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New EVIL camera, - classic design?


janki

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I am surprised there has not been some comment here on the Olympus OM-D now that it has been actually released, since it claims to be revolutionary and groundbreaking. How might it compare with a (still hypothetical) Leica mirrorless camera?

 

OLYMPUS OM-D | Olympus Imaging

 

I think the two main types of EVIL cameras are rangefinder- and SLR-style. It is annoying when the Fuji X100 is listed as "a rangefinder camera" when it is nothing of the sort. The Olympus has an EVF not a pentaprism/pentamirror bump.

 

There really was, incidentally, an Olympus OM-G (aka OM-20).

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I don't know - it doesn't do it for me.

 

Half sized sensor; the retro prismatic shaped viewfinder and proportions of a mirror box strike me as being a bit contrived. I guess you can level the same criticism at the M9, but I don't feel the same way about that camera.

 

I get the feeling that we are not (yet) at the stage where form follows function in a good way. The shape of the F3, F1, FM, OM-1, Pentax Spotmatic and following cameras were dictated by the film feed, shutter mechanism, the mirror box and prismatic view finder, all in a form which fitted the hands well.

 

For digital, the choices still seem odd - too small and fiddly compacts; over bloated Canon & Nikon offerings (which I find ridiculous); quaint retro designs like the OM-D and the Fujis; the ugly yellow thing from Pentax; and odd minimalist sensor holders with little ergonomics like the Sony Nex and the Ricoh GXR.

 

I rather hope that Leica comes up with a good solution - a modern classic.

 

Cheers

John

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and odd minimalist sensor holders with little ergonomics like the Sony Nex and the Ricoh GXR.

 

I find that only true for the Nex, the GXR has much better ergonomics than the M8 (at least that's my experience). The Nex, on the other hand, is really just a sensor/lens holder with hard plastic/non-textured magnesium feel, flat buttons (too few of them) and a touchscreen. The Nex feels like an iPhone without the Phone part. The GXR feels like a camera.

 

At least Olympus did something with that hump. it is filled with the EVF and gyro sensors. They could have made it a different outer form, or moved the EVF to the side, like the NEX-7 did. But why should they.

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Guest Holy Moly
and odd minimalist sensor holders with little ergonomics like the Sony Nex and the Ricoh GXR.

 

I rather hope that Leica comes up with a good solution - a modern classic.

 

Cheers

John

 

beware - Leica lost the opportunity (based on the M5 experience) to create a modern classic.

Now in cold wintertimes we see that the small battery of the M9 is the source of problems and the tiny X1 is so much a baby-barnack that additional grips and other stuff has to be added (for money).

 

Concerning the GXR I have the feeling that you never dived into the possibilities of this cam.

With the M mount it's possible to file for a lot of lens datas and lens-corrrections for which Leica M8 users are crying for more than 6 years and M9 users have to work with a third party software like Cornerfix.

The GXR is the only compact camera which allows you to store your data-base onto the SD card - a feature only NiCan offers to their 1 digit pro-systems.

 

So, it's better to look and judge not only by feeling......

 

For me the OMD hump isn't so attractive but the built in finder is great.

Concerning the internal properties the Oly is way beyound the other Evils, look at the terrific AF speed, the multi directional anti-vibration-system or the new bulb-mode.....

 

That the cam and lens is rain and dust protected is a feature that Leicas miss since more than 60 years...or longer and didn't offer for the co called digital pro Ms.

 

So, don't judge a book by it's cover.....:rolleyes:

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beware - Leica lost the opportunity (based on the M5 experience) to create a modern classic.

Now in cold wintertimes we see that the small battery of the M9 is the source of problems

The size (I suspect you mean capacity?) has very little to do with it. It is just that the battery cools down very quickly in a smallish all-metal body like the M9. A large capacity battery would only give you a few shots more. The high energy need of a CCD does not help matters either.

The answer is of course to use proper cold-weather technique. Keep the camera under your jacket and keep a warm battery in your pocket to rotate with the battery in the camera.

 

As for the M5 - I advise you to read Erwin Puts on the matter. He argues rather convincingly that it was not camera size or shape that caused the lack of success of the camera as popular lore will have it, but the attempt to go counter to the downward spiral of rangefinder photography at the time.

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I don't know - it doesn't do it for me.

 

; and odd minimalist sensor holders with little ergonomics like the Sony Nex and the Ricoh GXR.

 

 

 

Cheers

John

 

The GXR's ergonomics are among the best of any camera out there. I actually prefer the GXR over my M9 for shooting heavy or long lenses, at least as far as ergonomics are concerned.

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