Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II review

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II review: an update for the budget friendly OM-D E-M10 arrives in style. Our head of testing put it through its paces.

Rather than being a complete overhaul of the existing model, the new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II builds on the success of the original version. The Mark I found favour with enthusiasts and makes for an excellent carry around camera thanks to its small size, in fact it’s been so popular that it has outsold the other OM-D models and will continue to be on sale for now.

As before, there’s a 16 million pixel Four Thirds type sensor, which is joined by a TruePic VII processing engine. Olympus has not confirmed whether the sensors in both cameras are the same, but it stands a good chance.

An improvement comes in the shape of image stabilisation, which is now 5-axis, compared with 3-axis, which is said to offer 4 stops of shutter speed compensation, rather than 3.5. While this should be useful for reducing blur in both stills and video, Olympus hasn’t included the high resolution mode which is found in the E-M5 Mark II though.

Another upgrade has been made to the electronic viewfinder. Whereas the previous version has a 1,400,000-dot device, which was very good, the new camera has a 2,360,000-dot OLED finder, which should make it even better.

Olympus has now included the ability for it to recreate the look of an optical viewfinder – which basically means an unprocessed view of the scene (without changes to settings being made visible). This is apparently something which has been requested by users.

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The screen remains the same as the Mark I, being a 3-inch, touch sensitive 1,037,000-dot LCD. It does tilt, but it’s not a vari-angle screen as you can find on the OM-D E-M5 Mark II, but that would have likely increased the overall cost of the camera.

Something which is new for Olympus is the ability to set the AF point using the screen while using the viewfinder at the same time – it’s something we’ve seen before from Panasonic cameras and can be very handy.

As well as the standard bracketing options that Olympus offers (exposure, Art Filter, sensitivity and white balance), a new bracketing option helps with focus stacking – you can set a starting focus point and take up to 99 shots with different focus adjustments. It’s not possible to combine those images in camera, but it’s not too tricky a task in photo editing software (not supplied).

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A choice of 14 different Art Filter effects are available, plus a further 9 Art Effects or Picture Modes. They can be used when shooting in raw and JPEG together so if you need an unfiltered image down the line, you can access it. Other options for changing the look of images include Colour Creator, Highlight and Shadow and Aspect Ratio controls.

Videographers have some new specifications to celebrate too, with the ability to record full 1080p at a maximum of 60fps (frames per second) and VGA movies at 120fps. An option, called My Clips, allows to shoot short clips and combine them in camera. Clean HDMI output is available too when recording or viewing on an external device.

One thing which is missing (when compared with quite a few other CSCs on the market) is the ability to shoot standard 4K video, but Olympus has made improvements on the timelapse video feature which means you can make 4K time-lapse movies in camera (with playback limited to 5fps).

Inbuilt Wi-Fi is included which allows you to remote control the camera from a smart device, or send images across for quick transfer. A new feature is the ability to see Live Composite images as they develop on the screen.

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There’s a pop-up flash and there’s also a hotshoe for adding extra accessories. As usual, there’s a range of exposure modes which are aimed both at beginners and enthusiasts, such as aperture priority and interesting modes such as Live Bulb, Live Time and Live Composite – which are handy for creating long exposure shots.

Other interesting features of the OM-D E-M10 Mark II are up to 8fps shooting speeds (with focus and metering set at the start of the sequence), 3.5fps (continuous autofocus and metering) and an electronic shutter which facilitates 1/16000 second shutter speeds. A silent mode is also included.

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Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Review: Build and Handling

As we’ve seen before on other OM-D cameras, the E-M10 Mark II is built from magnesium alloy, which gives it a high quality feel and look. Although it doesn’t have the same weatherproofing credentials of the E-M1, E-M5 and E-M5 Mark II, it still feels pretty sturdy.

Whereas the old camera (the Mark I) was the smallest and lightest of any OM-D camera, the new body is fractionally larger but looks more or less the same as its predecessor – the flash housing is a little taller though.

The front of the camera features a fairly shallow grip that still enables a decent grip on the camera. The thumb rest on the back of the camera has changed a little from the original, making it feel slightly less secure in the hand – we’d recommend using it with a strap or wrist strap if you’re worried at all.

Probably the most obvious differences between the old camera and the new version can be seen on the top plates. On the left of the camera where the Mark I you’ll find an exposure mode dial, whereas now there’s a power switch which has a retro appearance. If you push this past the “on” position, it will cause the flash to pop up from its housing.

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There are now three dials on right hand side of the top plate, where the Mark I had two – one of these is the displaced mode dial. All of the dials are slightly taller than the Mark I, while a new silver metal finish and textured pattern helps your fingers grip the dials more easily when making changes.

You’ll find the shutter release in the centre of the dial at the front of the camera, which is neatly placed for your forefinger to reach, while the rear and mode dials are easily used with your thumb. Although the mode dial doesn’t feature a lock, it’s stiff enough to not usually be locked out of place.

The back of the camera has also seen a little rejig as the power button has been moved. Now a playback button can be found in the bottom right hand corner of the camera.

Tilting is the only option with the E-M10 Mark II’s screen, which is useful for landscape composition from above and below. It is capable of providing a good view in all but very direct sunlight, when you’ll probably want to switch to using the viewfinder if you’re not already.

It appears that Olympus hasn’t implemented touchscreen AF when using the viewfinder quite as well as Panasonic, which is a shame. Occasionally it worked well, while at other times, it was unresponsive. However, as the EVF protrudes quite far from the back of the camera, my nose didn’t tend to touch the screen and cause a distraction.

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Using the E-M10 Mark II’s viewfinder is great – it’s very clear and the scene looks great through it. In fact, it can be difficult to remember you’re using an electronic device at all. However, on more than one occasion, the viewfinder suggested an image would be over exposed when in fact the settings suggest otherwise.

Actually taking the picture demonstrates that the settings were correct, but the viewfinder not. This problem has been reported to Olympus and is under investigation. The viewfinder also appears to show that images taken when shooting continuously appear soft before sharpening up as the full render becomes ready. On the plus side, tracking a moving subject is very easy.

The E-M10’s new feature of being able to simulate an optical finder is carried out well – and although it’s not a feature I miss when using an electronic viewfinder – if you do, you might be pleased with how this works.

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Navigating through the E-M10 Mark II’s menu is reasonably sensible, and it doesn’t take too long to familiarise yourself with its layout. It would be great if you could customise it to feature a page of your most commonly used settings though. It’s also not possible to navigate through the main menu using the touch screen.

Those options which are found in the Super Control Panel, which is activated by pressing the OK button on the back of the camera, can be selected by touching a point on the screen, but each individual setting can only be changed with the physical buttons – a bit of a strange process.

Creating a timelapse is very simple. You’ll find the option to do this within the Drive Mode options, and you’ll be given a number of choices which you need to set – such as number of shots, length of interval etc. The camera will tell you how long your movie will take to shoot, which is handy.

To start the shooting sequence, you press the shutter release button, and once all of your shots have been recorded (up to a maximum of 999), the camera will automatically create the time-lapse movie.

Bear in mind how much of a drain on your memory card this will be, as each image will be recorded as full resolution and raw – it can be worth switching off raw shooting and switching to a smaller file size if space is at a premium.

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Although for the most part, the E-M10 Mark II is nicely responsive, there appears to be the odd unexplained problem which seems to appear for no apparent reason. There’s the viewfinder issue, and also from time to time, pressing the info button left out some options without warning. Switching the camera on and off seems to fix the problem, but it can be a little frustrating at times.

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Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Review: Performance

We don’t know for sure whether or not the EM-10 Mark I and Mark II share the same sensor, but it seems likely to be very similar at least. Our labs test show that the two cameras put in a very closely linked performance, with the newer one slightly outclassing the older version in terms of detail resolution.

The E-M10 II’s autofocusing system is very impressive, and wasn’t foxed by the mixed and uneven lighting of a music festival, being able to get the subject sharp even in very low light shooting conditions. I was shooting for the most part with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro lens, which itself is a high performer.

Furthermore, placing the starting AF point over the subject allowed for AF Tracking to do a great job as a performer moved across the stage. I was able to use two other compact system cameras at the same time (the Panasonic GX8 and the Sony Alpha 7R II), and while all did a good job in low light, it was the E-M10 II which performed the best – which is perhaps a little surprising considering it is the one aimed most aimed at beginner photographers.

More good news is that the 5-axis image stabilisation system is a solid performer. When shooting at the maximum length of the 40-150mm lens, which is equivalent to 300mm, I was able to get sharp images when shooting at 1/8 second – pretty impressive.

Raising the shutter speed slightly up to 1/15 seconds produces more consistent results, but if it’s possible to shoot a few images which you can later choose from, using slow shutter speeds is more than achievable. There’s also a positive impact for video shooting, as it’s more stable than the previous version.

By looking at JPEG images taken at ISO 400 at 100%, it’s possible to see that there’s a very small amount of luminance noise, but there is still a great level of detail visible throughout the lower to mid sensitivity range.

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Noise remains well controlled up until around ISO 6400 when some of the areas of an image take on a bit of a painterly effect when viewing them full size. It’s still possible however to create an A3 print which looks good. Meanwhile, ISO 12,800 and 25,600 produce reasonable prints if you keep the size to A4 or below.

Switching off all noise reduction when processing raw files in the supplied Olympus Viewer software reveals that images look very similar to processed JPEGS. Images shot at 25,600 display barely any chroma noise, but luminance noise is visible from around ISO 400.

It seems likely that processing the images with Adobe Camera Raw will reveal more chroma noise and thus give you more scope to balance detail with noise to your personal preferences. At time of writing, the raw files can’t be opened by ACR.

It comes as no surprise that both the automatic white balance and metering settings perform well, with accurate colours and balanced exposures across a variety of different shooting scenarios. Our labs tests show that dynamic range scores are good, and this translates well in actual shooting too, with highlights being retained well.

Using the different Art Filters is fun, but it will no doubt be down to personal taste which ones appeal to you the most. Grainy Film, Pop Art and Dramatic Tone are particular favourites of mine.

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Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Review: Sample photos

Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II Review: Verdict

It’s no big shock to see Olympus upgrading its popular E-M10, but this marks more of a refresh than a serious overhaul. None-the-less, it makes for a good proposition for those looking for their first step into owning a serious CSC.

On the market at the moment there’s perhaps more competition than when the original E-M10 first made its appearance though. The Panasonic GX8 – which is admittedly a lot more expensive – brings 20 million pixels to the Micro Four Thirds market for the first tie, while Fuji’s introduction of the XT-10 sees a retro-styled, APS-C sized sensor, become available at a more affordable price than ever before.

The E-M10 Mark II is a solidly performing camera in a variety of different conditions, making it a good all-rounder. Noise is well controlled up to approximately ISO 6400, while the fast autofocus system is particularly impressive. Both enthusiast and inexperienced photographers should also find plenty to love about the camera as it offers a variety of different shooting modes.

The electronic viewfinder is one of the best features of the E-M10 II as it is nice, clear and bright making it very easy to use and compose images. The different buttons and controls are also very sensibly arranged and working with the camera feels very natural.

Being able to use different settings when shooting in raw format is also good news and saves the faff of having to switch off raw shooting all the time, as well as giving you more flexibility in post processing.

One of the most appealing things about Micro Four Thirds is the large number of lenses available for it. Olympus has some great options itself, such as the very small M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ optic which is a good match for the size of the E-M10. As they share the same mount, you can also use Panasonic lenses, as well as those from a variety of different third party manufacturers.

Despite the fact that there’s a lot to like about the E-M10 II, that’s not to say that it is without its faults. A few problems with the viewfinder and buttons are a shame to see, but perhaps could be fixed with a firmware upgrade at some point. It would also be nice to see slightly better implementation of the touch screen for making changes to certain things.

Not having a fully articulating screen is also a little restrictive for full creativity, but at least it tilts and isn’t fixed.

It seems very likely that Olympus will maintain its good OM-D reputation with the E-M10 II. Although it is small, it’s got enough enticing features to appeal to enthusiast photographers and has a well designed body.

Although not its primary target audience, those looking for an every day carry around camera should also think about the E-M10 II as its small size (especially when coupled with the 14-42mm EZ lens) makes it versatile while still producing excellent images.

Beginners should also find a fair amount to like about this camera, with features such as Live Time, Art Filters and the ability to control from a smartphone making it easy to use even for those with little experience.

Features: 4.5/5
Build and Handling: 4.5/5
Image quality: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5
Overall 4.5/5

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