DPreview looks at the OM-D

The new Olympus OM-D continues to get praise. Bert found DPreview's review of it.

The E-M5 sets a new benchmark for Micro Four Thirds images, thanks to a modern sensor and Olympus' excellent JPEG engine. It continues to produce good results in lower light than was previously practical and produces attractive output in all but the most challenging of situations. The combination of its small body and the small lenses available for it (specifically the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 and Olympus 45mm F1.8) mean it's a camera we found ourselves taking everywhere, without any concerns that we were having to make undue compromises on image quality.
[...] If you're absolutely unwilling to compromise on image quality then spending twice the money and moving up to the bulk of a full-frame is the only way of gaining a significant step up from the E-M5.

Well done for the tiltable screen. And it's a touch-screen, with the ability to let you touch the subject on the screen, and in a split second the camera focuses and shoots. Probably the fastest and most intuitive focusing system invented. (I've tried it on the Panasonic GH2.)


I wonder why the kit lens is so huge? It seem incongruous. OK, it is weather-sealed like the camera, but still. So far, it seems that if one really wants to optimize the camera's compactness, prime lenses are the way to go.
Like Bert also said to me, something like: there are already amazing lenses for the M4/3 platform, and with this new distinctly semi-pro camera having arrived, we can probably look forward to much more of those.