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?

Brighton Rocks! (with apologies to Queen) - Olympus Pen EP3 at New Brighton

In a very recent post here, I described how my wife and I have been traveling over to Christchurch a lot recently. The trips continue, although it may be slowing up soon? I'm enjoying the long weekends, and I'm also enjoying the chance to use a different camera kit each time I go. Last trip, I decided to travel light and bring my Olympus Pen EP3 along for the ride.

Beach Walk. Pen EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm II. f4 @1/500th - ISO 200

On the Monday morning, after my wife's appointment, we decided to head out to New Brighton. Neither of us had been there for many years, and while it was a bit chilly, we thought we'd go for a walk along the New Brighton Pier. When we arrived, I parked the car in a carpark along the beach and the shot above was the first thing I saw when I got out of the car. On some of the images, there was a man walking his dog up the path. But in the end I preferred the shot where I waited for him to crest the hill and move out of the frame. I think this works more on a visual level as the path now invites the viewer to walk along it, rather than already have a figure occupying the space?

New Brighton Pier. Olympus Pen EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm. f5.6 @ 1/250th - ISO 200

The light wasn't anything special - it didn't even look this good (it's amazing what the Clarity and Dehaze sliders in Lightroom can do for a flat image). I really only took some 'record' shots as we wandered around mid-morning. But then again, that's what the little micro four thirds Pen EP3 excels at. It's a very compact, very lightweight, yet very capable travel camera - perfect to record those day trips wandering around a city being a tourist.

New Brighton Beach from the Pier. Pen EP3 with 14-42mm. f5.6 @ 1/250th - ISO 200

As we wandered along the pier there was some reasonably nice light looking out across the beach. I envisaged this photo in black & white as I was taking it. The scene was already very monochromatic, so converting to black and white (later in Photoshop) was always the intended result. Once again, I've made use of the clarity and dehaze sliders, as well as some slight burning and dodging to boost the contrast in the image. I don't think I've taken it too far - black and white images seem to be able to handle a little more vigorous processing - but it is easy to push things a bit too much. Especially with the smaller 12MP micro four thirds sensor. I prefer my b&w images to be slightly more contrasty than normal colour images. I was taught a long time ago, in my film days, to create a print with "black blacks and white whites", and that's what I always try to do with my monochrome images. Who said that paper-white and absolute black was a bad thing?

Brown speckled Seagull. Pen EP3 with Zuiko 40-150mm f4/5.6. f5 @ 1/400th - ISO 200

Not surprisingly, where there is a beach, and where there is a pier, and where there are people fishing, there will always be seagulls! And these were some of the biggest, noisiest and bolshiest seagulls I've ever come across. I think the seagull above is a juvenile - but it was the biggest damn seagull I've ever seen! The photo doesn't really do it justice since there's no comparison for scale, but it was 'big'. If it is a juvenile, then I hate to think what size it will get to as an adult!

The shot was taken with the small, lightweight, but exceptionally sharp 40-150mm f4/5.6 telezoom kit lens. It weighs practically nothing, but has an 80 to 300mm reach (in 35mm full frame terms). This is another reason why the small micro four thirds EP3 is an ideal travel companion.

New Brighton Grafitti. Pen EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm. f5.6 @ 1/100th - ISO 200

It was getting a bit chilly on the pier (and we were both recovering from the flu), so we decided to head into the township and check out the New Brighton CBD. Unfortunately, it's not a pretty picture. New Brighton has struggled to attract visitors to its shopping area for a long time, despite having the beach and the pier right on their doorstep. I can remember going there over 20 years ago and thinking it was struggling to attract people. Twenty years, and several earthquakes later, and the prognosis is a lot worse. Lots of empty, dilapidated shop fronts and buildings are the norm, with only a sprinkling of outlets open for business. Very sad. There was, however, some very cool graffiti to photograph - so that's what I concentrated on.

The Best Things in Life... Olympus Pen EP3 with 14-42mm. f4.9 @ 1/60th - ISO 200

In terms of a micro four thirds camera, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the EP3. I love its styling and retro looks, its compactness and light weight, and it's a fairly responsive wee camera. It's quick focusing (much better than the previous EP models), has 'enough' megapixels, and supports the vast range of super primes that both Olympus and Panasonic produce.

But I hate (and I mean hate-with-a-passion in the strongest sense of the word) the fact that it has no evf (electronic view finder) built into the camera. Yes, I get it - adding an evf would have made it more bulky, and ruined the slimline form factor they've got going on. Don't care. I would have lived with a little extra weight - and form factor be damned - I want functionality! And yes, I know you can get add-on evf's for it - and if I end up keeping the EP3 long-term then I think that's exactly what I'll do. I really do hate the 'hold-the-camera-out-at-arms-length-and-use-the-rear-lcd-screen" method of composing - and taking - an image. It's just so wrong on so many levels. I'm prepared to live with it on a cellphone, because it just is what it is. But this is a camera for crying out loud. Please don't make us buy an accessory just to get an evf! Ooops - too late...

"I yam wot I yam". Olympus EP3 with 9mm fisheye lenscap. f8 @ 1/125th - ISO 200

Ok, despite my pet peeve, it's still a fun camera to travel around with. I just think it would be even 'funner' with an evf! 😁

Plonk the 9mm Olympus fisheye bodycap on the front and you have a truly pocketable camera (albiet with a fixed f8 fisheye lens). I love the fisheye look - used sparingly. With a subject like the graffiti wall above it works perfectly. And it's pretty sharp too - especially centrally.

The camera with three lenses (from 9mm fisheye up to 300mm telephoto), spare battery and spare SD card, fits into a camera bag not much larger than most women's make-up cases. Carrying it around all day is truly a breeze. Why wouldn't you?

New Brighton Graffiti 2. Olympus EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm. f5.6 @ 1/100th - ISO 200

Being a slightly older generation 12MP micro four thirds camera (it was released in 2011) means that the sensor does have its limits - as we'll see in my next post (oh you tease!). It gets noisy fast at higher ISO's and in lower light, it's 'only' 12MP on a smaller than APS-C sensor, and it doesn't have the high dynamic range capabilities of later micro four thirds or DSLR cameras with larger sensors.

Yet as can also be seen in all the images in this post, if you use it in half-way decent light, at the lower ISO's, then the results are sharp, punchy, colourful and impressive. Would I continue to carry this in preference to my iPhone for travel pictures? Yes, I would. Why - you ask? And it's a very good question.

Pier Side. Olympus EP3 with Zuiko 14-42mm lens. f5.6 @ 1/125th - ISO 200

Why? Because it's a far more versatile system for taking photos with. As already mentioned, I can go from fisheye to 300mm with the change of a lens. It also gives me more control over the final image and how I want it to look - especially with apertures. The micro four thirds sensor might be small, but it's still bigger than an iPhone's, and background blur is more achievable (look at the seagull image). IQ (image quality) is probably quite similar, although I'd still give the edge to the larger micro four thirds sensor in the EP3. And of course, until I get an evf accessory for the Olympus, both still force you to use the 'compose-with-the-lcd-screen' method.

So I would say that, on average, the dedicated camera system is still the way to go - for me at least. Still, two or three years ago I wouldn't have even considered the comparison. It would have been a 'no contest' win to the EP3. But times they are a changing. I am using my cellphone to take more travel images. And I can carry around a few tiny additional lenses to increase the capabilities of the iPhone's native lens. Maybe an EP3 vs iPhone 6 image quality comparison is in order? I feel a new blogpost coming on...