E-M5 II at 1000

 
 E-M5 II, m.Zuiko 40-150 f4-5.6 R

So 5 days of ownership , and I'm already over 1000 shots on the E-M5 II

Why so many, so quickly? The X-T1 took around 3 weeks to get to that shot count, and it climbed relatively fast.

The answer is that I've had the chance to do 4 serious photowalks since I acquired the E-M5 II on Monday, three of those were urban, and I came home with my usual 150 or so shots from 2-3 hours of walking. The last one was a park/nature walk and it was a dream day for bug shooting, which tends to end up driving a high shot count (they can be difficult little buggers to shoot, pun intended, and I tend to end up taking 4-5 shots per bug to ensure I get something usable). I just got home from that one after almost 6 hours of walking with a little over 500 images to go through. Note I also got 2 good photowalks in last weekend with the X-T1 prior to trading it in, so it went out with 2100 shots on the clock, which is better than most of the bodies I've had in the last few years (and exceeds all the other Fuji's I've owned, combined).

Now usually exceeding 1000 shots would mean that a camera had passed the Equivocation zone (stage 2 of my 3 Stages of Camera Ownership) but I'm not sure with the E-M5 II, it's half in Comfort and half in New Toy, with no Equivocation. The reality is that it definitely has its weaknesses (AF-C performance is somewhere in the bad joke territory, battery life is low, menus are way too complex) but like the X-T1, those weaknesses generally have little effect on my actual shooting. I got comfortable with using it remarkably quickly, and it actually has gotten out of my way, which is not something I remember the E-M5 or E-M1 doing, although I suspect if I set up the E-M1 like I have the E-M5II setup that it would be more transparent. I've learned a few things about camera setup in the 4 years since I sold the E-M1.

So far the E-M5 II is working very well for me. It helps that all 3 of my lenses are working well, with the 25/1.7 in particular showing its strengths as a close-in lens compared to the XF 23/2 (which was at its weakest close in and wide open). The 40-150R has also proven yet again that it's just shockingly good for its unbelievably low cost (remember, this is a $150 slow kit zoom lens, bought new). All three lenses I own are incredible bargains for their performance. The 25/1.7 is definitely growing on me even though it's the weakest of the three optically, it's just a nice all-round performance with pleasant rendering even if it isn't as sharp as the other 25's in m43 mount.

I definitely don't have a full working kit yet, but I can see a straight path to one now, and for an investment I'm a lot more comfortable with. Next steps look like the 9-18 and a mid-range zoom (likely either another 12-50EZ or the Panasonic 12-60)