I own the E-M1 and can guarantee that you missed something in your AF settings to get 0% tracking. What was your AF lock menu setting in the autofocus menu (off, low, normal or high), was your Release Priority in the drive menu "on" or "off", were you using AF-C or AF-C tracking, were you in low burst or high burst drive mode? The E-M1's performance will vary greatly with different combinations of the above settings. When set correctly, the camera tracks very well, especially now with the firmware 3.0 update. Once the camera locks on, it tends to track well if the above settings are set correctly. Regretfully, Olympus does not think it too important to explain these settings and one must learn through trial and error. For best results, use AF-C center focus point without tracking as object tracking does not keep up well with subject movement for critical focus. Secondly, release priority should be set to On. This enables you to release the shutter when you obtain confirmation of focus without the camera being able to override your decision until it thinks it has achieved focus. There is some delay between when the camera shows you attained focus versus when it decides to release the shutter. This allows you to release the shutter faster when you see visual confirmation of focus lock. Depending on the subject and its movement, you may also want to set AF lock to either Off (quickly switching to a new subject) or High (maintains subject focus lock longer before switching to a new subject). Lastly I assume you used low burst mode for tracking as he high mode (before v3.0) locked focus and exposure on the initial shutter release and kept those settings for the remainder of the burst without changing focus. To reiterate, there is no way your E-M1 performed so poorly as to score 0% on tracking unless you had a defective body/lens or inadvertently had some combination of settings that caused the poor result. I blame Olympus and not you. Getting your camera to autofocus correctly should not be this difficult.
i agree with this im looking into buying an oly em1 m1 right now to replace my fuji x-t1 purely because of the lens availability and lens prices for the MFT system compared to Fuji! I have been all over the dpreview forums etc and have seen some incredible action sequences from the EM1 M1 when used with the correct AF settings for tracking/action shots.
I'm not particularly interested in buying either camera, but I still enjoy watching your reviews just for gaining general information and the fact that you're by far the most hands-on, thorough reviewer I've seen on UA-cam, or anywhere else. Kudos!
Very nice redo. I really appreciate you taking the time to revisit this review. The original video was just such a stark contrast to other reviews out there. This clears everything up and I'm looking forward to my Fuji XT1 purchase. :o)
Hi Tony, thank you for you thorough review. I recently purchased the Fuji X100s and after watching this review i questioned why the bracketing options only went up to 1 Stop as well. after watching this video it all makes sense. X100 - Shooting a 7 bracket HDR it simply takes 3 exposures based on what you select in the menu and what you have manually dialled in. e.g manually set 2 on the dial and set the option for +/ 1 in the drive settings, hold down the shutter release and the camera will take 3 shots (-3 -2 -1), dial in +2 comp and do the same for +3 +2 +1 and then dial in +/-0 for one shot and there you have your 7 Brackets for HDR. Simple but not clearly explained in the manual. Maybe you have already figured it out, but just in case anyone else doesn't know this is how it can be done.
Heya, Michael. Yep, that's definitely the best workaround. In practice, though, the act of changing the exposure compensation dial and pushing the shutter again definitely changes handheld compositions a bit, making it significantly more difficult to do hand-held HDR. Most people probably don't care, but that's a tool Chelsea and I use pretty constantly with travel, landscape, and night photography.
Fair point I like to use a tripod when I can but your right sometimes you just don't have the opportunity and this would cause issues having to hand hold.
I watched the original video, never questioned the results. I just finish watching this video.. It was refreshing to see someone double check there results.. I just subscribed. Good going and hope to see many great videos in the future.
I was very critical of the previous review of the X-T1, and this is way, way better. Definitely appreciate the time it took to re-test and listening to reviewers. Having said that, I think the strength of the Fuji X-T1 is when using it in manual mode (in combination with the back button focus) if you're not shooting action. I even prefer manual for portraits. It's simply the quickest way to handle this camera. There's no doubt that the Fuji has its quirks. But in my opinion you're more likely to run in to those quirks if you're in "auto" everything mode. In full manual it's simply an amazing creative tool. If that's not what you want there are plenty of other great mirrorless cameras to choose from.
Hey Tony and Chelsea. Just wanted to say I really appreciate the added work you've put in for this re-review. To me, it truly demonstrates your sincerity in sharing real, honest reviews and that you're not afraid to admit when you've made a mistake and to top it off, you're willing to listen to the audience and put in the added time and effort to give us the right information in the end. Many thanks. This vid made me a subscriber. =)
Hi Tony, I was following up your reviews for a while, i really appreciate your style overall, and such amendments shows how fair you are.. good luck with everything..
awesome as always. Not many (or any that I can recall) go back to amend a review. Its nice to know that it has the capability to focus a lot faster. As a big fan of the x100 it kinda sucks that you have to learn how to tweak the camera before you can get the most out of the AF. I would of thought they would of led with the AF on their latest and greatest :( Your original review still has some merit for people who buy it flat out and are technologically impaired :) . Great stuff though, keep it up!
Great update! Glad you got the AF on the Fuji sorted. That explains why the Oly ate more battery in the initial test, as well. I have owned a number of Olys, and know to keep extra fresh batteries on hand because that's just how they are. I've liked the performance so much, the battery thing doesn't bother me- unless I miss a shot! Thanks for the update!
I had both cameras and prefer the em1 way more then the xt1. Everything about the em1 feels way more refined, only thing I'm missing about the Fuji cameras is the I so performance. The em1 is so damn easy to use!!
Yeah, I totally agree, David. I'm shocked that everyone seems to dismiss my usability concerns with the Fuji... For everything except image quality and tracking quick moving subjects, the E-M1 is the better camera. Micro four-thirds has a far better lens selection (with lower prices), too.
im currently looking at either of these as i want something that is capable but compact, hell the EM-1 appears to be absolutely useless at taking a picture of a moving object though!?!?! i was actually suggested this camera as one of the better/best Micro Four Thirds cameras to shoot moving objects?!?!
I liked both reviews. I'm quite invested in Fuji, but I think your comments were very fair and I enjoyed the reviews. My old Panasonic GH1 was so much more simple to use, but I like the quirkiness of the Fuji and especially the image quality. The macro mode issue is always annoying, agreed.
Tony, now that both Fuji and Oly have updated these bodies with firmware, it would be interesting to see the same comparison re-done. I am getting fantastic Birds in Flight results with my E-M1 now. You have to have it in CAF & High Speed and then it will use the phase detect.
You guys (and Girls) are great. Awesome follow-up! If only more reviewers were as honest as y'all are. To go back and re-review due to your readers is commendable. Thanks!
Don Parrot Great pictures, and cute dogs! I shot with both C-AF and C-AF + Tracking and got similar results. Looking at your pictures, I the different lens certainly makes a difference, but i'll add that I would have counted many (and maybe most) of those pictures as out-of-focus. I was pretty selective and looked very closely at each picture to verify the placement of the focal plane. I think I mentioned in the video that if you used different standards you might have been happy with many of the Olympus shots.
It would be nice, for the sake of a fair comaprison between the OMD EM1 and the X-T1, an update of the review regarding the C-AF of the m4/3 after the new firm 3.0 has recently released improving this aspect of the Olympus. That would provied the same treatment as the X-T1 which was updated and re-reviewed with very good results.
There seems to be a common theme running through most Fuji X-T1 reviews and it surprises me no one has picked up on it. The X-T1 has been built with a very 'focused' design, namely everything is controllable by the user. With this kinda of design I'd not expect it to respond correctly when not in a chosen mode. In particular manual vs auto focus, Although some Canon lenses do let you manual focus without moving the AF switch,many do not. With the X-T1 it's front switch gets you between single, continuous and manual. Now while this may at times seem like a PITA, it does follow a consistent design paradigm. Seems we just need to get out of the 'do everything easy,read my mind' design of other less manulay controllable cameras. My 1st SLR was Canon A-1, other than AF and video, both systems seem quite purposeful in design and not difficult to use once controls/menus are understood; with the X-T1 obviously being more complicated/sophisticated..
Tony, People on UA-cam can be very unreasonable. I am very impressed by how profesional you handled all the criticism. Going in depth with the arguments made and actually pointing some of them as true which meant you were actually a bit off. An truly rare sight these days. Most people have their ego's in their way. Therefore thank you for this revisit of these mirrorless.
First, hah. Tony I just wanted to say this is a nice comparison. But I also wanted to let you know the Olympus E-M1 will not use it's phase detect AF without an older Four Thirds lens. So you're essentially comparing the phase detect on the XT-1 against the Contrast AF of the E-M1. Still the E-M1 seems to do alright considering. Thanks for the rematch.
I do mention the contrast vs phase focusing difference with these native lenses... and that definitely showed with faster movement, but I was also surprised at how well the E-M1 did with very slow movement despite its lack of phase detection.
Tony Northrup E-M1 use only Contrast AF with mFT lenses and single focus, but switch to a combination of contrast and phase also for mFT when set to focus tracking. Olympus have as far as I know not given any details about the algorithms used to combine both types of focusing.
Svein Eriksen Interesting I wish Olympus was a little more clear with their specs. Personally I ended up buying the E-P5 as a compliment to my Nikon DSLR rather than trying to replace it with the E-M1. The Pen comes with a lens too for same price as E-M1 body only. I've enjoyed it so far.
Thanks for the update video. I have an X100S that I really like but I find the AF to be a bit slow. I'm going to try using the settings you suggested in this video with my X100S to see if that helps with the AF speed. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, for me the difference was shocking. Be sure to grab any applicable firmware updates, too. Fuji really needs to make their default settings more aggressive; as you saw in my first video, using the camera straight out of the box was a really frustrating experience... and most photographers aren't on forums and UA-cam learning the ins-and-outs of their cameras like we are, so they just use those default settings forever.
Thank you so much! I have been trying to figure out which camera to invest in, and noticed when I tried both that the Fuji AF was not nearly as good as the Olympus. Thank you for digging out the performance improvements on the Fuji. Hoping someone does a great piece on the M mount and other glass....
Hi Tony and Chelsea, I have been your follower of your reviews. Thank you for sharing your views. I have invested in Nikon 2 bodies and quite a number of lenses. As much I would like to deny, DSLR is becoming heavier now and definitely four third cameras compensate to fill in the gap, if not all, but in general, in my opinion. Tried Fujifilm before, yet it seemed that their system lenses are quite expensive than four thirds. This is the reason I am more inclined to get into four thirds systems. With EM1, despite the non focused capture while running (fast moving subject) I could perhaps do away with it since I am not into sports/action photography at this time.If not EM1 (as second hand) I might get the EM10 brand new. Thank you once again. Wholesome couple :) High regards.
Tony, did you think to put the Olympus E-M1 into C-AF+TR (Continuous Tracking AF) mode. It uses phase-detection and contrast-detection AF in that mode and provides much more accurate autofocus, especially on large subjects such as a person.
Yes, it was in tracking AF mode. However, phase detection only works with Four Thirds (not micro four thirds) lenses... so it's basically contrast focusing only.
Tony Northrup Were you using Sequential L (6.5 fps) instead of Sequential H (10 fps) when you were shooting this sequence? Sequential H locks AF at the first frame, with no tracking, while Sequential L lets the camera use the AF tracking system.
Tony Northrup in AF-C it uses only PDAF no CAF... i did this running test an i have 80% succes (As Tony wrote - in Sequential H- 10pfs) in L only 10% :-D
Tony Northrup I am writing a book on the E-M1 currently and I would like to assure you that it does indeed use Phase-Detection autofocus (PDAF) and Contrast-Detection autofocus (CDAF) with a Micro Four Thirds lens, when you have the camera set to C-AF or CF-AF+TR modes (only). I am working closely with Olympus and have validated this fact with Japan. The camera uses PD-AF first and then does a CD-AF step to fine tune and conclude the AF operation.
Hi, first I want to thank you for the rematch. That's really noble of you... ;-) Some thoughts on the manual focus / shutter release "quirk". I guess the reason why one cannot manually focus while the shutter release is half pressed is that this would collide with the focus assist button on the back. If this button is pressed the camera zooms in on the focus area (by pressing the button longer, you can choose the prefered focus assist mode (peaking/split screen aso). Half pressing the shutter release reverts that. You are brought back to the normal view on the subject (not having the X-T1 yet, I have no clue what happens if one uses the dual mode though). I guess that's pretty reasonable. Why would you want to half press the shutter release, while handling the lens anyway? I would be way too "anxious" to accidently press it fully. (And of course you still can leave your finger on the release to be ready as soon as you aquired focus).
Of course there are quirks testing my patience as well...having been a X user since the X100, the one that sticks out most "persistently", probably would be "macro mode". Why not make the camera switch automatically, based on the distance to the subject? (I have to add though that with my shooting style this isn't much of an issue - I guess I need macro mode for close to 0% of my shooting. ) Not being able to select focus points while face detection is on, would be more of an issue (still having the X-E1, so no face detection atm.) I haven't used bracketing on my Fujis. Mainly because I use other cameras for landscape photography (mainly my Sigma DP Merrills, which offer surprisingly decent bracketing options - still 3 images only, but +/- 3 EV in steps of 1/3. And for my Nikon I got the PromoteControl, a kick-ass HDR-timer...45 images, up to +/- 9 EV). But yes...better bracketing would be nice for the Fujis as well... The good news though: We are talking about Fuji here. Presumebly the only modern day Japanese camera manufacturer listening to their customers...So nothinh than couldn't be fixed by a firmware update...
Tony, very very nice comparison. What would be really helpful would be to go ahead and throw in a Nikon D7100 and a Canon 70d to see how well they track in comparison as I think people in this market would like to know how much better (or worse) a full fledged DSLR gives them in this regard.
You're in luck! We filmed this in the same conditions with two entry-level DSLRs: ua-cam.com/video/oHHLkHdInJET/v-deo.htmlhe DSLRs got 85-95% of the shots in focus, both walking and running. They have slower frame rates, but DSLRs definitely get far more pictures in focus... and the DSLRs we compared cost about half what the E-M1 and X-T1 cost.
Tony, I appreciate your reviews. I am trying to decide on my next camera, I love my X100s but wish I could change lens. I bought the a6000 but sold it because my fuji seemed to give me much better results... I feel the sad fact is one needs 3 cameras... GH4 for video XT-1 or E-M1 for photos and the A7S for low light. I recently was impressed with photos on the XT-1 over the A7R2, I wish I had your knowledge may be able to settle on one or two. I really want wifi control and I think the XT-1 is excellent. I am also shocked how well the GH4 and XT-1 hold there prices even at a few years old. I am impressed myself with the new fuji glass. How does the XT-1 do in low light with the 56 1.2 . Another large uneducated photography question of mine is I have this conception that a large aperture like 1.2 on the fuji may help it at low light,, I know it is more like F2 on full frame. I guess nothing can beat the A7S at low light. I wish one camera could do all of this.. GH4 video and touch screen, A7S low light, FUJI film like camera in a full frame. I have often thought about just buying a $5000 nikon body and going DSLR, I also feel mirrorless will eventually outperform DSLR in the future even on the higher end cameras. Many people have told me they went from MK53 to GH4 for video.. difficult choices out there. Thanks, for your videos.
+tvurk, We're holding on to it for now to see if it can train my fingers around all of its quirks :). I love it and hate it more than any other camera I've ever owned.
I thank you Tony for doing this review. It speaks volumes of your resolve as a professional photographer, reviewer and as a person. I appreciate all of your extra work on this, and can't thank you enough. As a side note, I was very much an idiot for acting foolishly (posting foolishly) and not giving your hard work you do on all of your videos the benefit of the doubt. Thank you again for clearing up the AF system info... quirkiness and all..:-) I am a fan of yours for life. Sincerely.
Tony Northrup Great update, thanks for doing it, this is one of the reasons I recoment this channel, many reviewer will not have gone into this, more so that it requieres a lot and it affects the battery
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Tony, great video! I am so much in doubt between the OMD EM10 (NOT 1 OR 5) and the FUJI XT1!!! I haven't been able to see either here in Rio, so it is difficult to 'guess' which one would fit better. My main doubt is: Oly is sooo much cheaper and (considerably) smaller than the XT1. But I do not like the 4:3 ratio and love the control buttons on Fuji. My most important factor though is IQ. If you tell me you can see a 15% difference in IQ using KIT LENSES (18-55 vs 14-42), that would be enough for me! From your video, the difference would be even a little more than that, but the OLY fans rave that the OLYS are sooo fantastic, as good as many full frames, that I am always in doubt. Please, help meeee!!! Thank you!!!
This video might help you: X-T1 vs E-M1 Mirrorless Comparison Review: Travel, Portraits, Sports, Night, Lens Adapters (the E-M10 has the same IQ as the E-M1).The Fuji has *far* less noise at the same ISO as the E-M10/E-M1. Re: sharpness, that's going to be determined by the lens that you get. There are some great, sharp micro four-thirds lenses for the E-M10, and you'd have like $700 or $800 extra in your pocket for lenses.They're both cool cameras. The E-M10 has size, lens selection, and in-body image stabilization (which means you can use primes). The X-T1 has lower noise, cool dials, and better AF for action.
Hi Tony... Stumbled across this video ...Great. Am a new fan. I was leaning towards a Nikon D750 to replace my old canon (and sell my canon lenses) but am seriously thinking of going mirrorless for ease of travel. Low light ability, image quality and HDR are important to me. I was narrowing it down to X-T1, GH4 and NX1. Had not thought about the E-M1 because I was lead to believe image quality was more lacking. Video is not terribly important to me. So the GH4 and Nx1 super video does not seem like a great need. I really want a great Stills Camera. My impression of the Gh4 and Nx1 was that they have good image quality but lag the Fuji in low light...(curious as to your thoughts about that as well) I was happy to see my concerns about X-T1 AF addressed in your review but then I noticed you talking about the autobracketing issues (which will more directly effect any HDR) Seems like Fuji (more than anyone else I see really listens to their customers)...Do you know if the autobracketing was addressed in a firmware (and can it be?) That may be the last issue holding me back from pulling the trigger.....
***** Tony (and others) , One other question...Is anyone using the Fuji film app? Seems that perhaps can control the exposure compensation remotely as well (which would make it an even better work around for HDR....if the app works). DOes anyone use this app? from Fuji website... "With the new dedicated "FUJIFILM Camera Remote" application, you can focus and trigger the camera release from your smartphone or tablet. The app not only lets you adjust focus, but also control settings like shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity. You can even apply other settings like Film Simulation, self-timer, and flash while "Touch AF" lets you focus from your phone or tablet, too. Imagine all the situations where this smart assistant will come in handy! Take commemorative group photos with yourself in the shot, capture wildlife photos, or remotely release the shutter for night shots free from camera shake.The photographic possibilities are endless."
Great and very helpful reviews Tony, I have been thinking of having the e-m1 or the x-t1 for a while and i have some questions to ask, 1. After turning on the high performance on the fuji, is the AF now comparable with the e-m1? (speed + accuracy) 2. During low light condition when high ISO is used (without tripod), which camera performs better with less noise? 3. As i am an architecture student, sometimes i will be shooting close up of my models, which camera do you think will do better for this job. 4. Which will you take if you are only getting one of these for travel shooting. (Landscape, Architecture etc) Thank you very much
Hi, Calkh. 1) Yes. 2) X-T1 (by about 2 stops). 3) Either camera will work, but make sure you have the lens that you need for specialized work. MFT (the E-M1) has a wider variety of lenses, and Canon/Nikon DSLRs have far more. 4) For travel shooting, we prefer a smaller camera. Check these reviews: Olympus OM-D E-M10 review (& E-M1 comparison): Travel, landscapes, and portraits and The World's Fastest AF? Sony a6000 vs E-M10 vs X-T1 vs DSLRs
Hello, I have an Olympus OMD EM1 and a Panasonic GX7, and what I have found interesting, is that the C-AF of the GX7 is more reliable than the EM1 when both are set to medium shot speed with live view, and using the oly 12-40mm 2.8 lens. That would be an interesting video for your viewers. Thanks. Ps. Your channel is top notch!
Great thanks.Very informative.Still not sure what to buy.Have a 7D have always had canon.Focus never seemed right.Have two 70-200 2/8.Newest one came loose in two places,Lens barrel not covered is out of warranty.Not happy right now.Looking to sell buy something different.Your videos will help me.Thanks again.
Tony, thanks for doing this extensive comparison between E-M1 and X-T1. After doing a lot of research and test I decided to pick up the E-M1. The lens selection and usability is just simply better than X-T1 in my opinion. Auto-focus on the E-M1 is just insane. Absolutely reliable on all conditions. Where can I get your book for 50% off? ;)
With the older em5 if i change the evf to a higher refresh rate and smaller af pt (by using the zoom function) it was able to track better. I suspect the em1 has a similar function with the evf causing the sensor to read the data in a quicker manner
Tony you are a machine when it comes to doing reviews and such! I don't do mirrorless cameras, but I watched this whole review to see Chelsey bounce across the dinning room floor! lol You both have such pleasant personalities and I really appreciate that about both of you.
The E-M1 is supposed to be used with the new Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO. That is the "kit lens" for this camera. Can you try to make the comparison again with this lens? In my non-scientific tests, this lens makes a big different in the autofocus results.
Well done. Kudos for learning with us (live!) LOL. I film jumping fish for fly fishing magazines and am doing tests on the Nikon 1 system (no notice of movement). Might you do some autofocus tests on this system? Bouncing tennis and small beach balls maybe (different colors and patterns) from behind a hide wall? That "stress" test you mentioned?
If there's enough interest, we might test the new Nikon 1 V3. Note that we always attempt to test in real-world conditions, so we'd probably test my daughter running between bases on a baseball diamond, or something similar.
Just re-watching this video, cause finally my own X-T1 is on the way to me... And beside the "famous Fuji quirkiness" (0:19) - it seems to me another Fujifilm attribute is just proven these days: They listen to their customers and are constantly improving their existing (and already sold) cameras, where possible. So Firmware V3.00 just has been released improving: "AF+MF" function enables seamless manual focusing. After half pressing the shutter to autofocus on the subject, fine adjustment can then be made using the manual focus ring." "Change the function of FACE DETECTION in Focus-Frame Selection AF When a face is detected, the Focus frame is shown on the face. Otherwise, the position of the Focus frame doesn't move." I think I will be happy switching to Fujifilm ;-)
Thorsten E. Gebuhr Yeah, it's funny because almost all of my complaints about the X-T1 were later addressed in firmware updates--including the AF+MF feature. It's nice that Fuji is listening. Now, if they could just get decent bracketing. Who needs +-1/3 stop?!
Tony, admiring light site did a comparison between Fuji 56/1.2 and Panaleica 42.5 lens and I was wondering if you had ability to test these 85 equivalent lenses as well, my understanding is that 42.5 beats 56 in sharpeness wide open, contrast wide open, autofocus speed, and having Image stablization, but 56/1.2 obviously has thinner DOF at comparable apertures. You can throw in Canon 85L II in comparison as well.
oh and thank you for all your other videos, great work and your videos usually very particular in that they are not just general but test specific issues we care about, like af capabilties and other things
I'd love to test those lenses, but we don't own them. If you can convince the hardware manufacturers to send them over, we'll get started right away :).
Thanks for the follow-up review. There's things on both cameras that I love and hate. I guess that's why I own a Fuji X-E2 and Olympus E-M5. I wish the E-M1 had the IQ of the Fuji. or the Fuji had the AF speed of the Olympus.
:) I'll be honest I didn't pay much attention about the cameras, your house is amazing!!! Looks like your out in the country side somehow. Ok back to cameras. So I was interested in the fuji since I've been shooting with a x100 along with my 5Dmkii but I'm also looking into a 1Dmkiii as a backup to my 5D. What do you think about that combo. Or would a fuji be good
I appreciate you correcting your findings of the XT-1. Your original test helped me realize I should wait until there's a more complete line of fast primes! I do enjoy the informative content on your channel!
Tony i would love if you could do a review on The Fujifilm Finepix x100s! :) I just bought one the Black edition so i would love to hear a review from you and hear what you have to say about the camera.
Great review. I have the em1 and em5 with most of the prime lenses. I am considering the Fuji as well. My question is how is the combo lens? Should I not bother and go with a prime or is it ok for the money as a everyday lens. Mainly shoot portraits, landscapes and families. (Kids and pets). Thanks
With the latest firmware update you can now half press the shutter button and then fine tune the focus manually if needed. One more focus issue fixed with this camera :)
pothos89 Yes, Fuji's been pretty amazing--they fixed almost everything I complained about in the early review with firmware updates. Now if they would just allow real bracketing!
I know this probably isn't the video to comment on, but I can't find a ton of comparisons of Olympus vs Fuji right now. I'm looking into getting into a camera after about a little more than a year of research. I've been kind of settled on M43's, specifically Olympus E-M5 mk2 due to the fact that I can pick up a refurb with kit lens for just about 600$ right now, and the features and lens options seem limitless for a budget oriented person compared to literally every other system, however a couple of the shots I've seen from different Fuji cameras have me looking more into them, but I still see Olympus being the king of entry level for "feature per dollar" for stills (panasonic being the way to go for entry level video?) -- would you say this is accurate? would there be another system to look at? I don't have professional aspirations in mind, nor anything really video related (or, at least I can get away with 1080p from the Oly). What are your thoughts?
Hi Tony , very nice revisit. Is it possible for you to do a review on the Fuji XF 56mm 1.2 lens that's just released ? planning to get that as a portrait lens. and if possible compare it to Olympus MFT 45mm 1.8 . thanks a lot :)
Dmitry Brodsky Yes you are correct ! , I wanted to see how they fare cause I somewhat unwilling to shell out $1,500 for that 42.5/1.2 for my EM5 as a portriat lens. and the 56mm is a lil cheaper but still expensive ...
Hello Tony. Will you be re-testing the Fujifilm X-T1 now that the firmware has been updated to 3.0? It seems like an improvement since the camera was released. I hope you do an independent camera review and really give it a go again. I want to know, if you are still feeling the same about the camera since last year.
So, 0% on the E-M1 when Chelsea was running? Really? If you follow +TheCameraStoreTV they did a mirrorless AF shootout at a dirt bike track, and the E-M1 outperformed the Sony a6000, Panasonic GH4, and Fuji X-T1.
Daniel Dougan I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the new firmware updates on the em1 to use phase detect for afc helps out. I believe before the updates, the phase defect points were only for the old four thirds lenses.
this is whats got me, i have just been suggested to take a look at the E-M1 as one of the better cameras to shoot moving objects as i was looking at the E-M10 mk2 or E-M5 mk2 and they appear to be hopeless but the M-1 was supposed to be 100% better! I had looked at the Fuji aswell, what puts me off them is the prices of lenses though!
Thanks for your reviews..... Can you do an image stabilisation review sometime; (a) in-camera (example A7 Mk2) vs In-lens, vs Fast lens (b) hand held low light shooting vs sports shooting Thanks!
Please do a review betweem the Sony A77 MKii and the Olympus EM-1. I am in a quandry as to which camera to purchase. I'd like to go mirroless but I am unsure about the MFT system. Cheers, Dereck
I could not tell what lens you were using with the E-M1. It kind of looked like the 12-50 kit lens. But not having a close up view I cannot be sure. If it was, then your test is once again off if you compare a $399 kit lens to a $999 prime lens. It looked too small to be the 12-40. I could be wrong, I'm only going on what people I know have said about their E-M1 and the C-AF working very well.
Yes, it was the 12-50, because that's what Olympus sent us... I'm not sure why they sent that lens (I asked for the 12-40). You might get different results with different lenses. But there was no $999 prime lens; the lens on the Fuji is the standard kit lens, and it's a bit faster... and all the Fuji users complained that it doesn't AF well either, so you're all in the same ball park. ;).Well, I tested what I have, and I can't test every lens variation. If you're getting good AF tracking with a person running toward the camera at that range, I'd love to see a video about it.
I find the GX7 to be best in low light focusing - you would not be able to get focus with the other X series Fuji's in that dark light - so an improvement for Fuji with the X-T1 - so the Sony A6000 is the winner in this fast moving subjects test -
Generaly I like the camera but after grtting rid of all my nikon gear (Big mistake) the focusing in static subjects is as good as any but anything moving couldnt live with a DSLR
as for the settings on the EM1 for the focus tracking test: did you try face detection switched off and release late time set to short? I am not really using C-AF on the EM1 very often but i am hearing that those settings enable the EM1 AF to track efficiently. I can see that face detection slows tracking down.
Yep. Those and few other settings set correctly and E-M1 does AF correctly. It is then easy just to store them to one of four available custom MySet -setups and bind them to buttons or dial (like to "Action" dial position) so when you want to shoot moving subjects, it is just behind press of the button or turning knob and camera set ups itself correctly to required situation. Like there are people shooting rally cars (jumping toward that 160km/h), running dogs coming toward or diagonally, flying birds toward/diagonally etc. But it does really require to know what does the camera settings cause as they do improve in situations but same time give huge disadvantage in other situations.
Tony, I would also like to see how E-M1 perform if you take into account stuff mentioned by Peter Gross in post above: did you try face detection switched off and release late time set to short?
Nice review ! Thank you ! Question about Olympus settings, did you set up "Release priority" OFF for C-AF ? Because if you do not disable this, fps will have priority against focus. So camera can make the pics even if these are OOF.
We experimented with the various focus-related settings for both cameras and chose that set of options that worked best. I do remember switching between release and focus priority but I don't recall the exact differences in performance.
Tony Northrup That settings "RLS PRIORITY C" is very important and many people neglet it. Unfortunately by default this settings is enabled. I do not think 0% focused pictures in C-AF is a corect result. I saw other tests with faster objects (cars, BIFs) and they got much better results. Must be a settings problem.
Can you do a video that talks about the available (bounce) flashguns that are good with the X-T1 please? I know this question may be stupid, but can I use my Nikon SB 600 and still get TTL metering with the Fuji? Thank you.
What's up with the poor HDR bracketing limitations of both cameras? 1 EV isn't enough! Holding off a purchase until they work the bugs out. Both Fuji and Olympus need a firmware fix.
Surprised to see the way you tested continous focusing on your bride running towards you with EM1 getting 0% focused. No camera gets zero % focus because your first shot must always be in focus to have the rest of the shots focused, for then the focus tracking will track correctly. It just means that you didn't have it right and just shoot all the way. This testing is very casual and i think you should know more about cameras before you do such a test. And BTW, I own both XT1 and EM1 too.
The a6000 ships April 20, but it's about half the price of these cameras... I'm open to suggestions, but I'll probably compare it to the E-M10, and/or a lower-end Fuji like the X-E1.
Tony Northrup No good idea...the X-E1 isn't a "entry level model", it's a discontinued "old" model from September 2012 (the predecessor to the X-E2)...no hybrid AF. I have it and like it, but it's no match for a camera of 2014...but from what I hear about the a6000's AF capabilities, which (mirrorless) camera is?
Philipp Kaempfer Actually the real low end Fujis, the X-A1 and X-M1 would be much more suited AF-wise...but they got no EVF...so rather pointless to compare eighter...
Philipp Kaempfer Well, if you insist... ;-) At least get all the firmware updates for the X-E1 you can ;-) (it will be a completely different camera lol)
Tony Northrup And E-M1 was in the slow FPS mode, short shutter lag, IBIS disabled and review disabled? As the fast FPS mode doesn't do AF after first shot and IBIS (with auto panning detection) doesn't work in that kind direction shooting. It would be nice when shooting the video, mention the basic info about what is in use, Shutter/Aperture/ISO/FL so people get a idea about the environment. The difficulty with E-M1 to get moving objects is to get them stay in focus point and then combining that with the used lens, the camera might not anymore focus the subject after once focused to behind subject. As some lenses are designed to focus first further and other to closer. This like when using 4/3 system with a macro or with tele-objective you get different results with AF as other lens (ie. 150mm) might want to focus to infinity from grass/tree subject. I am just wondering how you managed to get almost all unsharp shots with E-M1 in all two bright situation, contrary what are my experience. :)
hmmm, I sense that you and your lovely bride Chelsea might of had a little trouble in paradise before making this video, but I could be wrong, she just didn't seem herself in this video, hope you guys are ok, I am happy you figured the XT1 out and that it focuses the way other reviews said it does, but I have seen it track better in another video, also I like your comment you made, *that you love it and hate it more than any camera you've ever owned*, I kind of feel that way about the XT1 and I don't even own it*, from the five minutes I played with it, it just didn't seem like a user friendly camera, but like you said, maybe you could get used to it, also I saw online somewhere that fuji has been fixing all the light leak problems on cameras that are sent in to them, and one guy on this rumor page said he got his camera back and the 4 way controller had been improved with buttons that stood out a little more and had a better click to them, and it made me wonder if it was true, and if all the future Xt1's were going to be made with the new controller, I wish i could find out somehow, because i am still considering buying one, i am also wondering if fuji is going to ever make a silver and black one
No trouble, just paradise :). My Fuji is one of those that they'll repair, so perhaps I'll send it in and see if they'll do something about those awful buttons. I'd prefer a silver model, too... all black is so dull.
Tony Northrup i will be waiting to see what happens with your XT1 when you send it in, because I really don't like the feel of that four way controller, also, from the little I have seen of it, your house looks really nice, and it looks like a beautiful area you live in, a little like paradise haha, I was wondering wear it is ?
📷Fuji X-T1 on Amazon help.tc/xt1
📷Olympus E-M1 on Amazon help.tc/em1
Tony & Chelsea Northrup f
I own the E-M1 and can guarantee that you missed something in your AF settings to get 0% tracking. What was your AF lock menu setting in the autofocus menu (off, low, normal or high), was your Release Priority in the drive menu "on" or "off", were you using AF-C or AF-C tracking, were you in low burst or high burst drive mode?
The E-M1's performance will vary greatly with different combinations of the above settings. When set correctly, the camera tracks very well, especially now with the firmware 3.0 update. Once the camera locks on, it tends to track well if the above settings are set correctly. Regretfully, Olympus does not think it too important to explain these settings and one must learn through trial and error.
For best results, use AF-C center focus point without tracking as object tracking does not keep up well with subject movement for critical focus. Secondly, release priority should be set to On. This enables you to release the shutter when you obtain confirmation of focus without the camera being able to override your decision until it thinks it has achieved focus. There is some delay between when the camera shows you attained focus versus when it decides to release the shutter. This allows you to release the shutter faster when you see visual confirmation of focus lock. Depending on the subject and its movement, you may also want to set AF lock to either Off (quickly switching to a new subject) or High (maintains subject focus lock longer before switching to a new subject). Lastly I assume you used low burst mode for tracking as he high mode (before v3.0) locked focus and exposure on the initial shutter release and kept those settings for the remainder of the burst without changing focus.
To reiterate, there is no way your E-M1 performed so poorly as to score 0% on tracking unless you had a defective body/lens or inadvertently had some combination of settings that caused the poor result. I blame Olympus and not you. Getting your camera to autofocus correctly should not be this difficult.
i agree with this im looking into buying an oly em1 m1 right now to replace my fuji x-t1 purely because of the lens availability and lens prices for the MFT system compared to Fuji! I have been all over the dpreview forums etc and have seen some incredible action sequences from the EM1 M1 when used with the correct AF settings for tracking/action shots.
I'm not particularly interested in buying either camera, but I still enjoy watching your reviews just for gaining general information and the fact that you're by far the most hands-on, thorough reviewer I've seen on UA-cam, or anywhere else. Kudos!
Very nice redo. I really appreciate you taking the time to revisit this review. The original video was just such a stark contrast to other reviews out there. This clears everything up and I'm looking forward to my Fuji XT1 purchase. :o)
you have a really beautiful bride and i paid no attention to this review at all
¿What review?
bosanovaboy LOL ;)
...something about cameras....I think....
Dude, you're creeping on the guy's wife. That being said, high five Tony.
Review?
Hi Tony, thank you for you thorough review. I recently purchased the Fuji X100s and after watching this review i questioned why the bracketing options only went up to 1 Stop as well. after watching this video it all makes sense. X100 - Shooting a 7 bracket HDR it simply takes 3 exposures based on what you select in the menu and what you have manually dialled in. e.g manually set 2 on the dial and set the option for +/ 1 in the drive settings, hold down the shutter release and the camera will take 3 shots (-3 -2 -1), dial in +2 comp and do the same for +3 +2 +1 and then dial in +/-0 for one shot and there you have your 7 Brackets for HDR. Simple but not clearly explained in the manual. Maybe you have already figured it out, but just in case anyone else doesn't know this is how it can be done.
Heya, Michael. Yep, that's definitely the best workaround. In practice, though, the act of changing the exposure compensation dial and pushing the shutter again definitely changes handheld compositions a bit, making it significantly more difficult to do hand-held HDR. Most people probably don't care, but that's a tool Chelsea and I use pretty constantly with travel, landscape, and night photography.
Fair point I like to use a tripod when I can but your right sometimes you just don't have the opportunity and this would cause issues having to hand hold.
I watched the original video, never questioned the results. I just finish watching this video.. It was refreshing to see someone double check there results.. I just subscribed. Good going and hope to see many great videos in the future.
Congratulations on receiving the comments and correcting the review. Way to go.
wow, this is the first autofocus test on youtube that's worth watching!
I was very critical of the previous review of the X-T1, and this is way, way better. Definitely appreciate the time it took to re-test and listening to reviewers.
Having said that, I think the strength of the Fuji X-T1 is when using it in manual mode (in combination with the back button focus) if you're not shooting action. I even prefer manual for portraits. It's simply the quickest way to handle this camera.
There's no doubt that the Fuji has its quirks. But in my opinion you're more likely to run in to those quirks if you're in "auto" everything mode. In full manual it's simply an amazing creative tool. If that's not what you want there are plenty of other great mirrorless cameras to choose from.
Hey Tony and Chelsea. Just wanted to say I really appreciate the added work you've put in for this re-review. To me, it truly demonstrates your sincerity in sharing real, honest reviews and that you're not afraid to admit when you've made a mistake and to top it off, you're willing to listen to the audience and put in the added time and effort to give us the right information in the end. Many thanks. This vid made me a subscriber. =)
nasri Thanks, and welcome!!
Not a lot of reviewers give a product a second chance because of comments of viewers. Kudos!
+MrEye4get Only the Fujis have the limited bracketing. The Olympus cameras have extremely flexible bracketing options, and in-camera HDR.
what about panasonic and olympus are the same?
Hi Tony, I was following up your reviews for a while, i really appreciate your style overall, and such amendments shows how fair you are.. good luck with everything..
awesome as always. Not many (or any that I can recall) go back to amend a review. Its nice to know that it has the capability to focus a lot faster. As a big fan of the x100 it kinda sucks that you have to learn how to tweak the camera before you can get the most out of the AF. I would of thought they would of led with the AF on their latest and greatest :( Your original review still has some merit for people who buy it flat out and are technologically impaired :) . Great stuff though, keep it up!
Great update! Glad you got the AF on the Fuji sorted. That explains why the Oly ate more battery in the initial test, as well. I have owned a number of Olys, and know to keep extra fresh batteries on hand because that's just how they are. I've liked the performance so much, the battery thing doesn't bother me- unless I miss a shot! Thanks for the update!
I had both cameras and prefer the em1 way more then the xt1. Everything about the em1 feels way more refined, only thing I'm missing about the Fuji cameras is the I so performance. The em1 is so damn easy to use!!
Yeah, I totally agree, David. I'm shocked that everyone seems to dismiss my usability concerns with the Fuji... For everything except image quality and tracking quick moving subjects, the E-M1 is the better camera. Micro four-thirds has a far better lens selection (with lower prices), too.
If my priority would by comfort and easy control, then I would take my photos with phone.
im currently looking at either of these as i want something that is capable but compact, hell the EM-1 appears to be absolutely useless at taking a picture of a moving object though!?!?! i was actually suggested this camera as one of the better/best Micro Four Thirds cameras to shoot moving objects?!?!
Typical Tony Northrup! Listening to user replies and improving your reviews based on user input. Well done!
I liked both reviews. I'm quite invested in Fuji, but I think your comments were very fair and I enjoyed the reviews. My old Panasonic GH1 was so much more simple to use, but I like the quirkiness of the Fuji and especially the image quality. The macro mode issue is always annoying, agreed.
The XT1 and EM1 fall outside my price range. Could you make more videos on the EM10? It seems more interesting and accessible to beginners like me...
Tony, now that both Fuji and Oly have updated these bodies with firmware, it would be interesting to see the same comparison re-done. I am getting fantastic Birds in Flight results with my E-M1 now. You have to have it in CAF & High Speed and then it will use the phase detect.
You guys (and Girls) are great. Awesome follow-up! If only more reviewers were as honest as y'all are. To go back and re-review due to your readers is commendable. Thanks!
Don Parrot Great pictures, and cute dogs!
I shot with both C-AF and C-AF + Tracking and got similar results.
Looking at your pictures, I the different lens certainly makes a difference, but i'll add that I would have counted many (and maybe most) of those pictures as out-of-focus. I was pretty selective and looked very closely at each picture to verify the placement of the focal plane. I think I mentioned in the video that if you used different standards you might have been happy with many of the Olympus shots.
Thanks. I'm looking forward to taking the E-M1 to the dog-racetrack in two weeks when the off-season is over.
And being good friends with a camera dealer, I definitely also will give the X-T1 a try.
It would be nice, for the sake of a fair comaprison between the OMD EM1 and the X-T1, an update of the review regarding the C-AF of the m4/3 after the new firm 3.0 has recently released improving this aspect of the Olympus. That would provied the same treatment as the X-T1 which was updated and re-reviewed with very good results.
There seems to be a common theme running through most Fuji X-T1 reviews and it surprises me no one has picked up on it. The X-T1 has been built with a very 'focused' design, namely everything is controllable by the user. With this kinda of design I'd not expect it to respond correctly when not in a chosen mode. In particular manual vs auto focus, Although some Canon lenses do let you manual focus without moving the AF switch,many do not. With the X-T1 it's front switch gets you between single, continuous and manual. Now while this may at times seem like a PITA, it does follow a consistent design paradigm. Seems we just need to get out of the 'do everything easy,read my mind' design of other less manulay controllable cameras. My 1st SLR was Canon A-1, other than AF and video, both systems seem quite purposeful in design and not difficult to use once controls/menus are understood; with the X-T1 obviously being more complicated/sophisticated..
Tony,
People on UA-cam can be very unreasonable.
I am very impressed by how profesional you handled all the criticism.
Going in depth with the arguments made and actually pointing some of them as true which meant you were actually a bit off. An truly rare sight these days. Most people have their ego's in their way. Therefore thank you for this revisit of these mirrorless.
First, hah. Tony I just wanted to say this is a nice comparison. But I also wanted to let you know the Olympus E-M1 will not use it's phase detect AF without an older Four Thirds lens. So you're essentially comparing the phase detect on the XT-1 against the Contrast AF of the E-M1. Still the E-M1 seems to do alright considering. Thanks for the rematch.
I do mention the contrast vs phase focusing difference with these native lenses... and that definitely showed with faster movement, but I was also surprised at how well the E-M1 did with very slow movement despite its lack of phase detection.
Tony Northrup
E-M1 use only Contrast AF with mFT lenses and single focus, but switch to a combination of contrast and phase also for mFT when set to focus tracking. Olympus have as far as I know not given any details about the algorithms used to combine both types of focusing.
Svein Eriksen Interesting I wish Olympus was a little more clear with their specs. Personally I ended up buying the E-P5 as a compliment to my Nikon DSLR rather than trying to replace it with the E-M1. The Pen comes with a lens too for same price as E-M1 body only. I've enjoyed it so far.
Thanks for the update video. I have an X100S that I really like but I find the AF to be a bit slow. I'm going to try using the settings you suggested in this video with my X100S to see if that helps with the AF speed. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, for me the difference was shocking. Be sure to grab any applicable firmware updates, too.
Fuji really needs to make their default settings more aggressive; as you saw in my first video, using the camera straight out of the box was a really frustrating experience... and most photographers aren't on forums and UA-cam learning the ins-and-outs of their cameras like we are, so they just use those default settings forever.
Thank you so much! I have been trying to figure out which camera to invest in, and noticed when I tried both that the Fuji AF was not nearly as good as the Olympus. Thank you for digging out the performance improvements on the Fuji. Hoping someone does a great piece on the M mount and other glass....
I liked the outcome of the Fuji photos better. I'm still a Canon fan, but I love seeing how you use all these cameras!
Hi Tony and Chelsea, I have been your follower of your reviews. Thank you for sharing your views. I have invested in Nikon 2 bodies and quite a number of lenses. As much I would like to deny, DSLR is becoming heavier now and definitely four third cameras compensate to fill in the gap, if not all, but in general, in my opinion. Tried Fujifilm before, yet it seemed that their system lenses are quite expensive than four thirds. This is the reason I am more inclined to get into four thirds systems. With EM1, despite the non focused capture while running (fast moving subject) I could perhaps do away with it since I am not into sports/action photography at this time.If not EM1 (as second hand) I might get the EM10 brand new. Thank you once again. Wholesome couple :) High regards.
Tony, did you think to put the Olympus E-M1 into C-AF+TR (Continuous Tracking AF) mode. It uses phase-detection and contrast-detection AF in that mode and provides much more accurate autofocus, especially on large subjects such as a person.
Yes, it was in tracking AF mode. However, phase detection only works with Four Thirds (not micro four thirds) lenses... so it's basically contrast focusing only.
Tony Northrup Were you using Sequential L (6.5 fps) instead of Sequential H (10 fps) when you were shooting this sequence? Sequential H locks AF at the first frame, with no tracking, while Sequential L lets the camera use the AF tracking system.
Darrell Young exactly
Tony Northrup in AF-C it uses only PDAF no CAF... i did this running test an i have 80% succes (As Tony wrote - in Sequential H- 10pfs) in L only 10% :-D
Tony Northrup I am writing a book on the E-M1 currently and I would like to assure you that it does indeed use Phase-Detection autofocus (PDAF) and Contrast-Detection autofocus (CDAF) with a Micro Four Thirds lens, when you have the camera set to C-AF or CF-AF+TR modes (only). I am working closely with Olympus and have validated this fact with Japan. The camera uses PD-AF first and then does a CD-AF step to fine tune and conclude the AF operation.
Hi, first I want to thank you for the rematch. That's really noble of you... ;-)
Some thoughts on the manual focus / shutter release "quirk". I guess the reason why one cannot manually focus while the shutter release is half pressed is that this would collide with the focus assist button on the back. If this button is pressed the camera zooms in on the focus area (by pressing the button longer, you can choose the prefered focus assist mode (peaking/split screen aso). Half pressing the shutter release reverts that. You are brought back to the normal view on the subject (not having the X-T1 yet, I have no clue what happens if one uses the dual mode though). I guess that's pretty reasonable. Why would you want to half press the shutter release, while handling the lens anyway? I would be way too "anxious" to accidently press it fully. (And of course you still can leave your finger on the release to be ready as soon as you aquired focus).
Of course there are quirks testing my patience as well...having been a X user since the X100, the one that sticks out most "persistently", probably would be "macro mode". Why not make the camera switch automatically, based on the distance to the subject? (I have to add though that with my shooting style this isn't much of an issue - I guess I need macro mode for close to 0% of my shooting. )
Not being able to select focus points while face detection is on, would be more of an issue (still having the X-E1, so no face detection atm.)
I haven't used bracketing on my Fujis. Mainly because I use other cameras for landscape photography (mainly my Sigma DP Merrills, which offer surprisingly decent bracketing options - still 3 images only, but +/- 3 EV in steps of 1/3. And for my Nikon I got the PromoteControl, a kick-ass HDR-timer...45 images, up to +/- 9 EV). But yes...better bracketing would be nice for the Fujis as well...
The good news though: We are talking about Fuji here. Presumebly the only modern day Japanese camera manufacturer listening to their customers...So nothinh than couldn't be fixed by a firmware update...
Tony, very very nice comparison. What would be really helpful would be to go ahead and throw in a Nikon D7100 and a Canon 70d to see how well they track in comparison as I think people in this market would like to know how much better (or worse) a full fledged DSLR gives them in this regard.
You're in luck! We filmed this in the same conditions with two entry-level DSLRs: ua-cam.com/video/oHHLkHdInJET/v-deo.htmlhe DSLRs got 85-95% of the shots in focus, both walking and running. They have slower frame rates, but DSLRs definitely get far more pictures in focus... and the DSLRs we compared cost about half what the E-M1 and X-T1 cost.
Tony,
I appreciate your reviews. I am trying to decide on my next camera, I love my X100s but wish I could change lens. I bought the a6000 but sold it because my fuji seemed to give me much better results... I feel the sad fact is one needs 3 cameras... GH4 for video XT-1 or E-M1 for photos and the A7S for low light. I recently was impressed with photos on the XT-1 over the A7R2, I wish I had your knowledge may be able to settle on one or two. I really want wifi control and I think the XT-1 is excellent. I am also shocked how well the GH4 and XT-1 hold there prices even at a few years old. I am impressed myself with the new fuji glass. How does the XT-1 do in low light with the 56 1.2 . Another large uneducated photography question of mine is I have this conception that a large aperture like 1.2 on the fuji may help it at low light,, I know it is more like F2 on full frame. I guess nothing can beat the A7S at low light. I wish one camera could do all of this.. GH4 video and touch screen, A7S low light, FUJI film like camera in a full frame. I have often thought about just buying a $5000 nikon body and going DSLR, I also feel mirrorless will eventually outperform DSLR in the future even on the higher end cameras. Many people have told me they went from MK53 to GH4 for video.. difficult choices out there. Thanks, for your videos.
The low light images are kind of haunting. Love it.
Thanks for the review, guys!
Thanks for your rearview. I was interested in the Fuji but when I saw your last video I dismissed it. Now I'm interested again. Thanks
+tvurk, We're holding on to it for now to see if it can train my fingers around all of its quirks :). I love it and hate it more than any other camera I've ever owned.
I thank you Tony for doing this review. It speaks volumes of your resolve as a professional photographer, reviewer and as a person. I appreciate all of your extra work on this, and can't thank you enough. As a side note, I was very much an idiot for acting foolishly (posting foolishly) and not giving your hard work you do on all of your videos the benefit of the doubt. Thank you again for clearing up the AF system info... quirkiness and all..:-) I am a fan of yours for life. Sincerely.
Tony Northrup Great update, thanks for doing it, this is one of the reasons I recoment this channel, many reviewer will not have gone into this, more so that it requieres a lot and it affects the battery
Tony, great video! I am so much in doubt between the OMD EM10 (NOT 1 OR 5) and the FUJI XT1!!! I haven't been able to see either here in Rio, so it is difficult to 'guess' which one would fit better. My main doubt is: Oly is sooo much cheaper and (considerably) smaller than the XT1. But I do not like the 4:3 ratio and love the control buttons on Fuji.
My most important factor though is IQ. If you tell me you can see a 15% difference in IQ using KIT LENSES (18-55 vs 14-42), that would be enough for me!
From your video, the difference would be even a little more than that, but the OLY fans rave that the OLYS are sooo fantastic, as good as many full frames, that I am always in doubt.
Please, help meeee!!! Thank you!!!
This video might help you: X-T1 vs E-M1 Mirrorless Comparison Review: Travel, Portraits, Sports, Night, Lens Adapters (the E-M10 has the same IQ as the E-M1).The Fuji has *far* less noise at the same ISO as the E-M10/E-M1. Re: sharpness, that's going to be determined by the lens that you get. There are some great, sharp micro four-thirds lenses for the E-M10, and you'd have like $700 or $800 extra in your pocket for lenses.They're both cool cameras. The E-M10 has size, lens selection, and in-body image stabilization (which means you can use primes). The X-T1 has lower noise, cool dials, and better AF for action.
Tony Northrup
Hi Tony...
Stumbled across this video ...Great. Am a new fan. I was leaning towards a Nikon D750 to replace my old canon (and sell my canon lenses) but am seriously thinking of going mirrorless for ease of travel. Low light ability, image quality and HDR are important to me. I was narrowing it down to X-T1, GH4 and NX1. Had not thought about the E-M1 because I was lead to believe image quality was more lacking. Video is not terribly important to me. So the GH4 and Nx1 super video does not seem like a great need. I really want a great Stills Camera. My impression of the Gh4 and Nx1 was that they have good image quality but lag the Fuji in low light...(curious as to your thoughts about that as well) I was happy to see my concerns about X-T1 AF addressed in your review but then I noticed you talking about the autobracketing issues (which will more directly effect any HDR) Seems like Fuji (more than anyone else I see really listens to their customers)...Do you know if the autobracketing was addressed in a firmware (and can it be?) That may be the last issue holding me back from pulling the trigger.....
*****
Tony (and others) ,
One other question...Is anyone using the Fuji film app? Seems that perhaps can control the exposure compensation remotely as well (which would make it an even better work around for HDR....if the app works). DOes anyone use this app? from Fuji website...
"With the new dedicated "FUJIFILM Camera Remote" application, you can focus and trigger the camera release from your smartphone or tablet. The app not only lets you adjust focus, but also control settings like shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity. You can even apply other settings like Film Simulation, self-timer, and flash while "Touch AF" lets you focus from your phone or tablet, too. Imagine all the situations where this smart assistant will come in handy! Take commemorative group photos with yourself in the shot, capture wildlife photos, or remotely release the shutter for night shots free from camera shake.The photographic possibilities are endless."
Great and very helpful reviews Tony, I have been thinking of having the e-m1 or the x-t1 for a while and i have some questions to ask,
1. After turning on the high performance on the fuji, is the AF now comparable with the e-m1? (speed + accuracy)
2. During low light condition when high ISO is used (without tripod), which camera performs better with less noise?
3. As i am an architecture student, sometimes i will be shooting close up of my models, which camera do you think will do better for this job.
4. Which will you take if you are only getting one of these for travel shooting. (Landscape, Architecture etc)
Thank you very much
Hi, Calkh. 1) Yes. 2) X-T1 (by about 2 stops). 3) Either camera will work, but make sure you have the lens that you need for specialized work. MFT (the E-M1) has a wider variety of lenses, and Canon/Nikon DSLRs have far more. 4) For travel shooting, we prefer a smaller camera. Check these reviews: Olympus OM-D E-M10 review (& E-M1 comparison): Travel, landscapes, and portraits and The World's Fastest AF? Sony a6000 vs E-M10 vs X-T1 vs DSLRs
Tony Northrup Thank you very much. You reviews are amazing and really help a lot. Looking forward for more!
Well done, I really like your honest reviews. If I weren't a Canon fanboy I would be in line to buy the Fuji. It looks like a fantastic camera!
Hello,
I have an Olympus OMD EM1 and a Panasonic GX7, and what I have found interesting, is that the C-AF of the GX7 is more reliable than the EM1 when both are set to medium shot speed with live view, and using the oly 12-40mm 2.8 lens. That would be an interesting video for your viewers.
Thanks.
Ps. Your channel is top notch!
Thanks for the video review, much appreciated.
Great thanks.Very informative.Still not sure what to buy.Have a 7D have always had canon.Focus never seemed right.Have two 70-200 2/8.Newest one came loose in two places,Lens barrel not covered is out of warranty.Not happy right now.Looking to sell buy something different.Your videos will help me.Thanks again.
Very illustrative demonstration,Tony.
I hope one day Fuji will make a camera that will not present obstacles to its users.
Tony, thanks for doing this extensive comparison between E-M1 and X-T1. After doing a lot of research and test I decided to pick up the E-M1. The lens selection and usability is just simply better than X-T1 in my opinion. Auto-focus on the E-M1 is just insane. Absolutely reliable on all conditions. Where can I get your book for 50% off? ;)
Congrats! And if you've got the money for the E-M1, you've got the money for a $10 ebook ;).
Much better Review! :)
Yes seems X-T1 is my choice to go.
Great video and can't wait for more!
With the older em5 if i change the evf to a higher refresh rate and smaller af pt (by using the zoom function) it was able to track better. I suspect the em1 has a similar function with the evf causing the sensor to read the data in a quicker manner
Good review Tony... im proud of you like my only son...
Ready to see your test on the Xpro2 and wish you would try the 16mm lens.
Tony you are a machine when it comes to doing reviews and such! I don't do mirrorless cameras, but I watched this whole review to see Chelsey bounce across the dinning room
floor! lol You both have such pleasant personalities and I really appreciate that about both of you.
The E-M1 is supposed to be used with the new Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO. That is the "kit lens" for this camera. Can you try to make the comparison again with this lens? In my non-scientific tests, this lens makes a big different in the autofocus results.
We'll bring the issue up with Olympus... that's the lens they sent us with the E-M1, for whatever reason.
Very nice redo, thank u guys
Well done. Kudos for learning with us (live!) LOL. I film jumping fish for fly fishing magazines and am doing tests on the Nikon 1 system (no notice of movement). Might you do some autofocus tests on this system? Bouncing tennis and small beach balls maybe (different colors and patterns) from behind a hide wall? That "stress" test you mentioned?
If there's enough interest, we might test the new Nikon 1 V3. Note that we always attempt to test in real-world conditions, so we'd probably test my daughter running between bases on a baseball diamond, or something similar.
Just re-watching this video, cause finally my own X-T1 is on the way to me...
And beside the "famous Fuji quirkiness" (0:19) - it seems to me another Fujifilm attribute is just proven these days: They listen to their customers and are constantly improving their existing (and already sold) cameras, where possible.
So Firmware V3.00 just has been released improving:
"AF+MF" function enables seamless manual focusing. After half pressing the shutter to autofocus on the subject, fine adjustment can then be made using the manual focus ring."
"Change the function of FACE DETECTION in Focus-Frame Selection AF
When a face is detected, the Focus frame is shown on the face. Otherwise, the position of the Focus frame doesn't move."
I think I will be happy switching to Fujifilm ;-)
Thorsten E. Gebuhr Yeah, it's funny because almost all of my complaints about the X-T1 were later addressed in firmware updates--including the AF+MF feature. It's nice that Fuji is listening.
Now, if they could just get decent bracketing. Who needs +-1/3 stop?!
Tony, admiring light site did a comparison between Fuji 56/1.2 and Panaleica 42.5 lens and I was wondering if you had ability to test these 85 equivalent lenses as well, my understanding is that 42.5 beats 56 in sharpeness wide open, contrast wide open, autofocus speed, and having Image stablization, but 56/1.2 obviously has thinner DOF at comparable apertures. You can throw in Canon 85L II in comparison as well.
oh and thank you for all your other videos, great work and your videos usually very particular in that they are not just general but test specific issues we care about, like af capabilties and other things
I'd love to test those lenses, but we don't own them. If you can convince the hardware manufacturers to send them over, we'll get started right away :).
Thanks, and you're welcome!
Thanks for the follow-up review. There's things on both cameras that I love and hate. I guess that's why I own a Fuji X-E2 and Olympus E-M5. I wish the E-M1 had the IQ of the Fuji. or the Fuji had the AF speed of the Olympus.
Tony, great video many thanks for posting.
:) I'll be honest I didn't pay much attention about the cameras, your house is amazing!!! Looks like your out in the country side somehow. Ok back to cameras. So I was interested in the fuji since I've been shooting with a x100 along with my 5Dmkii but I'm also looking into a 1Dmkiii as a backup to my 5D. What do you think about that combo. Or would a fuji be good
I appreciate you correcting your findings of the XT-1. Your original test helped me realize I should wait until there's a more complete line of fast primes! I do enjoy the informative content on your channel!
i like the olympus better on looks and speed. i like it better then my d800e even though they are for totally different purpose. great review :)
Tony i would love if you could do a review on The Fujifilm Finepix x100s! :) I just bought one the Black edition so i would love to hear a review from you and hear what you have to say about the camera.
I´d buy the Fuji for it´s image quality. Thank you for the review
Great review. I have the em1 and em5 with most of the prime lenses. I am considering the Fuji as well. My question is how is the combo lens? Should I not bother and go with a prime or is it ok for the money as a everyday lens. Mainly shoot portraits, landscapes and families. (Kids and pets).
Thanks
With the latest firmware update you can now half press the shutter button and then fine tune the focus manually if needed. One more focus issue fixed with this camera :)
pothos89 Yes, Fuji's been pretty amazing--they fixed almost everything I complained about in the early review with firmware updates. Now if they would just allow real bracketing!
Will you do a travel camera DSLR vs Mirrorless showdown?
I know this probably isn't the video to comment on, but I can't find a ton of comparisons of Olympus vs Fuji right now.
I'm looking into getting into a camera after about a little more than a year of research. I've been kind of settled on M43's, specifically Olympus E-M5 mk2 due to the fact that I can pick up a refurb with kit lens for just about 600$ right now, and the features and lens options seem limitless for a budget oriented person compared to literally every other system, however a couple of the shots I've seen from different Fuji cameras have me looking more into them, but I still see Olympus being the king of entry level for "feature per dollar" for stills (panasonic being the way to go for entry level video?) -- would you say this is accurate? would there be another system to look at? I don't have professional aspirations in mind, nor anything really video related (or, at least I can get away with 1080p from the Oly). What are your thoughts?
Hi Tony , very nice revisit.
Is it possible for you to do a review on the Fuji XF 56mm 1.2 lens that's just released ? planning to get that as a portrait lens. and if possible compare it to Olympus MFT 45mm 1.8 . thanks a lot :)
I'd love to review the 56mm. I'll see if Fuji will let us borrow one...
Tony Northrup not 45/1.8 but 42.5/1.2 instead would be a more fair comparison :)
Dmitry Brodsky Yes you are correct ! , I wanted to see how they fare cause I somewhat unwilling to shell out $1,500 for that 42.5/1.2 for my EM5 as a portriat lens. and the 56mm is a lil cheaper but still expensive ...
Great video Tony.
Hello Tony. Will you be re-testing the Fujifilm X-T1 now that the firmware has been updated to 3.0? It seems like an improvement since the camera was released. I hope you do an independent camera review and really give it a go again. I want to know, if you are still feeling the same about the camera since last year.
So, 0% on the E-M1 when Chelsea was running? Really? If you follow +TheCameraStoreTV they did a mirrorless AF shootout at a dirt bike track, and the E-M1 outperformed the Sony a6000, Panasonic GH4, and Fuji X-T1.
Daniel Dougan I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the new firmware updates on the em1 to use phase detect for afc helps out. I believe before the updates, the phase defect points were only for the old four thirds lenses.
this is whats got me, i have just been suggested to take a look at the E-M1 as one of the better cameras to shoot moving objects as i was looking at the E-M10 mk2 or E-M5 mk2 and they appear to be hopeless but the M-1 was supposed to be 100% better! I had looked at the Fuji aswell, what puts me off them is the prices of lenses though!
Thanks for your reviews.....
Can you do an image stabilisation review sometime;
(a) in-camera (example A7 Mk2) vs In-lens, vs Fast lens
(b) hand held low light shooting vs sports shooting
Thanks!
Tony Northrup I hope you will download the new firmware 4.0 for the X-T1 and do a new review on the camera. See if it meets your expectations.
Thank you for a marvelous review.
I really ask myself where my comment has gone. Has it been deleted? And if yes, why?
Chelsea is lovely. That mustache and goatie on the other hand
Please do a review betweem the Sony A77 MKii and the Olympus EM-1. I am in a quandry as to which camera to purchase. I'd like to go mirroless but I am unsure about the MFT system.
Cheers,
Dereck
Fuji's new firmware 4.0 coming out next month, June 2015, is supposed to be significant in AF department.
Awesome, thanks for the followup!
Hey it's time for an XT2 vs E-M1 II :)
I could not tell what lens you were using with the E-M1. It kind of looked like the 12-50 kit lens. But not having a close up view I cannot be sure. If it was, then your test is once again off if you compare a $399 kit lens to a $999 prime lens. It looked too small to be the 12-40. I could be wrong, I'm only going on what people I know have said about their E-M1 and the C-AF working very well.
Yes, it was the 12-50, because that's what Olympus sent us... I'm not sure why they sent that lens (I asked for the 12-40). You might get different results with different lenses. But there was no $999 prime lens; the lens on the Fuji is the standard kit lens, and it's a bit faster... and all the Fuji users complained that it doesn't AF well either, so you're all in the same ball park. ;).Well, I tested what I have, and I can't test every lens variation. If you're getting good AF tracking with a person running toward the camera at that range, I'd love to see a video about it.
Tony Northrup
OK I misunderstood. You mentioned and showed the 50mm prime I think it was and I missed you say your testing the kit lens. My mistake.
Wait did they tell you to GET the Fuji 56mm or avoid it? That part got a bit mumbled and then you used the kit lenses?
I find the GX7 to be best in low light focusing - you would not be able to get focus with the other X series Fuji's in that dark light - so an improvement for Fuji with the X-T1 - so the Sony A6000 is the winner in this fast moving subjects test -
Beautiful video!
Generaly I like the camera but after grtting rid of all my nikon gear (Big mistake) the focusing in static subjects is as good as any but anything moving couldnt live with a DSLR
as for the settings on the EM1 for the focus tracking test: did you try face detection switched off and release late time set to short? I am not really using C-AF on the EM1 very often but i am hearing that those settings enable the EM1 AF to track efficiently. I can see that face detection slows tracking down.
Yep. Those and few other settings set correctly and E-M1 does AF correctly. It is then easy just to store them to one of four available custom MySet -setups and bind them to buttons or dial (like to "Action" dial position) so when you want to shoot moving subjects, it is just behind press of the button or turning knob and camera set ups itself correctly to required situation.
Like there are people shooting rally cars (jumping toward that 160km/h), running dogs coming toward or diagonally, flying birds toward/diagonally etc. But it does really require to know what does the camera settings cause as they do improve in situations but same time give huge disadvantage in other situations.
Tony, I would also like to see how E-M1 perform if you take into account stuff mentioned by Peter Gross in post above:
did you try face detection switched off and release late time set to short?
great video + thanx
but a good fuji lens will cost up 800$ like zeiss for that i think i prefer sony cos they have FF
Nice review ! Thank you !
Question about Olympus settings, did you set up "Release priority" OFF for C-AF ?
Because if you do not disable this, fps will have priority against focus. So camera can make the pics even if these are OOF.
We experimented with the various focus-related settings for both cameras and chose that set of options that worked best. I do remember switching between release and focus priority but I don't recall the exact differences in performance.
Tony Northrup
That settings "RLS PRIORITY C" is very important and many people neglet it. Unfortunately by default this settings is enabled.
I do not think 0% focused pictures in C-AF is a corect result. I saw other tests with faster objects (cars, BIFs) and they got much better results. Must be a settings problem.
Can you do a video that talks about the available (bounce) flashguns that are good with the X-T1 please? I know this question may be stupid, but can I use my Nikon SB 600 and still get TTL metering with the Fuji? Thank you.
What's up with the poor HDR bracketing limitations of both cameras? 1 EV isn't enough! Holding off a purchase until they work the bugs out. Both Fuji and Olympus need a firmware fix.
How is the battery life on high-performance on the Fuji vs. the regular settings on the Olympus? Are they even now?
I don't have a good objective way to test this, but yeah, with High Performance enabled they seem about even.
Tony Northrup I guess the most battery consuming factor would be having pre-focus enabled, since the camera focuses all the time while in operation
Surprised to see the way you tested continous focusing on your bride running towards you with EM1 getting 0% focused. No camera gets zero % focus because your first shot must always be in focus to have the rest of the shots focused, for then the focus tracking will track correctly. It just means that you didn't have it right and just shoot all the way. This testing is very casual and i think you should know more about cameras before you do such a test. And BTW, I own both XT1 and EM1 too.
great video....thank u
I wonder how X-T1 compares to DSLR in this test
Hi. Is there a chance of you guys doing a test of the K3?
We've missed the window on the K3 (it's been out six months now) but we'll definitely test the next Pentax.
When will you get the Sony A6000 to compare it with these two?
The a6000 ships April 20, but it's about half the price of these cameras... I'm open to suggestions, but I'll probably compare it to the E-M10, and/or a lower-end Fuji like the X-E1.
Tony Northrup No good idea...the X-E1 isn't a "entry level model", it's a discontinued "old" model from September 2012 (the predecessor to the X-E2)...no hybrid AF. I have it and like it, but it's no match for a camera of 2014...but from what I hear about the a6000's AF capabilities, which (mirrorless) camera is?
Philipp Kaempfer Actually the real low end Fujis, the X-A1 and X-M1 would be much more suited AF-wise...but they got no EVF...so rather pointless to compare eighter...
Philipp Kaempfer Well, if you insist... ;-) At least get all the firmware updates for the X-E1 you can ;-) (it will be a completely different camera lol)
Did you use C-AF with tracking on the Olympus, or did you use just C-AF?
C-AF with tracking. It did try to keep up.
Tony Northrup And E-M1 was in the slow FPS mode, short shutter lag, IBIS disabled and review disabled? As the fast FPS mode doesn't do AF after first shot and IBIS (with auto panning detection) doesn't work in that kind direction shooting.
It would be nice when shooting the video, mention the basic info about what is in use, Shutter/Aperture/ISO/FL so people get a idea about the environment. The difficulty with E-M1 to get moving objects is to get them stay in focus point and then combining that with the used lens, the camera might not anymore focus the subject after once focused to behind subject. As some lenses are designed to focus first further and other to closer. This like when using 4/3 system with a macro or with tele-objective you get different results with AF as other lens (ie. 150mm) might want to focus to infinity from grass/tree subject.
I am just wondering how you managed to get almost all unsharp shots with E-M1 in all two bright situation, contrary what are my experience. :)
When will you review EM1 Mark II ?
I'm sold. Rented an XT1 this weekend and it blew away the XPro1 I normally use. Selling Canon gear ASAP!
Rick Estrada now if you could only take a decent picture....
Sorry sir... Gotta go Off topic here.
I thought Robbie Van Persie has a new hobby now...
Anywya..I enjoyed your video reference. Thank you.
Please don't take offence sir.. :)
hmmm, I sense that you and your lovely bride Chelsea might of had a little trouble in paradise before making this video, but I could be wrong, she just didn't seem herself in this video, hope you guys are ok, I am happy you figured the XT1 out and that it focuses the way other reviews said it does, but I have seen it track better in another video, also I like your comment you made, *that you love it and hate it more than any camera you've ever owned*, I kind of feel that way about the XT1 and I don't even own it*, from the five minutes I played with it, it just didn't seem like a user friendly camera, but like you said, maybe you could get used to it, also I saw online somewhere that fuji has been fixing all the light leak problems on cameras that are sent in to them, and one guy on this rumor page said he got his camera back and the 4 way controller had been improved with buttons that stood out a little more and had a better click to them, and it made me wonder if it was true, and if all the future Xt1's were going to be made with the new controller, I wish i could find out somehow, because i am still considering buying one, i am also wondering if fuji is going to ever make a silver and black one
No trouble, just paradise :). My Fuji is one of those that they'll repair, so perhaps I'll send it in and see if they'll do something about those awful buttons. I'd prefer a silver model, too... all black is so dull.
Tony Northrup i will be waiting to see what happens with your XT1 when you send it in, because I really don't like the feel of that four way controller, also, from the little I have seen of it, your house looks really nice, and it looks like a beautiful area you live in, a little like paradise haha, I was wondering wear it is ?