Olympus OM-D E-M1 as a gear of the year

Olympus OM-D E-M1 is named in"gear of the year" category by the DPReview team. It is a very interesting camera, an upgraded version of the famous OM-D E-M5. The camera is also positioned as successor of high-end Olympus 4/3 DSLRs, hence it is weather-sealed. The waterproof construction is very appealing for nature photography, especially in wet conditions. Olympus also produces weather-sealed lenses for m43, as well as weather-sealed adapter for 4/3 lenses.

Misty day at Binna Burra, Lamington national park, Australia. Fuji X-E1 & XF18-55mm

Olympus did it again

Olympus OM-D E-M1 is among the most popular mirrorless cameras on Amazon. Not surprising, considering that this model is positioned as a successor of 4/3 DSLR cameras. Unfortunately, it was not available a year ago when I shopped for a mirrorless camera.

Second life for ZUIKO 4/3 lenses

Olympus announced the much anticipated flagship mirrorless model, E-M1 (read about the first impressions on DPReview and check the sample photos). The new model is positioned above the hugely popular OM-D E-M5, and it seems that both cameras will coexist for some time. In fact, E-M1 is viewed as the replacement for Olympus DSLRs such as E-5. The sensor development is improved significantly since 12MP sensor used in E-30 and E-5, so the image quality should be better on new model. Olympus decided to go with E-M1 instead of "E-7" and "merge" 4/3 and m4/3 systems (Photorumors).

The new camera got on-sensor contrast detection autofocus system, hence, better autofocus with ZUIKO 4/3 lenses designed for DSLRs. Olympus put a good viewfinder on E-M1, with fairly big magnification. 

To sum up:
the body is significantly smaller than E-5 / E-3
better autofocus with 4/3 lenses, not as good as on a DSLR camera but usable
hi-res viewfinder with good magnification comparable with high-end DSLRs
buttons and two dials, hence settings can be changed fast
16MP sensor without low pass filter
focus peaking
state of the art in-body image stabilisation (5-axis :-))

Naturally, it comes at price.

images of Olympus E-M1

Olympus is expected to expand its OM-D line with the new E-M1 camera (link to PhotoRumors). The new camera has a very pronounced grip. We may expect to see a bigger battery and better compatibility with 4/3 lenses (faster autofocus). Many people with 4/3 ZUIKO lenses might be very happy with this offer. In some sense the rumored Olympus camera might be similar to Sony A3000, a mirrorless "DSLR" camera.

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ooops - wrote X-M1 in the title - am I fixed on Fuji now? :)