Olympus brings OM series into the 21st century (hands-on)

Watch this: Olympus OM-D E-M5

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Much as it did when launching the PEN series of Micro Four Thirds cameras, Olympus trots out another beloved film brand and updates it for the digital age. This time out, though, Olympus frames enthusiasts squarely in the scene.

When Olympus revived the venerable PEN brand with the PEN E-P1 in 2009, I suspect its product planners were a bit taken aback by how well it was received by prosumer photographers and slightly dismayed by its failure to become a blockbuster among the coveted point-and-shoot crowd.

This time around, Olympus' reincarnation of its OM film line targets those enthusiasts who've proven to be either Olympus loyalists or fans of the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) interchangeable-lens standard. And while I'm not fond of the nomenclature--the first model is the overhyphenated OM-D E-M5--Olympus certainly deserves points for style.

It has a modest-size body, but it's built along the same lines as the E-5 dSLR: a bit tanklike, with a magnesium alloy chassis that's dust- and weather-sealed. While the PEN series eschews built-in electronic viewfinders (EVF), the OM-D takes advantages of that design's distinctive pyramid-shaped housing for the optical viewfinder's prism. Here it houses the EVF, along with a hot shoe and a connector for the bundled compact flash unit (the same connector used by the PEN models for the external microphone and other accessories). The viewfinder itself doesn't match that of the Sony Alpha NEX-7--it's smaller and because of the MFT 2x crop factor has a lower effective magnification--but it's similar to the optional viewfinder for the PEN models and is still pretty nice.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 photos

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Olympus has also taken the opportunity to introduce a new Four Thirds sensor, increased to 16.1 megapixels from 12.3MP. This sensor has a faster readout, which, combined with the same tested-fast autofocus system and TruePic VI imaging engine from the latest generation of PENs, promises very good performance. And the company claims it has improved video performance, much of which is sensor-dependent, fixing the aliasing, moiré, and rolling-shutter problems endemic in those models.

However, sensor-shift image-stabilization systems generally seem to produce some video artifacts, so it'll be interesting to see how this stands up in that respect. The company did add another axis of IS to compensate for the rocking motion you make while you walk while shooting, a feature that has become fairly common in camcorders but not so much in cameras.

One neat original feature is the ability to display and adjust the highlight and shadow areas of the tone curve in the viewfinder; this could either be very cool or very useless.

Plus Olympus has updated its set of Art Filters, adding a edge-outline filter, more options for a couple of the existing ones, and a ghosting effect for movies.

Here's the interesting lineup of mirrorless models in the $1,000-plus segment (plus the E-P3 for comparison):

Based on previous experience, I think the E-M5 will probably deliver on performance, but it will have to prove itself on image quality. Even if it does master the video-artifact issue, it only supports 1080/60i--and interlaced never looks as good as progressive. The NEX-7 and X-Pro 1 look like potentially strong competitors, although the E-M5 might stack up well once you take price into account. It looks cool, but that only takes you so far in pixel-peeping territory.

Olympus also took the opportunity to announce two MFT prime lenses that will be coming later this year, a 75mm f1.8 with a design similar to the lovely 12mm f2 and a 60mm f2.8 macro that can focus as close as 7.5 inches. Accessories for the camera include a cleverly designed two-part battery grip and a standard-size FL-600R flash unit with a video LED.