How Well Does My Camera Perform?

I was asked recently on a comment on one of my YouTube videos whether I would be prepared to share some RAW files so that the performance of my camera system can be assessed by others. The camera in question is the Olympus EM1 mk2, which I have owned since January 2019. I’ll be honest, had I been asked this question even six months ago I’d probably have declined. Not because of any inherent shortcomings in the camera system, but in my ability to get the best from it.

Of course, it’s important to remember that the camera body and its digital sensor are only part of the equation when it comes to creating RAW files. The quality of the lenses paired with it play a very large part in the process of gathering light into a digital file. Notwithstanding that, Olympus do have a very good reputation. So if their own lenses are paired with this micro 4/3rds body then, by and large, the results should be a reflection on the sensor’s abilities – and mine!

Now I’m going to make no comment on whether or not these images stack up as being any good, but I have selected them based on the fact that they would most certainly challenge any digital sensor, in terms of dynamic range and the potential to introduce noise into the image. What you see here are the finished images, in a relatively compressed JPEG format. Certainly not image files which I would send to a printer, but scaled for web use. And below is a link where you can download the RAW files and have a jolly good pixel peep. See if you can learn anything from them as to whether or not my particular choice of camera was a good one!

If asked, I would most certainly say that any compromises required of a smaller sensor format are most definitely liveable with in terms of what I want of a camera system. In that it needs to be extremely rugged and portable for my style of photography. Over the last 18 months I’ve given no thought whatsoever to switching to another format, and certainly no buyer’s remorse.

I have been far more interested in thinking about the locations that I’m going to reach with this system, and the images I want to create!