Olympus Om-d E-m10 Mark Ii Mirrorless Camera Review

E-M10 II Summary

Sporting an incredible amount of features in a professional person-grade body with first-class image quality for its class, the Olympus East-M10 Two is the best "accommodating" entry-level camera nosotros've yet reviewed.

Pros

First-class value for the money; Professional-grade ergonomics; Incredibly good image quality for its grade; Solid operation specs across the lath; Loaded with features.

Cons

Kit lens may non exist quite as sharp as previous kit lens from this line; Below average battery life; Somewhat disruptive menu systems.

Price and availability

The Olympus E-M10 2 became bachelor in September 2015 for an MSRP of $799 with the EZ 14-42mm kit lens, and a body-only MSRP of $649, currently selling for a torso-only street price of $599. Information technology comes in blackness, two-tone silver and blackness, and a new special edition kit is available in silver with chocolate-brown leatherette for $899.

Imaging Resource rating

v.0 out of 5.0

Olympus E-M10 II Review

by Dave Pardue, Walkaround past William Brawley
Overview posted: 08/25/2015

Updates:
08/25/2015: Field Test Office I and First Shots posted
09/24/2015: Performance examination results posted
x/22/2015: Field Test Role II posted
11/xvi/2015: Epitome Quality Comparing and Print Quality
12/09/2015: Review Determination posted

In early 2014, Olympus announced the most affordable model of OM-D cameras yet produced in the class of the E-M10. It sported a nice array of many of the college-end specifications of its storied older siblings the E-M1 and the E-M5 at an entry-level price bespeak. In the summer of 2015, Olympus upped the ante on this entry-level model with the E-M10 2, a photographic camera that brings a few new tricks to the tabular array, particularly the inclusion of the company's well-regarded 5-axis prototype stabilization applied science.

Built around the same 16.1-megapixel Alive MOS sensor, the Due east-M10 Marking II features the same basic imaging pipeline as the original Due east-M10. The sensor again leaves out the anti-aliasing filter in lodge to accomplish greater image sharpness. It also uses Olympus' TruePic Vii image processor and 12-chip lossless RAW file compression. The original kit lens for the E-M10 was the 14-42mm f/three.5-five.6 Ii R, but "Marking II" now comes with the pancake version of that lens -- the fourteen-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ -- as the standard kit lens. (The 14-42mm EZ was later offered every bit function of an East-M10 Premium Kit choice.)

Additional notable upgrades to this OM-D family member include a 2.36M-dot OLED EVF with a 100% field of view and a magnification of i.23x (a 35mm eq. of 0.62x), providing a boost in both resolution and magnification. Also new is the "AF Targeting Pad" mode, which allows you to employ your thumb to movement the focus point on the touchscreen LCD while y'all proceed your eye glued to the viewfinder. (Pretty cool!) In that location'due south even a new "Simulated Optical Viewfinder" (S-OVF), which is reported to offer a viewfinder experience more akin to optical viewfinders and with more dynamic range -- we'll exist sure to accept a await at that and study what we find!

The Olympus Eastward-M10 Mark II is also reported to have improved overall ergonomics -- a claim which we take an in-depth look at in both our walkaround department as well as in our existent-world Field Testing (spoiler alert: it is indeed much improved!). This model besides comes with a new "silent shutter" mode that can be employed across the various single and continuous drive modes as well as with the self-timer, and we can report from using it that it is admittedly silent. The electronic shutter offers shutter speeds up to 1/sixteen,000 second, while the mechanical shutter tops out at i/4000 2nd.

In addition to useful features from the predecessor like Live Bulb, Live Time and Alive Composite modes, the Olympus East-M10 Two is the first in the line to have a 4K video timelapse mode, which allows for up to 999 frames at five fps that the photographic camera will combine into a 4K video all in-camera (a big upgrade from the 720p maximum resolution of the original model). Sequential (burst) shooting speed is rated as slightly improved in "high-speed" manner from viii fps to 8.5 fps, while "low-speed" mode allows for up to 4 fps with continuous AF active. See our Performance page for bodily exam results.

The Olympus E-M10 Ii besides gets upgraded video capabilities, now able to capture Full Hard disk (1920 x 1080) and HD (1280 x 720) video at up to 60p versus 30p for its predecessor. It can also capture Total Hard disk drive and HD at 24p besides as 30p, and there's a new ALL-I compression option with a bitrate of 77Mbps in addition to 52, 30 and 18Mbps IPB options. The East-M10 Mark II also offers a new Loftier-Speed motion picture mode that captures VGA (640 x 480) video at 120 fps.

The near obvious trade-off in considering an East-M10 2 over its higher-end siblings is the lack of atmospheric condition-sealing, as that is a big selling-indicate for the E-M1 and East-M5/Eastward-M5 II lines. Otherwise the E-M10 Two is a compelling choice at an affordable price.

The Olympus E-M10 Two started shipping in early September 2015 in black or black/silverish versions for a US retail price of about $650 (body-just) and about $800 when kitted with the newer, more meaty G.Zuiko fourteen-42mm f/3.5-5.half-dozen EZ lens. An external grip (ECG-three) is available for approximately $60 and an accessory leather strap (CSS-S119L) for about $80.

Nearly the OM-D family

In 1972 a man named Yoshihisa Maitaini and his staff at Olympus designed the "OM" family of film cameras ("OM" = "Olympus Maitaini")*. The line was viewed equally revolutionary in terms of being smaller, lighter and less noisy than electric current competing SLR cameras of the day. The OM line was permanently discontinued in 2002, but then later resurrected as a digital line sporting a like torso style in the grade of the E-M5 from 2012, a camera which won Best Compact System Camera in our Camera of the Year awards for that year.

In 2013, the flagship Eastward-M1 was announced, and garnered Best Professional Camera of 2013 in our Camera of the Year awards. The E-M10 line debuted in 2014, which won our "All-time Entry-level Mirrorless Camera" award for that year. Now, 2015 has ushered in both the E-M5 2 and the E-M10 II, with the E-M5 Ii drawing considerable involvement with its new High Resolution shooting mode.

The updated OM-D Family: East-M1 (left), Eastward-M5 2 (center) and the new E-M10 II (right).

*From Wikipedia

I'm guessing everyone has a slightly dissimilar thought of what a perfect vacation camera is for them, just for our core enthusiast readers I'm guessing that a lot of you are like me in that y'all want a fairly small and lightweight package for traveling, but something that's still not but versatile but can too deliver the goods in the epitome quality department. Olympus was kind enough to send us an early sample of the Eastward-M10 II shortly before I was leaving for S Carolina for a family unit vacation, and that gave me the perfect opportunity to see where this camera would stand in the ranks of ideal family unit vacation companions.

The Particulars.
Twin command dials were one time the exclusive domain of premium cameras costing thousands of dollars, and it's nice that some entry-level models now offer this. To me personally as a photographer, information technology will exist difficult to get review an interchangeable lens camera that doesn't accept them now, regardless of the price point, as it's just something I've grown to count on.

Read our Olympus East-M10 II Field Examination Role I

I wrote the first Field Exam for this camera with a beta sample, only Olympus was able to supply us with a total production sample for this 2d round of real-world testing. Included in the new kit was the Chiliad.Zuiko xiv-42mm EZ kit lens, which outset debuted in 2014 aslope the original E-M10, so we'll showtime function II with images from this lens and a quick comparison with the non-EZ version. [Special notation to readers: After our get-go study nosotros were told that an issue had adult with some series number ranges for this product that caused as issue while mounting some plastic-mountain lenses. The issue has been resolved and the Due east-M10 II will be made available again for buy beginning in Nov.]

Taking a closer wait at the EZ 14-42mm kit lens
The M.Zuiko xiv-42mm II lens that's been kitted with so many Olympus cameras over the by five years has long been one of my favorite lenses of the "kit" multifariousness, providing a "generous sweet spot of sharpness" even wide open up, according to our original review on our sister site SLRGear.com. And because I've personally had a few bad experiences with "power-zoom" kit lenses from other companies, primarily in the sharpness section, I was a bit wary nigh mounting the newer EZ version of the 14-42mm lens onto the East-M10 II. Fortunately we'd already tested information technology as well at SLRGear, and it is nevertheless a good performer at both broad and tele when wide open, fairly similar to the original Mark Two lens.

Read our Olympus E-M10 II Field Test Part 2

Much like how the original E-M10 borrowed many of the blueprint aspects and controls of the E-M5, the same goes this time effectually for the new E-M10 II and updated E-M5 2 -- though the Due east-M10 Ii does bring a few unique changes to its controls and dial layout not seen on other OM-D cameras..

The styling of the Due east-M10 2 is still classic OM-D, with lots of external controls and dials and a cool retro-look with a large centrally-placed electronic viewfinder. Size-wise, the Olympus E-M10 II is, not surprisingly, nearly identical to its predecessor -- a slightly miniaturized version of the E-M5, or the E-M5 Mark 2 in this case.

The offset thing you notice that's dissimilar on the Due east-M10 Mark II compared to the original is the cluster of pinnacle-deck control dials. Gone are the larger, flatter dials of the 'Mark I,' now replaced by thicker E-M5 II-fashion control dials with diamond-design knurling.

Click here to take a tour of the Due east-M10 II

In our Image Quality Comparing, we accept crops from our laboratory Notwithstanding Life target comparing Olympus Due east-M10 II image quality to its predecessor, the East-M10, too every bit against several competing models at similar price points or in similar categories: the Canon T6i, Nikon D5500, Panasonic G7 and Sony A6000.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs directly out of the camera, at default settings including dissonance reduction and using the camera's bodily base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very abrupt reference lenses. Clicking whatever crop volition have you lot to a carrier folio where y'all tin can click once once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera.

Read our E-M10 II Image Quality Comparison

Print quality and image quality are like only not identical, considering what y'all come across on a print isn't always the same every bit what y'all see on the screen. Our print quality analysis answers the important question: "Just how large tin can I print my photos at higher ISOs?"

The Olympus Eastward-M10 Ii continues in the tradition Olympus has prepare of producing quality cameras in their OM-D and PEN lines that are capable of delivering high quality images in prints up to ISO 3200. At higher ISO sensitivities, prints brainstorm to noticeably suffer from either too much noise or a lack of detail, but remaining at ISO 3200 and lower will exit you happy with your results in the print quality section with the Eastward-M10 2.

Read about the Olympus Due east-M10 II's Print Quality

How many cameras with a street toll under $600 can produce a sixteen x xx inch print at ISO 1600 that nosotros at IR take officially given our "good" rating for quality? Adept luck finding many of those. And how many at that price range offer precision twin control dials, 5-axis image stabilization, a terrific feel in the hands and features similar 4K fourth dimension-lapse video? For our tastes, this is the simply one currently sporting such cool features and ergonomics for anywhere near that price.

A camera who'southward positives far outweigh any drawbacks
Every bit discussed in our walkaround and in our Field Test part one, the East-M10 II feels phenomenally good in the hands. It'south a great size and weight for one thing, small and low-cal plenty to be considered portable, and nevertheless just beefy enough for handheld stability for shooting action sequences with longer lenses.

Read our Olympus E-M10 II Conclusion

In the Box

The Olympus E-M10 II retail kit package (as reviewed) contains the following items:

• Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark 2 camera trunk (in black or silverish)
• Yard.ZUIKO Digital ED xiv-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ zoom lens (in black or argent, when ordered every bit a kit)
• BLS-50 Rechargeable Li-ion battery
• BCS-5 Battery charger
• USB cable
• Shoulder strap
• Olympus Viewer 3 software (CD-ROM)
• Instruction manual
• Warranty card

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity SDHC/SDXC memory menu. 16GB Course x should be a minimum, UHS-Two type recommended.
• Spare bombardment BLS-50 (~U.s.$60)
• Camera case
• Additional lenses

Buy the Olympus E-M10 2

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Source: https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/olympus-e-m10-ii/olympus-e-m10-iiA.HTM

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