UKC

Hi so I'm thinking of getting the new hero 9 for an action camera to replace my old one. It will allow me of capturing footage of socttish and alpin trips.

I've also been loking at getting the Olympus EM-5 ii just for photography however I can only afford one of them.

Keeping in mind how little I know about photography would the go pro suffice for my needs till I actially get halfway devent. Then I cam move on to a proper camera?

Any tips?

No idea about the latest model but stills from my Hero5 are abysmal, an iphone 1 would do better. The video output otoh is excellent.

Intresting point, how did you find the form factor for trying to take photos? Terrible?

GoPro or OMD EM5 ?

If you can only afford one get the camera, that's a no brainer, £384 in like new condition on MPB.com, add a pancake prime and you have got something slightly more capable than a GoPro, OK it won't have all the bells an whistles like voice command etc. but its a bit more flexible, EM5 does decent enough video too.

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/used-equipment/used-photo-and-video/used-mirrorle...

The only think about the Olympus is I can't mount it to my helmet. 

That leaves me the option of keeping my current action cam (Yi 4k+) which is ok. crap stabilization, and caterproof case fogs up whenver I change the battery. Which ruined some great footage on my last alpine trip.

So trying to figure out the best way forward

Well if you need to helmet mount it you haven't really got a lot of options, the newer GoPro take OK photos from what I have seen

The new GoPro is OK for taking photo, although it is never going to be as good as the Olympus, the main problem being it's wide angle nature creates lot of distortion.  That said, I've purchased a gopro purely for taking photos, I use the Rx100 III as my main camera but the gopro comes into its own when you can't get further back or the landscape is too wide to fit on my 24-70mm range.  

GoPros take ok photos, and shoot in RAW so you can play with them a bit.

For photos I’d never carry one instead of a proper camera, and find them a pain with gloves on.

As an “action cam” though they are hard to beat.

Helmet cam footage of climbing is (in my option) one of the most boring things to watch. Get a decent mirrorless camera, get in cool positions and make an interesting film, rather than hours of boring footage of your feet and struggling to take a stuck wires out. 

The EM5 mk2 is a great camera with loads of features you will 'grow into' as a photographer which are lacking from a GoPro. 

I have a gopro 8.

Unless the light is really bright, results are mushy and fairly terrible. Your phone will do much better. 

A good option for wet conditions however 

I agree on your first point. My main use fot the go rpo would be walking across ridges and on steep groud and such where you need to concentrate on what you're doing rather than holding a camera. I odn't think there is an easy way to do this with a bigger camera

As for features, like you said olympus would be better.

You can always get out ahead and film your mate! I don't think watching ridge walks from helmet cam footage is particularly interesting either, but I realise this might just be my personal taste. 

I have got both (GoPro 9 and EM-5 iii). I also take a lot of photos on my phone (iPhone 11 Pro) and sometimes carry all three of them on adventure outings (walks rather than climbs).

They all have their uses, which are very different.

The photo quality on the Hero 9 has actually improved a lot compared to the 8, but the photos I take on my phone come out much better in all but the best lighting conditions. The Olympus obviously beats both.

But there are other things to consider: What the GoPro does really well is taking action snapshots, particularly selfy style. You point the thing and take something like 30 pictures in 6 seconds and then choose the best. The wide angle also means you tend to get things into frame. I quite like the fisheye distortion for some scenes, but it does not look too realistic. I can also slide the GoPro into a pocket and take it onto a run. I cannot do that with the EM-5.

Using a camera like the EM-5 is  a bit more involved. It's not as point and shoot. TO get the most out of such a camera you need to take the time to play with the dials, which might not work well when on a climb or run. The computational photography of a good phone and a GoPro might get better results in such scenarios.  and It's all a bit of a compromise, but I recently find that I take my phone and GoPro onto adventure outings and reserve the EM-5 for proper photography outings.

This one is a bit tricky. They do shoot RAW, but not in the modes that are best for certain action shots. I end up shooting mostly in JPEG because I tend to use the GoPro for pointing it at myself quickly and shoot loads of pictures in continuous mode, so no RAW in that case.

For a more relaxed still scene photo, a phone is often better.