Olympus E-m1 Mark Ii Specs

[Arridano Tillo]

AsOlympus turns 100 years old, they have recently released the long awaited Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III micro four-thirds mirrorless camera. The Olympus OMD line of cameras (EM1, EM5, EM10) is a very popular line of cameras with underwater photographers. This is partly because of the wide range of high quality specialty lenses that are perfect for underwater use. Attend an underwater photography workshop and you are likely to see a number of OMD shooters shooting the full gamut from wide angle to super macro. As an avid Olympus user for over 6 years now (EM1 and EM1 II), I have been looking foward to this announcement for awhile. And it has been awhile...4 years since the EM5 II was announced.

Like many others, I was very concerned with the OMD EM1X announcement...it just seemed the micro four thirds format was getting larger and larger, and pricier and pricier. It seemed like Olympus was trying to compete with full-frame mirrorless cameras using a sensor half the size, and for a niche market as well. What happened to the low size, relatively low cost, high spec offerings that drew me any many others to Olympus in the first place?

Well thankfully, Olympus seems to be getting "back on track" with their latest offering - a very exciting blend of strong specs, small size, and reduced cost. At a time when full frame mirrorless cameras are rapidly evolving and becoming ever more popular, it is going to keep getting harder for Olympus' micro four thirds lineup to compete...however, in my opinion, the OM-D EM5 Mark III is a step in the right direction.

The first thing that jumps out from these specs is that it's pretty much a smaller, cheaper OM-D E-M1 Mark II. It has the same sensor, same image processor, same image stabilization, same 121-point dual phase/contrast auto focus system, same video modes, and many other similarities. However, Olympus has kept it in a much ligher and smaller body (150 g lighter) by keeping it to only one SD card slot, using a small battery (instead of the E-M1 Mark II's beefed up battery).

The advantages of the OM-D E-M1 II are only a few: better battery life, faster burst shooting, and dual SD card slots. Especially for underwater photography, where having a higher fps for burst shooting mode is not very important, the E-M5 III is essentially almost the same camera as the E-M1 II, but for $500 cheaper (though the E-M1 II price may be reduced again).

Take a look at these custom settings to familiarize yourself with the camera before taking it underwater. The preferred basic settings should be adjusted topside before getting the camera and housing water ready.

The DxoMark sensor rating of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MK II is 80, and since this camera has the same sensor, it should be the same rating. This is a major improvement from the E-M5 Mark II's score of 73, bringing it up into being competitive with APS-C options like the Nikon D500 (rating of 84). However, it still falls well short of full-frame mirrorless sensors like the Nikon Z7 (99), Sony A7RIII (100) and Canon EOS-R (89).

Housing options for the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III are currently available from two top underwater housing manufacturers - Ikelite and Nauticam. Ikelite makes simlple, ergonomic, polycarbonate housings perfect for taking photos in any situation. Nauticam makes elegant, well machined, aluminum housings.

The main competitors for the OM-D E-M5 Mark III camera are other mid-range mirrorless systems, with close competitors being the recently released Nikon Z50, and the new Sony a6600. Here's a breakdown of the specs.

Although the OM-D E-M5 Mark III is a very competative mirrorless camera, it's micro four-thirds sensor just doesn't quite produce image quality up to the standards of other crop-sensor mirrorless options. Sony, in particular, has released some excellent APS-C mirrorless option including the Sony a6400 and Sony a6600 that are both excellent options for underwater photographers (note the DXOMark sensor ratings of 85 for the Sony a6500, the predecessor to the a6600, which is significantly higher than that of the E-M5 III). They offer some great features including Sony's AF tracking system and better dynamic range. The only issue with the a6600, as in the above table, is the very slow flash sync speed of 1/160 sec. A lot of the time this shouldn't be an issue, but it is a significant handicap when it comes to trying to shoot sunballs, or using strobes when shooting very fast subjects like sea lions.

The Nikon Z50 was also recently announced, and promises to be another great APS-C option with the new Nikon Z lens mount. Most APS-C mirrorless systems promise better image quality and a similar range of features at cheaper price points than the OM-D E-M5 Mark III. The only big reason to choose the E-M5 Mark III is the better selection of high quality lenses that Olympus has for its cameras. And that is a serious thing to consider.

So even though the Z50 camera body is significantly cheaper, the lack of usable Z mount lenses for underwater requires the use of F-mount lenses (full-frame dSLR lenses) with the FtZ adaptor. So looking at the whole picture of camera body and lens, the OM-D E-M5 III is the cheapest option which still gets competitive specs. The a6600 has the best specs out of the group, but is also the most expensive. Meanwhile, the Z50 sits between the two for cost, with its sensor outclassing the E-M5 Mark III's, a nicer lens, and what we expect to be snappier autofocus, but lacking in-body image stabilization.

The Sony A7RIV is a larger and much more expensive setup ($3499 for just the camera body), with the lenses being larger than the micro-four thirds lenses; however, the image quality of the full-frame A7RIV sensor outperforms the micro-four thirds sensor by a long shot (61 MP!!) and has significantly better professional video capability. The Sony A7RIII is also a very high quality, high resolution option with a phenomenal sensor (100 score on DXOMark) which has dropped in price significantly, and is currently at $2,499.

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