Pictures taken in 2015 to compare 3 cameras at high ISO (6 pictures)

On one of the digital photography forums (dpreview.com), somebody was asking whether a Stylus-1 or an E-M10 with kit lens was better at low light, no flash pictures. I decided to compare 3 cameras I had on hand, taking a quick picture of one of our cats (Aerosmith). Usually fine details, like cat hair is something that shows up when doing high ISO shots like this.

The three cameras are:

Olympus Stylus-1
Olympus E-PM2 with 14-42mm II-R kit lens
Olympus E-M5 with 12-50mm lens

These three pictures were all taken at wide angle for the camera (24mm equivalent field of view for the E-M5, and 28mm equivalent field of view for the E-PM2 and Stylus-1). At the telephoto end of the lens, the two mirrorless cameras would be worse, since the lenses would be at f/6.3 and f/5.6.

I have added 3 detail shots of the image cropped to 400x400 pixels. My take away, is the Stylus-1 starts showing noise effects sooner than the mirrorless cameras (which is to be expected, since the Stylus-1 has a smaller sensor), but the faster lens (f/2.8) makes up for this to a large extent.

The copyright owner on these pictures is Michael Meissner. Please direct any comments about this web page to mrmweb@the-meissners.org.

Michael Meissner's home page is at http://www.the-meissners.org, his Renaissance Faire/SF convention links are at http://www.the-meissners.org/ren.html, his digital camera links are at http://www.the-meissners.org/camera.html, his calendar links are at http://www.the-meissners.org/calendar.html, and the head of these photo albums is at http://www.the-meissners.org/photo.html.

The thumbnail pictures displayed here are have been reduced to at most 400x400 or 372x496 pixels depending on the picture orientation.

Clicking on the small file link will show you the picture that has been reduced to at most 767x992 or 767x992 pixels depending on the picture orientation. If you click on the thumbnail you will get the small picture.

Fullsize pictures are not stored in this web site due to file size limiations. Please contact Michael Meissner if you desire a full size picture, particularly for printing.

This page lists pictures with thumbnails listed from newest to oldest. If you want to view the pictures with thumbnails classified by grouping like subjects together, click here. If you want to view the pictures without thumbnails, click here.

Picture #1: Detail of Olympus E-M5 + 12-50mm lens

400x423, 38,686 bytes (38K), (html file)
Olympus E-M5-I camera with Olympus-m43 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens
f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 12.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 24.0mm
Programs used: gimp
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:32:46
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:52 Picture #2: Detail of Stylus-1

400x423, 39,196 bytes (39K), (html file)
Olympus Stylus-1 camera
f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/30 sec, 6.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization (mode 4), noise reduction auto, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm
Programs used: gimp
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:23:06
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:52

Picture #3: Detail of Olympus E-PM2 + 14-42mm II-R lens

400x446, 39,527 bytes (39K), (html file)
Olympus E-PM2 camera with Olympus-m43 14-42mm-IIR f/3.5-5.6 lens
f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 14.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm
Programs used: gimp
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:21:51
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:50 Picture #4: Olympus E-M5 + 12-50mm lens

768x599, 73,903 bytes (73K), (html file)
Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved
Olympus E-M5-I camera with Olympus-m43 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens
f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 12.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 24.0mm
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:32:46
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:34

Picture #5: Olympus Stylus-1 camera

992x767, 97,252 bytes (95K), (html file)
Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved
Olympus Stylus-1 camera
f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/30 sec, 6.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization (mode 4), noise reduction auto, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:23:06
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:33 Picture #6: Olympus E-PM2 picture + 14-42mm II-R lens

768x599, 80,201 bytes (79K), (html file)
Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved
Olympus E-PM2 camera with Olympus-m43 14-42mm-IIR f/3.5-5.6 lens
f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 14.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low
35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm
Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:21:51
Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:33

Michael Meissner, mrmweb@the-meissners.org

Picture #1: Detail of Olympus E-M5 + 12-50mm lens 400x423, 38,686 bytes (38K), (html file) Olympus E-M5-I camera with Olympus-m43 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 12.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 24.0mm Programs used: gimp Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:32:46 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:52	Picture #2: Detail of Stylus-1 400x423, 39,196 bytes (39K), (html file) Olympus Stylus-1 camera f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/30 sec, 6.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization (mode 4), noise reduction auto, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm Programs used: gimp Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:23:06 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:52
Picture #3: Detail of Olympus E-PM2 + 14-42mm II-R lens 400x446, 39,527 bytes (39K), (html file) Olympus E-PM2 camera with Olympus-m43 14-42mm-IIR f/3.5-5.6 lens f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 14.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm Programs used: gimp Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:21:51 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:50	Picture #4: Olympus E-M5 + 12-50mm lens 768x599, 73,903 bytes (73K), (html file) Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved Olympus E-M5-I camera with Olympus-m43 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 lens f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 12.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 24.0mm Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:32:46 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:34
Picture #5: Olympus Stylus-1 camera 992x767, 97,252 bytes (95K), (html file) Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved Olympus Stylus-1 camera f/2.8, ISO 640, 1/30 sec, 6.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization (mode 4), noise reduction auto, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:23:06 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:33	Picture #6: Olympus E-PM2 picture + 14-42mm II-R lens 768x599, 80,201 bytes (79K), (html file) Copyright, Michael Meissner 2015, All rights reserved Olympus E-PM2 camera with Olympus-m43 14-42mm-IIR f/3.5-5.6 lens f/3.5, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, 14.0mm, auto mode, vivid color, matrix metering, image stabilization, noise filter low 35mm equivalent focal length 28.0mm Taken by Michael Meissner on February 16, 2015 02:21:51 Last modified on February 16, 2015 at 10:33