Rob Trek Forum

Hello,

I have owned (and loved) my Olympus OM-D E-M5 since 2013. Because of personal and professional reasons, I did not have as time as I wanted to enjoy my E-M5, so despite its age my E-5 is still in an excellent condition.

Today I am retired, and I have plenty of free time to enjoy shooting. I am not a professional photographer, only a so-called "enthusiast" photographer: street photography, family photos, portraits, travel photography and lately also I started to take photos of the projects that my daughter, an interior designer, is working on.  
 
I want (not need) a second body for two reasons:

1. I just simply fancy the idea of holding, learning and enjoying a new Olympus camera, the pleasure of playing around with something new and different.

2. To have a different set of lens on each; one wide angle zoom and the other portrait and tele (no need to change lenses all the time)

I was considering the OM-D E-M5 Mark II or the OM-D E-M10 Mark III. My budget is tight, but I could make the effort and get the M5 Mark II.

For what I want to do with my cameras, which between these two would be the best second body for me? ( maybe not the best or more advanced on paper)

By the way, does the viewfinder eyecup of newer OM-D E-M also easily fall off? This problem started about a year after I bought the OM-D E-M5. One day I took the camera out of its pouch and I could not find the eyecup. Since then I had several new eyecups and at a certain point, they also fell off.

Thank you very much.

I would go for an E-M5 Mark II or E-M10 Mark II. I think you'll appreciate the all metal build of the Mark II series. Also, the E-M10 Mark III removes some functionality.

Thank you very much Rob,

I have another question: my daughter is a new interior designer and I started to help her in shooting her project. I own two lenses, one is a wide angle Zuiko 17mm 1:1.8 and the other is a Zuiko 45mm 1:1.8

Which other lenses would recommend me to purchase for the interior design photos? As much as I fancy a new camera body, I would consider to use my budget into lenses if needed.

I'd recommend a wide angle zoom. the 9-18mm or the 7-14mm. 17mm is too tight for interiors. Don't worry about aperture, I shoot at f/5.6 or f/8 for interiors.

Thank you very much, Rob !

The 9-18mm seems to be a great option. The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO is what I would get, but it is far above my budget right now.

There is also the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14mm f/4.0 ASPH for the same price as the Zuiko ED 9-18mm. According to the specs, the Panasonic looks like a great option (not as good as the Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO) but I have read in several places the Panasonic 7-14mm is also very infamous for some purple "blob" flaring on Olympus bodies. Do you know something about it?

Yes, the Panasonic 7-14mm does have purple blobs. Whenever a point of light hits the lens - like a lamp, spotlight, sun, it causes a terrible purple flare. I own the 7-14mm and use it time to time for my work. I try to work around it by adjusting the angle or moving around but sometimes it's unavoidable. 90% of the time it's fine, but I don't recommend this lens for paid work.

I decided to purchase the M.ZUIKO Digital ED 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO

I have to sell my Nikon D90 + lens, which I have almost not touched from the day I got the Olympus. Adding the sale of the Nikon D90 and lenses to my present budget enables me to purchase the 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO.

Thank you very for your very kind help.

I would ( and did ) get the EM5.2
Recently purchased one, including 2 lenses for 300 Euro.
Already had the EM5.1, which now went to my father, as to downsize his gear. ( I kept the 12-50, as its splash-proof )
Congrats on the 7-14 mm, seems you found a way to stretch your budget.