D610 or Olympus OMD EM1 help

Hello everyone. I just got the OMD EM1 as an upgrade to my Olympus E-PL5 but now I'm thinking I should have got either the 7100 or 610. I like to shoot nature and landscape with some portraits here or there. I only use 50mm (25mm F1.8 on Olympus) so size isn't a major concern although it is nice the Olympus is small.

for the d610 I'd be after the 50mm 1.4 for now with a zoom to follow later. The reason I'm thinking d610 is low light and better image quality. I shoot manual and JPEG+Raw using the light meter as a ballpark to adjust my shutter/ISO/aperture.

ps...this is a hobby of mine only, but I am very fussy on image quality above everything else. Never used full frame, but had an older dslr years ago. Any opinions/help?

It's a no brainer. If you are going to be after the best IQ, then the D610 would be the camera to go with. The olympus would make a nice travel/back-up camera.

Thanks. I'd love to have the EM1 as a travel camera and D610 as play, but unfortunately my budget is buy one camera to cover absolutely everything. travel, walks, family, pets, etc. The EM1 fits that bill perfectly due to size, but i'm slightly frustrated the 25mm 1.8 (50mm equivalent) isnt as sharp as I was hoping. Thats why i'm thinking fullframe 50mm 1.4 would give low light and probably be very sharp at F2.0

This is a personal choice and i selected the 610. Two weeks after purchasing it, i took it to France along with two lenses for two full weeks of sightseeing. I found the weight of the camera to be a non-issue, using the 24-85 kit lens along with a 50mm lens. A week after returning to NY, my wife and i travelled to Arizona and again i took the 610 along with a rented 16-35/f4, and my 24-85. When i went hiking, i took the ultra-wide and the kit lens. The camera was not a problem, indeed, it felt just right to me. I had considered mirrorless cameras, including the Olympus, Sony and Fuji. I think i made the right choice FOR ME at this time. You will just need to figure this one out in relation to your needs and desires. IF you want the best image quality, go for Nikon with high quality lenses. Regardless, cameras have gotten so good now. I am amazed at the 610's quality and how the images remind me of film. They have a feel and depth to them that i cannot explain other than to say i am very satisfied with what i have done - despite real weaknesses in my knowledge and technique! good luck.

D610

Can't comment on the Olympus at all no experience with that camera. But in May I bought a D610 after much agonizing over the FX question, it was either the D7100 or D610. In the end it was my dear wife's comment that I should not "settle" and get the one I really wanted. (She also was tired of my constant camera chatter) Keep in mind FX lenses also cost more than DX usually. I've only bought one new FX lens ($500 for a 60mm Nikkor) when I bought the camera. But I've added a few used ones bought on line ($100-$150) and am able to use Nikkor lenses I had on my F60 35mm Nikon.

If you can afford it go for the D610.

This is an interesting comparison

[url]http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D7100-vs-Olympus-OM-D-E-M1[/URL]

Is it possible to hire a D610 for a week to try it out on the subjects you shoot regularly?

I used to own Olympus DSLRs and the forum I used to frequent had many OM users posting outstanding quality images, is it possible that you have a "bad" lens?

The omd em1 is definitely capable of amazing images, but the real area of disappoint is with any cropping it degrades quality alot. Other will argue it's great but I don't know if I expected more or I just think the d610 will be better. It seems to me the closer I am the better the omd works. Some landscape that I'm a little further away lacks punch and clarity, and I'm not talking far away.

This weekend I'm going to cottage, going to take the omd and do some final testing. Honestly though, I think my mind is made up to get d610 with 50mm 1.8 and in future add a zoom that goes up to 300 mm.

Low light at an aquarium really disappoint me as well with iso 1600 f1.8

You would be making the right choice if you were to buy the D610. If you are all about IQ, it's a no-brainer. If you wanted to haul 15 tons of gravel, what would you use, a pick-up truck or a dump truck? Pretty easy decision. To bad you can't keep the Oly though.

traceyjj said:

Is it possible to hire a D610 for a week to try it out on the subjects you shoot regularly?
Yes you can rent them. From places like Lens Rental or similar places.
I used to own Olympus DSLRs and the forum I used to frequent had many OM users posting outstanding quality images, is it possible that you have a "bad" lens?

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Yes you can rent from place's like lens rental or similar places.

For low light I've found that cranking the ISO up to 3200 or higher produces acceptable quality images on the D610 - careful cropping a small section of the image and blowing it up but overall the image quality is good at 3200 and that usually gets me enough light - but never tried it in an aquarium. I have tried photography while visiting a major aquarium (New Orleans) before I had my D5100 never mind my D610 and the Fuji I had at the time was not up to the task. Lighting is tricky and I'm sure there are special technique to get the best shots in an aquarium.

well after a weekend away with the EM1, it was returned today for the D610 with 50mm 1.8G lens. Only taken 20 pictures as still gotta charge battery, and haven't even played with setting yet and all i can say is wow. ISO 1600, inside, with a crop and its clear. I couldn't do that with EM1 and 25mm 1.8. Thanks everyone, this is more camera than i need, so i've got alot of room to grow with this set-up.

A zoom to follow later on, something basic up to 300mm.

Always overkill said:

well after a weekend away with the EM1, it was returned today for the D610 with 50mm 1.8G lens. Only taken 20 pictures as still gotta charge battery, and haven't even played with setting yet and all i can say is wow. ISO 1600, inside, with a crop and its clear. I couldn't do that with EM1 and 25mm 1.8. Thanks everyone, this is more camera than i need, so i've got alot of room to grow with this set-up.

A zoom to follow later on, something basic up to 300mm.

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Now you have a camera that will work for you, not a toy camera that is too tiny to be stable.

Always overkill said:

The omd em1 is definitely capable of amazing images, but the real area of disappoint is with any cropping it degrades quality alot.

Click to expand...

I realize I'm fairly late to the party seeing as how you wound up with the D610. But, as a former Oly shooter myself (last body was the EM-5 before I threw in the towel), I can say you made a great choice. Cropping was never a problem for me. The biggest problem was with the dynamic range of the pre-16mp body sensors. While they did improve on that with the 16mp sensors, I found that if I made even slight adjustments to sharpening that the result would be this bizarre mottled looking texture all over the place. My first trip out with the D600 & challenging conditions involving dynamic range was simply a fantastic experience. No more blown anything, no more pitch black shadows, sharpening to my heart's content, etc. I think you will be quite amazed with what the Nikon can do for you.

NVSteve said:

I realize I'm fairly late to the party seeing as how you wound up with the D610. But, as a former Oly shooter myself (last body was the EM-5 before I threw in the towel), I can say you made a great choice. Cropping was never a problem for me. The biggest problem was with the dynamic range of the pre-16mp body sensors. While they did improve on that with the 16mp sensors, I found that if I made even slight adjustments to sharpening that the result would be this bizarre mottled looking texture all over the place. My first trip out with the D600 & challenging conditions involving dynamic range was simply a fantastic experience. No more blown anything, no more pitch black shadows, sharpening to my heart's content, etc. I think you will be quite amazed with what the Nikon can do for you.

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So far very impressed. I've set ISO to max 3200, and auto so I adjust shutter and aperature only for now. makes taking very high quality pics easy. and your right, super sharp. F1.8 is actually very narrow focused now, not nearly as much on the EM1. With the EM1 almost everything was F1.8 - F2 to try and get the right DOF, now it takes some thought. Much preferred. I'm still playing around getting used to it, but really looking forward to a walk in a park to compare, but so far zero regrets going FF