Olympus OM-D E-M10 review – Viewfinder, live view, LCD and video
Once again, the E-M10 borrows from the E-M5, featuring the same 1.44-million-dot EVF with 100% field of view and 1.15x magnification. While it does have a speedy refresh rate of 120fps with barely noticeable lag, it’s not as impressive as the 2.36-million-dot EVF featured in the flagship E-M1 and the recently released Fujifilm X-T1. However, it does provide a very useful alternative to composing shots on the LCD while in sunlight.
All the relevant shooting information can be accessed using either the EVF or the 3in LCD, although annoyingly there is no option to view the histogram and levels information simultaneously. The most impressive thing about the EVF on the E-M10 is the ability to see the exposure adjustments, art filter effects and colour mode options in real time.
The 3in tiltable touchscreen on the E-M10 is an improvement on the screen on the E-M5, featuring 1.37 million dots and ±7 levels of brightness and colour balance adjustment. I found the LCD reasonably clear in direct sunlight, and the ability to tilt the screen down and up to 45° allowed me to experiment with alternative shooting perspectives.
Swiping through images, navigating the menu, and focusing and taking pictures on the E-M10’s touchscreen is snappy and effortless. I would even say it’s as good as, if not slightly better than Canon’s 20.2-million-pixel EOS 70D. By setting the touchscreen shutter icon to ‘focus and shutter’, it’s possible to point and shoot with the E-M10. I found this feature highly responsive.
Although the E-M10 features a dedicated video-record button, it’s clearly not a camera designed with advanced video recording in mind, given the lack of 60p video recording and the omission of an accessory port that would support a microphone input. That said, for casual video the quality is of a decent standard, with shots holding relatively steady thanks to the 3-axis stabilisation system. The E-M10 can record video in .MOV or .AVI formats and in 1920×1080-pixel full HD, at 30p, 24Mbps, at its maximum quality setting.
