Olympus E-M5 Mark II aggressively targets your $1,100

I don't think there has ever been a broader selection of cameras in that action/enthusiast segment between $1,000 and $1,800 (comparable to models between £830 to £1,300 and AU$1,150 to AU$2,000). With Olympus' replacement for its 3-year-old OM-D E-M5, it not only joins the "Mark II" club, but chooses the E-M5 Mark II as the bearer of its newest technology. With the E-M5 M2, the company takes aim at a laundry list of cameras: the Canon EOS 70D , Nikon D7100 and Pentax K-3 dSLRs (all pretty old, from 2013); the Sony Alpha 77 II SLT; and the Fufjilm X-T1 , Panasonic Lumix GH4 and Samsung NX1 mirrorless models. Not to mention its own OM-D E-M1 .

Up close with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II (pictures)

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In the US we'll only see a body-only official configuration, which will run $1,100 (AU$1,300, £900). Elsewhere, there will be three official kits: the AU$1,600 Weatherproof kit w/ the 12-50mm lens, the AU$2,100/£1,500 Pro kit with the 12-40mm f2.8 lens and the AU$1,800 Adventure kit with the new 14-150mm f3.5-5.6 II lens.

The new lens replaces the way outdated version, updating with the company's current design and build, including the useful pull-back manual-focus collar, and with a closer minimum focusing distance of about 13 inches (.33m) from the front on the lens. Olympus will also offer the PRF-D58 Pro for it, a protective filter comprised of "double-sided, multi-coating and blackened glass edges to suppress ghosting and lens flare" The 14-150mm lens is roughly the same size, weight and price of its predecessor -- it will be available standalone for about $600 (AU$800, £550) starting in March.

What's new

• Improved video features. Branding the more 2015-era movie feature set as "OM-D Movie", Olympus has made a host of serious improvements that debut with the E-M5 M2. An All-I codec and a 77Mbps maximum bitrate for 1080/30p top the list for improved quality, along with the 4 key time-code options (drop/non-drop and record run/free run) for people who want to synchronize multiple cameras. It will also support clean HDMI out at YCC 4:2:2. Keep in mind that Olympus assumes that people won't be grading (exposure and color retouching) the footage from the camera. While the camera supports
  , the connector is actually on the optional grip. Olympus also touts the camera as optimized for handheld shooting, since it incorporates the 5-axis image stabilization that the company introduced several years ago. In addition, there's a new faster/slower playback mode.
• Design enhancements. It upgrades to the same electronic viewfinder found on the E-M1 and incorporates a lot more direct-access controls on the top and a mode lever like the E-M1's, plus a slightly bigger grip; the latter unfortunately still isn't as substantial as the one on the E-M1. The camera is now rated to operate at temperatures down to 14°/-10°C compared to its predecessor's 32°/0°C rating. Olympus replaces the tilting touchscreen with a higher resolution articulated version. Like its predecessor, the E-M5 M2 ships with a bundled flash. However, Olympus has beefed-up the flash unit (the FL-LM3), making it one of the nicer on-camera/bundled flashes available. While it offers the same power output, it can now tilt and swivel.
• Improved performance. The E-M5 M2 uses the 81-area contrast autofocus found in the E-M1, though sadly it doesn't use the hybrid phase detection/contrast AF system of that camera. A bump up to the TruePic VII processor helps it gain about 1.5 frames per second for continuous-shooting with autofocus, to 5fps, but it can theoretically handle an unlimited raw sequence at that rate as long as you've got a fast-enough card.
• New features. In a step-up from the E-M5, the M2 incorporates Wi-Fi. It also introduces a new 40-megapixel High-Resolution Shot mode, designed for use on a tripod, which uses the camera's sensor-shift capability to capture 8 half-pixel shifted images and combines them into a single shot.

Olympus also announced a bevy of accessories to go with the new body. The most notable:

• HLD-8G: Hand grip (price & availability TBA). Probably a recommended accessory, especially if you plan to use full Four-Thirds mount lenses. This is also the grip you'll need if you want to use
  .
• HLD-6P: Battery grip (price & availability TBA).
• ECG-2: Metal External grip (price & availability TBA). This bigger grip includes plate for use with an Arca-Swiss mount tripod.
• EE-1: External Dot Sight. An add-on sight light the one built into the SP-100 , this should be a boon to telephoto devotees. $130 (£87, AU$166 directly converted; actual prices TBA), May 2015.
• PT-EP13: Underwater housing, rated to 100 ft (45m), and supports use with the 9-18mm, 14-42mm, 45mm and 60mm macro lenses. $1,000 (£666, $AU1,278 directly converted; actual prices TBA, February 2015)

My take

The E-M1 is a lot more expensive and seem to only retain the performance advantage because of the hybrid autofocus system and better burst speed. However, it's also three years old and I wouldn't be surprised if Olympus decided to rev that model later this year, despite frequent, substantial firmware updates. (Version 3, which bumps the continuous-shooting with autofocus up to 9fps should be available this month here.)

It still has some drawbacks compared to its dSLR competition -- the autofocus system likely still can't keep with theirs, and its continuous-shooting performance with AF will likely fall short as well. Plus, in general, the mirrorless models have awful battery life compared to dSLRs. But its electronic viewfinder will probably be great for shooting video and unlike Canon and Nikon, offers clean HDMI out.

The Fujifilm X-T1 is probably its closest mirrorless competitor. While it also potentially outperforms the E-M5 Mark II and uses Fujifilm's excellent APS-C sensor, that cameras movie capabilities are probably not nearly as good.

Overall, though, the OM-D E-M5 Mark II sounds like an aggressive attempt by Olympus to woo folks looking for a more advanced vacation and family camera capable of photographing kids and pets at play.

Comparative specs