SmallRig Cage for Olympus E-M1 Mark II - Review

Disclaimer: SmallRig sent me this cage for review purposes. I'm not being paid or obliged to write good things about it. All opinions about is are my own.

Introduction:

I was very happy when SmallRig announced that they were working on a cage for the E-M1 Mark II. Since I've been looking to get a cage for my Olympus cameras for a long long time, but there hasn't been any good options. Most of the options has been bulky generic ones, that fits pretty much any DSLR or Mirrorless camera. No custom made ones for a specific Olympus model, until now.

Some notes before the review:
I have used this cage for about two weeks now and on a few different assignments. Both handheld and on a tripod. My configuration might not be perfect yet, and I will probably adjust it a bit. But I have been able to mount an audio recorder, wireless lav mic receiver and a monitior/external recorder to the cage/rig simultaneously.

I choose to not include cables in the pictures, since that would obstruct the view of the cage.
I will try to add links to all the parts I used for my rig.

The Review:

When I opened the package from SmallRig, all the parts was neatly packed individually in zip-lock bags and all of the bags included a proper allen key. The cage is machined from one solid piece of aluminium alloy and is very sturdy. It has no play what so ever! All the edges are nice and rounded and won't damage you or your camera. And there's more than enough mounting points for my needs. The cage fits snug on to the camera and does not obstruct any buttons or the battery door.

One exception tho, I have pretty small hands and I'm having troubles to reach the depth of field preview button with my fingers when the cage is mounted. I wish they would have made a groove in the cage here, like they have done next to the lens release button.

Like I said in my review of the Olympus 12-100 f/4, I hate carrying stuff around. But this cage is really light weight (116g, cage only) and the added weight does not bother me at all.

I added the 46mm NATO safety rail on top of the cage, so I easily can add or remove the NATO top handle without the need of any tools. This is perfect if you, like me, can't fit the camera with the top handle attached in your camera bag.
The top handle can easily be adjusted backwards or forward by loosening two 1/4" screws with the included allen key. This allen key works for pretty much any screw on the rig and is "hidden" on the side of the handle and is held in place by magnets. This is a really smart design and it does not obstruct the handling what so ever. The handle can aslo be slightly adjusted sideways on the 46mm NATO safety rail (46mm is SmallRigs shortest one). This makes it easy to balance the rig when you add accessories.

Nato safety rail and NATO top handle

NATO top handle with cold shoe mounted on the side

I have never been a fan of friction arms or tiny ball heads. So for my Atomos Ninja Blade monitor/recorder I got the "DSLR Monitor Holder Mount" and a NATO quick release clamp so I can quickly change from the top handle to the monitor. The monitor mount is all metal, low profile and super sturdy. The friction of the monitor can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the allen screws.

DSLR monitor mount on NATO quick release clamp 

Often when I shoot, I record external audio from one or multiple sources. And previously I have been mounting my Zoom H6 to a Gorilla Pod and clamped that, plus a wireless lav mic receiver to my tripod (or just had it laying beside me or on the ground). But now I can finally mount the Zoom H6 and the wireless receiver to my camera, using two cold shoe mounts, and have it right in front of me when I shoot! This is super helpful for me and makes it less of a hassle to record proper audio. The lav receiver is unfortunately not pictured but I use a cold shoe on the side of the top handle to mount it.

SmallRig Cage with the Zoom H6 attached

When I got the cage and the other parts from SmallRig, I also received a HDMI-clamp that was supposed to fit the rig. This clamp was not able to secure my Atomos coiled HDMI cable at all. The clamp barely reached the cable and could not grip it. This might just be my fault but something that I want to mention.
The protective casing on my cable connector is all metal with rounded edges, so It might help to add some gaffers tape on the connector, to add some size and a more grip friendly surface. But if you look at the picture below, you can see what I'm talking about. But if it was just a few millimeters longer, it would have been perfect.

Illustration from SmallRig.com

Conclusion:

Despite the two "flaws" that I mentioned, I am very happy with the cage and it has been a joy to use my camera the last two weeks. I will definitely keep the cage on my E-M1 Mark II and continue to use it. Since it is so small and lightweight that there is no need to remove it if I am just shooting stills. For me, this rig has the perfect size to mount everything I need. And without being bulky when all accessories are removed.

I would recommend this cage for anyone who uses their E-M1 Mark II for film making and want to add a top handle and/or other accessories like microphones, monitor, audio recorder or LED-lights.

Pros:
-Affordable
-Lightweight
-Very customizable
-Built to last
-The NATO quick release system
-The magnetic Allen key holder on the NATO top handle 

Cons:
-For me, the DoF review button is hard to reach with the cage mounted. I'd wish they had made a groove in the cage, like there in next to the lens release button.
-The recommended HDMI-lock does not grip my slim Atomos cable.

Nine months with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO - The ultimate travel lens?

Disclaimer: I am an ambassador for Olympus Norway and I did not pay for this lens and I'm not being paid to write about it. All opinions about is are my own. 

Introduction

About 9 months has passed since I got the Olympus 12-100 f/4 and I've used it quite a bit in various settings. I'd guess I've shot around 10.000 frames with it so far. So I though I'd share my experiences. 

In this review, I'm not going to talk a lot about the numbers, specs or show resolution charts.
This is a real world review.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I HATE lugging around gear.
So when I travel, I want to travel light and only bring one camera and one lens that does it all.

Is the 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO that lens? Read on.

Backstory

When I first got the lens, my first though was "Do I really need this, when I already own the 12-40 f/2.8 PRO and 40-150 f/2.8 PRO?". But I decided to give it a go.
At that time, it was Olympus newest lens and was rumored to be sharp and have great image stabilization. And since I do a lot of hand held filming, that awesome IS would be really handy.
I also travel a lot, so a lens that "does everything" was maybe going to be right up my alley. But at first, I was a bit skeptical.
Previously I've always brought my 12-40 2.8 PRO when ever I needed an all-round lens. 

The review

Handling

It's quite heavy for being a Micro 4/3 lens at 561g (1.23 lb).
But still a lot lighter than the popular Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L II at 805g (1.775 lb) or the Nikkor AF-S 24-70 f2.8 G 900g (1.98 lb).
The lens is 117 mm (4.59″). For a comparison in length, it's pretty much exactly in between the 12-40 and 40-150 f/2.8 PRO and about equal to the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0.

On a smaller camera like the E-M5 or E-M10 it's going to be really front heavy, but the E-M5 combined with a battery grip is a perfect match. With the bigger Olympus E-M1 and E-M1 mark II, you really don't need to use a battery grip if you don't want to.

The manual focus clutch is great when you shoot video or really want to nail that manual focus.

Shooting experience

This fall I visited Iceland for 10 days, where me and my E-M1 mkII got soaking wet by rain, geysers and waterfalls. And since the 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO combined with my OMD E-M1 Mark II are both weather sealed I NEVER had to worry about my gear in those situations.
It's really nice to have one thing less to worry about when you're out in the field.
When the camera and lens got wet I occasionally I wiped the exteriors with a micro fiber cloth when I got back to our car, and sometimes I just left it to dry in the back seat.

The zoom range is nothing but great, 12mm is wide enough for most uses and the 100mm on the long end gets you really close to your subject. It also focuses down to 0,15m (5,9") at 12mm, which makes it even more versatile!

As I wrote in the backstory, I had always brought the 12-40 whenever i needed ONE lens to do everything, but those extra 60mm on the long end, and image stabilization really adds more than one might think. And the only trade-off is one stop less light and some (179g) extra weight. 

I've used it together with my OMD E-M5 Mark II, E-M1 and E-M1 Mark II and have had great results with all three cameras. Both for pictures and video.

The auto-focus is fast and accurate in all lightning conditions.

The lens is razor sharp at all apertures and all focal lengths. What more can you ask for?

Well, one thing is that it would be really great to combine it with the 1.4x extender, but unfortunately (to my knowledge) they are not compatible. 

It's very flare resistant. I really like lens flares with some lenses but I could barely get this lens to flare at all.

Should you get one? I don't know.
You can probably survive without it, but it's a really awesome lens to have in your kit. So if you want one lens to do pretty much everything you throw at it, get one.

Is it the ultimate travel lens? Pretty close!

Pros
-Great zoom range
-Weather sealed
-Sharpness
-Image stabilization
-Constant aperture
-Close focus

Cons
-I wouldn't call it a con really. But the auto-focus feels slightly slower then some of the other PRO-lenses from Olympus, but still lightning fast.

Finally I'd like to share some pictures taken with this lens. Some are raw, edited in Lightroom and some are just JPGs edited in the field using Darkroom and/or Instagram on my iPad. Can you tell the difference?