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You've got to have a system - part 5 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Published 10/04/2015

Olympus OM-D E-M1
OK, so the E-M5 Mark II, an update of the first ever Olympus OM-D, is the newest model on the block (announced Feb 2015) that has everyone talking, particularly about its 40-megapixel photo mode, made up from information derived from eight sequential shots. If you can't afford that, also well worth checking out is the OM-D E-M10 model that sits below it (from 2014), and which, like its siblings, is ideal for street and travel photography. But the 16 megapixel, Four Thirds sensor incorporating E-M1, which originally came out at the tail end of 2013, remains the flagship, protargeted CSC at the time of writing. It definitely has that wow factor as you heft it out of the box, both in terms of design and construction, even if we did find some of its back plate controls a tad small and fiddly, not only due to their miniscule size but also their close grouping. This meant that it took a little while to become familiar with the unit's quirks. The kit bundle option comes with a 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 zoom lens, which is OK, though there have been better, more all-encompassing options released by Olympus since, including its new and improved 14-150mm f4.0-5.6 II lens.

Like its chief competitors the OM-D EM-1, for just under £1,000, shows its mettle in being weather-proofed, though not fully submersible. Resembling an SLR in miniature (a hark back to Olympus' OM series, obviously), it can also withstand dust and handle the cold down to -10°C. Wi-Fi connectivity is built in, and the camera can also be hooked up to your smartphone or iPad - which can double up as a remote control/viewer, if downloading the applicable free Olympus app. We also get a swift TruePic VII image processor on board and the latest must-haves including an LCD with over a million dots of resolution that both tilts and offers touch-screen control. Naturally there is also a sharp and bright eye-level electronic viewfinder with 2,360,000-dot resolution as an alternative compositional option. It's also equipped with an eye sensor so automatically activates as you peer through it, which is a helpful touch. Remove your eye and it switches off, whilst instead activating the larger LCD below.

While there is an optional accessory battery grip available for the OM-D E-M1 should you want to bulk it out further, or gain prolonged power (otherwise it's 330 shots from a full charge of the lithium ion cell provided), the 'core' camera feels reassuringly solid when gripped, as it is. This being an Olympus camera we get the differentiating factor of on-board Art Filter digital effects - 11 in total here. Fun and effective as they may be - the dramatic tone being a personal favourite - the audience for this camera will probably want to adjust imagery post capture rather than in-camera. As regards menu and function navigation we felt it would have been helpful to have a dedicated 'back' button provided, and likewise a dedicated control for quickly accessing ISO options. Selecting key features is often a matter of holding down one function button whilst spinning another - which, as we say, can feel a bit wearing with repetition. As on a pro DSLR, there is no builtin flash here, but there is the opportunity of adding an accessory flashgun. Naturally here we get video provided as well as stills, though it's a full HD 1920x1080 pixels at a cinematic 30fps frame rate rather than the flashier 4K. In terms of picture quality, in daylight we are able to achieve results a close match for a DSLR, despite the physically smaller chip size here. If we've a gripe it's that auto focus could be swifter still, particularly when filming video, so we naturally found ourselves taking manual control more. Otherwise it takes a couple of moments for the AF to catch up should you pan away and swap subject mid-recording. Of course one of the big draws of the OM-D E-M1 is its size or lack of it. The solid feel body will sit comfortably in an out-stretched palm - something you can't say of the typically back-breaking pro-level DSLR.

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1st Published 10/04/2015
last update 09/12/2022 15:00:23

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