Photography News issue 17

Camera review

FIRST LOOK

Olympus OM-D E-M5Mark II The E-M5 was the first arrival in the Olympus OM-D family and very popular it has proved too. The Mark II has now burst onto the scene and with its enhanced performance looks set to be an even bigger success

SPECS

PRICE £899.99 body only, £1099.99 kit with M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ CONTACT www.olympus.co.uk SENSOR 17.3x13mm Micro Four Thirds, 4608x3456 pixels ISORANGE 100-25,600 SHUTTER 60secs-1/8000sec (mechanical shutter), 1/16000sec (electronic shutter), Time, Bulb, flash sync at 1/250sec MAX FRAME RATE Up to 10fps continuous METERING SYSTEM Digital ESP with 324 areas, centre-weighted and spot EXPOSUREMODES PASM, scene modes EXPOSURE COMPENSATION +/-5EV AUTOFOCUSMODES High speed imager AF, SAF, CAF, manual, 81 AF areas IMAGE STABILISER 5-axis sensor shift – yaw/pitch/roll/vertical/ horizontal, 5EV benefit MONITOR 3in vari-angle STORAGEMEDIA 1xSD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I/II compatible DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 123.7x85x44.5mm WEIGHT 469g (including battery and card)

Words by Will Cheung

It’s time to confess: while I enjoyed using Olympus Micro Four Thirds cameras I wasn’t a massive fan until the OM-D E-M5 came along three years ago. For me, in one fell swoop Micro Four Thirds came of age and the E-M5 has been a regular companion ever since. Its potent combination of portability, high-quality pictures, great lens support and handling more akin to a DSLR’s has proved compelling for me and many others. News of the E-M5 Mark II was very welcome, although with a small reservation. When camera makers use the Mark II designation it usually means that the original has been upgraded a little but the changes aren’t significant enough to justify a totally new model name. If that’s sounds cynical, it is not meant to be and it is based on past experiences. However, I think it is fair to say that the E-M5 Mark II does offer significant advantages over the E-M5, so existing owners considering an upgrade to the new model can probably be optimistic that the investment will be fully justified. I have only spent a few hours with the Mark II so the jury is still out but the signs are very promising. Olympus took imaging journalists to the Old Waste Water Treatment Museum in Prague for the day to try out the Mark II in a variety of shooting situations to see for themselves how the camera performed. The cameras used were production quality, but the images shown here are from JPEG originals as no raw converter software was available at the time. For the event I took along my own E-M5 as well as an E-M1 too for comparison’s sake. Key changes compared with the E-M5 are in improved image stabilisation system giving a 5EV gain instead of a 4EV benefit, a three-inch vari-angle touchscreen monitor that folds out to the side and an improved sensor for superior low light, high ISO shooting. The sensor is a 16-megapixel Live MOS unit. Some sources have said the sensor is from the E-M5, while others have said it’s from the E-M1. Neither is the case. The sensor is said to be new and, unlike the E-M1’s unit, it does not feature phase-detection AF pixels so high ISO noise performance is claimed to be superior. There are a couple of fascinating extras. There’s Live Composite mode that combines images in-camera over a period of time and this will appeal to light painters, astro and firework

photographers, and there is a 40-megapixel High Resolution mode where the camera takes eight overlapping exposures with a half pixel difference between each one and combines them to give a 40-megapixel image. Both modes we got to try in Prague so see the relevant panels for more details. The handling of the Mark II is very similar to the original E-M5 but at the same time different. The on/off switch was moved to a collar around the left- side exposure mode dial and that was confusing to start with. There are also more function buttons so you do need to spend a little time on custom set-up – in the time I had everything was left to default settings. One Mark II feature I am very keen on is the vari-angle monitor, because I like monitors than can swing out to the side too. Some will love it for the convenience of shooting selfies, but I like it for the flexibility of viewing angle. You could, for example, check image composition even when standing to one side of the camera – say, you could be sheltering the camera from a buffeting wind during a long exposure or standing there as a human lens hood against a low sun. We’ll be reviewing the E-M5 mark II in greater detail in the next issue of Photography News , but here’s a closer look at the some of its key features.

The sensor is said to be newand, unlike the E-M1’s unit, it does not feature phase-detectionAF pixels

ABOVE The original E-M5 (left, the extra shutter button courtesy of the HLD-6 grip) compared with the Mark II. The Mark II’s exposure mode button on the left is lockable using the same idea as first seen on the E-M1 so it can be locked or left working as click-stops. Other key changes are the relocated on/off switch, the shift in the rear input dial position and more function buttons that can be assigned to frequently used features. One thing you can’t see is that the Mark II body is lighter by some 50 grams.

Photography News | Issue 17