DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

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bakubo
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DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

I have been using m4/3 since April 2012. For the types of things I mostly photograph and the way I do it the smaller size and lower weight of all the gear is very welcome. The Sony sensors in the Olympus bodies are quite good and, for me, I am pretty happy with them. I was just curious on this late afternoon in Japan while drinking an Asahi Super Dry beer how my Olympus bodies compare to FF from not so long back. I looked at the Olympus E-M10II vs. Sony A900. Take a look. Of course, current FF and APS-C is even better, but I was pretty happy with the sensor in even my A700 a few years ago and the A900 is a lot better. The E-M10II beats the A700 by quite a bit and is even better than the A900. Amazing progress.

https://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare ... __1046_371
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

And here are the rest:
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classiccameras
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

Very interesting bakubo, I have an OMD EM10 1, and a Sony A6000, i haven't done any lab test comparisons but in real world pictures I prefer the Olympus Jpegs and overall colours than the A6000. I still use my old E-510 because the colours are so good and that had a Panasonic sensor, Its all in the Olympus processor I guess. Having said that, the A6000 has a great menu system and most adjustments can be done up at eye level in the EVF, Some say the Sony sensor that Olympus now use does not give quite as nice a colour hue as the old Panasonic sensor, but I haven't really seen much difference. I must admit there is a far better M43 lens line up than E mount
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:Very interesting bakubo, I have an OMD EM10 1, and a Sony A6000, i haven't done any lab test comparisons but in real world pictures I prefer the Olympus Jpegs and overall colours than the A6000. I still use my old E-510 because the colours are so good and that had a Panasonic sensor, Its all in the Olympus processor I guess. Having said that, the A6000 has a great menu system and most adjustments can be done up at eye level in the EVF, Some say the Sony sensor that Olympus now use does not give quite as nice a colour hue as the old Panasonic sensor, but I haven't really seen much difference. I must admit there is a far better M43 lens line up than E mount
The Olympus E-M5, E-M10, E-M10II, E-P5, etc. that are 16mp have the same Sony sensor. Just very minor tweaks of the sensor and processing along the way, but I imagine DxO would show them pretty much identical. The PEN-F has the newer Sony 20mp sensor. Panasonic, mostly, uses their own Panasonic sensors, but in the last few years they seem to be as good as the Sony sensors used by Olympus. Panasonic also has 16mp and 20mp sensors that are in current use.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

As you will notice in the 4 graphs, the A900 and E-M10II are pretty much equal in 3 of the graphs, but the E-M10II has much more dynamic range in the dynamic range graph. Also the E-M10II goes to a higher ISO. Although current FF and APS-C is even better I am pretty satisfied having gear the size/weight of m4/3 with an even better sensor than the FF one in the A900. I have read claims, but haven't checked, that the current 20mp sensors in the Olympus PEN-F and the Panasonic GX8 are a bit better than the 16mp.

Of course, some people want bigger gear. Certainly, if I worked in a studio or transported my gear around by car and then at a destination didn't venture far away for long then bigger/heavier gear would be okay, maybe even preferable. Not only do I travel and then spend many hours per day wandering around on foot, but even when I am not traveling I usually walk around for hours per day with my camera. In more familiar areas that I have wandered in before I usually just put a prime lens on the body and also remove the detachable grip. Usually I will have either the 20mm f1.7, 25mm f1.8, 45mm f1.8, or 14mm f2.5 on the camera in those cases.
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Sony 28mm f2.8 attached and Panasonic 14mm f2.5 attached.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

Sounds a good kit to walk round with especially those Primes, is the 20-mm F-1.7 the Panny, it gets rave reviews. I haven't built a kit round my EM10 yet as all my money has gone on the A6000, but I'm struggling to find affordable E mount primes,and zooms that give a half decent performance for the money.
I have been doing some market research on M43 lenses and I have to say that Panasonic make some really good lenses including zooms. One small point I have never liked that much is the square format of 4/3 and M 4/3, I prefer the cropped APS-C Format, but its only a small gripe nothing to stop me using M 4/3
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by CHOLLY »

Does Sony still own a big chunk of Olympus?

They ARE still sharing technology.... :wink:
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

Just over 50% shares, so technically they own Olympus. They signed a joint research programme into sensor technology some time back now and the result was a Sony sensor in later Olympus cameras. Nikon and Pentax also use Sony sensors.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:Sounds a good kit to walk round with especially those Primes, is the 20-mm F-1.7 the Panny, it gets rave reviews.
Yes, I have the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 that I got in 2012. A year or two ago Panasonic came out with a new version 20mm f1.7 II, but only the cosmetics changed slightly -- seemed like a pointless update. It is an excellent lens. The AF is a bit slower than my other lenses, but not slow. I would say the 20mm is about as fast as my A700 and Canon 60D with lenses. The other m4/3 lenses are a bit faster. I mean just for single AF, not continuous. For continuous m4/3 is generally not as good as DSLRs. I have heard that the E-M1 which has combo CDAF/PDAF though is pretty good and the Panasonic GX8 and other newer bodies has some sort of new type of CDAF is pretty good too. I never have used continuous AF though with SLRs, DSLRs or m4/3 so I don't care about this myself though.
classiccameras wrote: One small point I have never liked that much is the square format of 4/3 and M 4/3, I prefer the cropped APS-C Format, but its only a small gripe nothing to stop me using M 4/3
The m4/3 photos are not square, but the cameras allow you to select the aspect ratio and one of the choices is square. The default is 4:3. It sounds like you somehow selected the square 1:1 aspect ratio and didn't realize it. Go back and select 4:3 or if you prefer 3:2 and you will be very happy. I can imagine how thinking the camera could only shoot square would be a surprise.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

Thanks, I forgot all about selecting the aspect ratio,
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

If I only had one prime lens then my choice would be the Panasonic 20mm f1.7. I like the focal length, aperture, and the size/weight is great (it's a pancake lens). Also, the other qualities (sharpness, etc.) are excellent too.

Just for grins today I checked the Sony A77II also. It is close to the A900 and E-M10II. It turns out that for dynamic range it is not as good as the E-M10II, but better than the A900. For the other 3 it comes in last (at the overlapping ISO settings).

Anyway, it is interesting to see how an older, but still loved FF camera and a new APS-C camera compare to the E-M10II. Of course, the Sony cameras have a few more pixels, but not that many. There are other APS-C cameras/sensors that are even better though.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:Thanks, I forgot all about selecting the aspect ratio,
Is the aspect ratio selection option just on m4/3 cameras? Do the Sony cameras (A6300, A7II, etc.) have it too?

By the way, after you change it from 1:1 back to the default 4:3 you will love the EVF! You have been looking at a smaller square view with the sides chopped off. With 4:3 you will get a bigger view and you will also get the full 16mp.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

Sony A-6000 aspect ratio options, 3.2 or 16.9
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by caporip »

Interesting thread.
I've been slowly moving over to Olympus mainly for the same reasons as Bakubo and find it a lot easier to lug round a full set of Olympus kit than the Sony equivalent. I've still got the Sony gear but find myself using it very rarely now.
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Re: DxO: Sony A900 vs Olympus E-M10II

Unread post by classiccameras »

I put building a kit round my EM10 on hold, all I have is that great little Panasonic Zoom 12-35 F/3.5 it is far better than the Olympus Kit lens. I agree, M43 is a great system to build on, which I have yet to do, but then the E mount A-6000/6300 are also great cameras but only remain compact if you use Primes, I use a Sigma 30-mm and 19-mm primes, cheap but a superb IQ, the E zooms are too big and heavy. Its this area that Olympus wins. If only Sony used IBIS in their A/6000/6300 it would hopefully encourage more 3rd party lenses. Again Olympus win on this point
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