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2012-02-11 The OM-D E-M5 Sensor Mystery

Last Friday i had the chance to test my latest object of photographic desire: an Olympus OM-D E-M5. I honestly admitt that i was actually less interested in taking pictures than in finding out what the supposedly new sensor can achieve in terms of high ISO and DR, whether it is on par with or better as the E-P3 … AND last but not least who designed it and who builds it.

On Friday evening i actually considered dissassembling the camera, when my friend Catherine called me. She happens to be a kind of priestress of an ancient and forgotten cult and lives south of Munich in the middle of a beautiful area with lots of forrest, hills and small lakes. Catherine is really something special, not only because at 55 she looks even better than Madonna but also because she has the uncanny ability to learn things by simply touching them (works with human hands too) and she owns a crystal ball that – according to her – sometimes allows her to see the future as well as the present and the past.

Please don't read on if you feel offended by erotic photography and/or naked bodies or if you are under 16 years of age!

After exchanging the latest news, she told me that i should come and visit her because she had the strong feeling that i was up to a task where i might need her help. I am normally not into hocus pocus but in the end decided that i might give magic a try instead of running the risk of damaging the camera.

Cathy asked me to arrive not later than 11:30PM because she had planned for a small ritual at midnight and bring a bottle of red wine.

I packed my camera gear including the trusty old E-5 and FL 50R, grabbed my warmest coat, jumped in my car and drove southwards. When i reached Catherines home, i noticed that instead of freezing minus 20 degrees (C) and heaps of snow the temperature was closer to a mild plus 25. What an exceptionally nice surprise! Catherine was already waiting in front of her house, wrapped in nothing but a thin white sheet and i started to feel slightly hot and uncomfortable in my duvet coat. I must have given her a startled look because, she explained to me that for her rituals she never wears anything else but 100% pure cotton from chemical pesticide free and genetically unmodified plants to avoid any negative influence.

Then she asked me to follow her, because it was getting late.

After a short walk we arrived at a small and shallow lake that was surrounded by ancient trees. Whisps of fog were dancing on it’s surface. Catherine started to pray? or meditate and after a short time the air arround her seemed to move and strange rune-like symbols started to appear. I decided that i absolutely had to take a picture, hoping that i would not disturb her.

EXIF: Olympus EM-5, mZD 12-50: 50mm, F5@1/100s, ISO3200

After a while, Catherine asked me to give her the camera for a ritual bath. I was puzzled, because i had not told her yet that she was supposed to find answers to the many open questions regarding the E-M5 sensor. I assumed that the weatherproof housing would survive a short bath (my E-3 and E-5 both already did) but had my doubts about the 45/1.8, mounted the 12-50 kit lens instead, handed over the cam and kept my fingers crossed that i would not have to return a leaked camera on the next day.

Cathy sat down in the shallow water, placed the camera in front of her and started a strange chant that reminded me a bit of the elfs in the lord of the rings movies. Suddenly the circle of runes shimmered in the water around her and strange bubbles and sparks appeared around the E-M5. I didn’t trust my eyes and took a picture of this strange scene with my E-5.

EXIF: Olympus E-5, ZD 12-60/2.8-4.0: 29mm, F3.5@1/80s, ISO1600

When the circle of runes stared to fade, Catherine came out of the water, carrying the camera and told me that is was now time to return to her home and look into her magic sphere. On the way i explained to her, what kind of information i was interested in.

I told her that i need to know:

  • who designed the sensor of the camera
  • who builds it
  • if this a completely new sensor or just a new generation of an existing sensor
  • if the sensor is used in any other known camera
  • how many EVF is the improvement regarding high ISO
  • how big is the improvement of DR compared to the E-P3

She gave me a sceptical look and said: “Well, from what i can see and feel, this is a very nice camera with a lot of interesting features. And it just survived a bath.

How do the answers to those questions influence your style of photography and the resulting pictures? I cannot imagine that you are really unhappy with the performance of your Olympus cameras, i mean you are still using them and when people look at your pictures, they never think about the sensor or the camera you used to shoot them. Isn’t it much more important that you like the look and feel and the handling of the camera?"

I told her that thousands of people are currently wasting their time fighting virtual battles over the answers and the resulting consequences and that we could end all the speculation and the fighting by providing those answers. She said “OK, if this is all it takes to establish peace in the world of Olympus photographers, let’s see what i can find out.”

Meanwhile we had arrived at her home, opened a nice bottle of Amarone and then Cathy exchanged the camera with her blue magical sphere and started to concentrate. She wanted to begin with the question regarding the DR improvement. Sparks of light started to appear around the ball and i used the opportunity to take another picture, this time using ISO 1600 and the Dramatic Tone Filter with Starlight effect. I have to say that the shutter is realy silent when compared to the E-5.

Here you can see her with her magical sphere.

EXIF: Olympus E-M5, m.ZD 45/1.8: 45mm, F2@1/100s, ISO1600

After a while, she suddenly said: “Increased by 1/3

I replied: “1/3 compared to what???

She told me, that it was not clear to her if one third was related to the logarithmical nature of aperture … or to the decimal value used to describe the DR. She was sure that there is an improvement that ranges between 1/3EV and a decimal value of almost 14 compared to the E-P3. I was a bit dissapointed and we decided that she should try to find out something about the high ISO improvement.

Cathy didn’t look into her sphere but on the camera i was holding in my hand and asked me to check this for myself since i had already taken 2 pictures. I zoomed in the last picture and did a mental comparison between what i was seeing here and what i remembered from the E-P3 and E-5. There seems to be an improvement but i’d have to take 2 identical pictures under the exactly same conditions to tell you how much.

The next thing she told me is: “The sensor is designed by Olympus and they consider it as new in terms of not used in any other Olympus camera.”

I asked her if the sensor was used in a non Olympus Camera, and she said: “All i can see is that this specific sensor is not used in any other camera. I do not receive any information about sensor generations, i.e. the sensor might be completely new or an improved and/ or redesigned version of an existing one. Since i do not receive information about existing predecessors, i simply cannot tell you more. Let me concentrate on the manufacturer and characteristics now”.

Cathy was silent for at least 10 minutes and then she started to murmur: “Panasonic … Not Panasonic … Aptina … Fuji … Sigma … Canon … Sony … Toshiba … TrueSense …hmmmm … P3 … GX1 … GH2 … G3 … NEX7 … D800 … K01 … V1 … 16.1 … 16.9 … 120 … 240 … 60i … 30p … hmmmm …

There simply is too much noise, probably caused by all those people thinking and discussing about this sensor. The signals are confusing, i am receiving about as much confirmation that it is a Panasonic sensor as signals that it is NOT a Panasonic sensor. It could also be manufactured by one of the other Sensor Providers like Aptina, Sony, Samsung, Sigma, Canon or Kodac. I would not rule them out. Sorry but this is all i can say about the manufaturer. Regarding the characteristics, the sizes (16.1/16.9) are unique but this might be related to a different number of edge pixels being not used. But i’m sure that it is not a true multi format sensor. The read out speed is higher than in the other sensors matching size wise, i.e. either it is a new architecture allowing higher read out speed or this is highly sophisticated tweaking. The video rates do not help us at all, because there is nothing special about them. I am really sorry, but i am affraid, that i cannot answer your questions.

Let’s drink another glass of wine and let me play a bit with this camera. I really like the way it looks and feels and i think i’m going buy it for myself.

I was probably looking a bit dissapointed because she gave me back the cam and said: “Stop thinking about the sensor and simply take some more pictures before you return it. If you like the pictures, everything is OK and you can pre-order, if not, you don’t have to buy it. But i’m pretty sure that you will pre-order within the next 30 days.

Although i didn’t like her conclusion i have to admitt that somehow she is right. It was getting rather late anyway and i went home with 3 pictures on my cards that i like pretty much. And even though the E-M5 sensor is still a mystery, at least i now have a story and three pictures to share. Hope you like them, acahaya