The Olympus OM-D E-M10: three-axis stabilization lets you shoot in all directions

Olympus is one of the oldest manufacturers of photographic equipment. This brand was hugely popular long before the digital age. Olympus had two hugely popular camera families in the second half of the twentieth century – the PEN and OM, which they revived a few years ago with the digital cameras of the Micro Four Thirds MTF system.

Technical Specifications

Sensor – Live MOS, 17,3 × 13,0 mm, format Four Thirds, resolution up to 16.1 million. pixels.

Lens – interchangeable, Micro Four Thirds mount

Image stabilization – due to 3-axis shift of sensor in the camera for photo and video

Dust Protection – Ultrasonic Wave Filter

Electronic viewfinder – electronic, 100% display, 1.44 million. points

Display – diagonal 7.6 cm, 1 037 000 pixels.

Focusing – auto and manual, 81 focus points, autofocus by contrast in Live View mode

Exposure ranges – 1/4000 – 60 sec, manual exposure up to 30 min .

Shooting modes – P, A, S, M, Intelligent Auto, 24 specialized auto programs, Art Filters, Photo History, 1 user setup, Multi-exposure mode, HDR mode

Exposure metering: multi-segment metering 324 zones , center-weighted, spot, spot by light, spot by shadow

The flash is built-in, GN 8.2 ISO 200 , sync time 1/250 sec SFP 1/4000 sec

Sensitivity – from 100 Low to 25 600 ISO

Photo formats – RAW 12 bit, RAW+JPEG, JPEG of 4 sizes and compression types

Memory cards – SD, SDHS, SDXC, UHS-I

Continuous shooting – up to 8 fps, up to 20 frames RAW , up to fill the card JPG

Video – Full HD with auto, manual focus, manual and auto exposure and white balance modes, interval shooting with the possibility of recording the final video. Recording formats MOV, AVI

AV/USB, HDMI interfaces

Power: BLS-5 lithium-ion battery, 320 shots, 7.2 V, 1150 mA-h

Dimensions – 119×82×46 mm

Weight 396g with battery and memory card, without optics , 350g body

Recommended retail price 26,990 Dollars. body , 29 990 kit 1 , 34 990 Dollars. kit 2

Introduction

It’s no accident that I turned to history because I wanted to draw parallels between Olympus’ success in the film and digital eras. The company’s hobbyhorse then and now is small and lightweight cameras that offer a wide range of functions and high quality. The OM-D E-M10 in this case combines the strengths of the two families: the compactness of the PEN series and the creative power of the OM-D series.

Going forward, I would say that this statement is true for a camera kit with a new collapsible zoom lens. This is the version where the camera is really compact and can fit in a jacket pocket or quite a small compartment of a bag. And to wear it all day long on the neck will not be cumbersome at all.

Camera Features

Those who are familiar with the model E-M5, at the first inspection of the novelty will be clear that the “five” is its direct predecessor in terms of design. The new model also comes in a similar design choice of strict all-black and vintage all-silver-black. Both cameras have a small rubberized clip on the front of the body for right hand grip, and a similarly shaped clip on the back for thumb rest.

The two cameras also have a lot of controls in common. Same two flat control wheels on the top panel. Keeps its position Fn2 button and button for instant video recording. The selector dial to the left of the “pentaprism” in the same place is also very similar. True, it has one more position – there is a new mode “Photo-History”, which allows you to combine several pictures into one.

A quick glance at the back panel and you might think that the controls look exactly the same as on the E-M5. However, a few things have been improved. On the E-M5, I complained about the placement of two buttons: the Fn1 function button and the button that activates playback. They were located in a place hard to reach for a thumb, but in E-M10 they have moved them to the right, on a small beveled edge, which has completely solved the former problem. The built-in electronic viewfinders on the 5th and 10th models also have the same resolution.

So what it turns out: the E-M10 is a slightly updated predecessor of the E-M5? Not at all! These relatives still have a number of noticeable, as well as not so noticeable, differences.

From the advantages of E-M10 we can immediately call it equipped with a newer 7th version of the processor. The same processor is used in the flagship model E-M1. Just like the flagship, it has 81 sensors for contrast AF. Also borrowed is the AF Area Size Adjustment function. Hinged LCD, while remaining the same design as the E-M5, has a higher resolution 1037K . The same processor used in the flagship model. – again, just like the flagship. Another noticeable difference is the built-in flash, very accurately placed in the “pentaprism” so you wouldn’t know it was there.

Also among the important differences of the new camera should definitely include a built-in Wi-Fi module. After all, it not only provides file sharing with mobile devices, but also allows you to use smartphones and tablets as a remote viewfinder and a convenient remote control for shooting. It can be used to change camera settings, take pictures using slow shutter speed Live Bulb and even control the zooming of the lens if it has an electronic drive of course.

Connecting the camera to mobile devices is not as fast as with NFC, but still clear and easy enough. With the app installed in advance on your mobile, you need to scan the QR-code from the camera screen and then activate the Wi-Fi connection.

One annoying loss compared to the E-M5 and E-M1: the memory card slot is moved from the right side of the camera to the battery compartment. This will cause some inconvenience to those who like to shoot with a tripod. The same situation will be encountered by those who will buy an additional pen to the camera. However, in the case of replacing the main battery, E-M10 owners will have a definite advantage over those shooting with the E-M5, which has an additional pen or battery pack.

Both of these accessories are attached to the tripod socket with a screw, and it takes a few minutes to remove and open the battery compartment. A new original two-piece ECG-1 grip was invented for the E-M10. One of them, the auxiliary one, is attached with a screw to the tripod socket and does not block access to the battery compartment. The second, basic camera is mounted from above with a latch and can be removed in a second. I should add that both parts of the handle are made of matte plastic.

From my personal experience I can say that I would consider it justified to use this accessory when installing a long and massive lens on the camera. And in other cases you could do without the grip and enjoy the advantages of compactness. During testing, about half of the shooting was done with the universal zoom M lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm 1:4.0-5.6. It’s quite long but lightweight, so the grip of the camera body was more than enough to hold it even with one hand. By the way, it’s a pretty interesting kit for a traveler because this zoom allows you to capture the vast majority of subjects you would normally do on a tour.

Video capture on camera

Video shooting with cameras has become commonplace today. Many people purposely choose a camera with a decent level of video quality to be able to switch from stills to video recording as quickly as possible when traveling. The OM-D E-M10 has a video shooting function, of course, but in terms of technical specifications.

We think it won’t suit everybody: although the maximum shooting resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels and two bitrate options are available 16 and 24 Mbit/s , only low frame rate 24 or 30 fps is supported. I should add that the MOV container and MPEG-4AVC/H codec are used for shooting in high resolution Full HD and HD .264, and for VGA and HD resolutions it is also possible to use the AVI container with the Motion JPEG codec.

The results of the night video shooting are pleasant because during the video review and on the still picture there is no digital color noise at all, and traces of the fight with it, if it is possible to find them, they are not striking at all. In urban night scenes with light sources of different color temperature the auto white balance function also works well. As for video color reproduction in general, the M10 didn’t give you any reason to complain about it during the test.

Another good thing about the M10 is that it uses 3-axis optical stabilization for both stills and video so your movies don’t suffer from camera shake. But there are other factors that have a negative effect on video quality.

Insufficiently high frame rate of daytime movie recording causes slight jerks in the picture if the camera moves fast enough. Added to this is the flicker of the brightest small light sources. During the daytime this effect is revealed by modern traffic lights with LEDs, and during the night time shooting the majority of street lamps, lights etc. flicker.p.

If you shoot movies while using autofocus, you’ll get another nasty surprise: the M10’s autofocus system is very sensitive to shifting contrasts and tries to adjust the focus. And at night those objects were headlights and other lights of any passing car. That’s why I would recommend using the manual focus mode and using lenses with an appropriate ring for city night photography.

Practical shooting

The E-M10 was the first camera in the OM-D family to incorporate three-axis image stabilization. It compensates for camera rolls around three axes: the ones along the body horizontally and vertically and the one along the lens. It compensates for lens tilt up and down, horizontal yaw, and camera rotation that causes horizon misalignment.

I did a small test using a slow shutter speed while shooting a series of the same image with the same shutter speed, and I found that the shutter speed slower than the safety setting of two stops made the camera clear for each and every shot. Stabilization is about 80% effective in 3 steps and about 60% in 4 steps. These are very good results, especially for a new system.

Of course, you have to realize that the stabilization system isn’t almighty and a lot depends on how you shoot and how focused you are. If he takes the camera out and starts to shoot at snap shots, framing on the screen and holding the camera in front of him especially with one hand , he is to expect not very good results. But if he or she is really interested in getting a clear shot, concentrates and starts shooting in a “sniper” mode, looking through the viewfinder and holding his or her breath while smoothly pressing the shutter release button, the probability of success will at least double or even triple. It was in the typical “DSLR” manner that I tested the E-M10.

I must mention that the stabilization system on the E-M10, like on some other cameras, affects not only the sharpness of the images but also the stability of the image when sighting. This is especially evident when shooting with a telephoto lens with manual focus. Half-pressing the shutter release button is enough to activate the stabilizer and the picture stops jumping. Now it just sways slightly, like a boat on a gentle wave. This quality is especially important when shooting with manual long lenses.

At the heart of the E-M10 is the 16-megapixel Live MOS sensor, versions of which are familiar to enthusiasts from previous Olympus PEN and OM-D cameras. One of the most common issues with image quality is the range of working ISO values, i.e.e. Those which don’t make the picture suffer too much from digital noise.

I did the test by setting the noise reduction system to “Weak. I can make the following conclusion: in city night photography, when normal street light is present, details are well preserved up to 3200 ISO. At 6400 ISO, it starts to blur the fine details with low contrast, but the halftone areas look pretty even.

At a stretch of up to 12,800 ISO large spots of digital noise gradually begin to appear in all halftones without exception, and the rendering of contrast dark details degrades rather slowly and is still acceptable up to 8,000-10,000 ISO. In my opinion, this can be considered a very good result. But I have to mention that I do not recommend to turn off noise reduction completely, because then quite big artifacts become noticeable even during daytime shooting in the shade, starting from values from 800 ISO.

It’s worth mentioning that Olympus cameras recently introduced a handheld night scene mode. In this case, the camera “shoots” a series of pictures at its maximum continuous shooting speed in this case, 8 frames per second and compiles the information into one frame. Despite the fact that the automatic can select even 12,800 ISO, the picture comes out very accurate, with smooth undertones and a bit washed out details. That is why it is worth using this program sparingly – for example, for shots where it is necessary to show a beautiful night sky and city lights to create a general impression.

In general, when shooting indoors with artificial light sources, the automatic settings white balance is correct. And in mixed lighting the camera can faithfully render the colors of objects illuminated by daylight and retain the warm colors where artificial light dominates. This is achieved through a special option in the settings. However, auto white balance is not always perfect. For example, fluorescent lighting can mislead the camera, and you have to set the preset manually to get the colors right.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to be in southern latitudes with bright sunshine, so I had to evaluate the camera capability of dynamic range width in the sunny March weather in the streets of New York. And in these conditions, the camera confidently handled typical high-contrast scenes – such as architectural shots in a narrow alleyway and even capturing objects against the sky such as pipes .

New optics

No camera is truly compact without a small lens. Earlier, compact zoom lenses for mirrorless cameras appeared in the Panasonic and Sony ranges, and more recently in the Olympus range as well. The new twin-zoom head, launched at the same time as the E-M10, was quickly dubbed by photographers as “blinozoom” for its superior compactness, since it was shorter in length than its competitors mentioned above.

New zoom M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ with the traditional Olympus focal range of 28-84 mm 35 mm equivalent . It has an electronically controlled ring that enables the zoom speed to be varied. Unfortunately, the electric zoom drive is not completely silent, you can see this in videos shot in silence. However, such shooting conditions are not common.

In addition, this lens is equipped with a manual focus ring MF . In manual mode, turning the ring activates the Focus Assistant function. It consists of two menu-disable components. The first is to zoom in on a selected area of the frame its position is shown in a small window in the corner of the frame at a set magnification 5x, 7x, 10x, 14x , it can be quickly changed with any of the control wheels. The second component is white or black highlighting of contrasting borders that are in sharpness set via the menu .

An ingeniously designed LC-37C lens cap whose shutter closes automatically when the zoom moves to the idle position. So once a photographer attaches the lens cap, he can stop worrying about protecting the front lens and keep the cap in place. It usually has to be tied down with a lanyard, otherwise there’s a good chance that you could lose it or forget it somewhere.

Conclusions

To summarise, it’s clear that Olympus beat out competitors who had already introduced similar models to the OM-D E-M10 with the new compact lens. A very attractive-looking and really compact camera that’s great as an everyday only camera, a primary camera for travel or as a second photographic tool in addition to, for example, the flagship model E-M1.

Picture tests

In wide-angle position with the aperture set to 1.5 stops the new zoom ensures a sharp picture through almost the whole frame. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, 14 mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/250 s.

New blinozoom holds backlight well. Can’t do without the “hares”, but the contrast of the picture doesn’t generally suffer much. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, 14mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/640s.

On a sunny March day, the camera’s dynamic range easily manages the contrast of a landscape scene. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, 14 mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/1000 s

Automatics set the exposure and white balance correctly in deep twilight. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, 27mm, ISO 1600, f/4.8, 1/6s.

The stabilization system worked well, as did the exposure metering. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, 42 mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/6 sec.

Combining the right white balance with the warm light preservation function. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm 1:4.0-5.6, 150mm, ISO 1000, f/5.6, 1/250s.

Shooting indoors in mixed lighting. The level of digital noise is uncritical. Telephoto lens delivered beautiful blur. M Lens.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm 1:4.0-5.6, 150 mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/320 s.

Scenes with moderate contrast do not make it difficult for the camera to reproduce all tones. M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm 1:4.0-5.6, 120 mm, ISO 200, f/6.3, 1/1600 s.