fault), there was more noise in the image than I was expecting using it's lowest ISO 200 setting.

Heading home. Olympus EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm. f9 @ 1/250th, ISO 200

Even when the dynamic range wasn't too vast for the sensor to handle, working on the image in Lightroom was always about balancing how much noise was left in. I guess this should be no great surprise? The laws of physics will tell you that smaller sensors = more noise. It's just a fact. But I guess I'd been a bit spoiled with my previous micro four thirds cameras (the EM5 MkII and EM1), whose 16MP sensors I found quite remarkable. It's no surprise that the more 'consumer' oriented 12MP EP3 isn't in the same league - especially when the sensor is pushed to its limits.

Don't get me wrong, the image above isn't horrible. In fact I like it a lot. But I have had to do a lot of noise reduction work on it to get it to where I'm happy with it. Of course, in strong and evenly lit conditions (during most of the day) when the sensor isn't being pushed to its limits (see images from previous post) the noise at ISO 200 is negligible. Yet still probably more apparent than on my Canon 50D.

Waimakariri River Lookout. Olympus EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm. f9 @ 1/25th sec. ISO 200. 3 exposure blend in Photoshop

Of all the images, I guess I'm most disappointed with this one. I don't think the final image does any justice to the scene I saw in front of me and tried to capture. And despite freezing my butt off getting it, I took my time with this image to make sure I had what I needed.

I bracketed exposures (2 stops either side) to make sure I had the dynamic range covered, and once again still found that the highlights had blown. Shadows struggle to hold any detail and quickly turn to mud, and contrast seems low - on all the images I took with the EP3. Even with good light during the day, the clarity and dehaze sliders are used immediately in Lightroom to bring some life back into the images. Maybe again this is good? Maybe RAW files are supposed to be flat? Well, maybe. But having done this for quite a while now, I feel that the images coming from the EP3 just need that much more? And it's very apparent that the images from the 12MP m4/3rds sensor don't handle vigorous post processing manipulation.

The Waimakariri River Lookout was processed using Photoshop's merge to HDR function - which gave a lot more control, and a better result, than Lightroom's version did. I can't say for definite that I would have got a better result had I used my 15MP APS-C Canon 50D, but I get the feeling that I would have. I used the 50D on a previous trip (post here) - in better lighting conditions to be fair - but I still like the 'look' of those images much more than I do the ones coming from the EP3.

Maybe all of this is just user-error? Maybe I really don't know what the hell I'm doing (very possible). I know a 'professional' doesn't blame their tools etc, etc.... But this is the first time in a very long time that I've been so disappointed with a set of images, and struggled so much to process them to my liking.

So maybe it is the sensor on the EP3 reaching (and in some cases exceeding) its limits? Maybe it wasn't made for high dynamic landscape work? Or maybe I'm just a little deflated since my 'vision' wasn't matched by the final result? Maybe I can't answer that question objectively at the moment? And maybe, just maybe, the next time I go away I might bring my 50D with me for those landscape shots taken in tricky light on the way home?

And back to Canon... (again)

It's been seven months since I posted on this site, which seems like a long time between posts. And I suppose it is. But I haven't been silent in the blogisphere. For the last few months I've concentrated my time and effort on writing about my Fuji X10, over at The Fuji X(10) Files. And to be honest, I thought that was going to be that for my NZ Digital blog. The DSLR is dead, long live the mirrorless compact! Vive la Revolution!

It seems that everywhere you look, and in everything you read nowadays, mirrorless cameras are the be-all and end-all of photography. Over at TWIP (This Week In Photography) it's really all they talk about now on their podcast. Contributors to the show wax lyrical about their own new mirrorless compact camera systems, and are even suggesting that the 'new' photographer forget about the 'traditional' SLR style camera as a venerable dinosaur, destined for the scrap heap - and invest instead in these 'new' micro/aps-c sized mirrorless camera systems. Sure, clients might initially think you're a bit 'amateur' if you turn up to a shoot with an Olympus Pen or Sony NEX - but just show them your work and eventually they'll 'get over it'.

Zack Arias and David Hobby worship at the alter of the Fuji X100S because, like, dude, like, it's like the best, like, camera EVER! Exactly how much did Fuji pay them?

Anyway, moving right along. No, I haven't used the Fuji X100S - but I have used the Fuji X100. And it didn't change my life, rock my world or make it on to my 'world's best camera' list. Sorry Fuji. I haven't used the Fuji X20, but I do own the Fuji X10. And I'm selling it. For lots of reasons - some of which I'll get to shortly. I haven't used a Sony NEX (5,6,7), but I have owned an Olympus Pen EP3. And I sold it. For lots of reasons - some of which I'll get to shortly.

Ok, so we've established what I haven't got. What is it that I have got?  A Nikon D600, D7000, D4? Nope. A Canon 7D, 60D, 5D Mk2? Nope. How about a Canon 20D.

Canon 20D. An oldie, but a goodie?

Seriously. Don't laugh. Well OK, laugh if you want. I don't care. I'm selling my Fuji X10 and with the money getting a Canon 20D with EF-S 18-55mm. yes, it's old. Almost 10 years old in fact (it was first introduced in 2004), but should that really count against it?

The D20 is an 8.2MP APS-C sized CMOS sensor camera that, at the time of its release (and right through with the D30), defined how good an 8MP camera could be. It was the standard by which all other 8MP (and many other larger sensors) cameras were judged. 'Amazingly clean images' was how one review at the time put it. And amazing responsiveness - with a top speed of 1/8000th, a sync speed of 1/250th and a burst rate of 5 frames per second - with instant (or near enough) start up and review times for images. All encased in a rugged magnesium alloy chasis. What's not to like?

And I'm being serious here. What more do you really need to take great images? Do you really need live view? Or video? Or super-ubber low-light performance? It's only got a 1.8" lcd on the back, but do you really need bigger? It's nice, but do you need it?

I've been 'mucking around' with these mirrorless camera megastars for the last year, but try as I might (and believe me, I have tried), I just don't like using them. The images from the EP-3 just didn't grab me. They were noisy (for the most part), and difficult to get a good print from. I shot using the optional EVF so i could use a 'conventional' shooting style (camera up to the eye), but even then, the camera just felt 'fiddly'. And I don't have big hands at all.

It's worse with the FujiX10. It's even smaller, and fiddlier than the EP-3. And although it's machined from aluminum, it still manages to come across as a bit of a plasticky 'toy' camera. Retro and 'cool' looking it may be. But I found it impractical and tricky to use in reality. The files are sharp and detailed enough - when the camera gets the autofocus right - but it really only works when composing using the rear lcd screen, a shooting position I thoroughly detest.

OK, maybe I'm old and set in my ways (small disclosure, I'm 45), but this new wave of mirrorless midgets really do nothing for me. I realised this only last week, when I had to change the battery in my daughters Canon 10D (and that's really old technology). I picked the 10D up and it stopped me in my tracks. I literally did a double take, as I had the 10D in my hands. it just felt so right. As does the 20D.

Perhaps that's the nub of it right there? After 25 years of shooting with an SLR, my muscle memory is just hard-wired for this type of shooting experience? If that leads me to a brilliant camera like the 20D, then that's fine by me. I really don't want to spend another 25 years changing my shooting habits to conform with the crowd. I guess I'll go down my own road, go out, and take my own images!?