Last week, I shared that I had purchased a used Olympus EM5 Mark iii, along with a couple of images from its first outing. I’ve now been out with the camera a few more times and I’m still extremely impressed, although I may have found a weakness.
Here is another heather image from the Peak District which I shot with the EM5 during the Blue Hour.
This was taken using the Leica 12-60 lens set to 14mm. It’s a 6 second exposure at ISO200 and f/8.0. I also used a 0.6 (2 stop) Graduated ND filter on the sky. The RAW processing was done using Lightroom as I’m finding the images a little too sharp when I use either DxO PhotoLab or PureRAW.
Now for a second example on a different evening, also shot during the blue hour.
This photo was also shot using the Leica 12-60 lens set to 14mm. It’s a 2 second exposure at ISO400 and f/7.1. Again, I used a 0.6 (2 stop) Graduated ND filter on the sky and processed the RAW file with Adobe Lightroom. This time the light produced an amazingly strong colour response in the heather, and I had to reduce the magenta saturation slightly.
Overall, I’m extremely impressed by the usability and flexibility of the EM5, as well as the image quality and colour. The only area where I’m underwhelmed is the High-Resolution setting. This seems to produce an image with similar dimensions to my Lumix G9, but it doesn’t appear to be as good. It lacks detail and definition in comparison.
I’ve tried updating my firmware to the latest version, but I’m still not impressed. Even using DxO PureRAW and/or Topaz Sharpen AI doesn’t fix things. Hopefully I can figure out a way to achieve better results as I do like having the High-Resolution option. I’ll also do some further testing with the Lumix G9 and share anything I discover about the problems mentioned last time.
I hope you like the images and have a great weekend.
The Lightweight Photographer 
Lovely images. I have only taken a few high res images with my EM1mkIII and they are very detailed and sharp
Yes, I have heard the EM1 produces better results. They are probably on par with the Lumix G9. It’s an impressive feature when it works well.
The photos are beautiful 🤩
Thank you
Perhaps f/8 is the issue. f/5.6 is usually the sweet spot in m4/3 when pixel peeping, and f/8 is less sharp because diffraction becomes dominant by f/8.
Yes, that had crossed my mind but the Leica doesn’t show much sign of diffraction until f/10.0. That said, with a large image it may be. I have also checked f/5.6 and I couldn’t achieve enough depth of field but could still see the softness in the detail.
I’ve no personal experience with the lens, but several reviews of the 12-60 PanaLeica mention that edge resolution performance at the 12mm end is a weak point, regardless of aperture. Maybe try comparing the 12-60 at the wide end with a 12mm prime or an Olympus 12-40 Pro if you have one.
With Olympus hi-res mode, setting RAW+JPG will generate the hi-res ORF file, a hi-res JPG and an ORI file which is the first 20MP RAW file of the sequence used to make up the hi-res images. Comparing the ORI against the hi-res versions should show if an effect is optical or related to processing. As you mention, more resolution (with no change to the optics) will increase the visibility of diffraction effects at 100% zoom. I guess that hi-res mode effectively changes the “pixel size” parameter in the diffraction calculation to a smaller value, therefore making diffraction more visible and your “diffraction limited” aperture a lower/wider value.
Check the RAW files in OM Workspace as well as against the OOC JPG versions. I do find that DXO Photolab boosts saturation and sharpness more than OM Workspace or the OOC JPGs and can look less “natural” to me. Sometimes I’m OK with that, other times, not.
A hat is the most vital filter accessory you can buy. Great for shading the lens & filters to cut out flare and maximise contrast. Not only does it improve your photos but it keeps the sun and rain off your head whilst stored in between uses. Bargain.
Hi Ian, thanks for your thoughtful comment. I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to reply but the email notification of a comment seems to have slipped through the net. I’ve only just spotted this.
The Panasonic Leica 12-60 is an excellent lens and certainly, my copy is sharp edge to edge across the focal range and has very little distortion. The problem that I mention does occur with other lenses as well and yes, I do have the Olympus 12-40 Pro. I am interested in your description of the Olympus high-resolution mode as what you describe is just how my Panasonic operates. Strangely my Olympus doesn’t seem to work in the same way as it only produced a high-resolution JPEG which is around 8k pixels on the long edge and an ORF file that’s around 10k pixels on the long edge.
I find it strange that the two images have different dimensions. It also doesn’t save the regular-sized ORF file which is something I would really like it to do. I’ve looked through the menu system on a few different occasions but can’t find any way to adjust this. I know that I must be missing something but I can’t think what.
As for the filters, yes I do try to shade them with a hat but I do like to shoot with the sun in the frame which often isn’t possible. I have also tried the trick of shooting multiple frames and hiding the sun on one of them but it often doesn’t make much difference and I still see the flare which could well be some kind of reflection.
More experimentation needed I guess.
Hi Robin, I’m using an E-M1 mk2 so things may be different on the E-M5 mk3.
On the E-M1 mk2 in hi-res mode with RAW+JPG enabled I get the first RAW shot (5184×3888 .ORI), an 80MP hi-res RAW file (10368×7776 .ORF) and the 50MP hi-res processed JPG (8160×6120). They all show up as expected in DXO Photolab 6, perhaps cross check in OM Workspace if you don’t see the expected files from the E-M5 mk3 in DXO.
Hope you enjoy the E-M5, I’m still enjoying using the E-M1 and have been trying to get to grips with some of these advanced features. I’m mainly trying to master the in-camera focus stacking at the moment. It’s really impressive when the operator gets the setup right…
Hi Ian, thanks for the additional information. It sounds like the EM1 works almost the same as the G9 for the high-resolution mode. Whilst the EM5 has similarities, recording the regular RAW file seems to be one difference. I haven’t looked at the focus stacking yet. I’m still doing things manually and using Helicon Focus software as well as Affinity Photo to process the images. I like being in control I guess.