The Olympus OM-D EM-5 finally dropped this past Friday and knowing that it would fly out the stores on the asaps, I secured my cam thanks to some nice hook ups. Originally dropping with only black lens on either a black or silver body I was fortunate to cop the accompanying silver lenses with my OM-D thanks to a mate that works at one of Melbourne’s leading camera stores. I was intrigued by the commercials that had been doing the rounds in the lead up to its release and on further inspection found this to be quite possibly the best compact DSLRs/Micro 4/3s on the market today. With so many nerdy specs that I won’t bore you with here…(if you want to check em out head over to the micro website dedicated to the camera HERE this bad boy is as cosmetically beautiful as it is functional.
Incredibly small for what’s packed on the inside, I was surprised by how light the actual unit is even with lenses attached. The wireless flash system that mounts on the hot shoe is also incredibly punchy – more than I can say for the Fujifilm x100 which is perhaps the OM-Ds closest competition. 16 megapixels are explosive with the 5 axis direction IS which leads to hardly any (if any) camera shake. And the IS is dedicated to all the OM-D lenses as well, so all your shots will come out crispy! There’s full HD video and an added bonus of any effects applied can be viewed while taping. So whether you like your vids arty with pin hole or grainy with black and white this bad boy is for you. An added feature is the slow motion button that can be easily applied while shooting to create a wacky Six Million Dollar Man slow mo scene…(check the vid below for more!). On top of that, the video stabilization is bananas…so no more shaky clips. Did I mention ISO goes all the way up to 25600! WTF! It works extremely well in low light situations and with 9fps you can keep shooting all night long. The crisp LED screen at the back incorporates a button and touch screen menu – both of which work exceptionally well. The screen itself pops out to an angle and tilts either forward or down. Great for those sneaky unintrusive shots!
All in all, I’ve only had the camera for 2 days and I’m already in love with the possibilities it can bring to my love of photography. It’s a great companion piece to my 5D MKII….so if you’re looking for a Leica or Lumix that will do the same, I’m selling my ‘like brand new’ other cameras HERE.Now to save up for that ED 75mm lens!!!
