I certainly never noticed any issues with it in the short time I had it - pretty smooth and "stepless" in operation - and the OMD has variable speed zoom options as well. It is nice though to have the option of manual or powered zoom as my replacement lens has but definitely not an "essential" for normal use.
Yes, the 14-42mm.
Honestly I'm usually using it "point and shoot" style in these circumstances rather than focusing on the settings I'm checking the shot and deleting anything horribly blurred.Glancing through some shots I've got everything from 200-6400.6400 is getting a bit noisy/grainy but I'm still happy with some of those shots.
Focus seldom seems to be an issue though you have to watch your left hand isn't blocking the focus assist light if it's very dark.
BTW If you haven't enabled Super Control Panel you really should, the details are here
User Guide: Getting the most out of the Olympus E-M5: Digital Photography Review
Yeah I've enabled SCP and "unlocked" the dial, so that you don't have to hit the Fn button first when in A/S/P mode etc. Being able to instantly flip between apertures with the wheel feels much better when not requiring the unlock, as it were.
That's the link I followed for enabling SCP; I turned off live view for now, as I prefer the SCP view being the default and not having to press through to SCP with 'Info' button.
I didn't realise a lens could be both manual zoom and powered zoom. The marvels of technology eh data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Thanks to a website supplied to me by Jim (no, not one of those data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7) I've ben able to compare different camera and lens combos to get an idea of size (obviously not the same as the real world), and one thing that could prevent me from getting a CSC is that for fixed aperture zooms then lenses are still quite large and I'm not sure I'd be saving that much space. Add to that that the ergonomics aren't as good on a CSC (imo at least) I'm wondering how much of an advantage the CSC would be for me. The Olly's with the 14-42mm pancake would be ideal size wise, but it's 'only' f3.5-5.6 so would be more limiting in low light, and I wouldn't get my lovely shallow DOF data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 (especially combining it with the smaller sensor)
Compact Camera Meter
The Fuji one here is 'only' f2.8-4.0, and I would imagine the constant f2.8 scheduled for the end of the year will be bigger still.
Yeah - who's have thought you could disengage a motor eh ? data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
BTW I was supplied the link on a previous page - when I was waxing lyrical about the relative size of my Panny 100-300mm vs my Sony 70-300mm G data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I guess the relative size comparison argument is entirely valid - more so when you are the single user (or multiple users are very proficient in DSLR use). However, for those of us trying to get the OH/kids/others to get to grips with a device, M43 is definitely a happy compromise solution.
Ergonomics are definitely not as good as a full-sized (or even compact) DSLR, but I nor OH tend to shoot for long periods of time, so it will be okay.
Don't get me wrong, they'll be great for the reasons you state. I was talking about my own personal needs data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Absolutely - in an ideal world, I'd go SLR again, but I did find myself compromising on the DSLR when carrying a mobile phone, only to be disappointed but still glad for not lugging the bulk around.
For me, these are a better description of "bridging" than the bridging category themselves, again, for my needs in particular.
Agreed, I found the term bridge camera a little misleading when I bought mine. Thankfully, I'm a bit more familiar with the different camera types these days.
If you're not like me being obsessed with shallow DOF, and don't mind a powered lens, the OMD EM5 or EM10 with the new pancake zoom look superb in terms of portability, bulk and weight. I reckon I could fit that combo into a large jacket pocket, and even more so the Pen series?