Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II at a glance
- 16-millon-pixel, Four Thirds sensor
- 40-million-pixel high-resolution composite mode
- ISO 100-25600 (extended)
- 3in, 1.04M-dot LCD
- 2.36M dot EVF, 0.74x equiv magnification
- 1/8000sec max shutter speed
- Price £900 body only
Three years ago Olympus turned the compact system camera market on its head with the launch of the OM-D E-M5. This enthusiast-oriented model packed a groundbreaking 5-axis image stabilisation system into its compact, weatherproof, and handsomely retro-styled body. With an improved sensor compared to previous Micro Four Thirds models, it also offered image quality competitive with most APS-C SLRs. It rapidly became a favourite among photographers looking for a high quality system without the weight and bulk of an SLR, and in both 2013 and 2014 it was the most popular CSC among users of the photo-sharing site Flickr.
With the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, Olympus is clearly attempting counter the threat of more recent competitors, such as the even-more-retro Fujifilm X-T1 and the full frame Sony Alpha 7 series. In the absence of a new sensor to play with, it still uses a 16-million-pixel Four Thirds MOS chip, but almost everything else about the camera has been tweaked, revised and updated.
The camera’s headline trick is a new 40-million-pixel composite shooting mode, although as we’ll see later, this comes with some serious limitations. Apart from that, the E-M5 Mark II gets a larger, clearer electronic viewfinder, a fully-articulated LCD, a vastly-improved control layout, and an improved super-quiet shutter. And that’s just the start of it.
Take a look at our Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II image samples gallery
