Introduction Skip the first 2 paragraphs to skip personal history
When Olympus first came up with the concept of micro four thirds, I thought to myself "bah, it can't be that good, DSLRs are the way to go!". That's when I got rid of all my Olympus gear except for the Olympus E-1 and Zuiko Digital 14-54mm lens. I got myself a full frame camera with the necessary lenses required for work.
When the original PEN E-P1 was released, I got mine months after it was released and thought "Hmm... It's certainly smaller and more compact, but it's too new with too little lens, seems like a toy". Fast forward to a few years later when the original Olympus OM-D E-M1 was released, I thought to myself "hey, this is pretty good, it's nice to use, fast enough and gives good images". After a year plus of the original's released, I slowly invested in the original E-M1 kit with the M.Zuiko Digital 12-40 PRO, 40-150 PRO and finally the 7-14 PRO. I got to using the E-M1 for fun and photo walks and eventually take it on assignments. Events, weddings, portraits and it performed splendidly.
Today, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is officially announced and having used it for a few days, I can say that while the Mark I was already a great camera, the Mark II redefined the meaning of what a great camera should be. The upgrade between the 2 is similar to when the E-1 was replaced with the E-3. It's not just an increase in resolution and image quality, it's essentially a redesign of a camera that was already great.
In a word, I would describe the OM-D E-M1 Mark II as speedy. Olympus, when designing the E-M1 Mark II, probably had an obsession with speed, and it has paid off. Certain feature highlights of this camera are:
Honestly, some features are impressive. The newly developed TruePIC VIII image processor has a double quad core system which is the main driving force behind the speed in this beast of a camera. Coupled with the new advanced dual fast AF, 121-point all cross-type sensor, this camera is capable of going toe-to-toe with other cameras out there on the market, and then some!
I like that the flip out screen is on the E-M1 Mark II, previously seen on the PEN F and E-M5 Mark II, I found this to be so much more useful than the tilting screen. I missed it on the old E-3 when they camera out with tilt screens. At first glance, the Mark II looks very similar to the Mark I, with some obvious physical designs. Holding my original E-M1, it felt good, holding the E-M1 Mark II, it felt better. I have very big hands, especially for an Asian person and Olympus has designed the grip to be bigger, giving a deeper feel to the grip and making it comfortable, even without the use of a vertical grip (but I'll still use a vertical grip when available).
The dual card slots, apparently something that many people have wanted for a VERY LONG TIME. I am unfortunately/fortunately, not one of those people but! It is a welcoming feature! It can write both RAW and jpeg to separate cards, backup one card or automatically switch when the card is full. The battery is new too! As of this writing, the camera battery is at 36%, after charging full and shooting for a few days, with the first day shooting the most, and then my normal day to day shooting after. I was told that the new battery will allow the camera to shoot 440 shots on a full charge. I've shot 673 images. How do I know this? Olympus now allows you to check the battery in percentage instead of the estimated bar look, it also has a shot counter and a battery health inspection feature! The new charger will cut the charging time in half. From 4 hours with the old Mark I's charger to 2 hours with the new Mark II's charger.
The new sensor with 20.4 million pixels, is more than sufficient to get large prints for your home, Olympus has incorporated the high res function to give you 50MP files in jpeg format which is very, VERY big! These improvements also brought high ISO improvements with auto ISO now supporting up to 6,400. Top ISO of the camera is 25,600 and the lowest in the form of "ISO LOW" is now at ISO64 equivalent instead of ISO 100 which is great news for landscape photographers. Speaking of landscape photographers, did I mention the tripod screw mount is lined up with the lens?
Videographers/Cinematographers, rejoice! For this is the first camera form Olympus with 4K video! Coupled with the 5-axis IS, you'd be able to capture cinematic quality video without the use of rigs for stabilization! It also features a HDMI monitor connection so you can view your footage as you capture on an external monitor! I could talk a lot more because there are so many other features and improvements but I'm gonna end the introduction with accessories for the E-M1 Mark II!
When Olympus first came up with the concept of micro four thirds, I thought to myself "bah, it can't be that good, DSLRs are the way to go!". That's when I got rid of all my Olympus gear except for the Olympus E-1 and Zuiko Digital 14-54mm lens. I got myself a full frame camera with the necessary lenses required for work.
When the original PEN E-P1 was released, I got mine months after it was released and thought "Hmm... It's certainly smaller and more compact, but it's too new with too little lens, seems like a toy". Fast forward to a few years later when the original Olympus OM-D E-M1 was released, I thought to myself "hey, this is pretty good, it's nice to use, fast enough and gives good images". After a year plus of the original's released, I slowly invested in the original E-M1 kit with the M.Zuiko Digital 12-40 PRO, 40-150 PRO and finally the 7-14 PRO. I got to using the E-M1 for fun and photo walks and eventually take it on assignments. Events, weddings, portraits and it performed splendidly.
Today, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is officially announced and having used it for a few days, I can say that while the Mark I was already a great camera, the Mark II redefined the meaning of what a great camera should be. The upgrade between the 2 is similar to when the E-1 was replaced with the E-3. It's not just an increase in resolution and image quality, it's essentially a redesign of a camera that was already great.
In a word, I would describe the OM-D E-M1 Mark II as speedy. Olympus, when designing the E-M1 Mark II, probably had an obsession with speed, and it has paid off. Certain feature highlights of this camera are:
- 18 fps maximum sequential shooting in AF/AE tracking
- Advance DUAL FAST AF with 121-point, all cross -type sensor
- New Pro Capture mode for lag free shooting
- 20.4 Megapixel Live MOS sensor with new High-Speed Trupic VIII image processor
- Digital cinema standard 4k movies
- Advanced in-body 5-axis Image Stabilization with approximately 6.5 shutter speed steps
- Dual SD card slots
- Ultra high-resolution image quality with 50MP high res shot
- Dustproof, splashproof and freezeproof performance
- High-magnification, high-speed electronic viewfinder
- silent mode for noiseless shooting environments
Honestly, some features are impressive. The newly developed TruePIC VIII image processor has a double quad core system which is the main driving force behind the speed in this beast of a camera. Coupled with the new advanced dual fast AF, 121-point all cross-type sensor, this camera is capable of going toe-to-toe with other cameras out there on the market, and then some!
I like that the flip out screen is on the E-M1 Mark II, previously seen on the PEN F and E-M5 Mark II, I found this to be so much more useful than the tilting screen. I missed it on the old E-3 when they camera out with tilt screens. At first glance, the Mark II looks very similar to the Mark I, with some obvious physical designs. Holding my original E-M1, it felt good, holding the E-M1 Mark II, it felt better. I have very big hands, especially for an Asian person and Olympus has designed the grip to be bigger, giving a deeper feel to the grip and making it comfortable, even without the use of a vertical grip (but I'll still use a vertical grip when available).
The dual card slots, apparently something that many people have wanted for a VERY LONG TIME. I am unfortunately/fortunately, not one of those people but! It is a welcoming feature! It can write both RAW and jpeg to separate cards, backup one card or automatically switch when the card is full. The battery is new too! As of this writing, the camera battery is at 36%, after charging full and shooting for a few days, with the first day shooting the most, and then my normal day to day shooting after. I was told that the new battery will allow the camera to shoot 440 shots on a full charge. I've shot 673 images. How do I know this? Olympus now allows you to check the battery in percentage instead of the estimated bar look, it also has a shot counter and a battery health inspection feature! The new charger will cut the charging time in half. From 4 hours with the old Mark I's charger to 2 hours with the new Mark II's charger.
The new sensor with 20.4 million pixels, is more than sufficient to get large prints for your home, Olympus has incorporated the high res function to give you 50MP files in jpeg format which is very, VERY big! These improvements also brought high ISO improvements with auto ISO now supporting up to 6,400. Top ISO of the camera is 25,600 and the lowest in the form of "ISO LOW" is now at ISO64 equivalent instead of ISO 100 which is great news for landscape photographers. Speaking of landscape photographers, did I mention the tripod screw mount is lined up with the lens?
Videographers/Cinematographers, rejoice! For this is the first camera form Olympus with 4K video! Coupled with the 5-axis IS, you'd be able to capture cinematic quality video without the use of rigs for stabilization! It also features a HDMI monitor connection so you can view your footage as you capture on an external monitor! I could talk a lot more because there are so many other features and improvements but I'm gonna end the introduction with accessories for the E-M1 Mark II!
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