The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is the flagship Micro Four Thirds camera of the Japanese manufacturer.
- Multi-selector (Joystick) for quick selection of the AF area while looking through viewfinder
- Dust proof/Slash proof/Freeze proof magnesium alloy weather sealed construction
- 50MP handheld high resolution shot
- 60 FPS (S-AF), 18 fps (C-AF tracking) continuous shooting with the silent electronic shutter
- 121 point all cross type on chip phase detection plus contrast detection AF
It was released three years after the OM-D E-M1 and it has been described by many as the most formidable Olympus camera, ever.
Complete review of the Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II
I bought it in late 2017 and immediately understood why some magazines and many reviews say it’s the camera that warps time, a camera that pushes the boundaries of what one could expect from it.
I might be biased since I own it, but I’m not the only one thinking that you won’t find anything like the EM-1 Mark II in the Micro Four Thirds world. There’s one characteristic in particular that made it so popular: it’s fast, unbelievably fast.
I love landscape photography, in particular, I shoot sunrises and sunsets, but I’ve used the E-M1 Mark II also for action and portrait photography. After thousands of clicks, I decided to write a review of this excellent camera.
I am going to share details about my experience with it and highlight its characteristics. You will also find links to buy it and to some of the best accessories available.
Spoiler alert, speed is not the only amazing feature of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. In fact, it’s packed full of features, with an awesome design and it’s highly portable. Let’s jump right into it!
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Specs
- Sensor: 20.4 mp Live MOS Micro Four Thirds
- Weather-sealed body (splash-proof, dustproof, freezeproof)
- 5-axis in-body image stabilization
- 50MP High-res Shot Mode
- 18 fps AF/AE (with C-AF)
- 60 fps AF/AE (with S-AF)
- 121-point All-cross-type On-chip Phase Detection AF
- 4K video (4096 x 2160) at 24P and 237 Mbps
- Fully articulating LCD display
- Dual SD card slots (Slot 1: UHS-I/II compatible, Slot 2: UHS-I compatible)
Aesthetic, Design and Build Quality
I love the super sleek magnesium alloy body of the E-M1 Mark II, it feels very robust, comes in black only and I really like the sexy ergonomics with rounded edges and elegant mix between modern and retro design.
It’s a touch bigger than its predecessor, but still as small as a mirrorless camera should be and weight 576g with battery and memory cards included, 498g body only.
Despite its small size the OM-D E-M1 Mark II is the first Micro Four Thirds camera that has two memory card slots one of which is UHS-2 compatible. It’s 134.1mm wide, 90.9mm high and 68.9mm deep, it presents a very comfortable grip, well pronounced to make the handling easier with long lenses and really enjoyable also for people with bigger hands.
It allows space for a much bigger battery compared to the E-M1. You can find more about the amazing battery at the end of this article. Just by holding the camera for the first time I immediately realized that this is absolutely not a toy (well its price say it all, we can talk about that later).
It’s compact and solid as a tank. The rugged body is weather-sealed, splashproof, dustproof and freezeproof. It operates at a range between -10˚C and 40˚C (14˚F – 104˚F). I took it under heavy rain, the camera was soaked and it continued to function seamlessly.
Highly Customizable
I’ve never seen any camera menu as customizable as the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. Virtually everything can be customized and yes, it can take a bit to get confident with all the various sections of the menu. But once it’s all set there’s likely no need to do it again.
There are a fair bit of switches, knobs and tactile dials, similar to the ones on the previous version of the E-M1, very customizable to allow for quickly shifting settings for full creative control.
- On the front, the two buttons beside the lens mount are completely programmable for a large variety of functions.
- On the backside, the 2×2 switch will change the functions of the top dials. In Position 1 the dials will control the exposure, in Position 2 instead, ISO and white balance. The switch is also programmable to function as On/Off lever. The Fn1 button also completely programmable, works as focus point selector.
- Looking at the body from the top, the mode dial has three programmable customizable settings, which by default are:
- Moving subject AF – C1
- Pro Capture Mode – C2
- Low-light AF – C3
It really gives you a lot of flexibility and covering all of them in a an article would be ambitious, I will write a follow up to this article where I cover these aspects and share my custom settings.
The camera’s menu is also pretty deep, but the good news is that once you’ve set up everything the way you want it to be, you won’t spend much time going through the menu again and again.
OM-D E-M1 Mark II Viewfinder and LCD Screen
With a pretty deep eye cup, the Electronic View Finder is one of the elements I really liked from the very beginning. Looking through the quite comfortable EVF you basically see a live view of what you are shooting, so it’s very useful when you change your settings, or when you manage the white balance, dynamic range, or change the picture modes.
The EVF resolution is 2.36-million dots and 1.74x magnification. It has a maximum frame rate of 120 fps which gives a small latency of barely 6 milliseconds. You can also playback your images in the EVF without switching to the LCD to see your last photo taken. Speaking of LCD, When composing shots, you get to choose between the viewfinder and a large fully articulating 3 inch 1.37 million dots LCD touch screen.
You can quite comfortably change the focus point with the tip of your finger from the LCD same as you would do on a smartphone. The touch interface is really good, you can quickly swipe through photos in playback mode, reach a lot of settings in the control panel and also shoot with a simple touch of the screen.
The screen can be fully twisted to face fully forward or to face fully inwards when not using or storing the camera. Very good for protecting the display surface.
I know you wouldn’t buy this camera just for taking selfies, but hey let’s say you want to make videos with it, the articulating LCD gives you an absolutely great control from the front.
I also use the LCD a lot on a tripod since it gives me flexibility especially when I shoot from a low angle. The only downside for videographers is that when you have anything plugged to a jack on the left side of the camera, you won’t be able to rotate the screen.
Sensor and Image Quality
Even though lenses are probably the most important element of a good system, you cannot compromise in sensor quality.
Before switching to a Micro Four Thirds System I was a bit skeptical since I was used to thinking that more megapixels are synonymous with quality and I was afraid that my photos could suffer from a lack of dynamic range, especially in dark conditions.
I went to a camera shop and tried the camera several times, I asked a lot of other photographers that use Olympus and read a lot of articles and online reviews before making a decision.
With great pleasure, I found out that the new Live MOS sensor of this camera, together with the new True Pic VIII processor, being built for performance, high speed and sensitivity, making it possible to achieve amazing results. Even in low light conditions, an area where m43 sensors always struggle.
This combined with the M.Zuiko Pro Lens System, gives phenomenal results. Here are some real-world examples.
The new 20.4MP sensor already delivered huge quality in the Olympus Pen-F, but now it’s even better in the EM-1 Mark II, with apparent resolution gains. It’s also possible to shoot up to ISO3,200 before start noticing color noise and there’s plenty of dynamic range.
Read my article Beginners Intro to Exposure Bracketing if you want to learn how to extend the Dynamic Range in your images.
In-body Image Stabilization
The OM-D EM-1 Mark II is equipped with one of the best 5-axis in-body image stabilization of any camera on the market. This type of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) compensates for camera shake in all directions.
It works in landscape and portrait orientation and the sensor-shift covers up-down left-right and rotation movements. I can’t believe how good it is, I haven’t used anything similar before.
The EM1 II body is rated for up to 5.5 stops of image stabilization and when combined with in-lens image stabilization it provides the most powerful stabilization, rated to 6.5 shutter speed stops which allowed me to take photos of still subjects handling the camera for up to 2” in low light conditions keeping the ISO to a minimum.
It works seamlessly with any lens you attach and if you don’t use an Olympus lens (or any M43 lens as pointed out in the comments) you just need to go to the menu and under the Image Stabilization menu, you need to enter the focal lens relative to that lens to maximize its performance. There are 4 IS mode to choose from:
- S-IS (auto)
- S-IS1 (for all directions)
- S-IS2 (vertical shake only)
- S-IS3 (horizontal shake only)
If you are into long exposure photography or want to learn more about it, you can take a look at my article Long Exposure Photography Made Easy
With the reliability of the in-body 5-axis image stabilization system, it is possible to comfortably record 4K video even during active camera work. The modes for video are:
- M-IS1 (uses sensor-shift and electronic IS)
- M-IS2 (sensor-shift only)
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II Sequential shooting performance
Ok, let’s talk about one of the most impressive features of the OM-D EM-1 Mark II: speed.
Let’s put it this way, even if set to its slowest modes the EM1 II is faster than most other cameras.
The EM1 Mark II’s burst rate make it the ideal tool for capturing fugitive moments. Thanks to two quad-core processors the EM 1 II is nearly three times faster than its predecessor. Let’s see the details.
In silent mode, the new 20M Live MOS sensor together with the TruePic VIII image processor makes it possible to shoot a maximum of 18 frames per second (RAW + JPEG) in focus tracking and auto exposure. 60 frames per second (RAW + JPEG) with locked focus and exposure! Mind-blowing right?
- Continuous Low you need to shoot in one of the two continuous low modes to get continuous autofocus and autoexposure during burst. With autofocus and auto-exposure active manages a 10 fps. And we are talking about RAW format at full resolution. Using the electronic shutter, you get the full 18fps (RAW + JPEG) with autofocus tracking and autoexposure.
- Continuous High the two continuous high modes work with locked exposure and focus. Using the mechanical shutter, it bursts out an impressive 15 frames per second. The full 60fps are reached with the electronic shutter.
If you are an over shooter make sure you get a couple of extra SD cards! I’m not much of a “spray and pray” type of photographer, but the first time I tried it to test its capabilities it really surprised me. I wasn’t ready to see all those frames, all sharp and in focus. Great work Olympus!
Pro Capture Mode
This innovative option entirely new and unique to the EM-1 Mark II makes it easy to capture that decisive moment. It’s obviously very useful for action photos since it takes advantage of the speed performance of the camera.
As described by Olympus itself, Pro Capture Mode is “shooting without a release time lag”. Yes, because in high-speed photography, some time passes between when you press the shutter and when the camera begins capturing pictures, so you could miss that magic moment.
To solve this problem, Pro Capture mode takes advantage of the camera’s electronic shutter and when pressing the shutter halfway, the camera writes full-resolution photos in the image buffer.
When you finally press the shutter the whole way, the OM-D EM-1 Mark II takes the last 14 frames from the buffer and writes them into the SD card. While saving the images you are actually shooting with the shutter all pressed down.
This feature allows you to take frames that could be entirely missed. The frame rate, number of buffered images and number of images saved in total, can be all set.
The camera focuses between shots in Pro Capture L (Low) while it doesn’t in Pro Capture H (High), it works with RAW and it’s only available if using M. Zuiko Digital Lenses. I tried it with action surfer photography and it blew me away making me feel comfortable that I would not miss the shot I wanted. What a cool feature! The image above has been captured with the M. Zuiko 40-150mm F/2.8 lens.
Ultra High Res mode
This is a technique first used on Hasselblad medium format cameras and it was introduced by Olympus in 2015 with the OM-D E-M5 Mark II to further enhance the capabilities of the amazing sensor-based image stabilizer.
This option makes the new Olympus 20M live MOS sensor capture an 80mp RAW image. How? By moving the sensor up, down, left and right by only half a pixel, the sensor captures eight shots and processes them into a single image, resulting in an 80 megapixels RAW file (20M x 8 frames x 0.5 pixel). You can also convert in-camera the 80M RAW to a 50M JPEG.
Autofocus
The autofocus system is entirely new and features 121 phase-detection points. Not impressive if compared to full-frame cameras, but keep in mind that Micro Four Thirds sensors are considerably smaller.
During burst shooting, one of the two quad-core processors of the camera is entirely dedicated to autofocus to help the camera continue to accurately track the subject for the next shot.
Considering that the C-AF performs at 18 frames per second, that’s really impressive. Even when compared to flagship DSLRs. In the real world, when using C-AF at 18fps bursts the camera might sometimes fail and focus on the background, but again, we are talking about an 18fps burst.
To find more about focus modes, read my article Ultimate Guide to Understanding Camera Focus Modes
Live Bulb, Live Time, Live Composite
The OM-D E-M1 Mark II can help you get your long exposure right. With this feature you see the image build up on the back of the screen. You can stop the exposure when the image has the look you wanted.
In Live Composite while the shutter is open and the camera is developing the shot, it only adds increments of highlights into the image.
Price
We’ve discussed a lot of aspects of this camera. Let’s talk about its price now. At $1,599.00 (USD) for the body only, we are talking about a pretty expensive camera. I’ve read a lot of blog articles where people criticize the OM-D EM-1 II price.
All I can say is that the E-M1 Mark II is worth every cent. The number of features, the build quality and the amazing combination with the Pro lenses available, make of this camera the best micro 4/3 mirrorless on the market.
- New 20.4 megapixel live MOS sensor
- New TruePic VIII dual quad core image processor, auto focus points phase detection: 121 (121 cross type), contrast detection: 121
- 60 frames per second S AF, 18 frames per second C AF (silent electronic shutter)
- 15 frames per second S AF, 10 frames per second C AF (mechanical shutter)
- 121 point dual fast AF with cross type on chip phase detection focusing
Accessories
I couldn’t end this review without mentioning some of the best accessories available for the Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II: Power Battery Holder HLD-9 The HLD-9 battery grip doubles the battery life of the EM1 II. It’s splash, dust and freeze proof and offers two control dials and two custom buttons.
- Power battery holder compatible with the E-M1 Mark II camera
- Dust, splash, and freezeproof (-10C)
- Arrow pad allows same operation while holding the camera vertically or horizontally
- Accepts 1 BLH-1 battery (sold separately
BLH-1 Rechargeable Battery
I can’t believe how good is this battery. It uses the Advanced Lithium-Ion Technology, it takes 2 hours to fully charge and it lasts for almost an entire day allowing you to shoot thousands of photos. You should really buy one or two on Amazon at this link.
- Replacement battery for the Olympus E M1 Mark II
- 7.4V, 1720mAh, 12.8W
- Approx. 2 hours for full charge when used with the Olympus BCH 1 battery charger
Olympus FL-900R High-Intensity Flash
The powerful FL-900R external flash has a guide number of 58m, it’s also dustproof, splashproof, and freezeproof. It has a built-in video lamp, wireless control, and superb tracking performance. The high-speed sequential shooting has the ability to fire at 10 fps.
- Guide Number 58 high-intensity flash
- High speed sequential shooting
- Dust and splash proof design
- Advanced wireless controls
- 100 LUX LED video light / focus assist lamp
PT-EP14 underwater housing
The PT-EP14 was developed for the OM-D E-M1 Mark II.
It can resist water pressure up to depths of 60 meters (197 feet) with select lenses and ports.
I’m sure scuba diving and free diving lovers would love the idea of a case for their OM-D EM-1 Mark II and Olympus is one of the only camera brand that produces its own underwater housing.
- Dedicated underwater case for the Olympus E-M1 Mark II
- Waterproof up to depths of 60m (197 feet) with select lenses and ports
- Two large dials for comfortable operation
- Country of Origin:China
Pros & Cons of the E-M1 Mark II
Pros
- Stabilization. The In-body stabilization is one of the best on the market,
- Very small, light yet absolutely solid like a tank,
- Fast and furious. Speed is one of the major selling points,
- LCD display. The fully articulating display is super useful and gives a lot of flexibility,
- Packed with functionality, one could write an entire book on it,
- Excellent battery life,
- Dual slot memory cards
Cons
- In low light conditions and high ISO, this camera may suffer a bit. It’s, by the way, the best among Micro Four Thirds cameras on the market.
Final Thoughts
I am extremely happy with this camera. In the beginning, I was a bit concerned about switching to a micro four-thirds sensor.
I admit that right after the first few clicks I fell in love with it. Its small size, lightness and extreme versatility make this camera a very powerful tool for any type of photography style.
I really hope you’ve enjoyed my review of the Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mark II. I’ve been updating it as I gained more experience with it and discovered more functionalities.
Let me know what are your thoughts about the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and ask me any questions in the comments below.
Buy the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II on Amazon →
Read my reviews of Olympus M.Zuiko Pro Lenses compatible with the OM-D E-M1 Mark II:
- Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro Review
- Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro Review
- Olympus M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro Review
PLEASE NOTE: This article contains affiliate links
Comments
Curious: how can you write this review on the mark 2 in February 2020, without even mentioning that the mark 3 allready has been launched?
Hey Tomas thanks for pointing that out. This article was actually written long time ago.
I’ve updated it now, and a review of the OM-D E-M1 MARK III is coming really soon. Stay tuned 🙂
One little nit:
The in-body stabilization works with all M4/3 and 4/3 lenses automatically, not just Olympus. You only need input the focal length with lenses of other mounts used with an adapter. I often use Canon FD lenses, and the IBIS is great.
Hi Peter, thank you so much for the comment, noted in the article now👌