Photography News Issue 63

First look 25

Photography News | Issue 63 | photographynews.co.uk

Key features

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World’s best splash-proof, dust-proof and freeze-proof construction 400K shutter cycles lifetime Large buffer size. At 10fps 287 Raws; at 15fps 103 Raws Tripod High Res shot mode shoots eight images giving 80 megapixels in Raw Handheld High Res shot mode shoots up to 16 images giving 50megapixels in Raw. Shutter speed as long as 4secs handheld In-camera charging via USB C Field Sensor system: barometer, compass, temperature recorded by on- board sensor Live NDmode with options of ND2, ND4, ND8, ND16, ND32 My menumode lets you store up to 35 items, in five tabs, seven items each Dust reduction system featuring Supersonic Wave Filter with a new coating which oscillates at over 30,000 times per second Focus stacking – choose 3-15 images Image stabilisation gives up to 7.5EV in Sync IS AF point customisation with any odd number of points in the 11x11 grid Intelligent Subject Detection AF – motor sports, aeroplanes, trains AF limiter – three AF operating distances for all lenses can be set

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Image Shot with the OM-D E-M1X with the 300mm f/4 lens, the combination handheld for the 1/125sec at f/4 and ISO 800 exposure. The blow-up of the eye gives you an idea of the fine image quality. Taken on a pre-production camera sample.

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usual PASM settings and a movie setting. No art filter or green square auto mode here. The remaining controls on the right are the movie record button, shutter release, and ISO and exposure compensation buttons. It’s a simple layout and along with input dials, front and rear, I feel promotes quick, intuitive handling. Having the compensation and ISO buttons next to the shutter release is ideal in my view – the ISO button has a dimpled finish so you can tell the difference by touch too, so no need to look. The two input dials, shutter release, ISO and compensation controls plus a focus lever are replicated for upright shooting.

The rear is dominated by the 3in touchscreen and that is surrounded by various buttons and controls. Push theMENUbuttonandyou’ll see a deep menu structure, from A1 to J3, totalling 123 separate options. You can create your own menu too comprising up to 35 separate items. As you would expect, there is plenty of potential to set up the camera to your liking. For example, I delegated the on/off switch to the function lever because I prefer turning the camera on with my right hand so I can do it instinctively as I bring the camera up to my eye. The CARD button brings the option of saving to one card or the other but that’s it at the moment. This lets you select which card to write to but there’s no option to, say, save Raws to one and JPEGs to another or saving options such as one card acting as a backup for the other, or for same data to be recorded to both cards at the same time. Those options are available through the menu H1 Card Slot settings but not, strangely, through the CARD button. That might change on production models – or perhaps with a firmware update. You do need fast SD cards to benefit from the E-M1X’s shooting speeds. It can capture Raws at 60fps with AE/AF locked and shoot up to 18fps with AE/AF tracking. With the dual processor and fast cards, at 10fps you can shoot 280 Raws in a single burst with AE/AF tracking and no buffering.

The camera’s exposure and

focusing systems are fully featured

Above The Olympus designers have gone for an unfussy control layout and having key features like ISO control and compensation right next to the shutter release is very much a good thing. The on/off switch is on the left side of the body but a custom control means you can dedicate the operation to the function lever which some users might prefer. The slight oddity is the CARD button – this only lets you select which card to use and nothing else right now