Olympus E-M1 Review by Ming Thein

[NicoM]

I couldn't find anything on this on RFF so here it is! Looks like a beast of a camera!

http://blog.mingthein.com/2013/09/10/olympus-om-d-e-m1-review-1/

 

[shadowfox]

I love the shower scene!

😛

 

[lam]

I'm actually very impressed.


... and I hate EVF's!

will see what it's like when it hit's the store shelves.

 

[BLKRCAT]

I think its interesting it can breathe new life into my 4/3 kit from yesteryear. Good potential.

 

[Keith]

Impressive! I liked my EM-5 but it always felt like a toy and if this thing can focus even faster than it's predecessor it'll have a lot of fans. Add the improvements in the EVF and you appear to have quite a camera.

As for the price ... a magnesium bodied camera that's weatherproof with this sort of spec and performance doesn't seem that expensive to me.

 

[Range-rover]

It looks like a great camera, I really liking my 4/3 camera used it on Sunday,
Poor Pentax has been sitting idle lately not being used.

Range

 

[rluka]

Truly surprised to see the suggested retail price. I'm expecting something a lot higher.
But maybe that will be the local price here after import duties, distributor piece of the cake and forced premium lens as kit.

Most interested in the custom colour feature. I hope there will be more reviews coming to explain and demonstrate that.

I love the shower scene!

😛

Yes. Like that photo best. After all, it stands out among the trees and leaves 😀

 

[peterm1]

I saw a new friend's original version OM D which he had optioned up with custom hand grip and a new kind of high quality half case which has a leather body and a metal base. Together with some top end primes, God it looked nice. The grip/halfcase adds greatly to its handling for anyone with average to large hands. The new version of the OM D seems to have an inbuilt grip. I am ooking forward to seeing one in the flesh.

 

[Keith]

The ten minute hot shower test was interesting ... don't think I'd be doing that with my D700! 😀

 

[Mystyler]

The ten minute hot shower test was interesting ... don't think I'd be doing that with my D700! 😀

It's good to know it can stand up to it, my E-5 and 12-60mm were subject to icy rain for for hours in the Canadian bush...no problems to report. I'm glad I held off from the EM-5.

 

[Keith]

I expect to see a glut of EM-5s for sale when this hits the shelves. It's the camera the EM-5 should have been in many ways.

I thought micro four thirds would have hit the wall a while ago personally and then started to fade ... Olympus obviously don't think so!

 

[shadowfox]

I thought micro four thirds would have hit the wall a while ago personally and then started to fade ... Olympus obviously don't think so!

Yes, stubborn lot, they are.

If I can, I'd challenge them to create something with bigger than a full-frame sensor. I think they'll surprise us with the result.

 

[Godfrey]

Putting in an order for one of these beasties. 🙂

G

{off topic language rant}
What the heck is a "pre-order", really? You're placing an order for something which isn't available just yet. Just like when you order something with limited availability, you are able to cancel the order if you change your mind or if you have multiple orders going, waiting for the first one to ship. So why do we refer to pre-orders vs orders?

The only legitimate use of the term pre-order seems to me to be ordering something for which you don't know the price yet. You place a pre-order until the price becomes fixed, with full cancellation permissions contingent upon the price, then it is converted to an order when you confirm the price.

Sorry, just had my morning coffee. I do make my living as a technical writer, you know. Words are important... ;-)
{end off topic language rant}

​

 

[Godfrey]

Yes, stubborn lot, they are. ...

You'd probably be a bit on the stubborn side if you had several hundred million dollars invested in lens development and manufacturing too. ;-)

G

 

[jarski]

seems capable camera, but pricy for m4/3's. probably going to dip after a while.

 

[Keith]

A lot of my own misgivings about micro four thirds are misplaced I suspect ... purely to do with the aspect ratio. I did feel the OMD was a bit dinky though and wished it had been made more like this camera with a built in grip.

 

[shadowfox]

You'd probably be a bit on the stubborn side if you had several hundred million dollars invested in lens development and manufacturing too. ;-)

G

Investments could always be justified if the data-gathered (and analyzed) supports a positive-return projection.

They just shutdown their entire P&S design and manufacturing, right? Use those resource to do full-frame or bigger (my wishful thinking, of course 🙂 )

 

[defconfunk]

Use those resource to do full-frame or bigger (my wishful thinking, of course 🙂 )

Why bother with a FF? Olympus' claim to fame has always been small easy to handle cameras with sharp glass. My OM40 is smaller than a Yashica Minister RF. I've never handled a half frame Pen, but they sure look tiny.

The images I'm seeing out of these early reviews produce useable (as in printable to 8x10) results up to ISO 6400. My E-510 doesn't even look that good at ISO 800. I had been lusting over a FF so I could shoot ISO6400. But having handled a 5D, there's no way I'd want to carry that around. The EM1 looks ideal for me.

So, smaller body, lighter lens, same high ISO quality, if not total sharpness for super huge prints. I really don't see a reason for Oly to do a FF (which would need a new line of lenses to cover the larger sensor).

Now, you say 'or bigger', and while I'd love a portable digital MF (Lieca S-mount seems like a good idea to me, especailly with the focus on sharper than normal MF lenses - but the price tag leaves a lot to be desired), Oly has never done a MF kit to my knowledge, and it isn't exactly a big market (not unless than can do it for FF prices). Why spend resources there?

I'd rather they work to make the m4/3 as good as the FF cameras, and focus on bringing 'pro' glass to the cheap masses (me). Convert some of those constant 2.8 lenses down to m4/3 and cut the price - If we're dreaming I'd love a 100mm-300mm F2.8 weather sealed lens I could afford.

Portable F2.8, 600mm equivalent, fast AF, and ISO6400? Think of the possibilities for evening sports games and wildlife.

 

[Godfrey]

If I wanted a full frame camera, there are plenty of choices already. (BTW: I already own a full frame digital camera.)

The Olympus E-M1 is of interest because I have wanted a pro-grade Micro-FourThirds camera for several reasons, not the least of which is that I like the format's dynamics, imaging characteristics, and lens versatility.

It's all over but the shouting now: I've place an order for one.

G

 

[traveler_101]

I expect to see a glut of EM-5s for sale when this hits the shelves. It's the camera the EM-5 should have been in many ways. . . .

What I don't understand is the relation between the E-M1 and E-M5 in the Olympus playbook. Ming Thien seems to think that the "E-M1 is the successor and upgrade to the very popular early-2012 OM-D E-M5 . . . "

Won't there be successors to both the E-M5 and E-M1 in the OM-D line? If this is the E-M5 successor camera, the numbering is somewhat strange, moving down numerically from E-M5 to E-M1. Of course Leica's successor to the M3 was the M2.

I don't know. The E-M1 just seems a much bigger and quite different camera than the E-M5 or anything Olympus has done in m43.