It's raining retro - Olympus OM-D E-M5

[Chris Dodkin]

Olympus took the wraps off its latest Micro Four-Thirds camera today--its eighth compact interchangeable-lens camera overall, but the first model not to be part of the company's Pen series. Instead, the 16-megapixel Olympus OM-D E-M5 is the inaugural entry in the company's new OM-D line.

From Olympus

Cutting-edge yet nostalgic in appearance, the Olympus E-M5 takes all the past engineering expertise of the Micro Four Thirds standard and overhauls it with enhanced features and innovations on the inside. The jewel in the crown of the E-M5 is its ingenious electronic viewfinder system. Unlike an optical VF, it lets you frame images and get creative with them too - controlling highlights & shadows, white balance, magnification and aspect before even taking the shot. The E-M5’s incredible image quality owes a great deal to its new 16M Live MOS sensor,fully utilised by the powerful TruePic VI image processor. It gives you all the detail of 16-megapixel resolution, plus greatly reduced noise, high range of sensitivity, a wide dynamic range, rich gradation and accurate colour reproduction. Team this up with the world’s fastest AF system* with vastly improved functionality and you can look forward to incredible sharpness with greater control than ever before. The list of pioneering technological breakthroughs is truly extensive: Yet another is the world’s first 5-axis image stabilisation: Visible and controllable through the viewfinder, this sophisticated in-built mechanism compensates for every blur giving you razor-sharp stills and movies. This is one tough tool on the outside too: The magnesium alloy body has a dust- and splashproof design that can handle some pretty rugged conditions.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/om-d-camera_om-d_25494_om-d-camera_e-m5_25536.htm

From engadget

The 16 megapixel Live MOS Micro Four Thirds sensor is the crown jewel of the E-M5, and comes complete with five-axis image stabilization, allowing the sensor to shift up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonal to compensate for camera movement, enabling what Olympus reps describe as "a built-in Steadycam." Perhaps even more impressive, however, is the camera's autofocus system. Olympus claims that the E-M5 features the "world's fastest autofocus," of any camera -- yes, that even includes top-of-the-line DSLRs.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera preview (video) -- Engadget

more info here
Olympus OM-D E-M5: A Mirrorless Camera Built to Compete With DSLRs | PCWorld
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusem5/

The Olympus E-M5 will be available in April and ships in the following configurations:

Estimated Street Price:

$999.99 (Body only, available in Black and Silver)
$1,299.99 (Black or Silver body with black M.ZUIKO Digital ED 12-50 mm f3.5-6.3 EZ lens)
$1,099.99 (Black body with black M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42 mm f3.5-5.6 II R lens)

 

[Darren Bradley]

f3.5? Not terribly impressive, that... I know somebody'll be along shortly to tell me that f3.5 is plenty fast, but I'm not buying it.

 

[Hamish Gill]

f3.5 Darren? im confused? Its a scs, takes all m43 lenses...

 

[Larry Bolch]

f3.5? Not terribly impressive, that... I know somebody'll be along shortly to tell me that f3.5 is plenty fast, but I'm not buying it.

Looking at all the available m43 lenses, I see no zoom lenses faster. I expect it would be possible to build a 12-35mm and a 35-100mm f/2.8, at $2,000US each, but these are very much consumer-level cameras and I expect they buyer-pool would be prohibitively small.

Secondly, smallness is a fundamental goal. This dictates a 12-50mm lens being limited to a f/3.5-6.3 aperture range. It covers a range equivalent to 24-100mm and weighs 211g. Compare that to the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 at 900g and the 70-200mm f/2.8 at 1540g. Even slimmed down to m43 size, these would still be large, heavy and expensive lenses.

To get truly fast lenses, mean you must buy primes. There is a f/0.95 normal available for $1,200US.

 

[Darren Bradley]

Yeah, handn't thought about that.

 

[Hamish Gill]

I've just re-read the above ...
Olympus say the vf is the "jewel in the crown" ... Makes sense, the prism shaped bit on the top could be a crown ...
Engadget used almost the same "crown jewel" phrase to talk about the sensor ...
I'm not commenting on anything in particular, it's just an odd phrase to have come up twice from different sources about the same camera

 

[Larry Bolch]

Same PR guy.

 

[Hamish Gill]

fact?
do engadget not write for them selves?

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Looks pretty funky!
I'm not saying that bieng an Oly man myself. But it does look sexy!

 

[Larry Bolch]

fact?
do engadget not write for them selves?

Sure, but everything starts with a press release. No magazine, newspaper or blog-site have the staff to constantly monitor new products on their own. The best, use the press release as a notification and look deeper, finally writing a well-considered review based upon actual experience with the finished product. The better sites rewrite the release in their own way, often adding a bit of the style of the site or publication. Gizmodo sprinkles a bit of snark on most everything. A lot just run the press release intact or with minor editing.

Before the Internet, a photo magazine could cover PMA in January and run the account in the March issue, which we eagerly awaited. There was no way to get the news quicker. Now within seconds of the official announcements, the news is on all the photography, gadget and consumer electronics sites. No camera maker distributes finished cameras to all the magazines and sites weeks before the announcement. At the most, they all get the press release via e-mail and are embargoed from publishing anything prior to the time of announcement. Publish ahead of the embargo, and you are from that moment out of the loop.

The top review sites—like DPReview—do get pre-production models in order to put together their previews, but are restricted from posting any images shot with these cameras, though they may be fully operational, but with unfinished firmware. Again solid non-disclosure agreements and absolute embargoes on what can and can not be published. Once the camera is released, they are supplied with production models and are in no way restricted about what they write or what they can show. Camera companies read the reviews with care, and respond by fixing things reviewers uncover.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah, I see what you mean ...
When I do write ups on camera releases I make comments based on my own views, others here take chunks from press releases etc
I just doin it odd that the same phrase was used to describe a different part of the camera ...
Like the release has been scrambled ...
Anyway, it's of little inportance really, as i said, just thought it odd

 

[Paul Lange]

Not really following the latest developments and new model releases I wonder if I have a overly cynical view of it all sometimes. I'm not really sure whether this is just Olympus rushing to bring out something to grab some of the market share for these new retro looking cameras or if there is genuinely real well conceived and innovative new technology inside. Maybe it is a bit of both and they already have the technology developed and decided to put it all in a retro looking case. How does it all work?

 

[Davie Hudson]

I have to be honest , I don't like it and wouldn't buy one. for me it's like putting a new engine in an old scooter .... rather lop off something vital

 

[Larry Bolch]

I have to be honest , I don't like it and wouldn't buy one. for me it's like putting a new engine in an old scooter .... rather lop off something vital

Watching a major collector car auction last month, "resto-mods" were fetching high prices. Beautiful old cars, but with contemporary engines and safety equipment. A beautiful vehicle that one can both admire—and drive without a support network of old parts dealers and technicians who can work on vintage engines.

Shooting with the Fuji X100, I know that a lot of people think I am shooting with an old compact rangefinder film camera, and ignore me. More and more, people shooting with dSLRs somehow seem to hit a nerve with cops and rent-a-cops who just can not resist the opportunity to do their impression of oppression, even if the shooters are entirely within their rights. My D700 has in fact engendered a meeting with the pseudoconstabulary. On the other hand, the X100 has perhaps my sharpest single prime lens, that comes with a superb little camera attached at no extra charge. It is as close to functionally invisible as any camera I have ever used.

It is so good, that I ordered the X-Pro1, before my dealer even had a listing for it. Both the Leica M9 and XP1 are descendants of the classic 35mm rangefinder cameras, but the M9 has descended a much shorter distance. I shot with Leicas all my working life, but was never a fan. I was ready to dump my M3 and lenses for a Contax G2, but then digital came along. I had hoped that Kyocera would build a digital G3, but instead they terminated the company. Now Fuji has produced a camera that in every way is what the Contax would have been by 2012, had it been able to evolve.

 

[Davie Hudson]

Watching a major collector car auction last month, "resto-mods" were fetching high prices. Beautiful old cars, but with contemporary engines and safety equipment. A beautiful vehicle that one can both admire—and drive without a support network of old parts dealers and technicians who can work on vintage engines.

Shooting with the Fuji X100, I know that a lot of people think I am shooting with an old compact rangefinder film camera, and ignore me. More and more, people shooting with dSLRs somehow seem to hit a nerve with cops and rent-a-cops who just can not resist the opportunity to do their impression of oppression, even if the shooters are entirely within their rights. My D700 has in fact engendered a meeting with the pseudoconstabulary. On the other hand, the X100 has perhaps my sharpest single prime lens, that comes with a superb little camera attached at no extra charge. It is as close to functionally invisible as any camera I have ever used.

It is so good, that I ordered the X-Pro1, before my dealer even had a listing for it. Both the Leica M9 and XP1 are descendants of the classic 35mm rangefinder cameras, but the M9 has descended a much shorter distance. I shot with Leicas all my working life, but was never a fan. I was ready to dump my M3 and lenses for a Contax G2, but then digital came along. I had hoped that Kyocera would build a digital G3, but instead they terminated the company. Now Fuji has produced a camera that in every way is what the Contax would have been by 2012, had it been able to evolve.

Oh I know they are good cameras and the tech in them is top notch, I just don't like the styling of the fuji's, leicas or olympus for that matter... it's weird, i love vintage stuff(being a rhythm & Blues Dj etc) but I don't like things that are styled to be vintage

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

We read 2024 now and I have been going through all the interesting exclamations on mirrorless, Fuji and Olympus cameras, albeit different sizes of sensors. I guess, this year settles it by proving that more and more go for mirrorless, as smaller formats are doing excellent work in the right hands. I am happy with my Fujis and Olympuses, albeit, I haven't decided which to take with me on foreign trips. So far it has been both. Landscapes tend to be Fuji. Everything else tends to be Olympus as they are lighter, have stabilisation built into the cameras and prove safer for an old man.