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Micro Four-Thirds (2 Viewers)

DanC.Licks said:
Thanks, Jules.
It is all about finding a balance between technical and optical quality and mobility. There is no "ideal" camera/lens, there are only "best possible solutions" for each individual according to his/her needs. For some, it is a 1Dx and a monster Canon 600/4, for others it is an E-M1 and a Panaleica 100-400, and for others, like my telescope freak who is a real stickler for optical excellence, it is a Nikon P900. For hiking all day through the jungle in Guatemala, that is the camera he wants to carry. For others like my son, it is a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge! Amazing what it can do...
For me, the older I get, the more important mobility becomes. To think a few years ago I came very close to buying a Canon 5DIII and a 500/4. Whew.... that was close! ;)
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right Dan. Even if there is an absolute best system in the lab, this is another story in the field when needs are considered.

For my needs, considering my age, I think I have found a good balance with the E-M1 II and the 100-400mm. It delivers in terms of flexibility, focusing speed, sharpness and image quality. I have yet to test it for BIF because we are in the middle of Winter but it seems to deliver there as well, considering what I read.

I can carry that system with a light pack and accessories for hours and it is instantly available when I need it. Just what I need !
 
That is a system to drool over, no question. The increased resolution on the sensor over the Mark I amounts to a 1.25x TC, a noticeable boost.
We have had a long and totally gray January with nothing flying around at all. The sun came out this morning for the second time since New Years!

Now that you have spent some time with it, what are your impressions of the Mark II compared to the Mark I.
 
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DanC.Licks said:
That is a system to drool over, no question. The increased resolution on the sensor over the Mark I amounts to a 1.25x TC, a noticeable boost.
We have had a long and totally gray January with nothing flying around at all. The sun came out this morning for the second time since New Years!

Now that you have spent some time with it, what are your impressions of the Mark II compared to the Mark I.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I haven't had a chance to use it much. Been busy with other things and the Winter wx... Of course, it behaves like the Mk I but it is much faster - battery lasts forever - increased sensor resolution makes cropping more effective. So far so good... Except for BIF which I haven't tested yet, it meets my expectations.
 
Jules,

Have you possibilities to make similar tests with the Mk II as Dan did with the Mk I and canon 400 + TC, or sigma C, and MB, and while pointing the lens at a, for example, white surface like a ceiling/wall, measure time for the focus moving from 0 m to infinity and back? It is interesting to see if the Mk II can give increased focus speed with MB compared to Mk I....

TIA,
Anders
 
According to this site the E-M1 Mk II has good AF performance compared to Canon EOC M5:

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_eos_m5_review/

In terms of focus, the Canon EOS M5 has come on leaps and bounds from the Canon EOS M cameras of old. Autofocus is quick and accurate in the majority of conditions, pretty much no matter what lens you are using. In low light, you may find the system is a little hesitant if you’re using an older or slower EF lens, but the EF-M native lenses we were supplied for the test, along with a 50mm f/1.8 STM lens coped very well in a variety of situations. That said, there are still quicker compact system cameras on the market when it comes to AF. The EOS M5 doesn’t match the Panasonic G series for almost instant focus acquisition, and while continuous AF (Servo) does a reasonably good job with fast moving subjects, it’s not on a par with something like the Fuji X-T2 or the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II.
 
Anders,
That is the searching I was talking about with the 100-400 II. When it is near enough for the phase detect sensors to register a target, it is quick. It just took for ever if it had to go looking. I am sure it is a communication bug between the Metabones adapter and the lens.
As for the 400, I know a couple of people who have tried it on the Mark II and say it is fine, but that you have to load firmware v2.6 for it to work. They still say C-AF is basically useless though.
Like you, I would be very curious to try the Mk II myself with the Metabones/Canon 400 attached. There is a brand new one for sale here for €1750 that some guy bought by mistake. Bought it and promptly decided to switch brands. It is not so far away so I might see if I can drive down and try it out.
 
Dan, that is great, hope it will be a real improvement.
Maybe the MB has some electronic restrictions and can not supply enough juice regardless of MB programming?
The new panasonic GH5 is also interesting to try out.
I was hoping to try out my lens combo with the new cameras at local camera shops but they haven't got any demo units yet.
 
I don't think it is a juice problem. It must be incredibly difficult for Metabones to reverse engineer the focus algorithms that drive all the various lenses available. The adapter itself for sure needs very little juice, nothing near what the focus motors consume. No, I am sure it is a bug because it was very fast just after loading the firmware, but then slowed down once the lens was "registered" with the adapter.
 
Binoseeker said:
Jules,

Have you possibilities to make similar tests with the Mk II as Dan did with the Mk I and canon 400 + TC, or sigma C, and MB, and while pointing the lens at a, for example, white surface like a ceiling/wall, measure time for the focus moving from 0 m to infinity and back? It is interesting to see if the Mk II can give increased focus speed with MB compared to Mk I....

TIA,
Anders
Click to expand...

I have sold the Canon 400mm. With the Pana/Leica 400mm, focusing time cannot be measured, it is too fast. The lens was already focusing fast with the E-M1 MK I, and it it focuses even faster with the Mk II.
 
Jules, ok.
Have you tried the mk II with older FT-lenses?

Dan,
I think the mft is an open standard, if so the electrical interface between the lens and camera body is known to Metabones, but not the interface between Canon lens and Canon camera body, that needs reverse engineering 😀
 
Binoseeker said:
Jules, ok.
Have you tried the mk II with older FT-lenses?

Dan,
I think the mft is an open standard, if so the electrical interface between the lens and camera body is known to Metabones, but not the interface between Canon lens and Canon camera body, that needs reverse engineering 😀
Click to expand...

I only have MFT lenses and the Skywatcher 600mm scope now. I have sold both the Canon 400mm and the Metabones adapter. Who wants a scope and the goodies that go with it ?
 
That is right, although "open standard" is, from what I have read, not all that open and there are many little secrets that the manufacturers keep to themselves. The real problem as I see it is to translate the commands from the body into a language the lens understands, and vice-versa. It for sure has its limits, which is why C-AF is not likely to ever be a real option.
 
Very first shots while trying out my new E-M1 Mark II. B :)
100% crops. They were all pretty high up. ;)
Canon 400+1.4x.
P1015943.jpg P1015974.jpg P1015983.jpg

First impressions quite positive.
More later...
 
I like! In fact, so far there is nothing about it I don't like.
Here from 50 meters out my window with the Canon 400 + 2x Extender.
P2210110-2.jpg
121 cross type AF points with an f/11 lens! Eat your heart out, Canon.8-P
 
Dan, nice photo :)

Have you tried search times with the Mk II and canon 100/400 at 400mm with and without Ext 2x ?

If changing focus area, will that affect search times?

If pointing the lens to the sky or putting on lens cap, will you get different search times?

Do you get smooth or erratic movement during the search tests?
 
Don't have the 100-400 II now. It belongs to a friend who is on vacation in Guatemala at the moment. My new 400/5.6 is even sharper than the zoom, so I am not so interested in it any more. Let's face it, for birds, zooms will get stuck on the long end most of the time anyway, so why sacrifice clarity? Sure, the Panaleica 100-400 might focus much faster, but I have not been at all impressed with its sharpness at 400mm. The Canon is a different story, far superior at 400mm and takes TCs well.

For search timing I point the lens at the sky or at a plain wall or something with no detail. Haven't tried with a lens cap. The movement is smooth unless there is some sort of detail along the way to distract the system. Changing the focus area has no effect on the search speed, but can effect the actual focus when the phase detect senses something to lock onto.

Olympus is obviously more interested in developing their new line of Pro lenses than somehow making the old FT lenses work on newer bodies. It is called progress.... not that progress is always that good. I am hoping they will improve on it with firmware updates, but I am not that sure they will or even want to. These cameras will never be able to keep up with DSLRs with older lenses in terms of focus speed, but they make up for it in accuracy.
 
Maybe the Metabones is the weak link controlling search times.

People with FT camera and lenses might take the step over to mFT if the FT lenses can be used if they start by buying a used E-M1 Mk I, then if they think that this combination works great, they might want to update to even better lenses, and then after using them, they might want to upgrade to E-M1 Mk II etc....but maybe Panasonic has realised this and offers this good FT-lens performance with the GH5 so people start buying into that mark instead.....
 
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Metabones the weak link? Not so sure because the FT lenses behave very much the same way. I think it is the nature of the new PD-AF system. It has its clear advantages, but some disadvantages that might still get worked out.
 
Concerning Metabones it might be the weak link when restricting Info and power to the Canon lens.

The GH5 seems to have only contrast detection so it will probably work even worse than the E-M1 mk ll when equipped with FT-lenses, unless they have some trick up their sleve.
 
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