Testseek.com have collected 169 expert reviews of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and the average rating is 85%. Scroll down and see all reviews for Olympus OM-D E-M5.
April 2012
(85%)
169 Reviews
Average score from experts who have reviewed this product.
Users
(92%)
164 Reviews
Average score from owners of the product.
850100169
The editors liked
Very good photo quality (though best results are achieved by shooting RAW)
Wellbuilt
Weathersealed metal body with a retro flair
Fiveaxis
Sensorshift image stabilization system
Beautiful 3inch articulating touchscreen OLED display with 610
000 pixels
Plus a large and sharp EVF
Full manual controls
With lots of white balance options
Five kinds of bracketing
Realtime tone curve adjustment
A cute little camera that's packed with features and offers excellent image quality
Appealing body design
Smaller camera is easy to hold and quite small
Battery grip makes the E-M5 feel like a tiny professional camera
EVF works well
Tilting OLED touchpanel display
Water resistant body
Advanced in-body image stabilization
Excell...
A dust-and-weather-sealed design distinguishes the Olympus OM-D E-M5 from the rest of the interchangeable-lens crowd
And its class-leading performance doesn't hurt
Either. Plus
It's got an interesting
Relatively streamlined shooting design
Excellent image quality
Very good metering
Reliable Automatic WhiteBalance
Superb builtin stabilization
Virtually no shutterlag
Fast contrastdetect AF
Good shottoshot speed
Very responsive
Excellent automatic Manual Focus Assist
Unique LiveBulb m
Outstanding image quality
* Highly customizable feature set
* Compact design
* Wide selection of accessories and lenses
* Weather resistant body
* Art Filters add fun factor
* Good macro mode on 12-50mm zoom
* Fast autofocus and burst mode
Good images and video
DSLRlike feature set
Compact
Stylish form factor
Compact body. Fully weather sealed. Crisp LCD EVF. Articulating rear display. Sharp kit lens. Impressive high ISO performance. Fast autofocus. Shoots at 9 frames per second. In-body stabilization. Large native lens library. Optional grip available.
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Digital cameras
Micro Four Thirds
Mirrorless Cameras
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Top3
Excellent image and video quality
Blistering performance
Extremely attractive
Great battery life
Superior image quality
Even in low light
You can really push ISO without sacrificing resolution
Durability
Very powerful auto-focus and image stabilization technology
Very good image quality
Even at high ISO
Bright
Punchy JPEGs make the most of camera's capability
Very fast autofocus with most Micro Four Thirds lenses
Weather-sealed body
Built-in image stabilization helps increase number of sharp shots (in single-frame mode)
Good level of direct control despite small body
Tilting OLED screen very good
Large amount of control over image parameters
A
Incredibly fast autofocus5-axis image stabilizationManual/auto-zoom kit lens
Tough weather-sealed build quality
Outstanding High ISO noise performance
Great quality viewfinder and tilting OLED touch-screen
5-axis image stabilisation which works with any lens
2
3
5 and 7-frame auto bracketing.
Lovely design
Premium build
Solid performance and great images
The editors didn't like
Occasional underexposure and highlight clipping
Tiny
Cluttered button layout makes it way too easy to accidentally press the wrong one
OLED display difficult to see outdoors
AF system tends to "hunt" when recording movies
"Hiss" from IS system may bother some folks
No builtin flash (though included external flash is pretty good)
Movies cannot be edited incamera
Full manual on CDROM
Just never felt comfortable shooting with it
Price
$999 (body only
In black or silver)
$1
299 (black or silver body with black M.ZUIKO Digital ED 1250 mm f3.56.3 EZ lens)
Www.olympusamerica.com
Odd power switch location
Exposure compensation dial changes easily
Can't be turned off
Small buttons
EVF proximity sensor sometimes activates unexpectedly
Moderately high chromatic aberration from 12-50mm kit lens
No in-camera chromatic aberrati...
The photo quality is solid
But not outstanding
Especially if you shoot only JPEG
Poor color accuracy
Lowcontrast EVF
Not always ExposurePriority and frequently wrong LiveHistogram
Modal ExposureCompensation
Some tiny buttons
Uncomfortable eyelets
Poorly placed tripod mount
Low battery life
Rear controldial uncomfortably high
Menu system can be daunting
* No built-in mic adapter
* Small buttons can be difficult for large fingers
* Soft humming noise when powered up
Price when rated
$1000 (body only)
$1300 with 12-50mm 1
3.5-6.3 zoom lens
Costly bodyonly configuration
Grip and lenses add expense
A 2x crop factor doesn't lend itself to wide angle shooting
External flash. Lacks a standard mic input
No builtin popup flash. Can't change exposure settings while shooting video. Shallow eye cup diminishes the EVF's effectiveness in bright outdoor situations
Expensive for a Micro Four Thirds camera
Smaller sensor than most $1
000-plus cameras
Button design
No pop-up flash – accessory only
There can be some in-camera digging before you get your customized settings up and running
Focus tracking distinctly unreliable
Image stabilization not effective for continuous shooting
Small controls sometimes awkward (especially with cold/gloved hands)
No in-camera correction of CA (which can be problematic with 12-50mm kit zoom)
Default JPEG settings a bit keen to blur detail away
Several useful features hidden in obscure and confusingly-named menu options
Otherwise useful H
ExpensiveBattery meter issues at launchPoor focus accuracy in low-contrast scenes
Screen only tilts and there's no touch functions in movie modes
Distracting whirring noise from stabilisation motor
No built-in mic socket
Flash unit clips-on rather then being built-in
Continuous AF not as consistent as a phase-detect system.
Great battery life, Superior image quality, even in low light, You can really push ISO without sacrificing resolution, Durability, Very powerful auto-focus and image stabilization technology
Button design, No pop-up flash – accessory only, There can be some in-camera digging before you get your customized settings up and running
Should you buy it? If you can afford the EM-5 and you're in the market for a MFT, yes, you should buy it. That might sound a little niche, but MFT cameras are becoming insanely popular and insanely expensive, so there's real demand for what Olympus is ...
Tough weather-sealed build quality, Outstanding High ISO noise performance, Great quality viewfinder and tilting OLED touch-screen, 5-axis image stabilisation which works with any lens, 2, 3, 5 and 7-frame auto bracketing.
Screen only tilts and there's no touch functions in movie modes, Distracting whirring noise from stabilisation motor, No built-in mic socket, Flash unit clips-on rather then being built-in, Continuous AF not as consistent as a phase-detect system.
The OM-D E-M5 marks the beginning of a new strand in mirrorless CSC cameras that poses the strongest threat yet to the dominance of DSLRs in the higher-end of the consumer market. It cleverly combines a retro SLR design (which is still widely held in ...
Published: 2012-05-25, Author: Lori , review by: cnet.com
A dust-and-weather-sealed design distinguishes the Olympus OM-D E-M5 from the rest of the interchangeable-lens crowd, and its class-leading performance doesn't hurt, either. Plus, it's got an interesting, relatively streamlined shooting design
The photo quality is solid, but not outstanding, especially if you shoot only JPEG
If you're looking for something a lot better, faster, and more sophisticated than a point-and-shoot that can stand up to your adventures, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is a great choice.
There's quite a lot to like about the OM-D EM-5. If I had to mention something negative, it would be the small buttons although they do allow for a larger screen so it's really more of a positive trade off than a minor gripe. The flash is is a little...
Very good photo quality (though best results are achieved by shooting RAW), Wellbuilt, weathersealed metal body with a retro flair, Fiveaxis, sensorshift image stabilization system, Beautiful 3inch articulating touchscreen OLED display with 610,000 pixels, plus a large and sharp EVF, Full manual controls, with lots of white balance options, five kinds of bracketing, realtime tone curve adjustment
Occasional underexposure and highlight clipping, Tiny, cluttered button layout makes it way too easy to accidentally press the wrong one, OLED display difficult to see outdoors, AF system tends to "hunt" when recording movies, "Hiss" from IS system may bother some folks, No builtin flash (though included external flash is pretty good), Movies cannot be edited incamera, Full manual on CDROM
Conclusion Olympus' OM-D EM-5 is their flagship Micro Four Thirds camera, and it performs at the level that one would expect for a product with that title. It has a well-built and compact weather-sealed magnesium alloy body (available in silver or bla...
Outstanding image quality, * Highly customizable feature set, * Compact design, * Wide selection of accessories and lenses, * Weather resistant body, * Art Filters add fun factor, * Good macro mode on 12-50mm zoom, * Fast autofocus and burst mode,
Menu system can be daunting, * No built-in mic adapter, * Small buttons can be difficult for large fingers, * Soft humming noise when powered up, Price when rated: $1000 (body only); $1300 with 12-50mm 1:3.5-6.3 zoom lens
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No builtin popup flash. Can't change exposure settings while shooting video. Shallow eye cup diminishes the EVF's effectiveness in bright outdoor situations
Abstract: Three years after making its first entrance into the compact system camera arena with the PEN E-P1, Olympus has gone back to its roots again to produce the OM-D, with its retro styling owed to its analogue predecessor.Inside the camera are an all new 16 m...
The OM-D E-M5 is the best Olympus compact system camera to date, and also a strong contender for best compact system camera full stop. It delivers a compelling mix of classic looks, excellent image quality, an extensive feature set and immediate respo...
Good images and video, DSLRlike feature set, Compact, stylish form factor
Costly bodyonly configuration, grip and lenses add expense, A 2x crop factor doesn't lend itself to wide angle shooting
If I were in the market for a mirrorless, interchangeable lens compact digital and was not wedded to any particular manufacturer or system, the E-M5 would probably be it. Of all the other cameras in this class that I've already reviewed, I like this one...
