New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

[pdk42]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

From the excellent Imaging Resource article, HHHR section:
"The solution isn't to hold the image stationary on the camera's sensor for that long, but rather to take advantage of the natural camera movement resulting from hand-holding. In handheld high-res mode, the E-M1X lets the image move on the focal plane between exposures, then uses its ample processor horsepower to micro-align the 16 separate images with each other. (!) The camera turns on the IS system during each of the 16 individual exposures (so each individual image will be sharp), but turns it off in between them.

It then closely examines all 16 images, and mathematically shifts each of them as needed to render all 16 in perfect alignment. That is, shifted so that the R, G, and B sub-pixels align with each other as needed to create a 50-megapixel final super-resolution image. [And yes, Ricoh does something similar with its similar Handheld Pixel Shift Resolution function in the Pentax K-1 II DSLR, but that uses only four separate exposures to create each image, rather than 16 of them as in the E-M1X.]"

That sounds like it needs the dual processors, improved IS and gyros for HHHR to me. Live ND sounds more straightforward, but might still need the improved IS and gyros.

You can do almost the same with Photoshop. Take 16 shots in camera (easy with E-M1ii eshutter at 60 fps with frame limiter). Bring them all into PS as layers and re-size them all to 200% in size. Then convert to smart objects and then merge using Mean or Median mode. Bingo - hi res image! It won't do the RGB pixel sub-shift, but it's still pretty imprrssive.

[GyRob]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

This guy tried airplane mode (4.20 in ) says it work quite good on birds so perhaps an option .
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIyu-rO0J0"]Eagle Eyes with the Olympus O-MD E-M1X - YouTube[/ame]

[RobEW]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

From some reading and also talking with a couple of Oly users at camera club, I get the impression that the E-M1X is of little or no interest to most established M43 users. But I also get the impression they are not Olympus's target market. I noted the above (from link in post above) :

"mirrorless cameras don’t add to the total number of digital cameras sold, but instead they’re replacing existing DSLR sales."

Maybe Oly are targeting people new to digital photography, and also some who want to move from FF to something smaller (and with lenses of comparable magnification. E-M1X is smaller than FF) - but specifically people who want advantages of the X - large body ergonomics and handle-ability with large lenses, battery duration, better AF, excellent stabilisation etc.

[Ricoh]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Digital Cameras are a mature consumer item now, much like computers/laptops became some time ago. Buyers only go looking when they need to, such as when the item fails or is so slow to be unusable. One way to stimulate demand is to provide software / firmware updates, making sure the hardware becomes redundant due to sluggish response due to 'bloat ware'. Apple have been accused of this.

Most people today are happy with the phone in their pocket, and choose a mobile phone based on camera performance.

[pdk42]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

The difference though is that ILCs are not just about the camera but the system. That's a crucial difference since the real issue is the lenses - in terms of performance, size and cost. No one wants to have thousands tied up in lenses and yet be trapped with a manufacturer who isn't innovating or generally keeping up with the market. One you lose customers from your system, getting them back is really hard.

[birdboy]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Watching many reviews now I am beginning to think that the E-M1X will really come into its own once Olympus has in the shops lenses of 400mm+. I am thinking that those of us with the E-M1 II will wait and buy the new longer lenses thinking it will solve our longer reach needs only to find that the longer lenses do not really work with E-M1 II so will end up needing or buying a E-M1X

[Phill D]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Pretty cool video Rob well found.

[Bengeo]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

This is a pretty detailed review, especially of C-AF and Tracking. It's through Google Translate, so some of the wording is a bit comical. I haven't read it all yet, but it looks good:
https://translate.google.com/transla...0NagQqLTU6X2fw

If you want to put it through another translator, the original link is:
https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail...0NagQqLTU6X2fw

[TonyR]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

This is a pretty detailed review, especially of C-AF and Tracking. It's through Google Translate, so some of the wording is a bit comical. I haven't read it all yet, but it looks good:
https://translate.google.com/transla...0NagQqLTU6X2fw

If you want to put it through another translator, the original link is:
https://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail...0NagQqLTU6X2fw

That's a great review with good examples. Well found!


I downloaded the C-AF test example sequences of the herons flying and luckily, they contain the full Exif. As I am interested in whether the C-AF of the M1X is better than the MkII, I extracted the FocusDistance parameter and plotted the results. When I have done this for the MkII, I find that the AF is wandering back and forward around the ideal focus distance. Here are the results from the M1X. The scale on the left hand side is metres and the bottom is frame number in the burst.



Example A - Heron flying right to left.




Example B - Heron flying towards camera.





Example C - Heron flying from left to right.





Examples A and C look rather like the MkII to my eye. There is a fair bit of wandering about in the focus distance. Example B looks much bvetter and you would think that flying towards the camera would be more difficult.


Overall, I suspect that the M1X is slightly better at C-AF accuracy than the MkII but not by a huge margin. I still would like them to update the MkII firmware with the new C-AF though.

[Bengeo]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Whatever price you pay for a camera these days, you don't get a printed manual. I usually get mine printed by https://www.print-my-pdf.com/

[Bengeo]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

I extracted the FocusDistance parameter and plotted the results.

That's some great work Tony. My problem with it is that I have never felt that the distances reported in the files is that accurate. If you look at the heron flying from left to right, the 6th frame is reported at 47.06m and the 7th frame at 48.42. These have been taken at 18fps and it is reporting a 1.36m difference in a split second. Looking at the 2 birds side by side they both look to be in reasonable focus:




Therefore I don't think the reported distances can be taken as accurate.

With the heron flying from right to left it seems to be in good focus from frame 4 onwards and for the one going left to right they all look pretty good.

[Bruce Clarke]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

The reported focus distance has always been notoriously approximate since the 4/3 days, and I doubt it has changed. PDAF is probably worse though, as it tells the lens to move a certain amount, whereas CDAF looks at the actual image sharpness and compares.

[bigsambwfc]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Never had a problem taking large bird bifs,lets see small birds in busy backgrounds flying, that's the test for me.hopefully more reviews will appear and the camera has enough headroom for meaningful updates if needed.still think the a9 is the best for caf for now.

[TonyR]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

That's some great work Tony. My problem with it is that I have never felt that the distances reported in the files is that accurate. If you look at the heron flying from left to right, the 6th frame is reported at 47.06m and the 7th frame at 48.42. These have been taken at 18fps and it is reporting a 1.36m difference in a split second. Looking at the 2 birds side by side they both look to be in reasonable focus:




Therefore I don't think the reported distances can be taken as accurate.

With the heron flying from right to left it seems to be in good focus from frame 4 onwards and for the one going left to right they all look pretty good.

The reported focus distances may not be accurate in absolute terms but they are in relative terms between frames and they do corrolate directly with a related parameter called FocusStepCount. My assumption is that FocusStepCount is the position of the lens focus elements and they are exactly where the camera is telling the lens to go to.


With regard to the images 6 & 7, they are nearly in focus but still a bit off. If you put a third order polynomial trend line through the graph, you get a rough distance of 47.7m for 6 and 47.8m for 7 so they are probably each side of the correcty focus distance. A change of 1.36m bvetween shots is just too much variation for my liking.

Here's the graph with the trend line.





If you flick between images 6 and 7, and look at the water, it does look as if the focus moves further back for 7, consistent with the graph.


When I focus on a stationary bird, I find that a variation of quite small distances really affect the quality of feather detail. Although these herons looks sort-of in focus, none of them show much/any feather detail. Personally, I think 1 & 2 are sharpest and by 4 it has gone a bit soft and never recovers. Look at the black feather spots on the neck.




Looking at Example A with the heron flying right to left, images two and three are rubbish! From the graph it shows that they are front-focused by a long way. There is a jump of 3.4m between images 1 and 2! And, actually, the first image shown is actually image 25 in a longer sequence so it is not just an effect of initial focus acquisition.

[Bengeo]

Re: New Olympus OMD - EM1X ?

Interesting stuff Tony. It would be nice to know more re the Focus Steps number etc.

Of course we don't know the full details of the settings they used and how skilled they are for BIF. I agree that feather detail is about the hardest test for any AF system. There is always variation between shots and you just have to take a few and pick the best. I don't think there is any camera out there where you could take one shot and say you've got it.