Review Same scene with 5iii and G9

[saladin]

Not meant to be a shootout, but I'm currently giving a lot of thought to getting an S5 and as part of that I'm considering consolidating down onto a (physically ) small Mft kit to free up funds. Which prompted me to shoot the G9 and 5iii back to back.

40-150 pro with 1.4TC. Both are jpegs from camera, a preset border and minor contrast/detail added in snapseed to both. Full scene evaluative metering. The G9 chose a slightly faster ss.
Both focused on front tulip. I didn't quite frame them the same.

5iii shot in "natural" with -1,+1,+1 tone curve.
G9 shot in "Standard" with -1,+1 tone curve.

Lots of shade in the scene, sunlight coming from right of camera. The major difference seems to be in the warmth/white balance chosen by the camera's.

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[amp]

Seems to me that the G9 image is better exposed. It might have to do with there being less of whatever it is at the top of the image, maybe a body of water. Irregardless, the both look good out of the camera.
Curious, what are your thoughts?

 

[retiredfromlife]

I like the second one a bit better, the OOF areas and colour appeal more to my liking.
If you were thinking letting one go based on the results it would be a hard choice

 

[Egregius V]

If you like the saturation in the G9 image, try the Olympus in Vivid mode.

I think the Olympus image shows better color gradation in the red petals. The differences in hue are typical of the two brands, IMO.

The G9 used a slightly lower exposure. Better highlight rendering, but maybe slightly underexposed. Neither image has much microcontrast in the highlights. I think the Oly. image shows a bit more detail in the midtones.

 

[saladin]

The background is a roadway.

In this particular shot, I prefer the G9 colours. But the Oly looks slightly retrofilm, desaturated a bit which I also like in isolation. I think I have the "keep warm colours" turned off in the Oly.

I think the raw files could probably be made to look identical quite easily. I doubt there's any difference in the sensor outputs.

 

[saladin]

The differences in hue are typical of the two brands, IMO.

Agreed. And sometimes one works better than the other in particular situations. I don't think there's a hard rule on it.

 

[994]

After I read it and before I got to the pics, I immediately thought "the Oly will have cooler color temp" and it did not disappoint. I find in general, Panny's approach towards warmer tones, which I prefer. But there are other reasons to shoot between the two, and Oly is overall so controllable, I would think you could get the Oly to default to a warmer WB if you wanted.

Do you usually shoot jpg?

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

First thing I did when I got the E-M5iii was adjust the post processing +1 sharpness, -1 contrast, and “low” for the noise filter. I got that tip from here, and I liked the SooC JPGs so much more. I think when you get to SooC JPG comparisons, a lot comes down to settings like those, as well as the tone curve.

 

[saladin]

If you were thinking letting one go based on the results it would be a hard choice

It would indeed. Fortunately, the decision would probably be made based on compactness, since the S5 would be G9 size but with bigger sensor. The complicating factor is that the G9 is a great handling camera and better for sports, lol.

I'm even having a hard time emotionally with the idea of selling my K1, even though I rarely use it, lol.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Just curious, what about the S5 is calling you? Familiarity but in FF?

 

[saladin]

Yes. Mainly that it's no bigger than the G9, bigger sensor and attendant IQ benefits. And just coz, lol. I don't really need it if I'm honest.

The S1 was simply too big for me to be interested, but I like how Pana do things.

Huge chance that none of this happens. Knowing me, I'll sell something and then buy an Oly100-400 instead!!


Edit: The other factor in all of this is what I'll term "beware the one gun hunter" . I have quite a few camera's and it feels like i'm not doing justice to most, if not all of them . If i condense down to one or two for specific roles, I may (or may not!) become a better photographer.

 

[agentlossing]

Hint: using Panasonic standard JPEG profile, take the saturation down a couple notches. The results are lovely.

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[saladin]

just an idle thought. Purely for the exercise, perhaps i should do a mega comparison, lol? Between myself and my kids, I have access to quite a few MFT bodies!

Edit: More than quite a few! Em5iii, Em5i, Em5ii, GM5, PenF, GX8, G9, Gx800.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Yes. Mainly that it's no bigger than the G9, bigger sensor and attendant IQ benefits. And just coz, lol. I don't really need it if I'm honest.

The S1 was simply too big for me to be interested, but I like how Pana do things.

Huge chance that none of this happens. Knowing me, I'll sell something and then buy an Oly100-400 instead!!


Edit: The other factor in all of this is what I'll term "beware the one gun hunter" . I have quite a few camera's and it feels like i'm not doing justice to most, if not all of them . If i condense down to one or two for specific roles, I may (or may not!) become a better photographer.

I always feel like I need to limit myself to one camera. I spend too much as it is, and I’d likely just get confused in the moment over which body I was holding and miss the shot!

 

[speedy]

just an idle thought. Purely for the exercise, perhaps i should do a mega comparison, lol? Between myself and my kids, I have access to quite a few MFT bodies!

Edit: More than quite a few! Em5iii, Em5i, Em5ii, GM5, PenF, GX8, G9, Gx800.

I may have asked you previously, but how are you finding AF-C between the G9 DFD & 5III phase detect? Particularly on fast moving subjects. Not birds, but larger subjects such as people, cars, motorcycles etc etc etc. Any insight would be great.

 

[Mike Wingate]

The S5 seems to be a great all round camera. But keep your G9 for the longer lenses.

 

[drd1135]

Both seem quite good. The difference for me is small enough that I would pick based on the size or ergonomics or features. I'm also sure that the S5 would not leave you disappointed.

 

[RAH]

First thing I did when I got the E-M5iii was adjust the post processing +1 sharpness, -1 contrast, and “low” for the noise filter. I got that tip from here, and I liked the SooC JPGs so much more. I think when you get to SooC JPG comparisons, a lot comes down to settings like those, as well as the tone curve.

I'm not sure you have this correct, Randy, on the sharpness setting. I saved the portion of the thread where you and @John King were discussing the jpg settings for natural, and it reads as follows:
================
"Randy, as you are unfamiliar with Olympus cameras, the default settings for noise filter, sharpening, saturation, contrast and gradation are mostly too aggressive.
I set mine as follows:
noise filter = low
sharpening = -1
saturation = natural
contrast = -1 and
gradation = normal
Of course, set JPEG quality to LSF (large super fine).
Then adjust to taste ...
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Randy (Darmok N Jalad) replied:

Thanks, John. It took me forever to figure out that the settings for sharpening, contrast and graduation were buried under the Natural picture mode."
=============
I have set my camera to -1 on the sharpness, following this advice. That's TWO steps away from sharpness +1 you mentioned in this thread, so I would like to get this clarified, if possible.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I'm not sure you have this correct, Randy, on the sharpness setting. I saved the portion of the thread where you and @John King were discussing the jpg settings for natural, and it reads as follows:
================
"Randy, as you are unfamiliar with Olympus cameras, the default settings for noise filter, sharpening, saturation, contrast and gradation are mostly too aggressive.
I set mine as follows:
noise filter = low
sharpening = -1
saturation = natural
contrast = -1 and
gradation = normal
Of course, set JPEG quality to LSF (large super fine).
Then adjust to taste ...
-------------
Randy (Darmok N Jalad) replied:

Thanks, John. It took me forever to figure out that the settings for sharpening, contrast and graduation were buried under the Natural picture mode."
=============
I have set my camera to -1 on the sharpness, following this advice. That's TWO steps away from sharpness +1 you mentioned in this thread, so I would like to get this clarified, if possible.

I guess I tweaked mine based on how I post-process. I must have bumped my sharpness up to +1 sometime after. All I know is that I didn't like the default setting, and my point in this thread was more about how settings like these can affect the subtle differences when comparing JPGs.

 

[RAH]

I guess I tweaked mine based on how I post-process. I must have bumped my sharpness up to +1 sometime after. All I know is that I didn't like the default setting, and my point in this thread was more about how settings like these can affect the subtle differences when comparing JPGs.

OK, thanks for the clarification. I thought maybe you just made a typo, but yup, it's certainly good to decide for yourself what you like (unlike me, who slavishly does what I'm told! ). I had noticed in the past with my E-M10 models that anytime I compared their jpgs vs Canon jpgs, the Oly's were sharper, regardless of the lens. So I was kind of predisposed to thinking maybe I would cut back on it some. I do wonder if it's a moving target - I mean, maybe Olympus sets it differently for different models. I don't necessarily mean just the numbers (-1, etc), but perhaps the results of a 20MP sensor require different processing than the old 16. So I guess I should use my eyes some, huh...