Today the Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII was officially launched, opening the floodgates to dozens of reviews, hands-on articles and first impressions written by those who have spent time with the new Micro Four Thirds flagship.
In this article, we’ve drawn up a list of the most interesting E-M1 Mark II articles we’ve come across so far. Keep in mind that none of these reviews can be considered complete because there isn’t RAW support yet and most reviewers didn’t have a proper chance to test the new autofocus capabilities.
Robin Wong
Unsurprisingly, the most thorough review so far is by Robin Wong. Despite spending only three days with the camera, he made the most out of his time by testing it at various sports events, a bird park, an evening concert, and out on the streets. He is also the only one who seriously tried the continuous autofocus, though he admits to being inexperienced in this field.
The most interesting section of the review can be found at the beginning, where he shows more than one hand-held exposure taken at 5 seconds with the 12-100mm at its widest angle. We’ve personally managed 2 seconds with previous Olympus models, so this is quite a feat!
You can read Robin’s review of the E-M1 II here.
Steve’s Digicams
Michael Palmer (writing for Steve’s Digicams) was one of the lucky fifteen invited by Olympus USA to test the camera in Iceland. His poetic introduction gets you in the mood for a very thorough first look at the camera, which is abound with gorgeous images from the dramatic Icelandic coast.
While his impressions are very positive overall, he doesn’t hesitate to point out a few minor flaws, one being the fact that the EVF is sensitive to water droplets. If there are too many, the camera is tricked into thinking that a person is looking through the finder, causing the LCD to go dark. He also notes that when you swivel the screen all the way, it blocks the HDMI and headphone ports on the side of the body.
You can read Michael’s review of the E-M1 II here.
DPReview
Jeff Keller of DPReview, who was also in Iceland, provides a balanced yet tentative assessment of the new camera. Since there wasn’t a chance to try out the new autofocus system, he states at the end of the article that he will reserve judgement until they have a final production sample to test.
One of the only complaints he raises corcerns the overly sensitive shutter release button. For example, he recounts an episode in which his memory card became filled with over 2000 shots in the Pro Capture mode because he had mistakenly kept the shutter button depressed the entire time. Apparently, this is an issue that other reviewers experienced as well but it may well be a matter of getting used to the feel of the new shutter release rather than an actual flaw.
You can read Jeff’s review of the E-M1 II here.
Ming Thein
Ming Thein was possibly the only person besides a select number of Olympus ambassadors to receive the camera to test before the official announcement. Much of his review is spent praising the battery life of the camera, which he states is “into D5 territory and beyond” due to its ability to shoot off 500 frames in one hour with only a 20% drain.
Interestingly, he notes that the best way to get the most out of the stabilisation system is to hold the shutter down for 1-2 seconds to let the stabilisers “lock in”. Like Robin Wong, he too managed some fairly long exposures hand-held.
You can read Ming Thein’s review of the E-M1 II here.
Camera Jabber
Angela Nicholson of Camera Jabber had the chance to use the E-M1 II for a few hours soon after the official launch. Instead of looking at the more obvious features, she decided to focus on the updated High Res Shot mode. According to her initial findings, ghosting caused by moving water or trees blowing in the wind is no longer an issue on the new model, which is excellent news for those who want to shoot landscapes at a high resolution.
You can read Angela’s dedicated High Res Shot article here or you can check out her on-going review here.
The Phoblographer
The Phoblographer had many good things to say about the E-M1 II after returning from Iceland. Specifically, he remarks that the camera stood up incredibly well to all the weather that was thrown at them, including freezing temperatures, wind, hail, rain and snow. Like Ming Thein, he was impressed by the battery life of the camera, stating that he was able to shoot for 12 hours straight with the grip. He also praises the quick charging time of just a couple of hours.
You can read The Phoblographer’s review of the E-M1 II here.