Olympus E-M1 review
My views and impressions - One year of professional E-M1 use
PART FIVE
PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR
11. Conclusion and results.
Plus points in my worklow/experience:
Amazing detail
Low light performance (see singer above at ISO 5000), is simply amazing and more than adequate for most real world situations
Colour palette is endless
Sharpness
Perspective correction built-in.
OI share app and remote control facilities
Built-in Wi-Fi
Tethered shooting option
Rugged - save for the cheap slide-about goo used to affix grips.
Definitely dust-proof!
Definitely water-proof enough for all the wet days I have encountered.
Easy to learn for any previous Olympus D-SLR user or Canon/Nikon semi-pro body owner.
Compact and easy to handle
Fantastic responsiveness
Super silent AF
More than fast enough frame rate on continious high release mode.
Great AF system - capable of tracking all but the fastest of sports frame after frame. Motorcycles and racing cars yield less consistent results but you can work around that with practice.
Super Control Panel is the best interface on any digital camera, full-stop.
The dissapointing bits
Flimsy eye-cup attachment and construction of the eyecup in general.
Rubber grips falling off the camera.
No fully articulated screen.
Lack of dual card slots
No headphone for video audio monitoring
Limited endurance on current battery options
The strap lug on the left of the body can come away from the camera. I have read of several others experiencing this. Luckily, I managed to catch the camera and lens before it hit the concrete. Also a problem on the E-M5 mark I according to internet searches ont he problem.
Wrap-up
The OM-D E-M1 is an exquisite photographic tool.
It is not, however, a camera you can just pick up and hope that it will somehow, instinctively know what your wishes are. It, and most modern top-end cameras irrespective of brand, will need you to spend time setting up the options and controls to suit your photographic moods and style.
Yes, there may be the much touted newer version soon but that does not mean you should not buy an E-M1 now. It is a supreme camera and there is really little that you could ask of it which it cannot do.
And, with the new version on everyone's lips, the current body is incredible value right now and will become ever more so as the introduction of its successor draws closer.
Forget conventions on size and quality. Olympus have made compact quality cameras for decades. The E-M1 is a camera full of brains in a small package which marks the end of big cameras with small brains.
If you are up to the challenge of extending your photographic horizons and saving your wallet and back in the process, I would heartily recommend the E-M1.
Below are some shots that demonstrate the camera's low light, focus tracking, focus stacking, metering and silent shutter abilities.
