Olympus OM-D E-M1 Pro Reviews

The E-M1 will no doubt appeal to existing PEN and E-series shooters, but we can see the charms of it attracting attention from DSLR owners too, especially travel and reportage photographers looking for a high-quality, responsive and well-made camera to go anywhere with them. Put simply, the E-M1 is not just one of the best system cameras around at the moment, but one of the best cameras full stop.

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 is a fantastic mirrorless camera that is designed for the advanced or professional shooter. Those without sophisticated photography knowledge will get easily lost in the numerous features and functionality. That being said, no matter what your skill set, the camera has the ability to produce high quality imagery--even in iauto mode. The camera has all the making of a semi-professional or professional camera. The addition of Olympus professional grade lenses makes the E-M1 a strong contender for professional. But will professionals be ready to take the plunge into a mirrorless system instead of holding strong with their DSLR systems? Sadly, I'm not quite sure we are. I think the E-M1 has some pretty spectacular features that most professional cameras don't offer like an in-camera image stabilization system, weather proofing and tilting LCD screen. But, the overwhelming majority of DSLR users still have no idea what mirrorless can offer and changing camera systems is a scary notion to most. With a price point that is surpassing the Nikon D7100, Olympus is going to struggle with securing new buyers.

Overall, our main criticism of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 lies not with its performance or feature-set, but with its price. £1299 / $1399 body-only is a lot to pay for a compact system camera these days. The combination of great image quality, an abundance of features, excellent auto focus, insane customisability and a robust dust-, drip- and freeze-proof body with a well-thought-out user interface do go a long way in justifying the cost, but with Sony soon releasing its similarly sized, full-frame Alpha A7 for the same price in the UK and a few hundred dollars more in the US, the OM-D E-M1 still seems a bit overpriced to us.

The Olympus E-M1 builds upon the legacy of the outstanding OM-D E-M5, adding not only a ton of features geared for pros and advanced enthusiasts, but also an on-chip, phase-detect autofocusing system that delivers the responsiveness that Olympus Four Thirds DSLR owners have long been waiting for. The E-M1 offers a solid, weatherproof build, an outstanding electronic viewfinder, tons of physical controls -- which can be customized in countless permutations -- and an advanced Wi-Fi system for image sharing and remote control shooting. Most importantly, the camera delivers excellent image quality for its class, even at high ISOs, as well as blazing performance that rivals top DSLRs. The Olympus E-M1 might seem expensive for a Micro Four Thirds model, and perhaps even overkill for many shooters, but for the right photographer, this high-performing, pro-level camera is well worth the price.

We don’t understand the sometimes over-the-top positive online reaction to this capable but hardly extraordinary mirrorless camera. Yes, it certainly can capture quality stills and good 1080/30p videos. But for $1,400 body only? No way. Although much larger, you can purchase a Canon 20-megapixel EOS 70D with two lenses at Costco for less. And one of favorite DSLRs, the Nikon D7100, is a couple of hundred cheaper for a body-only configuration. Both of them feature larger APS-C sensors with the easier-to-use classic DSLR controls. And there are many CSCs that cost much less. For everyone else, in this price range, we feel you should definitely look elsewhere unless you’re an existing Olympus user who has an extensive collection of M.Zuiko and Zuiko glass. Now, if Olympus were to drop the price $300 or $400, or throw in a good lens, we’d sing a very different tune for what is otherwise a very good camera.

In most respects the E-M1 does a good job bridging the gap between a traditional DSLR and a Micro Four Thirds camera. Its controls and customizability may overwhelm less hands-on users, but those who don't mind tinkering will love its flexibility. The improved autofocus tracking and performance with original Four Thirds lenses adds to the appeal of a camera with blazingly fast AF acquisition speeds with its native lenses.

While it's a really great camera for the money, with excellent raw photo quality, a host of useful features, and speedy performance, I ended up docking the OM-D E-M1 a point in design for its needlessly overcomplicated configuration options and its opaque choices for defaults.

As the first Micro Four Thirds camera with no Anti-Aliasing filter, this means this camera should be, and thankfully is capable of the highest quality photos of any Micro Four Thirds camera, and when used with high quality prime lenses, the difference can be seen, although is quite subtle at times, with the previous model, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 already providing very sharp and detailed photos with prime lenses. The addition of distortion correction, as well as chromatic aberration correction for Olympus lenses is welcome, as this has been available on Panasonic cameras (with Panasonic lenses) for a long time. Many people were convinced by the handling and design of the Olympus OM-D E-M5, with a weather sealed body, and classic Olympus OM SLR styling, causing many to switch from heavy full frame Digital SLRs. However, there were still those that thought its body was too small, and others who were not entirely convinced by the image quality offered by the camera. With the new Olympus OM-D E-M1, with a larger body that more closely resembles a Digital SLR, and improved image sensor and image quality, as well as an impressive and large electronic viewfinder, there should now be little or no reason to avoid the Micro Four Thirds system. The size and weight advantages alone should give you reason to seriously consider this camera.

With gorgeous images—even in low light, incredible speed, and a wealth of high-end features, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 is the best Micro Four Thirds camera that money can buy. It's an easy Editors' Choice award winner.