Considering upgrade: Panasonic GH5II or Olympus EPL10?

Hi there wetpixel friends.

Ive been contemplating for month now which rig to get. I am a hobbyist at uwphoto and looking to get a better rig and keep my TG6 as back-up camera.

After numerous hours of research online and watching videos. Its now down to two choices for me. Either get the Olympus EPL10 AOI housing and camera or a Panasonic GH5/Ii rig with 8mm panasonic lens and 60mm olympus macro set up.

I frequent macro shots but I also have a Maldives Deep South Liveaboard in Feb 2023.

Going for Olympus EPL10 seems to be a more economical choice. Backscatter has pushed this model and I think its sound for an upgrade. Though my concern is the video capability, as I really want to capture also videos in low light, ambient lighting conditions. This is my biggest hesitation (especially for deep south) where I reckon ill be doing some dives with no lights.

I’m tempted to bite the bullet and go for the GH5. Obviously its a more expensive choice, though I am thinking that it has a lot more room for growth. It has great video quality especially in ambient light conditions. And i think its also better for macro compared to my TG6.

I have 2 YS-D2 strobes and set of video lights.

Are there other MFT models that’s worth to consider in my case? I

Keen on hearing everyone’s thoughts. Thanks a lot!

Zo

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The options you listed are a little bit apples and oranges.  The EPL-10 while it is a nice little rig only has the LCD screen to use, while the GH-5 allows using an viewfinder, which I think is always a better option for macro work and confirming things are in focus. 

I don't think there is huge amount to pick between m43 sensors, the improvements are incremental.   If you look at the noise performance the performance of the majority of the is really quite close, while the Olympus EM-1 MkII and OM-1 are about 1/2 - 2/3 stop better on noise by the tests.

The 8mm fisheye will be  a nice choice for still images, but doesn't seem to be a common choice for video work where you might be looking at the Panasonic 8-18 or even the 12-40 from olympus and will be wanting a 170/180mm dome to use with that, or using a WWL combination.  You may want to look at the options available to allow this with the EPL-10 setup.

As to other models it depends on how much video you are considering.  If you just want to string a few clips together most of the options will be fine I expect.  Panasonic is better known for video performance and Olympus more for stills, though most of the models have reasonable options for video.  If you are doing a lot of macro imaging you might benefit from the better AF in the Olympus EM-1 MkII/III bodies or the latest OM-1 body.

Regarding your strobes triggering them with the little accessory flash that comes with higher end Olympus models will be less problematic than using LED triggers.  S&S flashes can be fussy about triggering from LED sources.

On 6/29/2022 at 1:38 AM, ChrisRoss said:

The options you listed are a little bit apples and oranges.  The EPL-10 while it is a nice little rig only has the LCD screen to use, while the GH-5 allows using an viewfinder, which I think is always a better option for macro work and confirming things are in focus. 

I don't think there is huge amount to pick between m43 sensors, the improvements are incremental.   If you look at the noise performance the performance of the majority of the is really quite close, while the Olympus EM-1 MkII and OM-1 are about 1/2 - 2/3 stop better on noise by the tests.

T

The 8mm fisheye will be  a nice choice for still images, but doesn't seem to be a common choice for video work where you might be looking at the Panasonic 8-18 or even the 12-40 from olympus and will be wanting a 170/180mm dome to use with that, or using a WWL combination.  You may want to look at the options available to allow this with the EPL-10 setup.

As to other models it depends on how much video you are considering.  If you just want to string a few clips together most of the options will be fine I expect.  Panasonic is better known for video performance and Olympus more for stills, though most of the models have reasonable options for video.  If you are doing a lot of macro imaging you might benefit from the better AF in the Olympus EM-1 MkII/III bodies or the latest OM-1 body.

Regarding your strobes triggering them with the little accessory flash that comes with higher end Olympus models will be less problematic than using LED triggers.  S&S flashes can be fussy about triggering from LED sources.

I don't think there is huge amount to pick between m43 sensors, the improvements are incremental.   If you look at the noise performance the performance of the majority of the is really quite close, while the Olympus EM-1 MkII and OM-1 are about 1/2 - 2/3 stop better on noise by the tests.

that is not true and moreover not important. While SNR can be improved by software colors that are lost don't come back

The OM-1 is inferior for peak DR to previous generation sensor and the low light performance is not superior either.

On 6/28/2022 at 5:33 PM, Zow said:

 

Hi there wetpixel friends.

 

Ive been contemplating for month now which rig to get. I am a hobbyist at uwphoto and looking to get a better rig and keep my TG6 as back-up camera.

 

After numerous hours of research online and watching videos. Its now down to two choices for me. Either get the Olympus EPL10 AOI housing and camera or a Panasonic GH5/Ii rig with 8mm panasonic lens and 60mm olympus macro set up.

 

I frequent macro shots but I also have a Maldives Deep South Liveaboard in Feb 2023.

 

Going for Olympus EPL10 seems to be a more economical choice. Backscatter has pushed this model and I think its sound for an upgrade. Though my concern is the video capability, as I really want to capture also videos in low light, ambient lighting conditions. This is my biggest hesitation (especially for deep south) where I reckon ill be doing some dives with no lights.

 

I’m tempted to bite the bullet and go for the GH5. Obviously its a more expensive choice, though I am thinking that it has a lot more room for growth. It has great video quality especially in ambient light conditions. And i think its also better for macro compared to my TG6.

 

I have 2 YS-D2 strobes and set of video lights.

 

Are there other MFT models that’s worth to consider in my case? I

 

Keen on hearing everyone’s thoughts. Thanks a lot!

 

Zo

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I would say Panasonic GH5M2 currently is the best all rounder MFT camera that can do better low light, video and take good stills. 

This set up with a WWL-1 will cover most cases and with close up lenses also macro

On 6/28/2022 at 5:38 PM, ChrisRoss said:

The options you listed are a little bit apples and oranges.  The EPL-10 while it is a nice little rig only has the LCD screen to use, while the GH-5 allows using an viewfinder, which I think is always a better option for macro work and confirming things are in focus. 

The 8mm fisheye will be  a nice choice for still images, but doesn't seem to be a common choice for video work where you might be looking at the Panasonic 8-18 or even the 12-40 from olympus and will be wanting a 170/180mm dome to use with that, or using a WWL combination.  You may want to look at the options available to allow this with the EPL-10 setup.

 

So I have the EPL10 inside the AOI housing form Backscatter, I use the Panasonic 8mm fisheye and the Oly 60 &30mm macros. The biggest limiter with this camera and housing is the size of the port is a PEN style port, this means that the lens options are more limited. and by more limited that the only PRO lens you can use is the Oly 8mm F1.8.  That is not a super big deal for me with the EPL10 but when looking at the AOI housing for the EM1-3 it also uses the PEN size port and that makes me frustrated that I can not use a PRO lens on my PRO body.

Feel free to ask any questions and Ill try to answer them for you.