Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Review Extension: 40MP High Res Shot Questions Answered, High ISO Shooting and More Samples Images

Important Note:

1. I am an Olympus Malaysia employee. 

2. This is a user experience based review, based on my personal opinion which can be subjective.

3. All images were shot in RAW and converted directly to JPEG (High Quality) via Olympus Viewer 3, with exception of 40MP High Res Shot which were straight out of camera JPEG (Super Fine)

4. General camera settings, Noise Filter = OFF, Contrast/Saturation/sharpness = 0, White Balance = Auto (with an option maintain warm color = OFF), Gradation = Normal

5. Minimal post-processing applied to the images, with slight brightness/contrast balance tweak. All images were almost as good as straight out of camera, with minimal cropping for better presentation.

This blog entry serves as an extension to the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Review which I have posted last week here, hence if you have not read that blog post kindly do so before continuing with this extension. In this particular extension I am looking specifically into the items pertaining to the OM-D E-M5 Mark II:

1) 40MP High Resolution Shot - answers to many questions, with sample images as well as comparison with the native 16MP shot

2) Bundled Flash unit FL-LM3 - capable of bounce flash

3) Video Recording Sample in challenging lighting situation

4) High ISO Shooting - tortured the camera in difficult low light condition

40MP HIGH RESOLUTION - QUESTIONS ANSWERED

(Important Note: If you have not read my explanation of how the 40MP High Resolution Shot works, and all the limitation and practical restrictions which you should be aware of, please read my original blog review here.)

Although Olympus did not highlight this feature as their main selling point of the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, the 40MP High Res Shot has turned many heads, and become the most discussed topic of the E-M5 Mark II, consequently resulting in the highest asked questions regarding this topic. I have received the questions from my own blog comments, emails as well as comments to my Facebook Page posting. I have also spent some time reading the online discussion happening everywhere, especially at DPReview.com forums (yes I do read what you people talk there, though I chose to remain silent and not participate). I will do my best to address the questions here. 

1) Can I shoot a human portrait with this 40MP High Res Shot? I can get my model to stay very still and not move. 

No, you cannot, and it is impossible to achieve a 40MP High Res Shot shooting people. I have tried, over 20 attempts, to shoot a friend of mine, ignoring my understanding of how the feature works, and thought I could push the boundary and perhaps get a usable human portrait. I failed miserably. Humans can stay still, very still, but not still enough for 2 seconds at the variance of half a pixels distance movement. This distance, is measure in microns. So for those of you who want to shoot people with this feature, forget it. It is NOT going to work. 

2) Can I use Flash or Studio Strobes with the 40MP High Rest Shot? How is the flash going to fire so rapidly within 2 seconds of capture time?

Yes, you can use flash and Studio Strobes. There is a setting to set interval delays between all the 8 shots captured, to allow for flash recycle/recharge time after each time a shot is taken. Take note that the flash sync with the electronic shutter used is limited at 1/20sec fastest. Careful consideration of ambient light (or how to control/reduce it) is important. 

3) Do I get to keep all 8 shots captured by the camera? Can I do my own stitching/stacking with other softwares, eg Photoshop?

In order to answer this question you have to understand how the 40MP High Res Shot works. Bear in mind this is not a simple panorama trick, by stitching multiple images, which creates a field of view wider than the original shot. The image sensor is moved only by half a pixel distance each time. As far as I know, there is no external software capable to reproducing the final combined image output as for now (lets hope there is a new development for the future, it is not impossible). What happens in real life shooting is that, all you have to do is just click the shutter button ONCE, that is all. You do NOT get to keep all the indvidual images, you get either 40MP JPEG or 64MP RAW (or both), with a backup of first frame of 16MP RAW if high resolution shot is used. 

4) Can we see some comparison between the 40MP High Res Shot against the original 16MP images? How is the High Res Shot different from a simple software interpolation technique?

Ok, lets jump right into image samples now. I do not see a huge necessity to compare, we all know that a true 40MP image file will always contain more fine details in comparison to 16MP. However, I also believe that there are many who do doubt, or would want to "see to believe" the benefits of the 40MP files, or to verify the claim of "true 40MP" rather than simple interpolation trick. 

So here you go! On the left of the comparisons are 100% crop of 40MP High Res Shots, on the right the original 16MP images, upsized to match the size of the larger 40MP images. If you disagree with this method then kindly download the full size images provided and kindly do your own comparison. 

As I have mentioned in my older review entries, I shall not be doing any comparison with other cameras. Please do not ask me to do so, and I am sure there already are, and will be many of such comparisons available. 

45mm F1.8, 2.5sec, F8, ISO200 - LED Light used

25mm F1.8, 1/6sec, F8, ISO200

25mm F1.8 1/13sec, F8, ISO200

25mm F1.8, 1/15sec, F8, ISO200

25mm F1.8, 1/3sec, F8, ISO200

5) Is the 40MP High Res Shot lens dependent? Do I need a higher grade lens to resolve more details?

A better lens will resolve greater amount of fine detail, this will especially be more crucial when more megapixels are at play. The sharper lens will be able to resolve higher pixel quality, subsequently better pixel quality will render better high resolution images. Yes, you will be getting much more out of the 40MP high resolution shot with Olympus M.Zuiko higher grade lenses, such as the 12-40mm F2.8 Pro, 25mm F1.8, 45mm F1.8, etc. 

6) Is tethered shooting supported by Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II? If yes, can the 40MP High Res Shot be used in tethered shooting?

The Olympus Capture (computer software to enable tethered shooting, connected via USB to camera) is supported by OM-D E-M5 Mark II. However, at this moment, the 40MP High Res Shot is not available in the Olympus Capture yet.

7) Why is the JPEG high res shot only 40MP? Why is the RAW 64MP instead?
The full resolution captured is 64MP, hence the RAW file is 64MP. Simple calculation steps: 8 images of 16MP yield 128MP in total, but images were moved at half a pixel pitch, hence we get effectively half of the 128MP, resulting in recorded 64MP RAW file, which should be compatible with Adobe RAW when the plug-in is released. Why is the JPEG only 40MP? Olympus R&D has found out that the optimum resolution would be 40MP, and that extra 24MP in the 64MP RAW file will not give you any more useful detail. We can verify this once the official support for 64MP RAW is released. Currently all my high res shot were taken with JPEG, hence I am showing the default 40MP shots, straight out of camera. 

8) So there must not be any movement in the 40MP High Res Shot. Can you show us what are the consequences? What will happen to the images?

If the camera is being shaken, and no tripod is used to capture the 40MP High Res Shot, or if the subject is not completely still, you will see that the area of movement showing strange pixels patterns, and do not match up to what the original image looks like. It is difficult to describe, how the pixel pattern looks like so let's just see the images as I have taken, below. 

Another thing I would like to re-iterate, is the use of sturdy tripod, as well absence of any kind of movement. If you are using a tabletop tripod, even a light tap on the table while the image is being taken will render shake in the image. I have also tried shooting with wireless flash, and guess what, the flash that is attached to the camera to fire as a commander, to trigger the other wireless flash, will cause a slight vibration when each shot is fired, and that extremely weak pulse is enough to result in unusable final image. 

I have noticed a number of responses indicating the usefulness of 40MP High Res Shot when shooting landscape and scenery, when more pixels will help in creating a more realistic final image. This is the tricky part, indeed the 40MP will give you great amount of fine detail, but can you really think of a situation with completely zero movement? Trees completely still, no grass swaying, no water rippling, obviously no waves, no leaves falling, basically you need to shoot in a world made of vacuum (no wind). Buildings and architectures would suffer less in this regard surely.  

12mm F2, 1/50sec, ISO200, F8

The escalator was moving, and the pixels do not match each properly. 

16MP shot crop, showing original shape of the escalator. 

This flower shot was taken on a table of a restaurant, and I accidentally picked up my phone from the table, causing minor vibration, which was enough to cause movement in the shot, as shown in the following photo

100% Crop from previous image

If you have not had enough pixel peeping from the above image samples and respective 40MP 100% crops vs the enlarged crops from 16MP shots, you may download the full size samples here (including the high ISO samples):

Full Size 40MP High Res Shot Comparison with 16MP Shot & High ISO Samples 

DOWNLOAD

NEW EXTERNAL FLASH: FL-LM3

Alright, enough of megapixel talk, lets move on to something very unique and a good improvement, the new bundled flash FL-LM3 external flash. 

This new FL-LM3 flash is introduced as a bundled unit to the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, since the camera does not have built in flash. The unique thing about the FL-LM3, being a default, bundled flash that comes together with the camera in a package, has bounce capability. The head of the flash can be turned and tilted, just like a normal bounce head. It does not take any batteries, hence drawing power from the E-M5 Mark II. Also, interestingly this FL-LM3 does not require the accessories port to work either, and the acesories port is absent in the E-M5 Mark II (it is built into all other latest OM-D and PEN models, except E-M10). 

The FL-LM3 is ONLY compatible with E-M5 Mark II for now, and won't work with any older Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras (eg, E-M1, E-PL7). The FL-LM3, being an E-M5 Mark II bundled flash, is also fully weather sealed. 

I think it is great that Olympus added the bounce function to the bundled unit, it opens up a lot more practical use! Being able to bounce added more flexibility in creating usable, decent looking flash photographs. One important rule that many photographers observe, is to avoid direct flash whenever necessary, to prevent harsh light on subjects with deep and ugly shadows, something not very flattering on people/portrait shots. Tilting the bounce head of the flash upward to the ceiling can create a completely different and improved flash output in the image. 

Also worth noting is that, having a tillable and rotatable head (both horizontal and vertical axis), wireless flash control now (via optical trigger) can be made easier. Previously I would have issues triggering Olympus external flash units wirelessly if the external flash off camera units are being places behind me (where there is no direct line of sight from the triggering on camera flash unit to the slaves). Now the commander unit has flexible head that I can tilt to any direction!

While the flash is useful with bounce, drawing power from the camera does have it's downside. At full power GN9, the flash is not exactly that powerful. The flash recharge time at full power was around 5 seconds, which is not bad, but surely not suitable for fast action shooting. For portraits and still life, or subjects that do not require quick reaction from the photographer, 5 seconds wait is not an issue at all. 

Olympus FL-LM3 external flash unit, on E-M5 Mark II

Say hi to Kevin!

FL-LM3 used, with bounce directly off ceiling

FL-LM3 used, fired directly.

MORE THOUGHTS ON E-M5 Mark II VIDEO RECORDING PERFORMANCE

I caught Kyoto Protocol performing live last Saturday for the launch of their latest album, and I took this opportunity to further test the video performance of the E-M5 Mark II. Again, I would like to emphasize that I am no expert when it comes to video recording, in fact I have very little knowledge and completely zero experience in film making. Therefore, if you notice any fault it was mainly due to my own careless mistake, or some mistakes I do not even know I need to pay attention to. The reason I recorded the video was to serve as another sample and give my feedback as a photographer who may be one day interested in dabbling into the video making world. After all, OM-D E-M5 Mark II has many improvements in video shooting in comparison to Olympus' older Micro Four Thirds models. 

The following video is recorded in 1080HD50P (I did not check this before recording, else I would have set to 60P), set at P (programme) exposure mode, Continuous AF (C-AF), quality Fine, 5-Axis IS enabled, handheld (obviously) and recording volume set to the lowest -10 setting. White Balance was Auto. Lens used: Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm F1.8. 

KYOTO PROTOCOL 

(please view the video in full 1080HD50P setting)

Here are my comments and finding on the video:

1) Continuous Autofocus performance

The lighting condition was horrendous, with blinking striking bright light happening many times for a few seconds, and that caused the camera to lose focus. However, you will also noticed that once that blinking light stopped, and the light was constant, the camera immediately picked up focus and it happened VERY accurately. This happened multiple times, I left the option to touch any area of the screen to change focusing area (via touch AF) and that helped me with the live band's active movement throughout the performance. I understand that the experts would go full manual AF in situations like these, but if I did manual recording, we would not know how the AF works, and it was just a simple test, which many people, including myself who are not too crazy about video making, would find useful. 

2) 5-Axis Image Stabilization

Again, the ability of the camera to be used in video recording hand-held is nothing short of amazing. This time, I stayed with a shorter focal length, using the 25mm F1.8 (50mm in 35mm format), and almost all shake was reduced and controlled. If there was sudden jump or jerking, it was due to the crowd pushing and going crazy to the tunes banging their heads on me (just kidding, that was an exaggeration but you get the point). It was a huge contrast to my previous video in the blog review, because then I used to zoom in all the way to 150mm (equivalent to 300mm in 35mm format), hence some shake and jumpiness were expected when shooting hand-held. 

3) Audio Quality

While the serious film makers and videographers would invest in external microphones and record the sound either separately or via input mic jack of the E-M5 Mark II, I, as a complete noob just relied on the camera's built in microphone. Anticipating the live music to be extremely loud, and myself standing just a few feet away from one of the main gigantic speakers, I expected the sound to be clipped and distorted, in many situations I have recorded live performance before. I decided to set the recording volume to the lowest -10 setting and as I monitored the sound bars (live feedback on audio levels), it clearly showed at maximum, indicating high chance of audio being distorted and clipped. However when I reviewed the footage on my PC I was pleased to find that the audio was not clipped even at very loud volume. While the audio quality is nothing to write home about, it was actually usable, for simple journalistic and documentary purposes. 

HIGH ISO SHOOTING

As usual, one key factor in determining a camera performance would be the ability to shoot in low light conditions, and how the high ISO images turn out. I was at the Kyoto Protocol live performance and I have recorded 5 video clips (one shown above) and almost a thousand images. 

The lighting condition, as shown in the video, was not ideal. Almost all the time, images came out purplish/pinkish. I had to do some tweaking in white balance setting (done in Olympus Viewer 3) to get the skin color that I felt is acceptable to human eyes. Other than that, no other settings were changed or tweaked. 

The E-M5 Mark II has no surprises when it comes to high ISO shooting. I was expecting similar results seen in some of latest Olympus cameras, such as E-PL7 and E-M10, and I was not wrong. ISO3,200 is very usable, and ISO6400 must be taken with caution, and I would avoid anything higher than that. The suppression of chromatic noise was good, and good amount of detail is preserved even. 

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/200sec, F2.8, ISO8000

100% Crop from previous image

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/250sec, F2.8, ISO4000

100% crop from previous image

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/80sec, F2.8, ISO12800

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/200sec, F2.8, ISO8000

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/250sec, F2.8, ISO8000

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/320sec, F2.8, ISO3200

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/250sec, F2.8, ISO10000

100% Crop from previous image

12mm F2, 1/80sec, F2.8, ISO800

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/125sec, F2.8, ISO2500

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/80sec, F2.8, ISO1600

40-150mm F2.8 PRO, 1/250sec, F2.8, ISO4000

Oh with that swivel screen, let's take a selfie! Vintage Art Filter applied

To cap off this review extension, I am leaving you with images taken from a shutter therapy session, a street photography outing at Pudu KL. 

The best that I can hope for is able to just bring the E-M5 Mark II out and shoot just for the fun of it, without taking in too many technical consideration and thoughts. This was the session that I enjoyed the most. 

45mm F1.8, 1/800sec, F1.8, ISO200

45mm F1.8, 1/160sec, F1.8, ISO500

45mm F1.8, 1/250sec, F1.8, ISO200

45mm F1.8, 1/125, F1.8, ISO250

12mm F2, 1/40sec, F2, ISO500

45mm F1.8, 1/320sec, F1.8, ISO500

45mm F1.8, 1/5sec, F10, ISO200

45mm F1.8, 1/250sec, F2.8, ISO1000

100% Crop from previous image

45mm F1.8, 1/250sec, F1.8, ISO200

25mm F1.8, 1/30sec, F1.8, ISO200

14-150mm F4-5.6 II, 1/250sec, F5.5, ISO12800

100% Crop from previous image

25mm F1.8, 1/15sec, F7.1, ISO200

The next item I do want to follow up, is a review of the newly released M.Zuiko 14-150mm F4-5.6 II lens. 

Unfortunately I won't be able to follow up on this review immediately, as I will be fully occupied for the coming two weeks. 

That also means my blog will be slightly inactive until much later this month. 

Nonetheless, I will make the review of the 14-150mm II happen, and I will also use E-M5 Mark II with the lens, thus more sample images will be shown here in the future, and chances to test out anything else that I may be requested to. 

If you have questions, comments or requests kindly say so in the comments section!

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II is available from B&H (click here). 

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